LEADING FEATURES OF THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 193 
successful, for it has been shown that it met the require- 
ments of the country remarkably well. 
(iti) The Present Land Tenure System—The most 
recent land tenure system is fundamentally opposed to 
the spirit of the original, ‘1 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, 
ete., all of which invariably increase the price of land. 
G 
