LAND SETTLEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 161, 9 July 1910, Page 9

LAND SETTLEMENT.

/ £ YEAR'S RECORD. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) I WELLINGTON, iFriday. de annual report of the Lands Department presented to the House of ?pnresehtatives to-night shows that dur-1 Zi the year ended March 31, 1910, 2352 persons were settled on. the lands f ITeTV Zealand, and these with their families may be estimated at SOOO souls. The total area opened for all classes of applicants was 2,326,037 acres, and the total area- disposed of 2,431,143. There are at present unde.r survey 1354,048 acres of Crown land and 156,-----g37 acres of native 1-and for settlement Tmder the Native Land Act, 190§. A | schedule is given showing that in Kaw-, jiia County BSI6 acres recently purchased ] from Maori owners are available for settlement. Of this area 2717 acres are under survey, in addition to 12,495 acres binder survey for the JMaori Land Board. | *In Waitomo County 37,748 ' acres are available and 6GOI are under survey. In West Taupo 116,674 acres are available, and 24,500 a-eres will shortly be j taken in hand. In Awakino County j 10.SS1 acres are available, and of this i 4000 acres will be taken in Jiand in the j jpring. The total number of surveyors employed on salary is 86, excluding those employed at contract rates. PThe following table shows the land opened under various tenures for the year 1909-10 to be as follows:— Acres. Auckland 257,583 ■Hawke's Bay 61,174 Taranaki ......... ~. 54,557 Wellington ..... 80,530 Nelson .. * 257,737 Marlborough 86,953 Westland 442,557 Canterbury 34,270 ~ Otago -«... 859,901 Southland 160,756 Total 2,326,037 This total was made up as follows:— Optional system, 152,483 ; ordinary Crown land renewahle lease, 56,946; ' aational endowments renewable lease, 376,242; land for settlement, 92,890; improved farm special settlements, 40,----552; cash by auction, 1424; lease by auction and application, 9011; village allotments, 263; small grazing runs, 299,281; ordinary Crown lands (pasfoxal runs), 373,309; national endowments (pastoral nms), 47,396. On March 31, 1910, the Department tad under survey and being prepared for opening for settlement on area of 1,510,-----685 acres, made up as follows:— '

TEe total selectors for tie year do not equal those of the previous year .by 21, bat the area taken up,- which.,includes .. linia,seleci6S Tinder pastoral Jease, both oteinaij Crown land and national en : dtwmenfc land, totals 2,431,153 acres, or ' 1,514,622 acres in excess of last year. Included in the above' and under the ■ land : for Settlement Act of 1908 and . amendment of 1909, there were 308 selec- ■ tors who 'hare taken amongst them 89,206 acres, against 288 selectors of 95,898 acres last year. At tie close of the year the Grown tenants totalled 26,495, holding 18,722,- - 779 acres and paying an annual rental v of £577,693. The total area- -within the > national endowment amounted to 8,202,----845 acres. The selectors for the past year numbered 615, the area selected being 1,024,537 acres and the amount ■" »f revenue for the year £78,408. A. considerable area of Crown lands in the !Auckland, Taranaki, and Wellington districts, as near the Main Trunk line as possible, was made available, the result leing that 46,792 acres were distributed amongst 258 heads of families.. The total repaid to date on grass seed supplied to settlers is £ 9979. The gross revenue for the year amounted to : !£ 674,907, or £15,893 over the estimated gross revenue, which was set down at .■:■■ !£659,014. This falls short of -last year's receipts by £21,468. The territorial reVenue (£201,257) showed a reduction t>f £22,743. SETmEMENT IN AUCKLAND. The Commissioner of Grown Lands in .; Auckland (Mr. E. C. Gold Smith) states that the demand for Crown land in the district has continued unabated during .ike past year, as is evidenced, by the number of sales and 'ballots -held, viz., 37, and the large total of 5920 applications dealt with. To endeavour to satisfy that demand, the office has put on the --"market, from month to month during the year, a total of 257,573 acres, and all was selected except 19,754 acres. This latter area, however, is exclusive of the five pastoral runs opened, and aggregating 115,000 acres, which, generally speaking, are lands of indifferent quality, and suitable only for men Who had the means to develop them in large areas.' He new legislation, giving preference to landless applicants, and the power ' which exists to examine applicants as to their suitability as selectors, has had a very marked effect in the settlement of the lands. The Land Board has taken a firm stand in the rejection of those who .are not landless, and as a result there has been an increase in the number of applications made, under sections 129 ' and 138 of the Act.* Taking the selectors as a whole; the Met that three times the amount of improvements required have been effected is a sufficient -indication that operations are being conducted on a very extensive Kale in the Far North. _ There has been a considerable increase in dairying operations during the year, and the ready money which it circulates benefits" all classes of the community. ■Cne progress of this industry is specially encouraging in view of the ia-ct that a . great deal of land is not of first class quality. In addition to dairying and general farming, gum-digging and timber work continue to give employment to a »rge section of the population. There are signs everywhere that the attention 1 wnich is being directed to the Far North ra resulting in the general advancement «_taat portion of the land district. Coming further south, but still within j rae operations of the kauri timber and §™ industries, there is similar evidence! 01 activity, and there has been a slight revival in flax production. Considerable '• attention has also been given- to the! development of coal prospects, with very! encouraging results. In connection with "i , ?, tl j nber and gum there is one feature "Well has become more apparent of late, gamely, the demand and attention which

is now given to a class of timber and kauri gum which in former years would not 'have 'been looked at. Timbers which, ■were considered of no marketable -value are now being.milled, and kauri gum collected which would formerly have been left untouched. Since the coining into operation of the Act, there have been 43 applications for purchase of the fee simple. It is diffij cult to understand how the acquisition of j the fee simple on an increased value can .! be a satisfactory financial transaction i when money costs at the very least five per cent, as against four per cent on tho . j lease in perpetuity tenure. During the ! I year there were no objections to the i' valuations made under this system. Reporting on lands for settlements, the Commissioner says that in the previous yeai's report it was stated that Opouriao, Fencourt, and Matamata were the most ' conspicuously successful. This year the ] j settlements at Kangiata, Karapiro, and j j Whitehall can be added to the first three i mentioned, as they have attained a standard which marks them as definitely successful. The Okauia Settlement, which I has always been the least successful of the older settlements, continues to lag, but the infusion of new Wood continues,! and there has been some progress during ! the year. The prospects in the BickeTI staffe are not encouraging. Selwyn Set- | tlement has not yet become an establish|ed success, but the settlers have made j good progress, and the land, with the aid of manure, will no doubt turn out as j well as that in the older settlements.' The balance of the settlements are pro-. gressing satisfactorily, with; the exception of Sewi and Tautari. The Teasdale Settlement (which is the only one of its kind) appears to be serving the purpose i for which it was intended.

Crown Lands. Acres. incklana ... 122,540 Hawfce's Bay 37,618 ffarandki .... 104.750 ■Wellington .. 60,000Kelson ...... 18,873 Marlborongh. 7.1S1 Westlnnd .... — Canterbury ... 5,395 Otigo „ 553,506 Southland .... 19,400 Totals ...— 020,266 Maori Lands Kational {chiefly Endow- lor settlements, ment). Acres. Acres. 73,790 78,100 13,570 18,270 16.S40 37,177 — 18,500 16,110 — 27,150 — 20,000 — 257,323 — — 24,700 424,782 156,837