THE CROWN LANDS.

Press, Volume XLIII, Issue 6494, 16 July 1886, Page 3

THE CROWN LANDS.

[VBOBT CUB COBBBBrOBX>BMT.3 WELLINGTON, July 14. ? The annual report oa the Crown land* by the was preeeuted to < Parliament to-night. Th* following ara '. th* most important points .—Daring th* year 1909 selectors took up 115,867 acres. A total of ahont 5000 settlers are in the , Booouato of the Department, holding an area of over half-a-million aero* on oon- I ditiaa* of reaidenod end tha improvement oftherjoiL Under the West Coast Settlement Act (North Island), whioh iB administered by the Poblic Trustee, seventy-three settlers took np oa thirty-year leases 8871 acres at aa average rental of Sa 8d per acre, so that for th* year there is a grand ! total of 10SS settlers and 134.130 acres. TJp to 31st March last there was on the West Coast Settlementßeserves 237 lease*. holding 54.28S acres, on a rental of £6896 ' la Gd, on an average of Si lid per acre Th* working of th* system of deferred payments and perpetual Wiag i» attended with a great deal of trouble aad expense, but they have uadoubtedly been th* mean* of spreading the population over tha face of the country to an frrte nt which the system of settling the toad on immediate payments aad without any condition of improvement, could never have effected. One drawback commen to these systems of easy acquirement of land is that they induce some penonato engage in farming before they have sufficient means or experience to successfully cope with the expense and difficulties inwpftrable from the first few years of establianteg a farm. The settlers' difficulties, both in the settiementß and freehold systems, are frequently aggravated by hi* having so much mow land than camtaL Then his energies are often dissipated in the attempt to do too much, ending m a total or partial failure. In the special ••Memento this evil is «< u * td ? d „ b .trictioni, the area for each settler witiua the Kmite of fifty to a hundred and fifty acres on deferred pa^J^e^aad of oneto two hundred acres on V*?** There is the further advantage under toe special settlements, that the P»»fjf the : Iwdis fixedCaad cannot be:»«••***J ; oompetitma. oentested applications being , de<ad*d by tot The deferred P**»eat systorn, iacfediag the four *peoiel r preferredtolai*been toh»«iTß*to^ - duriagto* year by 681 selector*, taking t. up 58 «1 acres. T^la»*dAot.by*ll*w-

tog th* eapitalisatian of tostalmento after thajfirst. jaatvhas fffiffTf d a grnathocra tog interest at 6 per oeuVvharve availed themselves of the provision. This sad the Timi'iay operations of former years of .£68,804. bearing interest at 5 per « e s*" materially diminishes the revenue for the time being. On the other hand it is certain that but for capitalisation many of the settlers would have had to succumb, who by this relief will succeed ia meeting their engagements. It to mainly due to this cause that the sum of the payments in arrear is less now than what it was twelve months age, although the numbers of settlers is greater. An analysis of the arrears shows that they are by ao means formidable. On the fist Mawh last 1625 settlers were in arrears 433,130, or an average of £21 each, but aa the greater part were in arrear only one payment, and these payments are doe six months in advance, it will be seen not to be a very serious matter on perpetual leases. During the year 138 settlers took up 28466 sores on perpetual leases, at a rental of from la to *s 9d per acre ia all. including former years. There are now 328 settlers, holding 81,934 acres oa the perpetual lease. This system ia gradually coming into favor as it becomes known, but the preference with the majority of settlers iB still in favor of the deferred payment system in village and small farm settlements. Sixty-nine settlers have during the year occupied 527 acres, or an average of seven acres and a half each, on conditions of residence and improvements, and seventy-eight settlers have bought for cash 295 sections, varying from a quarter of an acre to thirty acres, the only restriction in theee cash purchases being that no one is allowed to purchase more than one section. Thirtyfive settlers on the homestead system have taken up 5330 -acres: in the. sand dttn trict of Auckland. A block of 2988 acre* has. been open for publication for some months in Southland, but as yet none eligible as selectors have made aplication. Ia January last, the first land on small runs system was offered, when 65,250 acres in runs in the Nenthorn and Strath Taiest districts, Otago, were offered, twenty-four runs comprising 55.739 acres were leased at Bsd per acre, the upset price being 6d. Since then more oountry has Been offered on this system, not only to Otego, but in the Wellington and HawkeY Bay districts, with the result for the colony of sixty-two small grazing runs' covering 104,172 acres, being held on perpetual leaee. An area of 354,763 acres was let during the year in forty runs. It was mostly high back-lying oountry and let at rent* under the average. More recently a few runs in the better oountry of Otago has been re-let at a very considerable advance on the upset prioe., This, however, can hardly be taken ss an indication of the paying nature of runholding at present, for there were exceptional circumstances in the caees referred to which induced competition at the auction sales.