SALE PRICE OF CROWN LAND IN NEW ZEALAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 141, 17 September 1853, Page 8

SALE PRICE OF CROWN LAND IN NEW ZEALAND.

The following is an exposition of the system on which the Government of New Zealand bases its new regulations for the sale of the Crown Lands in that colony. The Empire remarks that the principal feature of the new Land Regulations is the opening of the territorial lands of the colony to all purchasers. The auction plan is not followed, except in cases where, competition being- likely to arise, it is desirable to obtain the highest price for the allotments. In ordinary cases the sections of not less than 40 acres of good arable land are offered at a fixed price of 10s. an acre ; whereas blocks of hilly land, unfit for cultivation, are offered at ss. an acre from 60 to 140 acres in extent. No undue preference will be shown to any one applicant, and the advantages of wood and water will be as equally distributed, as possible. The only important objection is that it has been so long deferred to the older colonists, and reserved for a time when the enriched diggers from the neighbouring colonies could come over

and possess those lands to which they had a superior claim. It was, however, successfully urged in reply, that the country must be greatly benefitted by an influx of population, as the most disastrous occurrences hud lately arisen from its Want in the scarcity and dearness of meat. It would appear from this account of the matter, that it is not only the mountainous tracts or the low swampy lands that are to be disposed of at 10s. an acre," but actually, in ordinary cases, good arable land, and in sections of not less than 40 acres. It may be presumed, therefore, that the boundaries outside of which the price of land is to be 10s. per acre are simply the limits of suburban localities, and that the general price of country lands is to be 10s. per acre. A difference of 10s* per acre, or* 50 per cent., 4 being thus established between the prices of country lands in the colony of New Zealand and the existing minimum prices of £1 per acre in the Australian colonies, especially when the latter price is really obtainable, and, in South Australia at any rate, is generally exceeded at the public sales by from SO to 50 (per cent., it cannot fail to be suspected that there must be some disadvantage or other attaching to the New Zealand Land to render such a marked disparity necessary or intelligible. Either the j difficulty, on account of the charac, ter of the country, of forming roads or providing facilities of inter-communication, or the nature of the original vegetation, which may necessitate a considerable average outlay to clear the ground, and render it fit for cultivation, or some other general circumstance of an unfavourable kind, must be presupposed, to account for the New .Zealand lands being offered at 50: per cent less than the lowest price freely given for surveyed land in this colony. All is not gold that glitters. The temptation, which an unexplained difference of 10s. per acre may present to the unenquiring and precipitate among intending emigrants, may lead thousands who yield to it into bitter regrets and disappointments. The minimum price of £l per acre was expected to allow of a constant supply of imported labour sufficient for the cultivation of the purchased lands in these colonies. The fixing of any less price must at the same time diminish in exact proportion the quantity of labour procurable by passage paid immigration, and render, a large portion of that lesser quantity of labour unavailable the sooner, both on account of the higher rate of wages that must prevail, which would make independence of quicker attainment, and on account of the greater readiness with which labourers would be able to become proprietors when the lands are sold at half-price.

The abandonment of the system of sale by auction, and the substitution of priority of claim and selection, is an innovation which is likely to produce undesirable results. The assurance given that "no undue preference will be shown to any one applicant,'' is a significant intimation enough that there is a natural tendency in the system to afford opportunity for undue preference being given. The fairest plan, both as respects public and private interests, is un^doubtedly that which prevails in this colony, viz. that no Government land shall be purchased without its being first exposed to public competition ; and that if not purchased at the open sale, the first applicant thereafter shall be entitled to claim the section at the upset price. By this arrangement the land is likely to realize its fair value, whatever it may be in advance of the upset price. But such'would not be the case if the auction system be abolished, and individuals may have the pick of the lands at a fixed price per acre. Whether one uniform price is to continue in the Australian colonies generally, or whether, each colony will fix different minimum prices, it seems most equitable that the land should first be offered by auction before being claimable by private selection. — Geelong Advertiser.

The Czar and the Emperor of China. —A letter from St. Petersburg, of April 25, says: "There is much talk in the best-informed circles of a secret mission of a Russian envoy* sent.to China overland, and who, it is said, has already arrived at Kiatha, a town belonging jointly to the two Governments. It is confidently reported that the object of his mission is to offer to the sovereign of the celestial empire the aid of Russia for the purpose of quelling the insurrection in his dominions."