The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ANN INCORPORATED The Evening New, Morning News, Echo. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1897. EXPERIMENTS IN LAND SETTLEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 228, 1 October 1897, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ANN INCORPORATED The Evening New, Morning News, Echo.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1897. EXPERIMENTS IN LAND SETTLEMENT.

For the causa that Licks assistance, For tho -wrons that needs resistance, For the future, in the distance, And tho gcod that -wo can do.

New Zealand legislators, in their search for a solution of the land question, have given a trial to almost every suggested form of land tenure. Sale for cash, on deferred payment, occupation with the right of purchase, lease in perpetuity, terminable leases, improved farm settlements, village settlements, besides some other forms of tenure are included among" the forms iv which the Crown lands of the colony are now held. It would appear from the report of the Department of Lands and Survey, which has just, been laid before Parliament, that the lands now being disposed of are chiefly brought within three classes— sales for cash, occupation with right of purchase, lease in perpetuity, and pastoral runs. The love of a freehold has made a marked impression on the returns; the large sum of £53,807 was received during the year from exercises of the right of purchase by holders of perpetual leases. The lease in perpetuity is, however, still the most favoured form of tenure, the holdings under that heading last year being 96G of 139,571 acres, as compared with 281 holdings of 59,652 acres taken up for occupation with right of purchase, and 392 holdings of 25,459 acres purchased outright for cash.

The amount of land taken up last year was considerably less than in preceding years. The number of selectors was only 2,173, as against 2,865 in 1596, and 2,547 in 1595. The Surveyor General attributes this decline to the fact that there has been less land of good quality thrown open under the optional clauses of the Act. Excluding the lands acquiredunder the "Lands for Settlement Act," the Crown owns no large areas of first-

lass land available for settlement. 1 ?he report says: "It has been the case t or some years that the lands avail- j ible for selectors consist of rough, i c lilly, forest-dad country, requiring j * arg-e expenditure for clearing- and j a frassing- before any return can be ob- c ained, and which is difficult of ac- "* •ess. Large sums are spent annually n constructing roads to and through c hese lands, but the work is in its na- ! 1 :ure slow, while the amount to be . t lone is enormous. ! c ji While the reports upon the cutting1 j ip of the Cheviot and other estates ! 1 icquired under the "Land Settlements | , Vet " are extremely favourable and ] show that these operations have fully £ •ealized expectations, the general im« pression one gets from the accounts ( riven in the report of some other experiments in land settlement is not x very favourable one. The Special , Settlements Associations which took 1 up land so freely a few years ago have mostly collapsed. In 133 cases, . covering an area of 26,296 acres, the land has been forfeited for non-com-pliance with the conditions. It would seem that a great many persons who embarked in these associations never had any intention of going on the land: they probably hoped to sell their sections at a profit. Others were without, means to sustain the)nselves. In the opinion of the Surveyor-Gen-eral "the chief reason of failure in many of these settlements is due to the want of means and experience on the part of the selectors, which renders them incapable of undertaking the work of pioneer settlers —a work which, in the remote districts, is an arduous one." Some of the settlements, however, are said to have made fair progress. It does not appear either that any decided success can be claimed for the system of sustaining settlers on land with the .grants provided under the Improved Farm Settlements Regulations. There were 115 cases of forfeiture during the year comprising 10,302 acres of land, and the report says: "It is undoubtedly the case that many people took up land under this system not at all in the spirit in which the regulations were intended, bur rather with the view of obtaining employment in the improvement of the lands and concurrent, road works. Therefore directly the employment ceasi«:. even for a time, having no heart in the matter, they mrke default, and their holdings are forfeited. The final result of this forfeiture j is that, as a r.ile, the lands are rr-se-leeteil by those who :m* better able to comply with the law. and who have a better chance of succeeding in the end." It is yet too early, however, to say whether the amount of good really accomplished under this system compensates for the percentage of acknowledged failures. It was inaugurated mainly as a solution for the problem of the unemployed, and the work done upon the land and the formation of roads will, we believe, j be of greater permanent value to the | country than such lomporary relief j works as are often provided to j meet recurring periods of slack- ; ness in the labour market. The Go- j vernment are still continuing the sys- j tern. At the date of last year's report 39 settlements had been formed, covering an area of 63.59T acres. During the year five new settlements were started, the number of selectors being forty-five, and the area allot ed to them 4880 acres. The amounts advanced to the 31st March last were : For houses, £2918 ; for bush-felling: and other works, £33,174; or a total of £36,092, whilst the value of the improvements on the lands was (including the above figures) £49,690. There were at the same date 1229 persons living on the j lands, and the area cleared and in | grass was 9724 acres. The length of roads formed in connection with these settlements was 145J miles. It cannot be said that a scheme which j can show such substantial results is really a "failure, although in some respects it may have proved disappointing. The Surveyor-General remarks: "It has already been pointed out that | there have been 115 cases of for- ■ feiture in this class of settlement for default of the conditions of residence and improvement, and the reasons have been indicated. It is much too soon to say what will be the ultimate I success, but from the indications at present it is clear that amongst those | who have taken up the lands there are a large number who evidently intend to settle down, and will do their best to make permanent homes for themselves. The system has been the means of withdrawing from the ranks of the unemployed a considerable number of people who probably for the first time in their lives, experience some hope of becoming landowners. It is cheering to behold in some of these settlements what has been done, as, for instance, in the Whanga-momona Valley, in inland Taranaki, where a continuous strip of settlement now extends for some ten miles along the main road-line, with a varying width of- grass land that two years ago was wild unknown forest. Comfortable looking cottages have been erected, and others are in course of building, while patches of cultivation and gardens here and there indicate that many of the settlers intend to give the system a fair trial. With a little assistance on the road works, and where the settlements are judiciously situated amongst larger holdings, there is no reason why this class of settlement should not be a success. The scheme itself is one of the most liberal ever tried in this country, or perhaps in any other. Success must depend

