THE HON. W. COPLEY'S MISSION.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7777, 3 February 1891, Page 5

THE HON. W. COPLEY'S MISSION.

A VISITOR FROM SOUTH AITS- ; i •TRMiIA. The Hon. W. Copley, Commissioner of Lands of South Australia, having arrived in Dunedin on Friday night, a representative Ct the Otago Times waited upon him at the Grand Hotel on Saturday. The object of Mr Copley's journey to this colony is to inquire into the working of the special village settlement scheme, introduced by the present Premier (Mr Ballance) when Minister of Lands in the Stout-Vogel Administration, and also to personally visit some of these settlements in Canterbury and Auckland. The system of balloting for land being mentioned, Mr Copley stated that when 'the system of the disposal of land on deferred payment was first carried into operation in South Australia the applications were decided by lot, bat thia was given up for the reason that in faany cases persons lodged a number of applications so as to stand a better chance of success in the ballot, and it was held that such proceedings constituted an abuse of the system. Then the Government introduced a system of auction between the applicants. They received applications up to 1 a certain hour for land that was for disposal, and if there were more than one applicant for a piece of land it was put up to auction between the applicants; but it was found that there was a tendency to ran up land to excessive prices, and the system was abandoned in consequence. Another system that was then tried was one of auction for first choice. Considerable tracts of land, to be disposed of in areas limited to 1000 acres, were opened for 'selection up to a certain date, and were then submitted to auction for first choice. The highest bidder—who, of coarse, made hie bids on the basis of 1090 acres—had the right of first choice of 1000 acres, which bad to be selected Iα one piece, ib not being permitted to tha successful competitor to pick a block here and a block there to make up his thousand acres. That system proved uosatisfac tory, for lit very often happened that bidders ran one another up for first choice, while at the same time they were not bidding for the same land, one man's choice, as is readily imaginable, not always being another's...; The latest system of the disposal of land adopted in South Australia is one which has been in vogue for about two years, and resembles in many respects the system that obtains in New Zealand. Mr Copley calls it the Land Board System, for the purpose of which the colony was divided into five land districts, each having its land board. At first the several boards consisted of three local residents appointed by the Government and two members of the citil service, but under a Land Act passed last cession, the number, was reduced to three, two of them being local members and the third an officer of the civil service. That is the gystem now in operation. The Boards are empowered to receive applications for land under lease with the right to purchase or under perpetual lease; and, as to revaluation, if a holder thinks that his land i? too dear, the Boards have the power to recommend reductions, and the Commissioner is practically guided by the advice of the Boards. The foregoing conditions apply to agricultural land, and the pastoral leases are. Mr Copley states,submitted to public auction, as in this colony, with upsets placed upon them. Mr Copley lef c for Timaru yesterday morning.