SOUTHLAND LAND BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 1897, 12 June 1890, Page 13

SOUTHLAND LAND BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the board, held on Wednesday, 4th inst., was attended by the Chief Commissioner (Mr J. Speuce), and Messrs T. Denniston, A. Kinross, and C. Cowan. The following applications for land were granted : —For cash: Joseph Rogers, sections 90,91.93,95, and 97 to 103 and 106, Kyre district ; John M. Price, section 108, Kyre district ; Carl Pettersou, sections 19 and 20, block XIX. Ctiatton ; William 1". Nelson, section 15, block 111, Seaward Bush. On deferred payment: Henry Butler, section 47, block 11, Seaward Bush. On perpetual lease: Thomas Watson, section 13, block Vllf, Longwood ; R M'Oracken, aectionß 42 and 43, block H, Seaward Bush ; John O'Neill, sections 6, 7, 8, 13, and 14, block XVI II, Ohatton; Edwin Goldsmith, sections 24 and 25, block IV, Mabel Hundred ; Samuel Paddon, sections 18 and 21, block 111, Waika^a; Isabel F. Paterson, section 88. Byre; Margaret Waldron, section 6, block VII, Makarewa. Deferred payment transfers sanctioned : Section 7, block IV, Mokoreta, from John Livingstone to James Templetou ; section 61, Wairaki, from Guy A Whealler to David Frew. Applications to complete purchase were granted to Charles Collett, Frederick M. Peterson, Angus M'GHlivray and John Wilson (Ohatton), and Andrew Dixon (Hokonui). The board lecommended that Alexander Morrison be granted Jfour heads of water from M'Arthur's creek, Pegasus, Bubjuct to all prior rights ; and that C. F. Suudbtrom be granted eight heads from Miller's creek, Pegaßus. William Tremaiue applied to have the tenure of deferred-payment section 9, block 111, Otama, extended from 10 to 14 years.— Granted. John AnderßOu wrote stating that he had no posBlbie access to hit section 18, block V!, Chatton.— It was decided to grant him a road through the adjoining coal reserve. Louis Zwies applied to lease the chain, reserve running through hia section at Forest Hill to avoid the annoyance caused through person* passing over hit property aud leaving gates open.— Referred to the Survey Department lor report. The license over section 2, block IV, Morley Village, was declared forfeited, on the Ranger reporting that the licensee, M. A. Beard, had not compiled with the aot as regards residence and improvements. Edwin Thomas was granted permission to capitalise sections 20 and 21, block IV, Otara. An application made by P. Sullivan for a grazing right over section 3, block VIII, Makarewa, was refused. John Cameron applied for a lease of the bush reserve at the rear of the late Captain Thomson's land near Otautau.— Referred back to applicaut for further information. John Anderson applied for the section at Greenhills on which Mr Tapper's old mill stands. — Held over. The Gordon Town Clerk notified that many of the holders of deferred-payment sections within the town district had not complied with the conditions. — Referred to the ranger. George Green wrote asking that the conditions of the act be enforced with regard to section BS, block X, Wendon, or that the seetlou b» forfeited ao that it may be taken up by someone else.— Referred to ranger. John Lyttle wrote regarding the transferring of section 18, block XII, Ohatton, from GeorgoDawson to himself. Mr Dawson had now sold his interest in it, and he (the applicant) iuteuded to proceed against him at law. — The Chairman said that abnut two years ago a lottpr had been sent by Mr Lyttlo Btating that Mr Dawson had consented to the transfer ; but the board had waited for the' written c-nsent of the latter. The matter, however, had been attendedjto in a previous letter from him (the ohnirman). James Gardiner wrote asking how to act with regard to a proposal of S. M. Benson, Nifchtcaps, to obtain access to his coal area through his property. — To be recommended to allow Mr Benson to have a right-of-way to get to his property, as it was quite a reasonable request. A naw license was granted to William M'Al'an over section 8, block 111, Otama. G. F, Murdoch wrote offering £5 for the use of 500 acres at Mokomoko for grazing purposes. — Accepted. The transfer of deferred-payment section 4. block 111, Drummond, from Dugald M'Leod to Johu Arthur (Isla Bank) was sanctioned. The Clerk of the Southland County Council again applied for payment of the deferred-payment and perpetual-lease thirds on certain school comnaisBlonerß* land in the Walkaia riding under the administration of the board. In connection with the section in Wendonside, a memo, was read from the Undersecretary informing 'the board that the deduction of 5s was made to reimburse the survey vote ; no provision having been made for payment to the county council for cost of roads. — The Chairman said that the county council apparently thought th*t because these lands were administered by the Land Board the proceeds from them were to be distributed in the same way as those from Crown landß. Such was not the case. The revenue from one was paid into the Treasury, while from the other it was handed over to the school commissioners. — Mr Kiuroßß said that according to hiß reading of the act the board had a right to deduct the thirds as a part of the cost of administration and then hand the balance to the commissioners.