largely on the efforts of the people themselves. Notwithstanding the j

difficulties due to remoteness and other inherent drawbacks, they certainly commence under more favourable conditions than large numbers of the early settlers in this country who have, made successful careers."

Coming now to the acquisition and cutting up of private estates, acquired by negotiation or compulsory landtaking, we find that as a whole these operations have turned out very satisfactorily indeed. The Cheviot Estate, once the possession of one great magnate, is now held by 213 persons, and has a population of 930 souls, who have made, improvements to the amount of £47,295. The estate is not merely paying the interest on its purchase, but is contributing towards the liquidation of the capital cost at a rate which will recoup the whole amount in 52 years. With respect to the 33 other estates acquired under the Land for Settlements Act, the report shows that the number of selectors upon them, exclusive of forfeitures, is 771, and the population 1,051 souls, 220 houses have been built and other improvements effected to the value of £44,448. The cost of the 36 estates was £541,213, and the annual rental yielded by the estates that have ben opened to the public is equal to 4.99 per cent, on their total cost, exclusive of 4,424 acres of land still unlet. Reckoning the revenue which may be expected from these sections, the estates are yielding 5.2 per cent, on their cost, an amount which it is fairly claimed leaves a "fair margin for rent in arrears and forfeitures." These experiments are invested with a world-wide interest. The experience gained from them will not only prove of great value to Xew Zealand legislators but will serve as a guide for other countries which have to deal with similar problems. Against the exaggerated assertions of failure that are made with respect to the alleged indifferent results from the subdivision of Pomahaka estate we can set the general success which is represented by the figures we have quoted with regard to the whole of the estates purchased and cut up by the Government —results which, we do not hesitate to say, reflect the very highest credit upon the Minister of Lands and the other members of the Land Purchase Board upon whom has devolved the difficult duty of carrying out this important branch of the Government policy.