THE PROPOSED SALE OF LARGE BLOCKS OF LAND.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 95, 4 May 1876, Page 7

THE PROPOSED SALE OF LARGE BLOCKS OF LAND.

In last issue we gave the decision of the Waste Lands Board upon the following applications to purchase large blocks of land under the 49th section of the Goldfields Act of 1866 ;— Mr John Cargill, 10,000 acres on run J 36*9,-and 15,000 acres on run 199 j Mr AP. C. Neill, 13,000 acres on run I ft); Mr Walter Shennan, 22,000. acres , oil run 24? ; Mr Francis Fulton, 3000. acres on run 48 v Mr W. J. M, Larnach for the whole of tlie jland applied ' for by J the apovermentioned . j The Jfollowing report as to the character of the' lands was laid before the Board : —

! Survey Office, ' "'' Dunedin, 22nd -April, 1876; Re Nature of Country cancelled on Runs No. 170, r ! 48, 199, 860; and 247. - 1 /- "A Memo, for Provincial Secretary — :Run No.-iTO.^The^ia^bOO 1 ifcres cancelled on this. run. is a T piece of r very rugged, scrubby country. Jt is bounded on the south by the Beaumont Burn,~-on~ the -west" by "the Clutha jtiver for#uHV sixjaftep, aVo^xte"^-b3ck<Trom th«s Clutha-iriQ bi^dth -vaFying fiora\ two anil a : half to four nail 63 -; ; The 1 countiyi^ intersected, by ; ; several streams,' and, as" thjey and.the .Clutha run : in deep, rocky gorges,' the country is Very broken ] and difiicult 'of 'fiLccWs. I . A, i l ' '"■'■''•' ''.■":-: '. ! It v is ct oiidy; approachable by dray/ al6*ng'tlie' . mountain,, trapk ayaUea~of,~'in former times, heti^etf iuJapekaraM made road^ This .track will, run off and on the back line ofctcdeem{im; tmd'^ulk&p'o^n the access to the remaining-liiOOO^acres of leasehold on the run ? - s r„- „ . . ? 1 Isea^level ' iafjr the' part canSslled! wilfbe from'tOOO to : l(rf6 J ied& .. md of th«<phrt onl^eholdjfrom ;f l2^; r tQ } 3Q(l^j feet. ' " "' ° "'" . j No part of this run can be coriJndei&f agricul^ tu3^hnd,rnnd"j-itajpre«mt.ii&cumstancea the pastoral occuga^onjpaa^ojaly be profitable in |arge *>gfP»-7p t (yp^d* ! In the Gorge dftlae Clutha there is a bush of small extent,*-' which, for the present, is com- i jiletely^mW in by rocky bluffs ; bat, in the «ven&"of-the railway toing extended inland from

Lawrence, it "would Jbei taken up the Clutha Goyge, and the bush would then become very valuable, 'from the ifaefc of ita being* on/this L verge of the great treeless interior of Otago. The bush ought, therefore, to be reserved, aa also a suffi-. cient width alongside the river for road and rail-/ way purposes. Run No. 48.— The 3000 acres cincelled on this run lie in the fork between the Lee Stream and South Rock Creek, and surrpund the homestead of the run: This area calls for no particular description, other than. ib is part of the undulating., grassy country, stretching away bom behind Maungatua to. the heights of Waipori. The altitude of the cancellation above sea level Is from 1400 to 1600 feet. Aa. indicative of the value of this country, it may be mentioned ihat it lies alongside of the Lee Stream Hundred for four miles, which is similar country. The Hundred has been surveyed and open for application for about two' years, but theparfc adjacent to the ; area cancelled has not yet been selected. Run No. 199.— The 15,000 acres" cancelled on this run is high-lying back country, which will be under snow for a considerable time after every winter storrti. The general elevation will be from 2000 to 30^0 feet above the sea level. A referencetothemap will show that this country is s|mply an extension- of the back line of Cargill and Anderson's purchase, nearer to the summits of Pi^elcleughjandjLamtnerlaw, There /is no agricultural land in the block, and the only reserivation requiring to bo seen to, will be the proposed dam site for the miners at Teviot, should it happen to come within the limits of the block.