— Mr Denniston said that the board could determine in what way they would administer the lands. They were handed over to be dealt with as Crown lands, the commissioners retaining the title, and if they did not sell them and hand over the thirds to the county council they would not be dealing with them as Crown lands. — Mr Cowan held that the administration was to be the same, with the exception of the detention of the monuy got for them.— Mr Deuniston suggested that the thirds could be stated as an expeuee incurred in bringing the land into the market.— The Chairman said the act stated that the revenue derived from these lands was to be handed over to the commissioners, after the cost of survey had been deducted. — Mr Denniston : Just bb the money accruing from Crown lands is paid into the Treasury after the thirds have been deducted.— Further consideration of the matter was held over. A. D. M'Gillivray, having been requeeted, appeared before the board to show cause why he had not compiled with the residential conditions of his license. He explained the circumstances which caused him to leave his holding, and stated that the his (M'Gillivray's) seed, horseß, and implements He man, Thomas Chelland, now in occupation was luing was not aware that he should have applied for leave to vacate his section. He would resume occupaHon again shortly.— The board expressed themselves satisfied with the explanation, at the same time approving of Hanger Mussen's action in the matter. Francis Jack applied for the right to cut timber on a number of (sections in Winton, East Winton, and Winton Hundred.— Granted, subject to the usual conditions. Daniel Henery was granted a lease of Run 493, Waimumu Hundred. His application for a graz.ng right over some adjoining Crown lands was held over pending a more definite statement. Thomas Culling wrote stating that he had not as yet received any official information from the board regarding his application for a fresh lease of coal reserve, section 5, block VIII, Mataura. He however noticed by the Gazette that ib had been reserved for municipal purposes, and he applied for a refund of the £2 paid by him under misapprehension.— Consideration held over. Mr Wade presented a petition signed by 19 settlers in the Wendon district asking that the recent revaluation of th& section held by Mrs Eliza M'Cullough be reconsidered. It had been valued at its original price (Is 9d per acre), while sections of the same quality of lend and with greater facilities had been reduced by the valuers. Several examples of this were stated, and it was mentioned that her late husband had paid to the Government during his tenure of the Bection about £400 for rent. On these grounds it was asked that the widow should have her case more favourably dealt with by the board.— Mr Kinross explained that considerable reductions had been made in the Wendonside distric . by the Otago Land Board before the district came under the jurisdiction of this board. In makiDg the reductions the Otago Board took into consideration the amount which had been paid on some of the sections previously for rent. Some of the Bottlers— one, M'Kay, he knew— had tendered only Is per acre when the laud was put up the second time, while Mrs M'Cullough had tendered la 9d, otherwise she could have got it at Is. The ground, however, was of a superior quality.— After consideration and some discussion, duriog which the dangerous principle involve 1 was pointed out by Mr Dennisron, it was decided to reduce the rental to Is per acre under the exceptional circumstances of the case. The tranbfer of sections 1 to 4 and 15 to 22, block XV, New River Hundred, from William Boyd to George W. Edwards was sanctioned. Leave of abaonea was granted to Mr Cowan during the Bitting of Parliament. On the motion of the chairman seconded by Mr Cowan a vote of thanks was aocorded to Messrs Denuiston and Kinross for their arduous labour in the matter of revaluation.

