Occupation,
with right to
purchase ... 471 108,499 428 75,500 434 84,970
Lease in
perpetuity 1,228 255,348 1,032 166,037 1,461 199,093
Pastoral runs 227 899,945 123 568,293 188 2,156,378
In regard to the numerical superiority of leases in perpetuity, it must
be pointed out that, not only the special blocks, but the improved
farms and lands offered under the Land for Settlements Acts, to which I
shall have occasion to refer, are disposed of solely under that tenure;
but it appears to be attractive in itself: as most of the Crown Lands
require considerable outlay before they become productive, a selector
can expend any capital that he may possess more advantageously upon the
development of the capabilities of the soil than upon the acquisition
of the freehold. The Government also are benefited by a policy which
renders the land revenue a permanent asset in the finances. The
receipts for the financial year 1895-6 amounted to nearly L300,000.
In 1892 an attempt was also made to deal with the problem of the
scarcity of available land in settled districts which was caused by the
prevalence {97} of large estates. It was thought that the labourers
employed upon them, and the sons of farmers who might wish to settle
near their parents, should have an opportunity of acquiring land. The
Government, accordingly, passed the first of a series of Land for
Settlements Acts, which authorised the repurchase or exchange of lands
and their subdivision for purposes of close settlement. Upon the
recommendation of a Board of Land Purchase Commissioners, some of whom
represent local interests, that a certain estate is suitable for
settlement, and should be purchased at a certain price, the Government
may enter into negotiations with the owner with a view to a voluntary
transaction, and, upon his refusal, take the land compulsorily at a
valuation fixed by a Compensation Court. Owners are so far safeguarded
that they cannot be dispossessed of estates of less than 640 acres of
first-class, or 2,000 acres of second-class land, that they can claim
to retain the above area, and that they can require the Government to
take the whole of their estates. The maximum annual expenditure was
limited at first to L50,000, but has been raised to L250,000. At the
end of March of last year twenty-eight estates, containing 87,000
acres, had been acquired, in one case compulsorily, and made available
for settlement by surveys and the construction of roads at a total
expenditure of nearly L390,000. Nineteen of these had already been
subdivided into farms of various sizes, and were bringing in rentals
amounting to {98} 4.76 per cent. upon the outlay which they had
involved. The Land Purchase Inspector was able to report that the
lands, which had been the object of eager competition, had, in most
cases, been greatly improved and were in good condition, and he is
likely to find even better results in the future, as the Amending Act
of 1896 provided that applications for land should not be entertained
unless the applicants were able to prove their ability properly to
cultivate the soil and to fulfil the stipulations of the leases. This
provision is of great importance, as much of the land has been
cultivated by its former owners, and would deteriorate rapidly under
incapable management. The Governments of South Australia, Queensland,
and Western Australia have legislated in a similar direction, and that
of New South Wales introduced a Bill which failed to become law. As
far as New Zealand is concerned, which has conducted its operations on
the largest scale, the system has not been sufficiently long in
existence to enable an estimate to be formed of its probable financial
results.
A similar uncertainty prevails in regard to the more recent attempts to
place cheap money within the reach of settlers. The first step in that
direction was taken in 1886, when regulations were made for the
establishment of Village Settlements, the members of which might
receive loans for the construction of their houses and for other
purposes. These settlements were not, as in some of the {99}
Australian Provinces, formed on a co-operative or a semi-communistic
basis. The success of this experiment doubtless encouraged the
Government to widen the scope of the advances. In 1895, 4,560 persons,
divided among 144 settlements, had occupied 33,800 acres of land; they
had received L25,800 in advances, had paid L17,600 in rent and
interest, and had carried out improvements of the value of L92,800.