Run No. 369.— The 10,000 acres cancelled from this run lie north from "Roxburgh, seven or eight miles by the main interior road, which runs through the block for nearly two miles. Between the road and the Clutha River there is of this block 1500 acres of an altitude of 1000 ft. On the west side of road 800 „ of shattered landslip country, altitude 100 to 1600 ft. The balance is mountain slope 7700 „ rising from 1600 to 5000 ft. on the summit of Obelisk Range. 10,000 With the exception of the 1500 acres, about onehalf of which is inferior agricultural land, all ' the .rest is purely pastoral country. In marking off the boundaries of this block, care has beea taken not to impinge on land which settlers (resident iii the districts may have been - looking to as the natural extension of their,, properties. • Thus the country around M'Loughiin's improvements is still left intact up. to the winter snow line, as is also all the road frontage on both sides, extending from M'Loughiin's. to the landslips. The line of the block has been kept well away from the coal reserve at Coal Creek, reported on some time ago by Captain Hutton. Regarding the settlers on the road between Coal Creek - and Roxburgh, it may be mentioned that their back country is no way interfered with. Run No. 277.— The 23,000 acres cancelled on this Run consist of 8000 acres of hard gravelly plain, and 15,000 acres of mountain country. The plain is from 1259 to 1400 feet above sealevel, and the mountainous part rises from ihe3e levels up to the summit ridge, 3150 to 3350 feet. Tne block has a frontage to the Taieri River of four and a half miles, and extends back to the summit of Rough Ridge, a distance of from six to seven miles. This is excellent pastoral country, but it is too hard and dry for agriculture. Even if it were suitable for agriculture, its position away from any market, and lying . many miles off the main road, would preclude profitable cultivation on any scale. The natural destiny of the* "Upper Taieri plain and district, of which the block forms a part, is pasturage, and to this purpose it will be devoted for generations to come. ; JAMBS M'Kerbow, ' Chief Surveyor. Donald.Reid, Esq., Provincial Secretary. Messrs Haggitt and Chapman having addressed the Board for and against the applications being granted,^ ■ - - * A i : Mr Reid said : I move *« That the application be approved, subject to the reservation of such roads as the -Chief Surveyor shall think, necessary. All bush landsyand sUch ! land's (if any) as may, on enquiry, be found to contain any metals or minerals, or which may be required for water-races or sludge channels, or for public, purposes, to be reserved from sale.' A I shall make some further remarks on the subject by-and-bye, hut in' the meantime jt may say I have listened to Mr Chapman's objections very, carefully, ; and have made a note of some of- them. To my mind, all of them go to show that it is eitremly. desirable, on grounds of public policy, to effect the- sale of this block under consideration, to which I shall confine my remarks; : The first point raised is that time should be given to allow of* the matter going uefbre the; public. I do not think that deserves' very much weight. " The fact of this •matter going before- the public will not alter the class of the land or its relative value, norwiiritih any way the decision which I presume the Board \yould give upon the question. If it is nSeant ( by that, th-it^w^ should have an agitationg itation carried on by this large papulation,' to which Mr Chapman refeire, and ! "who live a great way! off from the land/ 1, do not think thatisfi : atiy great T object- , I , agree with Mr 'Chapman that in dealing with the land Tjveibayei to deal with theinterests of the r : Province, : and r not with the interest of any -maallr locality, -We have Jto deal with- the question as a matter of public policy, and with the view v of jloing the greatest-good for the -greatest pumber. * Butif we/took the i course^he suggestsr^if r ,the l laud Were proclaimed j * bpept for sale! 7 in I small allotifie-its Jo-. I tobrfow| and; notice J | — the results.^ would .be that j<~ah odd , j-tatch, Wp^ld r .be'-sOld- : ihere,,ap,d,ther(B, J the c choice, l^S;Lwo7u|d/b^ picked out, knd. r the ■ would; .be; left' a§ 0 a « com_»oriage;; : for; no end .of -time.: ii The [best pieced beitig r picked oii^' no one ! jwould -have theiremaihder. r The effect! , would-be'^that^you* would defeat 7 the . Ipbjtct which I think we ' sltduldaim 'sU

