x LAND AND THE LAND LAWS 99 



earnest and sustained effort to meet a difficult problem, 

 i.e., how to regain possession of land which has fallen 

 into what are held to be the wrong hands. There 

 seem, however, certain unsatisfactory contingencies 

 that are likely to arise. Thus at the end of six 

 months and one day it is obvious that the holder of 

 the licence, if not already in actual occupation, cannot 

 fulfil conditions. At the same time, the Government, 

 having given a two years' licence, cannot regain pos- 

 session. The land, therefore, will lie waste for two years, 

 or the licencee will attempt development confident in 

 the belief that any considerable improvements effected 

 will be a source of such embarrassment to the authorities 

 that they will not dare to enforce a summary eviction. 



With regard to the minimum amount of develop- 

 ment required, no one can reasonably say that it is 

 unnecessarily high ; indeed a desirable or suitable 

 settler could not very well spend less. At the same 

 time, where so large a proportion of land-holders, 

 possibly a majority, have not complied with this con- 

 dition and have failed to do so with impunity, it is not 

 surprising that the condition is usually regarded as 

 somewhat of a dead letter. The majority of settlers 

 would like to see flocks and herds included in the 

 schedule of improvements, and on the face of it the 

 man who keeps 400 head of cattle or 2,000 sheep is 

 a more genuine man than he who puts up some miles 

 of unnecessary fencing. The Government, however, 

 urge that this form of development would lead to 

 abuse and that the same herd of cattle would do duty 

 on many farms. Most of those interested consider 

 this argument unsound. 



The revisal of rent is to the settler the most un- 

 popular proviso in the lease. In their antagonism to 



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