These improvements, consequently, form an ample security for the
repayment of the loans. The necessity of a general scheme of advances
was based upon the difficulty experienced by small settlers, however
good might be the security, in obtaining loans except at prohibitive
rates. Authority was, accordingly, obtained through the Government
Advances to Settlers Acts of 1894-6 to borrow three millions with a
view to loans ranging from L25 to L3,000, upon first mortgages, to
owners of freehold land and occupiers of Crown Lands, the advances not
to exceed three-fifths of the value of the former and one-half of the
value of the lessee's interest in the latter. Advances may not be made
on town lands, nor on suburban lands which are held for residential or
manufacturing purposes. The valuation of every security is to be
carried out by or on behalf of a superintendent appointed _ad hoc._,
and is to be submitted for the consideration of a General Board
consisting of the Colonial Treasurer, the Superintendent, the Public
Trustee, the Commissioner of Taxes, and a nominee of the {100} Governor
in Council. The advances on freehold land may be either for a fixed
period at 5 per cent., or for 36-1/2 years at 6 per cent., of which 5 per
cent. is reckoned as interest and 1 per cent. towards the gradual
repayment of the principal; on leasehold lands, in the latter form
alone. As the loan of a million and a half raised as the source of
advances was floated at 3 per cent., and realised nearly L1,400,000,
the margin between the percentage due by the Government and that
received from the settlers should be sufficient to enable one-tenth of
the interest to be paid, as provided, into an Assurance Fund against
possible losses, and a residue to be available which will cover the
general expenses of administration. But it is obvious that the result
of the experiment will depend greatly upon the prevalent rate of
interest and the price of produce. Hitherto, two-thirds of the
advances have been used by settlers to enable them to rid themselves of
former and less advantageous mortgages; in some cases, mortgagees, in
order to retain their mortgages, have voluntarily lowered the rate of
interest to 5 per cent. The tabular statement on the following page of
the financial position is the latest that has been issued, and does not
purport to be more than approximately correct. Advances may also be
made towards the construction of dwelling-houses to those who have
obtained selections under the Land for Settlements Acts; but they may
not exceed twenty pounds nor the {101} amount already spent by the
applicant upon his holding.
INCOME.
The advances authorised and accepted
amount to L735,967, and yield an annual
income of 5 per cent. . . . . . . . . . . . L36,798
The temporary investment of L603,444 in
Government securities yields an annual
income at the rate of 3.42 per cent. . . . . 20,747
The balance of L51,805 on current account
with the Bank, may be estimated to yield
2 per cent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,036
--------
Estimated total income on June 15, 1896 . . . L58,581
--------
EXPENDITURE.
Annual charge for interest at 3 per cent. on
L1,500,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L43,000
Salaries for the year . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,700
Other expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,800
Mortgage Tax, estimated . . . . . . . . . . . 1,800
--------
Estimated total expenditure . . . . . . . . . L53,300
Balance of income over expenditure . . . . . . 5,281
--------
L58,581
========
Another measure which may affect the well-being of settlers is the
Family Home Protection Act, 1895. Any owner of land may settle as a
family home the land, not exceeding, with all improvements, L1,500 in
value, on which he resides and has his home, provided that at the time
the land is unencumbered and he is able to pay all his debts without
the land in question. As a precaution against the {102} concealment of
liabilities, he is obliged to make an application to a District Land
Registrar, who must thereupon give public notice of the intended
registration. Should any creditor put in a claim within twelve months,
the case is to be tried before a Judge of the Supreme Court, and if the
owner of the land is vindicated, the Registrar is to issue a
certificate which will exempt the family home from seizure under
ordinary processes of law, but not in one or two contingencies, of
which the principal is the failure to meet current liabilities in
respect of rates or taxes. The registration is to continue until the
death of the owner or the majority or death under the age of twenty-one
of all his children, and is not to precede the last of these events.
Upon its cessation it may be renewed at the option of the persons then
holding the estate, who must be relations of the deceased. Little
effect has been given to the Act owing, probably, to the unavoidable
publicity of the proceedings. It appears to have been based upon a
South Australian Act of 1891, which enables holders of workmen's
blocks, by the endorsement of their leases, to secure for their
properties somewhat similar exemptions from seizure. Their failure to
avail themselves, to any considerable extent, of this privilege is
attributed to the unwillingness of working men to take any trouble in a
matter of which the advantages are merely contingent.
So far I have discussed the legislation of New Zealand which affects
freeholders and those who {103} are, or desire to become, tenants of
the Crown; but before proceeding to deal with matters of common import
to most settlers, I must point out that tenants holding from private
landlords have also engaged the paternal attention of the Government.