— namely, the conservatiou.of tho, public interest's ;!and I am quite; sura it would nit • result in such' a lar^prfqe^biingl obtained as, by. disposing of the block as fa whole. t A ■ Mr Bastings : ,1 feel bound upon public grounds to oppose the sale of this block , of land. I'• do soAfor7 Tyery many reasons— reasons quite • sufficient for myself j and which occur to me from past experiences in the administration of: the public lands. Mr M'Kerrow reports that this block is; very; rugged country, and totally unfit for settlement as^'ar lis agricultural .purposes are cbn A oernedl But at the same .time there is a. serious matter to be taken into consideration with reference : to this land. I am personally, acquainted ; with 'this, portion of the country,' an*! haye ridcbn many times over, every part ofife.'and I have no hesitation in saying that before very many; years have passed, this very .block of'iahd which^we A&rq asked Wsefl will be ppene^.out % It is very rocky, ''an^iu^yfry'm'ahy'-in-^ stances these .rocksi.ate.7q».art"s.reefs..._We.. only , want capital and cheaper labor to? work a large extent .of auriferpus^coun-* try there. Many of these hills A are* of the same formation as the Blue Spur. On these grounds alone I would consider it highly objectionable to sell a large block of land like this- I may say , that in the. discharge of hiy official capacity I have been a party to the. sale of a large block of land on Mr Logan's, run. It has since been discovered that that land is teeming with gold. -In fact, offers of L4O and LSO per acre, have been made by individuals! for this land, which we, sold for the nominal amount of Ll per acre. It is impossible to say what mineral wealth exists jn. those [large blocks ; and if- we sell them we are r running the country - entirely in the future. It is well, in . speaking of this matter, to allude to the subject as a whole;' although, at a Board like this, it ;is-:oot bright, to introduce any political feeling. . „ 5 Mr Strode ; ; \

Mr Bastings : 1. certainly sympathise. mys.elf with the action ! of ihe Government ih this matter. I have had! to occupy the same position, and any public; man must know that the Government are forced into t this, position, ;Tn! having to provide a large amount of money for public works voted by a public; body. But at the same time, I think it lis a duty we. owe to tte country to tide over this difficulty by other means than selling 1 large blocks of land. = With reference to what Mr Haggitt .has said about justice to the runholder, 1 have contended for many years.that, so. far as runholders are concerned^ they have been in possession of the land at a rent far below its value. I contend that the lands of the Province are let at £190,000 a. year less than .their .proper value. This has been proved by the rents obtained lately, when the runs 4 have been subdivided into smaller runs. If that system were carried out fully, I believe we should have a revenue of £250,000 a-3 r ear. This being the, case, ahd with such a revenue to -be anticipated, I think that it is much better for the public interest that the Government should: wait, and should hesitate 7 to sacrifice the public domain in this manner. While sympathising .with the Government, . I- . think. , it .better, that something else should be! done! to tide over this difficulty rather' than" ruin a young . coun try. capable , of supporting a ; large, population. .' Mr "Reid has Ire-" marked 7. that^ there are hot : many people up' at ' Roxburgh. 1 But what is t : ie cause ? It facilities had - be'enV given -to the people ten years ago to acquire settlement," instead of ! ha Vr! ing small communitiesbf about 500, wei ; would now have a prosperous population there of 9000 or 10,000... At present we have there one. man occupying a frontage tothe main public road of 13 or 14 miles, and you may ride for hours ahd hours without seeing anything but sheep feeding on this land. For the reasons I have mentioned,! feel it my duty conscientiously to. vote against the granting of this application. .