THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1893.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9904, 24 November 1893, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1893.

It is certainly a good deal too soon for , the friends of the Government to plume themselves on the sale of the Cheviot estate as a success. Of the 84,000 acres, some 12,500 acres were offered under the perpetual lease system, 1580 for village homesteads, 2500 acres as grazing runs, 12,000 for cash sale, and the house and 5000 acres for cash sale also. Now, speaking generally we may say that the whole of the leasehold offered and none of the freehold land has been disposed of, for of the 17,000 acres offered for actual sale only a miserable 1266 acres were sold. Making every possible allowance for the reasonable preference given by men of little capital to the leasehold system of tenure, we cannot but think that the absolute neglect of the freehold by intending settlers requires to' be especially accounted for. Admitting at once that leaseholds are growing in favour, and that a perpetual lease is practically as good as a freehold, we cannot but think that the refusal to buy outright for cash is a sign that the upsets are too high. Looking at the past history of Crown tenants, we find that from time to time there have been reductions in rent made of a more or less reasonable kind, but that no serious effort has ever been made to make any allowance to those who have bought their land outright and paid down their hard cash for it. Intending settlers|are, we^believe, very considerably influenced in their selection of tenure by the fact that Government has always hitherto been proved to be an easy landlord, has always given way in bad seasons, allowed percentage reductions in rent or capitalisation of overdue rent, but has never proposed, hardly even been asked to concede, a proportion of the cash sum paid for the purchase of a freehold. Men, therefore, to a very large extent do, we believe, undertake to j>ay a much higher rent than they would pay if the capital on which the rent is reckoned at 5 per cent, had to be paid in full at | once. For instance, applicants will be found in scores to pay Is 6d per acre per annum rent, not one of whom will give 30s per acre for the freehold. It is true, of course, that rent to Government is payable six months in advance, so that the actual loss of rent, if the tenant determines to give up his holding, may not come to much. Still our contention is that it is. not fair to say that the upset value per acre is fixed at a moderate and obtainable sum because plenty of peop]e can be found to pay an annual 5 per cent, on that sum by way of rent. In order to establish the fact of the cash value (and Government paid cash) of the Cheviot estate, we must either find that intending settlers will give that sum down in cash, or on the other hand we have to wait and see what proportion of tenants settle, build, and pay up their rent for five or seven years. As there were practically no cash buyers, or at any rate so few as not to establish a stable market price, it is still impossible to determine the cash value of Cheviot with any accuracy. It may be concluded, indeed, that there are plenty of people wanting land at their own price, but this does not assist us in discovering what sort of bargain the Cheviot purchase really is. Further, we do not pay any attention at all to the fact that the few acres sold in township sections realised very good prices. These were wholly" speculative purchases, and will prove advantageous or not, just as the farmers succeed or not with the rural Land. It is indeed a wonderful thing to see how the average New Zealander will buy a township section almost anywhere at an original sale. The .£2O or £30 is neither here nor there, they say, and it may turn out a good tiling some day. This sort of general sentiment has outlived all experience and produced its usual results at the Cheviot sale. But it is in no sense of the word settlement, nor even an index of settlement.

But while noting the above facts, we | do not desire to pose as prophets of: j evil. The purchase is completed, and '• we shall have to wait for some years before we can say positively whether the bargain was a good or a bad bargain. The valuations on which Government acted may have been of such a kind as to justify the purchase, but reports and valuations often prove fallacious when brought to the test in the open market. All that we are at present concerned to note is that so far the sale has been anything but a success, and that results go far to show that a recent correspondent was quite justified in declaring the upsets so high as to be practically prohibitive. Already experience has shown that farmers will not buy at the prices asked, although a considerable number of people want land for settlement. It is of course understood that the number of applications put in by no means shows the number of real applicants, because it is usual for each man to put in several applications — sometimes seven or eight — with a view to increasing his chance in the ballot. Making every possible allowance for this fact, however, it is still plain that there is a considerable demand for land for settlement on leasehold tenure providing rents are not too high. This is the only fact ascertained by the abortive sale referred to. To refer with satisfaction to the Cheviot sale, as did the Minister for Lands and a portion of the Ministerial press, is nothing less than amazing impudence. The rural land may be sold, probably will be sold, by-and-bye, when the upsets are largely reduced— reduced, we fear, to an extent which will leave a terrible gap between cost price and selling price. Probably the wisest course to be pursued is to make such reduction at once and force on sales, for already it is said that the sum of £40,000 has been either expended or contracted to be expended on roads and bridges to open tip the land, and if this outlay is to be recouped it can only be by settling people on the land. There can be no doubt that there would be a gain to the State in getting a population settled on this country. This would be the one redeeming feature in the whole transaction, and without this is quickly effected the Cheviot purchase will pi'ove a perfect fiasco. When the estate is really lonafide settled it will be quite time t.o congratulate the Ministerial party.