The Minister of Lands introduced last session, but failed to pass, a
Fair Rent Bill, which would have established a system of Land Courts
under the presidency of Stipendiary Magistrates. Landlords and tenants
would have had an equal right to apply for the determination of the
fair rent which, upon the decision of the Court, whether it were higher
or lower than the reserved rent, would have been deemed, until a
further revision, to be the rent payable under the lease. The
Government displayed great inconsistency in the introduction of the
measure; having shown, in the system of lease in perpetuity, that they
objected to the periodical revaluation of the rents payable upon Crown
Lands, they proposed, through the Fair Rent Bill, to enable the Crown,
as landlord, to take steps to increase the rents of its tenants.
As regards the general interests of producers, the Government have,
through reductions amounting to L50,000 a year in railway rates, made a
concession to them at the expense of the general taxpayer, as the
railways, after payment of working expenses, return only 2.8 per cent.,
a sum insufficient to meet the interest upon their cost of
construction. Again, they have appointed experts in butter-making,
{104} fruit-growing, &c., who travel about the country and give
technical instruction by means of lectures; and they distribute, among
farmers and others, pamphlets containing practical advice upon various
aspects of cultivation. But, except that butter is received, graded
and frozen free of charge, they have not followed the example of
Victoria and South Australia in the direct encouragement of exports.
Finally, while the State acts as landlord, banker, and carrier, it also
carries on a department of life insurance and annuities, accepts the
position of trustee under wills, and, if the programme of the
Government is accepted by Parliament, will undertake the business of
fire insurance and grant a small allowance to all who are aged and
indigent and have resided for a long term of years in the Colony. The
development of the resources of the country, under the assistance of
the State, has also proceeded in other directions. More than L500,000
had been spent up to March, 1896, in the construction of water-races on
goldfields for the benefit of alluvial miners and public companies; and
in that year the Premier, in view of the large amount of foreign and
native capital that was flowing into the industry, obtained the
authorisation of Parliament to the expenditure of a further sum of
L200,000 in the conservation of water by means of large reservoirs, the
construction of water-races, the extension of prospecting throughout
the Colony, and the construction of roads and tracks for the general
{105} development of the goldfields. The physical attractions and
health resorts of the country, many of which are reached with
difficulty, are also being opened up by the expenditure of public funds.
The general question of settlement has, during the last few years, been
connected closely with that of the unemployed. In New Zealand, as in
several of the Australian Provinces, the construction of the main lines
of railway attracted into the country immigrants who, upon their
completion, were left without other resources. At the same time the
fall in prices rendered many settlers unable to fulfil their
obligations, and, upon the loss of their properties, drove them into
the towns, where they swelled the ranks of the unemployed. It also
forced those who remained solvent to cut down their general expenses,
and especially their labour bill, to the lowest possible point. The
Government were compelled to face the problem and attempted to give
former settlers a fresh chance and gradually to accustom artisans to
rural pursuits which, in the case of uncleared land, are at first of a
simple character. But the facilities offered under the Land Act were
of little use unless it could be arranged that the men, being without
capital, should have outside employment upon which they could depend
until their lands had been cleared and brought into cultivation. It
had already been realised that the construction of roads was an
indispensable sequel to that of railways, and large annual
appropriations {106} had been made from the Public Works Fund; but it
was then decided that settlement should be encouraged systematically in
those districts in which it was proposed to proceed with the
construction of roads. This policy has, accordingly, been carried out
energetically during the last few years from loans and current revenue
upon the co-operative system, which was inaugurated in 1891 by the Hon.
R. J. Seddon, then Minister of Public Works and now Premier of the
Colony. As this system, which was first tried as an experiment upon
the railways, is now employed in connection with most public works, its
object and operation may be illustrated by a series of quotations: "The
contract system had many disadvantages. It gave rise to a class of
middle men, in the shape of contractors, who often made large profits
out of their undertakings, and at times behaved with less liberality to
their workmen than might have been expected under the circumstances.
