LAND REVENUE FOR THE YEAR.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7357, 9 July 1889, Page 5

LAND REVENUE FOR THE YEAR.

As to the land revenue for the yea*. Jlr Smith reports that the total ol landdsnd territorial revenue amounts to <#HQ,Q6I 16s, whilst that for tie prfiTJonijyear amounted,to I7i 74,timsjaflwing ah increase of &&$?I 5<J, whjebi ia principally due to the larger area of rural lands disposed of thid last year.. Ifc Iβ obvious that so long as perpetual leee&ig reinaine a distinguishing feature -«$ tb'e land posicy, no very great increase Sα $he land fund can take place, whilst the territorial revenue on the other hand will show a constant tendency to expansion. It is quite .within the bounds of possibility that ■ the land fund may * m+ decrease that it will not meet the, expenses of administration and survey, that is so long as the whole coat of both'- 1 services is charged to the one. feud. Properly speaking, a doe proportion of the costs of administration and survey, at land, the proceeds of which are credited, t&te*rifcowal revenue, should be a revenue. Had this course besn,adssed during the period just passeo, a juA of i}17,50Q 10s lid wonldhaje land revenue, making *.total of .4mgJ Is 6d, The land revenue is further reduced by the amount of J85303 scrip exercised in the purchase of land, and which appears in the table as <»3h derived froißtha first-named eource, would have been materially augmented daring the period just passed, but for the increase in the arrears of amounts doe ta the Crown, principally from deferred paymenfe selectors. There ie another cause also which is operating at the present time in *decreasing the revenue of, both fonds, whilst it also is imtting «n effgqfraal stop to settlement over a large, area, of the Sonth Island. About 5,913,200acree are withheld from sale or other dealing, exeepwnff for pastoral «nd mining purpose*, tf» shifl

pDrtanity of securing homesteads therein were not this large territory so tied up that it is impossible for them to" do co. EBSEBVES AND VILLAGE SETTLE. MENTS. During the year there were 868 reserves, containing 80,032 acres, nearly one-half being Primary Education reserves, made in the interests of the public, while 81 ■mail grazing runs, containing 161,652 acres, were taien up, 39 of which were in in the South Island. Under the Tillage settlement ■oheme there were 313 selectors, who absorbed 8029 acres, 143 of them being cash purchasers of village or suburban lots, and who are not bound by law to improve their holdings, whilst the remaining 170 settlers selected their lands under settlement conditions. In Canterbury the 22 settlements there established have 'rom the presence of the necessary con-; ditions, good lands, and the feasibility of obtaining employment in the near vicinity! and good access, been almost self support* ing from the beginning; whilst in othel parts, notably in the North, assittanceja the shape of road work has been a neces? sity from the first, and will continue to be ao for some time longer. During the year 137 runs, of a total area of 1,767,787 acres, have been relet. Ninetyseven of these are in Otago, and most of them are runs relet at reduced rentals. The opportunity has been taken wherever practicable of adjusting the boundaries to a more workable form in accordance with the features or the country. It is recommended that an attempt be made as soon as possible to lease some of the commonages in the South Island in order to secure a more effectual preventive of the rabbit pest, which is daily increasing in magnitude, and is difficult and expensive to deal with under present arrangements. ABKEABS. The total amount of arrears due to th e Crown for rents and instalments on the 31st March hist was .£44,553, an increase of £10,886 over that of the previous jear; whilst the number of selectors with liabilities to the Crown had increased from 2906.t0 8862. This increase, we are told, is in great measure due to the expectation oa the part of the selectors of some relief being afforded them by Parliamentary action, for which indeed they had some warrant in the introduction of the Fair Sent Bill of last session, and is not due entirely to their inability to pay up; a fact which has lately been proved as the result of measures threatened to be taken in the Law Courts to compel payment, when some who had been in arrear for a long time oame forward and paid up all that was due. Whilst there are many cases of undoubted hardship, where selectors have through competition during more favorable times been induced to take up land at prices which are far above those at present ruling, there are also a large number who, out for the depression which has so lately prevailed in all agricultural matters, would have been quite equal to meeting their engagements. Under the more prosperous state of affairs which aeems now to have set in, a large number Of the arrears should be recovered without inflicting hardship on the selectors, whilst at the same time relief can be afforded in many cases by taking advantage of capitalisation or the extension of the Homage in the cases of deferred payment for a further term of four years. By this latter means the deferred payment settler •breads his payments over fourteen instead OS ten years. The Government has ordered a re-valuation of most of the cases where payments were greatly in arrears, and these had proved that a certain measure of relief is demanded, but probably not to so great an extent as is generally supposed.

STATE FOBESTS. Of the state forests department we are told that the efforts of the Department during the last year had been directed more to the preservation of what had already been done than to incurring farther responsibility in the matter. Conoeraing the great fire at the Pnhipuhi Forest in 1887, Mr Smith says this fire destroyed over 75,000,000 ft of fine kauri, all of which is yet available for profitable working if taken in hand soon. Setting on one side the actual monetary loss which may arise therefrom, the sight of this noble forest, burnt, charred and blackened and literally deprived of any green leaf, is one of the most melancholy possible to the lover of sylvan scenes. The ground is strewn thickly with a mass of fallen branches, with here and there a prostrate stem, over which the eye wanders through vistas of magnificent columns in oonntless numbers, whose beautiful symmetry cannot but strike the unobservant. It is in the fallen branches, saturated as they are with kauri resin, that the danger lie* of future fires. Should the forest ignite again the result will be that the trees themselves will burn. The densenessof the forest ia something remarkable. It is not an uncommon thing to find from thirty to forty fine trees to the acre, though of course such a number cannot be taken as an average. The speedy utilisation of tbe Puhipuhi Forest seems to be desirahle on all accounts, for notwithstanding the constant watchfulness of the ranger it is ever open to danger from fire; whilst at the same time the burnt portion is rapidly deteriorating in value through the action of the worm. Its sale would aJ;<> . .table the Government to redeem the j&JOti worth of debentures iasned under the State Forests Act. The lioenses to dig kauri gum within the State forests realised a sum of £254, 105.