The Press. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 20, 1888.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7158, 20 September 1888, Page 4

The Press. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 20, 1888.

\Yhw the Land Acts Amendment Bill was before Parliament we gave ;a brief outline of its principal provisions. We have now before us the Act as it hag passed both Houses of the Legislature, and as some of its clauses are of considerable interest to our readera, ~*e propose to give a short summary of the measure aa it now stands. Clause 2.- enacts that in

future no dedication 1 6r grant of a right-of-way by user shall be preserved or allowed against the Crown or any public body ; ' and clauses 3 and 4 permit the Surveyor-General or any person authorised by him to enter upon land whioh has been, sold for the purpose of making a survey, ot erecting, a trigometncal station: Hitherto we understand such power has been confined to entering upon land which is not in use, and **s. the alteration is m_de•!&<-.-i* piiolio interest, no reasonable objection can be taken to it. Then follow a number of clauses having for their object the removal of difficulties and slight anomalies in 'i the existing laws discovered in the" course of the last few' months. For example, it has been found desirable to assimilate all payments fot land, and it is now provided that onefifth of the purchase money shall be payable for land purchased for cash at auction, instead of one-fourth, as provided in the Act. of 18.85. We now come to a clause of some interest to local bodies entitled to receive a portion of the land revenue. It provides that every receiver of land revenue shall pay into a deposit account the aliquot parts of all rents and purchase ; moneys for land which, under" any law for the time icing in foreej Jare made payable to a local authority. On the first day^ol/February, May, August, and November, on the certificate of the Commissioner of Crown Lands that he has approved pf.the works upon yftiiqb the money is intended to be spent, the Receiver of Land Revenue is directed to pa,y -jfhe money dwet to the loqalbpdy. It,has been pointed out that under the existing, (feystem , ranch inconveoience has been' experienced by looal bodies owing to the delays occurring in the handing'over of the land feyenjie to the: localities ; but this, will be obviated in future.- Then follow clauses affecting persons who have taken up ! swamp lauds under the perpetual lease clauses of th> Act, Hitherto tb.o law enabled the Government to dispense with • residence v under certain witlx regard to ,bus.h lands,, biit no such privilege was extended to the perpetual lease settlers. This has beeu ; Altered, . and .the Boards can now dispense with' personal residence on swamp latids in, the sajjae manner as on bush lands. Another clause framed in the : san*te spirit deals witji deferred-payment selectors. Up till, now deferred-payment selectors coujd only hold 320 acres .: of. land, while the holder of a,perpetual;lease could occupy- 640 acres; Now 1 had thej-e been ; a 'real distinction between theutwQ classes ot holders, there might have been some excuse for continuing the system. But no such distinction exists. . The holder of a "perpetual lease "has a ''purchasing'clause "in his agreement; and in nine cases out of ten it may be taken' for granted that the power of purchase wilt be exercised when the time arrives for doing so. Hence the expediency • of doing away with the distinction, and placing both classes of holders on an equality. Clauses 12 and 13 deal; with right of exchanging one class.of tenure for another. The firsfr-arned clause sets forth the fl4der which a perpetual lease may be exchanged for a deferred payment v license, and the other clause* limits the privilege' of exchange. It will be remembered; that under the ; administration of the late Government the waste lands of the Crown were parcelled out into blocks the tenure of which was fixed. 'Asettler had ponsequently either to ( take up land on the terms laid dawn .by the Government, or be had to go without it. When the present Government amended the law it was ,'thought i expedient to allow settlers to reconsider their tenure by leaving it open to them to the tenure under whioh they, held for one which they might regard with more: approval. In other words, it was thought advisable to place settlers in the same position as those taking, up land under the new l&w, by giving them the privilege of selecting; their tenure.. As .the l*w stpqd %heie waa vto prevent a selector from contiiiuaUy ohanging his tenure, and it would obviously be most undesirable, that this should be going on. It is accordingly provided that no exchange • shall be allowed in respect pi any ' land required after the passing of the Adt of last session; and as regards land taken up before that date one exchange only i_to.be permitted. The justice Of -such a provision will be generally admitted. It allows of every Belectpr> making ai choice of his title, but" it guards against continual and expensive i-tar&tioafc There are several other clauses, which , need not be discussed here, a_ they apply to other parts of the colony. There is, however, one part of the Act which we baye left untouched io, tbe abomwimarks; v&j tiian figaUng wifilc pastoral 1-U-.-L-L. \V c* xl_m_4_L _*c___*ct_l--r_ i* point out *._--V"fc tliis c_aestion is one .of gre AUl t« o_*lji Jill ' and we hope to be able to show that, the legislation on the subiect js likely. te - prove beneficial both' to the Government and theoccupiers. >.; As . our t "eadersw aware the" runs in/this provincial dvi- 1 trict fall in in May, 1890. There aw* outside the id fend area, about two million acrW of' pastoral land to be dealt with, ana*it' is of the utmost importance that every thing should be done to increase the carrying capacity of such country. Clause 9 provides t__t| tM> T G*vei*_<|*| may cause all rural landsi in the colony* j which are wholly or partly suited for i aad or not occupied as run% to beclaasified int*x-' j(l) Pastoral lands, being IWaU *»fct

i_o_*a_-_usively for pasturage, and not capable of ~ being used with ;pis**fit? in .areas of less than 5000 ■ _-res.*--^(_)**Pastoral lands, as aforesaid, lebut suitable:, fo| sub-division as small <-■■-__ intoKaiea_-_ot •'etceeding 5000 acres; aud (3) pastoral-agricultural "lands, being lands adapted , in. p a, "t tor pasturage and in part _ou /agricultural purposes, but suitable for sub-division into areas not exceeding 5000 acres. After the classification has been effected the.lands are to be disposed of as follows:-—The purely pastoral lands in areas exceeding 5000 acres may be disposed of for occupation as runs for terpi? of;.. years "certain," but not exceeding twenty-one*y ears in any case. The runshave to be disposed of by auction, under the provisions of the Act of 1885 with reference to the sale of runs, contained in Part VI. of the Act. "The second ;c}asß of pastoral lauds mentioned above, the pastoral lauds in areas hot "exceeding 5000 acres, may be dealt with under the same provisions of the Act of 1885 as the first-named class, the difference being that there is no stipulation as to. a fixed tenure. The, .pastoral-agricultural lands, ou the other hand, may be disposed of under "the Acts in auoh manner as the Governor shall from "time to time appoint by notification in/tj-he Gajettf. These <... provisions, it appears to us, are calculated to bring great benefits to the country at large. The holders of purely pastoral licenses will be placed in a position to improve the carrying capacity of their runs. They will'take an interest iv their holdings, and' to make the most of them for.the future. On the other hand, nothing will have been done to shut up the country against settlement, while an 'opening will-have Tjeen given, to small capitalists to take up pastoral-agri-cultural lands on advantageous terms.