■■ -A ; Mr Butterworth:! am entirely opposed to the sale •of large blocks of land, and T oppose this application. 7 Mr Strode :, I, ; am opposed to the application. y. '. Mr Reid : I would like to give a few reasons why the. lloard 7 should not be hasty in coo.ihg toa (lecision. I think! may ask at.thj^ou 1 tsei— «n4 .J presume, it will hbT be taken iii^ an ofjteiisiye¥ens^— that the BoarS ! iii ! coming to a decision ought not to be ■ unduly influenced by talk and rumors O(utside ? .or;by.what!ias been written in 'thie J^ress. , I ami sure the mombersjof the Board will bear me out when I draw attention to the _ntruthfujness of . sojner of .the A statements made ; and I tHink it is.dueV. to mj'self I should do so, as I* am . feoked upon as beings |iere in H a . ; double capacity. lam riot the representative /of Government at ; this Bpard ; ..butLam^a member, of jthe .Goviernment, anil .will now speak on its behalf; >,It has been charged against us, and it has been reiterated from time to time, -that *« e ; have lieen making the most out of the larid,--rthat is to. say, that ,"vve~"have7 been forcing jsales" of town -arid^otlier^ larid ' f or; th»i !sole *pu^Qsfe of ext^ |reyeriue; and J*s "ah,! 'l^stancey it' his 'been'; |sho,wh3hat , a ;great iare!! f or;s^ jtlie' mVhibers rf 6f J tlie j ßom^^ jas Ido that, the sale lof WesG 1 town lands*' |has beeh ; delated : ; ! thatihstead^fhoTdjing theyusual quarterly sales^ we have : ihad no r^ulsur. sales q^ tpwji lands d^r-.

ing the last .eighteen vtoonths^irSorlftng 7ago pTDpcember lastthis-Boardrdecided that the sales of 'town larids^slibiiid^lie advertised and , held j^rt&lv, . * a»r formerly. Again, i 6; has beenlput forward thot we are; sheriff there is a special price put upon land in Hundreds. Xsow, the writers,, of those articles know, or ought.! to' 1 know, 1 ' that the object of putting a'special yalue on. those lands is not to sacrifice them, but to jadopt the only m6ans of conserving' the land andkeepingit really for 'settlement. If that course were not adopted the land would be open in the usual way to the first. : applicant, who. lwouldi sweep it away, no doubt replenishing; the Treasury, but at a sacrifice to the country, I. think the Bqard has even a more important ' function than that which seems to be discharged by saying. " We;are opposed to the sale -of large blqcks^'iand'-'ought togiye'jmore cogent' reasons for its action. This. Board has a iarge power of land' administration. To[ itsj care/is confided c th'e whole 1 of the' ...Waste Lanid J of this Province- arid it is $he bounden duty of this ' Board; which' !it cannot shirk, to -decide ihov? this estate can be best administered in the public interest. , I contend that this estate w ill not . be best administered in the public interest by refusing to grant thd applications now before us. If the desire of the Government was to obtain the largest anaount - from the. land sales, regardless of settlement and the future interests .of the country, .it would be" easy to do so. They know that,! the Provincial Council, during last session, recommended^thatupwarids of 100,000 acres of the best agricultural land in the Province should be proclaimed as Hundieds. These had been proclaimed and surveyed, and all the ' Government would have to do to obtain 1 a (large amount of revenue would be to hold this land ; to make no reserves, to"' re?' commend rid deferred payment block, to jput no special * price upon; /the land* and in v a short time ., we would, have £100,p00 in the , Treasury., But at what cost ? At the cost of the sacrifice of our very limited area of agricultural land. Mr Bastings spoke of the probability of goidminirig, hut that is. only problematical, whereas the evil I refer to) is certain. 