KAWHIA LANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11954, 1 May 1902, Page 6

KAWHIA LANDS.

THE HOMESTEAD AND IMPROVED FARM SYSTEMS. e " Ax a meeting of the council of the Auckre land Chamber of Commerce yesterday, a ,r telegram was -read from the Minister for '" Lands intimating the decision of the.Cabi--8 net to open 1100 acres of land in the Ka- ' whia district under the village homesteads * system, and 7000 acres under the improved ;' s farm system. , r The President of the Chamber (Mr. J. H. Upton) said it would be remembered that the Premier's first telegram with reference to the Kawhia lands- recently balloted for stated that the lands were withdrawn to be dealt with as village settlements. That was clearly not the case. ' Now the Government was to open village settlements, but the land for that purpose ' had not yet been surveyed. The surveys were now going on for ' the purpose of . opening village settlements and improved farm settlements. He had made inquiry with regard to these two systems of land settlement. The village homestead system was not the village settlements originally arranged many years ago by Mr. Rolleston, but an enlarged scheme. Under it the Governor-in-Council had power to extend the limit of the selections from 50 to 100 1 acres, so that the settlers might get 100 ' acres. Now, it was absurd to put a. man ' on 100 acres of land in Kawhia. While 3 touring the North he went to the Waima- ; 1 maku settlement. The settlers there were entitled to 50 acres of land. It was not bad land, but very rough, and the 50 acres was absolutely useless. There was . now. he thought, only one oi the original ? settlers there. Alongside it was the Can- [ t terbury settlement, in which there was an ! - extension of holdings up to 640 acres, and i there everyone was prosperous. Now, so i far as he could gather, the Government in--3 tended to repeat the mistake of making f the village settlements in Kawhia of small r area. l Mr. Philson asked if the difference in the condition of the two settlements was due entirely to the size of the selections, or might it not be due to the greater adap- , lability of the Canterbury men. '. The President said he had no doubt it i was due entirely to the difference in area. . Then there were to be 7000 acres opened on the. improved farm system. This was , a similar system, only under it the Go- . vernment advanced money to build a house ; and make, certain improvements. The ; result of that in some cases was that when . the settlor found he could not pay his rent . and interest, the Government forfeited the holding, opened it again tor settlement, and the same settler took it again free of all; charges. (Laughter.) They had only L to .multiply cases of that kind to arrive' . at a most frightful state of things. Though expressing regret at the action , of the Government, the President said he I did not see his way to suggest any action ' by the Chamber, and the matter was allowed to drop. i . —