The revaluations made by Messrs Kinross andi Musson were then dealt with ; aboutjSO settlers attending to hear the results. Mr J. P. Young appeared | on behalf of a number of settlers in the Longwood J district and adduced a number of arguments to show that the greater number of the sections tin this district were si ill over- valued. He said that as moat of them were bush land it would cost £3 per acre to clear it, and at that rate the holders could not made a living if they had to pay anything but a very small rent —Mr Kinross sai ' that his experience of taking bußh land for agricultural purposes kd him to believe that it could not be made to pay at any price, but in dealing with thes6 sections they had drawn their conclusions from w*>at the cleared part of the sections Individually showed. — Mr Deuniston said that the object of this re-valuation was to create a class of good settlers ;,' and the value of the land to them was what they could make out of it.— The Chairman pointed out that they had appointed the valuators, and it was hardly right that their decisions should bo upset by interested patties.— Mr Young remarked that it would not be doing too much if the Government paid men to clear this land and settle on ifc. — Mr |Kinroßß asked what was the use then of them clamouring for a railway to the Waiav if it was such a bad district ?—ln? — In reply to one settler who thought he should have his land for nothing, the Chief Commiasionor said he would expeot the Government to subsidise him by and bye. —The settler: Yes, and they might have to go further than that with somo of them yet.— Mr Macalister appeared for a number of settlers in the Wendou district, but the valuations v/ercßuetalned. The valuations fixed upon were all adhered to, excepting in one or two caies where special circumstaneß3 were taken Into consideration. Following are the lists as finally approved : — LONG^VOOD. Sec. Blk. Licensee. Old Kew value, value. sd b d 23 & 24 I W Fitzgerald 60 0 40 0 20 Cornelius Barry 60 0 42 0 21 Henry Barry 60 0 43 0 25 & 26 P Fitzgerald 60 0 44 0 12 II THEscott 60 0 36 0 14 Bernard Reid 105 10 58 0 15 to 18 Catherine Forbes 103 6 60 0 10&11 Martha Dallas 81 6 43 0 8 Ann Hirat 40 0 :8: 8 0 13 G Frentz 40 0 35 0 67a JT C Connor 40 0 30 0 1 V Wm Connor 40 0 28 0 12 Bonthron and Adamson 40 0 27 0 13 Bonthron and Bonthron 40 0 27 0 16 Louis Garden 40 0 35 0 17 FA Garden 40 0 32 0 19 V W P Crow 60 0 35 0 20 James Fitzgerald CO 0 32 0 11 Thomas Wall 16 10 4 1 J H Young 2 0 14 5 J H Young 2 3 14 22 V AMfcpherßon 10 0 8 8 IV Janet Watson 60 0 30 0 10 Henry Williams P0 0 35 0 45 V J V Taylor 60 0 40 0 The last-mentioned three sections are about two miles from a pnblic railway station Sections in blocks 1 and II are near Orepukl railway station. Mostof the land, whether open or bush-clad, is of superior quality, aud besld«s yielding heavy grain crops is appcially adapted for growing grasses, fruit, and vegetables. Sections in block Vare near Pahla railway station, but the land is not so good. A very large sum has been spent on the railway and roads in the district, and on this account we have valued tho land much higher thau if the money had not been spent Pahia Village. 20 Frank do Copsey 90 0 40 0 22 J H Lynch 90 0 40 0 4 Mortimer To An 90 0 40 0 12 ' R Goldsmith 90 0 40 0 These sections are near the railway station, Waikaka. 3 V James Catto 73 4 42 0 10 VI Joseph Pullan 60 0 37 6 9 XIII James Keith 60 0 37 (J Jacobs Rivhr Hundbbd. 9 XVIII JohnTClliot 60 0 40 0 11 Donald M'Kay 60 0 40 0 15 J G Donaldson 60 0 40 0 21 XVII Denis Corkery 60 o 36 0 25 E Deegan 60 o 40 0 43 George Point 60 0 46 0 45 J L Hunt 60 0 46 0 These sections are near the Oraki railway station, about five miles from Riverton. Originally the greater part of them was bush. Moklky Village. 