7 Those lands- to which I; refer will maintain.a.thriymg and industrious population, in, comfort .for alf time, who would make it a pleasure to pass through the country, if we could conserve the land for them, as we are trying to* do. But the Executi ver Government are in this position ;: The Pro ra vincial Council voted certain, amounts from time to time for certain purposes. It was part of the original scheme for the settiement L 9f]this^rqvincethatprovision for schools and roads should be made ou-; of the land fund. - There wasno other source from which they. could be provided. Unfortunately, as I think, we have gone on adding' to * those objects the maintenance of hospitals; asylums, and numberless other matters, which the public have clamoured to! be constructed and maintained at . the expense of the Government^ and the only source from which the Government can obtain funds for those objects is the land revenue. ! .tTntil th^ ; .provincial; Council^ or some other body, suggested, some other ■ means . for providing for: those wants, the Executive Government must administer the L law as. they ! find itr— they baiist^ tiieet'thOse charges by the sale of waste lands! ' 1 have shewn that, we! hMelLp^QO^cres of land suitable for settlement proclaimed into Hundreds, andsurveyed. /Thequestion now is : Is it better thakwe should dis!pbse of mountain . ranges— rpf purely pastoral land— than ..that we should ; ajlow these Mich- alluvial-,; ; accessible lands-~to which roads and railways are b^ing mader-to pass;iatp7 thehands-bf capitalists. If! the! Board will! look !at; the matter, as •• I . think they 76ught;t°» with a view to 'the future ? interests of the country, . I tjnnk they can come to no other conclusion ..than ;that the! interests of the country wiU . be Tsiacrificed by refusing, toi consent to, the sale of this land. In the administration- of ytfaste lands during the~iast two years the J^ovinpial Gqye7irriment , has done more to promote iorfa' Jide aeitleixieiiii than has^jbMiifdqneby any other Pro)vince ih- TNewTlZealand,. and. certainly, more than was done in the : same time during any previous period in the history'of this Province, i. And it certainly! .riever was expected, that ,ive cpuk^pon- • 7 tinue td" sell these ianblsr ok deferred payments, and at the same time continue tb carry out ,Qur public works . felling, so-tnej j.of o.^r,, lands. fn In asking , the Board to agree to this sale we knew that we werb uridertakihg a great-re-sponsibility. We 'knew 'that it would fye^exc^edin'gly; tjheie wdula 1 uV an ( 6utcry. *-We ■kri'e'wf very well, that the popular crjr weuld be ifai^ed tfrat f w<^ of irfgriciiiturai^ lands*; tbAtKwe •,-were'sacrificing tb^plit"rimony^ofi\Tt:he people, and that-it would be,. beHeved-pyrjthgse who have not the leisure, or do not take the trouble, to inform; themselves of ;the; true state, of affaire, a -But -I' felt -that it Was my dutyy in the position iri which I |m placed, i^[l^m^v^kted from taking this course— -"which: J believe to l^the^onljr^ra lands^whatever migHF : oethe-trou^ileT" JBna-*w¥&e^ odiumr m 1 have arranged aad I have agreed that jthose^mountain pasture lapds should J)e |opened for 'sale wita t&e view ot* saving [land really .fit.for^ settlement, for that ipurpose. Ah'd'm doing bo 1 Wajfe proved -myselftrueitOialhthe principles I have

advocated. ; There! are opponents to this reale of-two or three kinds*.-* -First, there are| those Who oppose 1 It^beqa^e ithe ' Provincial Government are involved iriit, jand a any thing <that /will imalce. ,t|ie Provincial Government distasteful even temporarily to a • small portionof thei community is a godsend to* them A Of course they are few, but they are active ana noisy. /- Then there aire : opponents'.. ■ to the sale who wish to see us forced to that extremity, whioh I;wish"to avert — natnely, the 1 sale; of good .^agricultural larid. They are not so noisy — they are farj from astute. ' s. They are in the community, and I know them very well, and tbe active measures they are taking in this matter. Then, again, there are those — and, they are numerous, .and I • believe sincere — who have not time to inform themselves, who are led away by this 'butcryi^ahd who ddnot enquire. Thjßy are taken by surprise, and the sale of large blocks seems to them to be objectib-aoW'^i^hob^ld'-Kave a meetnig with those. latter, I am sure I could, convince them that the Vale of { those large blocks would be the E salyajioni,of that portion of the community wlio wish to see our agricultural land occupied by farmers, and would accomplish what they, with myself, have most at