Inducements to Settlers

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 190, 8 May 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

Inducements to Settlers

When the various provinces in New Zealand were being settled there w;i.s a certain amov.n. of competition between them in order to .ndtiee settleis to live there, and some ot the inducements wi* find were rather attractive. Auckiand seems to have been by far :he most liberal For a family of adults there was a free grant of 40 acres of land for each adult and 20 for each child: 40 acres were allowed each settler for every servant that he brought out. a sort of compensation or reward for

having introduced him to the colony Officers of the Army and Navy received 400 acres, and soldiers and sailors 60 acres, while warrant officers and sehou; masters were granted 80 aetes. If any person wished to increase his holding he bought at 10/- per acre. In Taranaki Province free grants were given to naval and military officers but otherwise the land was put up for auction. Wellington, we are informed, made m> free g an.s but, "as much was made from the land as possible." Cond tions were somewhat the same in Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, and Marlborough. Canter bury province charged £2 per acre; but a 30-acre grant was made to soldiers wounded in the Crimean War or their widows. Assisted passages were granted to good mechanics, labourers, and domestic servants. Otago and Southland sold land as did Canterbury and no free grants were made. La.er Southland sold land at a fixed price of £1 an acre.—"ll. Maynard” (Wellington).