Even in New Zealand, where the labour problem is less acute than in
older countries, strikes have occurred in connection with public works
contracts, with the result that valuable time has been lost in the
prosecution of the works, much capital has been wasted by works being
kept at a standstill and valuable plant lying idle, and large numbers
of men being for some time unemployed; and considerable bitterness of
feeling has often been engendered. The contract system also gave rise
to sub-contracting, which is worse again; for not only {107} is it
subject to all the drawbacks of the parent system, but by relegating
the conduct of the works to contractors of inferior standing, with
little or no capital, the evil of "sweating" was admitted. Very often,
too, the business people who supplied stores and materials were unable
to obtain payment for them, and not seldom the workmen also failed to
receive the full amount of their wages. The result in some cases was
that, instead of the expenditure proving a great boon to the district
in which the works were situated, as would have been the case if the
contract had been well managed and properly carried out, such contracts
frequently brought disaster in their train. The anomaly of the
principal contractor making a large profit, his sub-contractor being
ruined and his workmen left unpaid, also occasionally presented itself,
and thus the taxpayer who provided the money had the mortification of
seeing one man made rich (who would perhaps take his riches to Europe
or America to enjoy them) and a number of others reduced to poverty, or
in some instances cast upon public charity.... The co-operative system
was designed to overcome these evils, and to enable the work to be let
direct to the workmen, so that they should be able, not only to earn a
fair day's wage for a fair day's work, but also to secure for
themselves the profits which a contractor would have otherwise made on
the undertaking.... The work is valued by the engineer appointed to
have charge of it {108} before it is commenced, and his valuations are
submitted to the Engineer-in-Chief of the Colony for approval. When
approved, they constitute the contract price for the work; but they are
not absolutely unchangeable as in the case of a binding, strictly legal
contract. It frequently happens under an ordinary contract that work
turns out to be more easy of execution than was anticipated, and the
State has to see its contractors making inordinate profits. Sometimes,
on the other hand, works cost more than was expected; but in most cases
of this kind the contractor either becomes a bankrupt, so that the
State has, after all, to pay full value for the work, or, if the
contractor happens to be a moneyed man, he will probably find some
means of getting relieved of a contract, or of obtaining special
consideration for his losses on completion of his work. Under the
co-operative system, if it is found that the workmen are earning
unusually high rates their contracts can be determined, and be re-let
at lower rates, either to the same party of men or to others, as may be
necessary. Similarly, if it is shown, after a fair trial of any work,
that capable workmen are not able to earn reasonable rates upon it, the
prices paid can, with the approval of the Engineer-in-chief, be
increased, so long as the department is satisfied that the work is not
costing more than it would have cost if let by contract at ordinary
fair paying prices.... Another great advantage of {109} co-operation
is that it gives the Government complete control over its expenditure.
Under the old plan, when large contracts were entered into, the
expenditure thereunder was bound to go on, even though, through sudden
depression or other unlooked-for shrinking of the revenue, the
Government would gladly have avoided or postponed the outlay.... Not
only has the Government complete control over the expenditure, but in
the matter of the time within which works are to be completed the
control is much superior to that possessed when the works are in the
hands of a contractor. When once a given time is allowed to a
contractor in which to complete a work, any request to finish it in
less time would at once provoke a demand for extra payment; but under
the co-operative system the Government reserves the right to increase
the numbers employed in any party to any extent considered desirable,
so that if any sudden emergency arises, or an unusually rapid
development in any district takes place, it is quite easy to arrange
for the maximum number possible of men being employed on the works in
hand, with no more loss of time than is required to get the men
together."[3]
It was at first proposed that the men should work in gangs of about
fifty, who should have an equal interest in the contract and make an
equal division of the wages and profits; but experience showed that
large gangs did not work together harmoniously {110} owing to
differences, not only in the temperament of the men, but also in their
abilities as workmen. The labourers solved this difficulty by forming
themselves into small parties composed of men of about equal ability,
with the result that, while some gangs earn higher wages than others,
the weak are not excluded altogether from employment. The co-operative
works have, on the whole, been successful; but it is clear, from the
reports of the surveyors, that constant supervision is necessary, and
that there is considerable dissatisfaction, among unskilled workmen,
with the low rate of their earnings, and, generally, with the
intermittent character of the employment. For the Government have
decided, in order that work may be given to as many as possible and
that settlement may be promoted, that no labourers shall be employed
more than four days in the week. During the remainder of the time, if
they have taken up land in the neighbourhood, they devote themselves to
it; otherwise they are likely to be demoralised by enforced idleness.
The Minister of Public Works attempted to prove that works had been
carried out more economically under the co-operative system, but was
unable to cite cases that were exactly analogous. He showed that the
average number of employes had risen from 788 in 1891-2 to 2,336 in
1895-6, but that, whereas in the former years workmen under the Public
Works Department were twice as numerous as those under the Lands {111}
Department, in the latter the proportion had been more than reversed.
This change must be regarded as satisfactory, as employes under the
Lands Department are, in a large majority of cases, settlers.