LEADING FEATURES OF THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 193 



successful, for it has been shown that it met the require- 

 ments of the country remarkably well. 



(iii) The Present Land Tenure System. The most 

 recent land tenure system is fundamentally opposed to 

 the spirit of the original, in that it makes provision for 

 the tenant to purchase the land at will within 25 years. 

 Any time after six years of occupation the tenant can 

 purchase the land and acquire the right of freehold; 

 whereas, under the original plan, the Crown retained 

 the land, and thus ultimately acquired the unearned 

 increment which the State now forfeits to the individual.* 

 The general prosperity during the last two decades has 

 pervaded the agricultural community no less than other 

 sections, and most of the tenants under the old system 

 are now in a position to command the freehold. With 

 much land still unsettled in outlying districts, those who 

 were anxious for the freehold would have been stimu- 

 lated to purchase such areas when holdings could not be 

 purchased from the Crown. To the Government, at 

 present, is left the duty of settling this land under the 

 thirty years' lease system, with the right of purchase, 

 and in so far as activity is shown on these lands there 

 is no doubt about the beneficial results of our present 

 land system. But where the tendency is for the Crown 

 to purchase lands in prosperous communities already 

 well settled, the features of the Act are not so 

 commendable. Many people who would* go to outlying 

 and backward districts to acquire freehold are deterred 

 from doing so by the prospects of obtaining the freehold 

 relatively cheaper in prosperous communities. This 



*Part of this unearned increment, and very often a large 

 part, is due to the enterprise and energy of the farmer. But 

 into it enter other factors to which the farmer has contributed 

 but little. Thus there are railway construction, and better 

 means of communication generally, closer settlement, with a 

 greater demand for the land, the opening up of new markets, 

 etc., all of which invariably increase the price of land. 



G 



