THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1906 THE LANDS REPORT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13693, 8 September 1906, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1906 THE LANDS REPORT.

Seeing that the progress and prosperity of the colony largely depend upon the extent to- which land settlement proceeds,-the annual report of the Department of Lands is always an extremely interesting document. The l-epqrt jiist presented to Parliament, however, possesses an especial interest in thaj; it discloses many particulars extremely vital to the discussion now proceeding in respect to the land policy of the Government, A Government report is not exactly the document in which the reader would look for sentiment, nor does the cold typo of t|ie Government Printing Office lend itself to pathos, but the opening paragraph, containing the stereotyped epistle in which the Under-Secretary for Lands addresses the Hon. Minister of Lands, lays emphasis on the change in the* composition of the Cabinet since the last report was presented, ;jncl 'is reminiscent of the fact that the place so long occupied by the member for Oamaru has been vacated in favour of the member for Mataura. The present report is a comprehensive one, and jij its pages an attempt is mado to review the whole position in so far. as the Crown lancjs of the colony aye concernpd- 'This review takes tlio form of a couple of pertinent questions which every (tudent of the lands question is asked to face at the outset-—'viz.; (a) What, lands hgs the Government of New Zealand left for settlement purposes'! (b) What, steps must be taken to keep up the supply in order to satisfy the ever-increasing' demands for Crown lands? In jeply to the first question, the report dis-

closes the total of all lands available for settlement on April 1, 1906, as amounting' to 3,489,100 acres, tins including lands of evgry description, such as the balances of' estates purchased but not selected and pastoral lands only fit for selection in large areas, in yuns. The report draws attention to the fact, that as by a fccent decision, of the Cabinet 1,000,000 acre? of Crown lands are to be set- aside as an endowment for pducation purposes, besides 500,000 acres for hospital and charitable aid purposes, tjiere are left something undey 2,000,000 acres-pf land of all descriptions availablo under ordinary settlement ppiicjitjpns. In the face of the steady demand for land for settlements, the situation thus divulged is admittedly serious, tp cope with which the report suggests three remedies, or rather methods of proBy a vigorous prosecution of the acquisition of improved lands under the Land for Settlements Act 3; (2) by' the acquisition by purchase of Maori lands at present not profitably employe^; and • (3) by the Maoris themselves opening their lands for settlement, v At first blush jt would appear that- the demand for land for settlements was scarcely so keen as of yore, in that the total liumbcr of new selectors for the past twelve months was slightly less tlian during the previous annual period. The exact figures for 1906 are 2227 selectors aricj 78(,927 acres, .or an aveyage of 353 acres per selection, as against 2357 selectors and 1,047,319 acres, or an average of 424 acres per selection in 1905. But the reason for the decrease will be found, not in any permanent satisfaction of that, land hunger which is the manifestation of health and energy amongst any peoples, but in the comparative scarcity of lands suitable for selection. The record of settlement for the past six years is such as, if continued, is calculated to inspire confidence ju the future of the colony, and forms a glowing tribute to the way ip whiel) the land laws have been administered. Since 1900-1 no fewer than 10,171 persons (estimated with their families to represent some 40,000 souls) ]iave been permanently settled on thp land, and the number of Crown tenants on the books of the Department now totals 23,323 persons (with their families nearly 100,000 souls), who hold under the several systems pf tenure an area pf 17,754,813 acres. Still more encouraging ii; is - tp be assured, on the authority of the Commissioners pf tho various districts, that the settlers

a? a whole are a. prosperous {iiid contented 'community, this prosperity and content, taking the yppy substantial fonii. of tjip improvements placed upon iljoir Jioldings by the settlers themselves. This lisjng the mso, it is obvious how chary any Government should be in substituting a form of tenure expressly (Jesigiied to deprive future tenants, of? tjie' benefits of that optional ' syfitejn, which is at qnce their glpry and thpiv goal. Under the heatl of Pastoral Buns" some information is given, which is of great interest ip Qtngo and Canterbury—viz., a talije -shqwr ing the number pf pastoral runs expiring from year to year.' Tho reason for the publication of this | table is to be found in the pojitipua|ly recurring agitation on the part of a section of the ppmniunity for the. resumption by the Government of these pastoral runs. As the report points out, this agitation is based upon the mistaken assumption that the Government lias power to resume ftny or all of these runs by giving tho present holders twclvp months' notice, whereas the only runs coming under this head are those classed as "Pastoral and Agricultural." All runs classed and leased purely aa " Pastoral" can only he resumed witii the consent; of tho lessees or by Wai ting the falling in of the leases by; .effluxion of time. Thus pf the 22 <t pastoral runs; containing an area of fpur and million acres,, in the Qtago land cjjstript, no leases expjvo until tho, year 1907, and only an inconsiderable area, will be available for resumption until. 1910; whilst the last of the present leases floes not expire lentil 1927., The report points'qut, and with the finding we are perfectly in agreement "The question of the resumption of runs, and the cutting out of'them all the lpw-lying leaving only the comparatively high snpw-covered country to be leased for pastoral purposes, require? to be dealt with very carefiilly, because onpeiands are left or given up by the rug-holder too high or too barren for profitable use,, the question of the rabbit nuisance has to be facet}. It is a s-elf-evjdenfc fact that .whijst persons are without land, and estates liave to be purchased (oftentimes,at a high figure) to meet this continued cry for lanc|,' ib is absolutely necessary that all available land should be'withdrawn from runs for closer settlement purposes and opened for selection. Yet at the same time it is evident thqt every area sp asljpcj to be resumed must be very carefully inspected, and if it is not really fij; foy close either by reason of being, of inferior quality or of high an altjtude' or other ya|ic| or good reasons, then should be left with the ran; in order to incite it workable. It is i»j.peJa? tive |n dealing with runs in high country that a sufficient area of low country be giyen to lessee in ordei' that the higher lands may; be utilised to the best advantage." Despite t||c fact the Government under, the powers conferred upon it, by tho Land for Settlements Act has opened eight additional estates, with a total area of 260,043 acres, during fhe year, tho demand for' Crown lnwl of this quality .'is still far from satisfied. In Qtagp the Greenfield Estate of 22,071 acres has been wholly settled within, the vear, and tho Stpwqrd Settlement of 22,3'1f acres is being opened for settlement. There can be little doubt, that f|ie nigh prices now ruling for daily produce has given considerable impetus to this cjas? of settlement, but there iq a feeling that should at any time a slump in prices set- hi aiul t|ie value pf prodyep bp doprepiatfd the price paid for the land may prove to,o high. There are a number of ojihpr matters in the report to which we shall take occasion to refer at a future jjuf; we cannot, conclude tins brief survey of an important report dealing witii a subject so vital to the future of . the colony without noting one extremely significant point. Mr Barron (the Commissioner of Crown Lands for .tho Ptago district) lias in, his appendix to the report paragraph irj which )ie reviews tho several systems .of tenure. He there records tliat the only form of tenure 1 which shows an increase during the year is the selection unfier the,occupation with right of pip-chase system, and, whilst tho increase is only a, small one, yet, as Mr Barron points out, tho area opened during the year under the optional system has been very small. This statement at once prompts the query: In the event of the Government carrying its present proposals and abolishing the optional system, 1 what effect is the change likely to produce upon the progress of settlement? ■ .