THE KUROW LAND SALE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1355, 30 September 1886, Page 3

THE KUROW LAND SALE.

la an article on the subject of the Karow land sale, referred to in oar lead* ini; column in a lata issue the Oatnaru Mail aaya :—“ It will be seen that only one tithe of those who applied for the land, and who, we are able to say, sadly wanted it, achieved their object. Thirty or forty persona—many of them residents of the district—have, therefore, been thwarted in their laudable desire to become permanent settlers to their own advantage and to the benefit of the whole community. There la no reason whatever why these people should not have been afforded an opportunity of securing land in the Karow district, and that on the self-same ran from which the land jest sold was taken. From what we can learn from experts resident in the district, there is still a large area of good agricultural land on the run—the Island Block (2000 acres), for instance—and the tamslnder could advantageously be eat ■p into areas of from 610 ta 1100 acres (or. pastoral purposes. There may be ■ome doubt on three points, bat no hsrm eonld be done by having them settled by expert investigation. Nothing coujd be mote depretsng to persons desirous of settling than that they should, after having waited anxiously for years to acquire land in this district, meet with such disappointment ss thst which has just attended endeavors to get sections. Such experience is enough to drive men from the colony to seek land elsewhere where land admiri>tratlcn is more rational and prices more reasonable, and it U certainly driving men from this district Talking of prices of land reminds ns of the extraotdinaiy rates that were paid for the sections recently sold. The upset prices fix*d on the sections were £1 6s and £1 10s respe.tively per acre. At these rates the total receipis from t'le ssle ef the nine sections at Knrow would have been £l4Ol. B>t the prices realised ranged from £2 8s 7d to £5 la rer acre, and-the total receipts were £3838 15i Id. me Government therefore, by restricting the' supply of land, and through the tendor system, squeezed out of persons who are anything bat wealthy the sum of £1937 in excess cf tbe actual worth of their purchase for cultivation, as computed by Government valuation ; or an average of upwards of £2OO from each person. We hold that the Government are not entitled to this excers, and that their realisation of it cannot be excused on the ■core that it is a result inseparable from the disposal of land. Where there la eompetit : on for a section a decision as to who should be declared rightfully entitled to it might be simply and equitably arrived at by bsilot, and the successful applicant would get his land at what it was considered by an expert to be intrinsically worth. The tender system of settling who of a number of applicants is to have a section is in no respect more equitable than tbe ballot. It la just as much a game of chance—a mere lottery—which possesses the serious demerit of encouraging men togamblecreatea dissatisfaction and often rnia, and arrests advantageous settlement and colonial progress. A Government should scorn to Imitate the acts of private individuals, who have ho other object in view in disposing of their property than to reap the greatest possible advantage. The day ia not far off when It will be marvelled that, in a young country, the prosperity of which depended upon affording the people unrestricted facilities for settling on the land, Government after Government, whilst professing anxiety to make the necessary provision for this one thing needful, acted as though draining the pockets cf straggling colonists was of far greater moment.