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IMPROVED SMALL HOLDINGS BILL.
DISCUSSION IN PARLIAMENT.
The debate on the motion for the second
reading of the Improved Small Holdings
Bill was resumed in the Legislative Assem
bly last night.
Mr. Prendergast stated that the bill was
of a kind that was urgently desired, but lie
considered the statement in the preamble
to the effect that men must earn only half
a living off the ground taken up by them,
and look for employment elsewhere in the
locality for the other half, was misleading.
Reference hnd been made to the unsuita-
bility of the ground on which village set
tlers had been placed previously. That
was practically the case at Kooweerup,
where, after the ground was cleared, floods
in successive years removed from 1 foot to
18 inches of soil at each visitation, exposing
layers of stumps that had to be removed,
and at length bared a stratum of peaty
soil, every bit of which might have been
burnt. It required years of labor in soma
instances on the part of men who had 10
or 20 acres to get even 2 acres into such cul
tivation as was requisite to enable people
to keep their families. The swamp was no
doubt made fertile now. At Dandenong
the village settlement was put on land
11 ither?i ,vcre from u'ght to fifteen
trees to the acre, as well as sap
lings and a thick undergrowth. Jt
took some of the men two or three
years to clear two or three aeres.
lo place men on that class of land and ex-
pct ,K?o« results was an absurditv. Under
the Village .Settlement Act a considerable
proportion of men had succeeded. 'At
.Kooweerup they had worked hard in the
drams for 10/ a week, giving good labor to
the Government, and some of them had
now reached a position that enabled them
to withdraw from the labor market. Some
o£ these men were worth £1000 or £2000.
lhe Minister of Lands: I went up there,
and found that the strongest opponents of
tlie Labor party were these very men. Thev
were afraid, of a land tax.
Mr. l'rendci-gast said a number of them
were, attached to the Iabor leagues, and
had written to him in support of a land
tax. Vast experience showed that the men
now>» walking the streets of Melbourne
would make good settlers, and the only
way out of the present unemployed diffi
culty was to put them on the land. This
measure was a non-party one, but he
thought the Government might give the
tenure advocated by the Opposition a trial
alongside their own. Closer settlement
should be promoted as much as possible.
The. most urgent need was tlie power of
compulsory purchase. It had not been
possible to get land at the price, place .and
time at winch it could have been obtained
had tlie Government, possessed powers of
eoinpulsory purchase. The Minister of
Lands had indicated in his speeches that
he believed in compulsory purehuse as it
existed in New Zealand.
The Minister of Lands: Not as it exists
in New Zealand. 1 want to improve the
New Zealand lines, in order to protect the
Treasury.
_ Mr. 1 rendergast: The compulsory clause
New Zealand had enabled them to get
land for settlement at 33 or 35 per cent,
less than was paid for a similar class of
land m Victoria. They should have pow
ers of compulsory purchase in order to en
able them, to purchase land where and
when required, instead of taking it only
where it was offered, because the price was
reasonable. It" such power had existed he
did not think that the Overncwton Estate
would have been bought, although it was not
a very bad purchase under the present sys
tem. The Government should possess power
to obtain land in suitable districts immedi
ately, and without doing any injustice to
present holders. Clause 7 of the bill pro
vided that the land should be made avail
able in blocks worth up to £150. Under
a previous measure the blocks were to! be
of the value of £200 each. He contended
that it would be better to adopt the latter
as the maximum value, not necessarily
in order that every man should be allotted
a block worth that sum, but so as to al-
lo'iV the Government to go to that value
if deemed advisable. He had' originally
considered that .areas of 5 or 6 acres caeli
would be sufficient, but from the experi
ence of others lie had been satisfied that
larger areas were necessary. The bill
should provide also for perpetual leases,
and the amount to be advanced by the
Government should be increased from
£75,000 to £200,000 ; per annum.
The debate was adjourned till Tuesday
next.
ADJOURNMENT.
At 6.45 i>.tn. the House adjourned till
Tuesday next.
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