Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. The Land Laws of Finland
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
After the organisation of the forest administration in
1859 and 1863, the authorities were inclined to
prevent any settlement in the State forests, and to
dispossess the tenants who were already there; this being
the case not only on the forest Crown lands reserved
by the State for timber-growing. When we remember
that formerly there was complete liberty to use and
settle on these lands, we cannot wonder that
complaints were heard and had to be dealt with in the
newly-revived Diet during the sessions of 1863-1864,
1867, and 1872. No fewer than 10,000 persons were,
it was believed, living on these lands, most of the
families residing there without having complied with
the rules about the tax-assessment and so without
acquiring legal right. In 1867, and again in 1872—3,
measures were taken to secure the position of the men
who had really cultivated this land. On the whole,
the existing law, especially the provisions of the Forest
Law of 1886 and of the Colonisation Law of 1892, is
very favourable to the settlers, favouring them indeed
at the expense of the Crown. It is not unlike the
American Homestead Law, which gives grants of land
on the condition of cultivating a small part and paying
an insignificant fee. It has been decided that these
Crown lands which are fit for cultivation shall be
separated from the forest land, surveyed, mapped out,
assessed for taxation, and offered to people who wish
to settle. The settlers are to have an additional
advantage; that for the first fifteen years they are
entirely exempt from taxation, and have to pay only
half taxes for the next five, while they may perhaps
get this exemption extended to forty years. The
taxation is very moderate, being only from two to twelve
Finnish penni (i.e. from a farthing to a penny) per
hectare. In the far north, where the common land
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