hearfr-^riamely, that the agricultural: part of this country should. be reserved A and conserved to its. proper purpose. , Having shown to the IJoardr our position, I think it will agree that with the view of conserving ''agricultural larids> ! there is no more legitimate source from which revenue can be obtained for works sanctioned 7 by that? Provincial Council than the sale of rough pastoral lands.. If the . Board refuses this application, they have' rio power to withdraw, the land from sale. Mr Chapman, relies upon- the rW ; aste- Lands AdministrationAct,,T!b,ut" tbat Act was jiot framed ih such a way as to enable the Board to so ..deal with the land. The consent is necessary, and I do not think- the -Superintendent- - will give his consent to the withdrawal of this land. I can assure the Board that this land has not been placed in the market without;,graye and anxious ,de-«-liberation; and" "notwithstanding theselfish and^mproper.m6*livesitfttributed to the Government, it has,- acted r with a view to { doing .whai was 'jthe! very. best, for the interests df'''&e'p^|ii^''SrS_iß'" j Province, froth end to end,* irrespective of locality or district. If the Board; •■ takes it upon itself to prevent the sale of this* land it undertakes a very grave responsibility indceJ. Such action will, , cause many evils. In the first place, one. alternativeis that those good) lands? to which I have referred will be sajriA ficed, and certainly the responsibility., of I this will rest upon those who dppdse* ' the sale now proposed. Assuming' that I those lands are not sacrificed- thepther al- , ternativeis a cessation of the. public works now carriedion, and that at-a time when I fear it may^ cause a temporary embarrassment to the working people of this -p^vincei I am in > a position, where it comes,. ..to myjknowledge that even at this early season oT the year there, is a, lack pf employment*-— far!. . greater this jtear than for many years ' past at this period.^ I. say that before" the months of July arid AugusVare past, unless the. Provincial, .Government are in a position to '^j^'lem^^mi^i^tnere will be an amount of hardship in this? <. Province that has not- existed here atall events for :many -years past? r These-, are matters which I think the Board i bright, 'to .i consider c and ; weighs ;? tM h9ye > at..the r .pjcesent ( ,n9ome^t a jack of school buildings throughout the' 3?ro- ' vince/ arid !^very tfrgerit; ineces^ity rforj providing such, and if. this, sale^ is not agreed jtb we shall be really uhdoin'g all that we have done during the last ! few ;years ; 'in settling^ people j ugpn (l tl|e land. We "have^settled, I rim glad "to say, hundreds tand* hundreds' ofAfamilies^ upon deterred,: pay meirt y Tblocjks, : jjut: to enable them to be .successful, and to maintain themselvesv therei an^d-jineet .|theii" .obligations! to.vt^ they must ha ye' schools i"'an_ roads— without roads they i: can* di nbthirig. .« I daresay- that when->ithe o deferred-pay r.7 ment settlers are unable to carry on, and should tfiey^have= to- abYndbh'-t'lieir land for want ofroads^thqsepeople^who how call themselves*- the friends of settlement, dnd who oppose' 5 the sale,; will exdlatmv~*t ! There's .your^ajfatem' 'oi' de-; ferred payments! I always A said;. -it would, be a failfirel'/i Thosejpeople can-: not prosper without roads, and hq,w:,-are we to provide roads-or-employment for qur surplus. rJ^bqr- .wit^oiit^the^al^of the purpose as the sale of rugged pastjoral lands? If wh&tSL ringed will^iiot inflyenqe the Board, I feel that anything I can VfnW6th4Ve ah? height? b>t" I say;Vthat ji set^iemen%pn;t^ '*^sk- them ! topaiMe befcre!^ agree 5 to the application before tirtwn. The.^xeVufive-liaVb Hib interest? £6 ! a#v s e l the public interest will , be ,pi?ejudijceja ..l|'. we do r nbt <graht r 'thisiapplicatidn, -^rei« tairiirig^bf^u'rs^iTtK-ijl ■rgM^meifo any lands injhe application in the '%kki v kgi-^eral^uetepircq^^^^ the J!( timevot dmSW^imMfal ih can only urgejupomthfeJßoard that they i; hate a^eat : i*es^pbnsibility mtihg^ updnb VAW3 Jkhejquesjap^ j^isg ,put,'|^Bs^s f Strode, Butterworth, and . /Bastings, koted against the applications being granted, Mr Reid alone votingAn favor: pi the sales. --- -■ -