THE Otago Daily Times. DUNEDIN, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2201, 24 February 1869, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. DUNEDIN, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24.

The progress of settlement on the golifc fields of Victoria ut tie pm-ent time is. not only striking in itself, but striking in it« peculiar circumstances. Some three or four yearsago, a class of settlors who are now termed ' forty Kecomlere' j sprang into existence under tho 42nd clause'of the Land-Act. Within the last few month*?, their numbers h»ve increased at such a rate as to assume the appearance of 'a I'u'sli,' rather than that of ordinary settlement on the land. Tho mining districts of the colony are now-occupied by permanent settlers instead of migratory diggers; and cultivation is proceeding so rapidly in their liau.de an to change the face of the country. Farms and vineyards with the usual homesteads are now found in places where but a yenr or tiwo ago.unbroken bush met the eyes of the traveller. There is no check to the progress of this settlement j and it is consequently proceeding at a rate which has no parallel in the history of the colonies. Its history is curious, inasmuch as it seems to be the result of accident rather than legislation. The] law permits it, but did not design it. The administrator* of the law have-in-terpreted'the letter of the'statute in such a manner as to suit the exigencies of the case; and they have thus succeeded in •accouiplfhhing an object of great moment to the country. The -i2nd clause, which is now no famous in Victoria, simply authorised the issue of yearly licenses for the occupation of land on proclaimed gold fields, n<it exceeding twenty acres in extent. The demand for licenses became so j great that the supply of available laud soon began to fall short. It was then determined by the Government to ex- , tend the operation of the clause, ho as to include, an area of not more then ten miles from any goldfield; and at the same time to permit four licenses to be held by the sume person, so that eighty | acres might be occupied instead of twenty. Regulation* to this effect were proclaimed--iu • February, 1806.- The demanld.,for licenses became greater than—-ever ; and -the result" -were satisfactory in the extreme. Agricultural settlement began to progress sis it had never progressed before. The Government then rcnolved to exU'iid the 42nd clause still further. On lljik occasion they left the original purport of the clause entirely out of sijjht. They; extended *it in such a manner as to include all lands, not sold or reserved, lying within thirty miles of a goldfield; and they allowed eight licenses instead of four to be h«ld by one person. KegulntioiiH to this efleet were proclaimed on the Ist of October last. When the regulations canae inio force, the rush for" land" was unprecedented in the colonies. The Land Offices in the various districts were besieged by applicants. Some of the be it lands in the colony were included within the . operation of the clause, and offered to Ihe public at a yearly rental of a fow shillings. The issue, of licenses almost assumed the form of-a lottery. The Victorian journals have chronicled from day to day the effects of the wonder "working clause. A series of elaborate sketches, by a special reporter, appeared in late numbers of the Argus, in which the actual operation of the new law was graphically pourtrayed. The practicalresult** are said to be in every way satisfactory. The pastoral tenants have had; little cause of-coinpluint.. The runs have not been r serfou,sly interfered with. ' The squatters haye occasionally been subjected to unnecessary annoyance through persons-taking portions of land near to their 'improvements for the more purpose of extortion.' But this evil haw prevailed to a trifling extent nnly. The character of the. settlement" is almost entirely bona fide. It was objected that the holdings tinder the 42nd clause were too small to produce any beneficial results, and that a class of pauper agriculturists would consequently be created.^" _iTh it* objection is declared to be unfohuded. Such hold iiigsrnay atariy time be nwle large ones by means of transfers. The majority of the forty secouderp may not, have much opportunity of realising fortunes, 'but <as a rulo they are in a position to do ■what for the ' coimtry is a great deal better. ~ . ~ . !' It appears quite as desirable that farm labourers should have homes,*, a* it is that there should bo large and flourishing farms upon which they caii be employed.' It ia noticeable that ihis class of settlerd ha« not joined in the cry for a reduction of rent, raised by tho previous cliisa of selectors. The rental they pay is as follows :-—for any quanHtj'fuhder ten acres, £2 per annum; fnWteri acres to .twenty;' £4'J over twenty, £6 10s; over forty, £1); and from'sixty to eighty, JtU 10s. The writersiitns up the results of his inspection by Baying: * lam compelled to acknowledge that in the districts I have visited, more bowa Jidv settlement has taken placet under..-the .-clause- than by any other means previously adopted, aud the working of the scheme merits almost /unqualified commendation. I may hero mention-that the portions of the colony I have recently visited were all familial* to me from ten to fifteen years ago. Scores of times I have ridden over the .ground before thera was an acre of it cultivated, save pctfe: .haps a few small plots around tli|; home stationa of the''pastoral tenants, \ and'the change which J now witnessed —prepared as I was to see a very great difference—certainly filled me with astonishment. Then, in going from one place to another, I had to take bearings from nome mountain, or other well-defined landmark in the distance ; now, the traveller i» compelled either to keep the high or avail himself of the slip- panels in the farmers' fences.'i ....-', .' 'I i. ~- -: •■' ■■ ■ ■■- '■