4 I X Quested 120 0 60 0 4 111 Thomas Knight 90 0 40 0 2 IV M A Beard 70 0 35 0 1 V R J Irvine 70 0 40 0 2 VI Richard Jones 70 0 40 0 2 VII Jeese Alley 90 0 50 0 6 S Benson 90 0 50 0 These sections are neßr Nightcaps railway station, the bluhß3t-prlced being nearest. The coal mineß do not afford as much work as was expected. Wairio. 37a T J Coomb 30 0 16 0 37 &38 Simon Flett 30 0 16 0 These sections are about three miles from Nightcaps and four miles from Wairio railway station. Wrrys Bush. 19 I John Finn 150 0 80 0 21 I John M'Coy 150 0 80 0 31 D Kaveny 150 0 80 0 These sections are about four miles from Wairio railway station. Otapiri Gohgk : Hoko.vui. 661 R Duncan 25 0 15 0 6i)2 Andrew Thomson 25 0 15 0 663 HJGingell 25 0 17 0 664 J Dnds 25 0 17 0 665 J M'Lean 25 0 15 0 66G R Stuart 25 0 15 0 These sections are from eight to 10 miles from Centra Bush railway station and, with the exception of two hoidinf;s, are purely pastoral the small portion of fl it land in them being sufficient only to grow winter feed for sheep. Centre Bush Village. 740 R Shields 2 6 2 3 737 J Balrd 2 6 2 2 741 RBryce 2 6 2 2 T£.\ W Lindsay 2 6 2 2 742 J Cunningham 2 6 2 0 724 J Moore 2 6 2 0 738 A Diack 2 0 2 0 These sections are about a mile from tho railway station and were covered with light timber. GENERAL REPORT. Hiving concluded the valuation of deferred payment and perpetual lease land within the Southland district, we thii.k it desirable to state how we have carried out tho provisions of "Tho Selectors' Revaluation Act 1889," and the result of our observations. We found th.it sections immediately contiguous often differed greatly in value, and that ab a rule the back portions of sections were not; so good as the portions adjoining roads. We considered, therefore, that the only manner in which we could properly va'ue sections and defend our valuations was to examine each section sufficiently to eimblo us to form a correct judgment as to its value. We have done so in nearly all cases, an-1 accept the responsibility of the valuations made by us. Vhf>n valuing we considered that 12s 6d per acre was the lowest value we could legally place upon any deferred payment section, and that values must be increased as sections improved in quality or position beyond the worst sections. We consider thit the sections most highly valued are in reality the cheapest, as the labour is less In bringing good l»nd into cultivation than inferior land, while the returns from it are greater. Whilst anxiou3 to deal liberally with selectors we considered we had a duty to otudy the interests of other classes, and we felt that those who had benefited from the expenditure of public money ou roads, railway), &c, should p.iy correspondingly, Nearly all'the selectors appear to bs thrifty and industrious, but many of them had not sufficient capital to utilise their land properly ; some had not skill ; othc-rs were deficient in both skill and capital. On many sectio-is the svßfem pursued cannot be called farming ; cropping i 3 the proper term for it. It consists of continuous oatgrowing ; taking all out of the land aud puM ing nothinu in. Many selectors do not lieep sufficient stock, more eßpeci.vlly as theinteinr districts are beßt adopted for ehpep-farming. We have not valued ( he land according to tho ajstem pursued by Eelcctois but according to its value If treated in tin manner for which it is best suited ; it is therefore not to be wondered at if many selectors have thought our valuation too high. Andrew Kinross. Henry G. Musskn.