THE LAND BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13305, 11 October 1906, Page 6

THE LAND BILL.

AUCKLAND AND OTAGO. fur TELEGBA PH.—SPECIAL COF.UESFONDENT.) ; 'Wellington, Wednesday. ■'; }' Touching on the statements that had been made regarding the comparative value oJ land in Auckland and Otago that was held under short-dated leases, the Minister for : Lands'remarked in his speech last night < I that it had been said that those 01 Otago were far less valuable than those of Auckland. The following figures referred to the acreage in pastoral runs, small grazing. „,\ runs, miscellaneous agricultural leases, etc.:, > Auckland, 338,898 acres; Hawk e's Bay, 413,000 acres ;'>-Taranaki, 17,000 acres; , Wellington, 288,000 acres ; Nelson, 331,000 ■• h acres ; Marlborough, I.l6l,oooacres ; West- -? land, 675.000 acres ; Canterbury, '" 3,681 / / acres ; Otago, ? 5,023,000 acres :* Southland,' ?J 1,604,000 ■ acres: v total, ; 13,580,786 ; acres,- - : J : r The rentals compared as follows :—Annual rental of Auckland ; leases, £3467; of ;' *; Otago, £41,576. ■■ The rentals were : thus V almost in proportion to the ; areas. So far as values were concerned, the two pro- / vinces were almost on the same footing. s| That was an answer to the statement of some members that the land.proposals of the Government would press unduly upon Auckland as compared with Otago, by forcing' jhe leasehold upon them. ; In"Otago v there were : 5,023,000 acres rented at '■' < * £41,000. and in Auckland 338,898 acres f *l : > rented at -£3467.' .If they added to "the area in Auckland the whole of the land in ', ;• the" colony that was surveyed but ; ; uneelected, and all that had not ! been surveyed, |hut is all that could possibly be * availed ,of for settlement, they would not have a total area, equal to what there was in Otago . at the present. time. • ; ; - - , ' ,'■ The Jrtouse had a holiday this afternoon, and to-night it played with a number of somewhat unimportant Bills in committee. -vThe Land "Bill, instead of being at the top of the Order, Paper, was No. 7 on the list. It .becomes; more than; ever apparent that the ; House cannot get the Bill through ' : committee before it adjourns at the end of October. lb is stated that a number oi Government, supporters have *■ presented a '" round robin" to the Government asking ",'-. that, the Bill be shelved for this session, and that they regard the reply received as favourable. Anyhow, the Land Bill was *■ allowed to rest for to-day. , , '.[by teleghaph.— ASSOCIATION.] ; .>_ . ■;'.. Wellington, Wednesday. In response to a request the Minister for Lands will' speak on the Land Bill at ' the Hutt to-morrow night. ——— < . A FARMERS' PROTEST. " [by telegbjiph.—-own correspondent.] Pukekohe, Wednesday. A meeting of representative farmers from a wide radius passed the following resolution unanimously this afternoon : :—"That • ' this meeting desires to protest most strongly against the provisions of the Land Bill, and is of opinion that the rinding of the Lands Commission should be , given effect to.'' The: chairmen of the Liberal ' and Labour and Reform Leagues supported the motion.