Management of Education Reserves. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Volume 01, Issue 2123, 1 November 1894, Page 11

Management of Education Reserves. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,— A letter in the Witutss of the 18th inst. headed "Management of Edoca'ion Re* 6erves " is one thit I entirely agree with, as tha writer speßkj plain and tells the truth of tha H'aring injustice that a tenant of th» School Comtci-sioners has to suffer compared with a tenant of the Government. I happen unfortunately to be a tenant of the School Commissioners, »nd I would 1 ke to make a few remarks with wgard to their management. Thoic main object eer-ms to be to get all tie money they can by oppressing tbe poor struggling si-tt.e'', regardless vthether the l»nd is vorth tb» money or h°. is able to pay it so long as they get it. It is little wonder th»t they have a lot of dibccnteutcd tei>antß when tbey don't treat th«m oa tho rams favourable terms aa tbe Government. I bought a cash section (on term*) from tht-m 11 years ago, when land was ruliDg at a high figure, some o r it in my locality being, bought afc £8 )er here. In tho same block there Vero s eti ps sold under three different »jstemB — deier.-ed payment, perpetual loasp, and cash tcctioi s (on terms). Tbe deferred pa'ymeit and perpetual lease sections were sold by tender, and if you did not go a pretty stiff ngure you had little show of ge ting any of them. The prud< nt man who did not tender high enough, (wh eh wa6 tbe case within*-) to get a section on deferred payment ai-d j,erpetual lease, had * chance of competing at auution for a cash section (on terms) — a nice way it de-d to settle the poor struggling tettier successfully on the land ; especially when there were only afewseciions put on the marktt at one time. And you either bad to run them up to a high figure if )ou wauted a section or go without. The deferred payment and perpetual lease sections were administered 1 y tbe i and Be ard, and tho School Commissioners managed the cash section a (on terms). After two or ihree years from the time thesettlers tcoknp their s-.c ions, they found tbat they could not p-.s^b'y r-ay the beavy ro ifc wi'h the lost price of j induce, and the laud nob so good ns they exrected They must have rcli- f. Tbe Laud Board under the Rov*lualion Act gave these tenants substantial reductiors, while the men wh/ bought ca»b sections on tcims only goc a miserable 2 per cent, reduction in interest on the capital value unpaid ft r a few yewrs, a&d at the end of that t me~wliich will be very shoitly— if jou cannot pay the full capital value unpaid and interest they can sell 1 j'ou out and leave you without a shilling after spending jour capital and labour for co many 3 e*r«. The s tilers im>. placed alongside of one another, governed by different bodi's, the settlers under the School Con m'ssionershaiiug t o pay a capital value equal to four to one^ — that is to say, the man dealt with by the Lnnd Board c»n buy his fecticu out at £1 per acre, and the man dealt with by the School Commissioners wou'd have to pay £4- per acre for much v-orse laod— not very satisfactory, I' Bhould thu-k — I am, &"., A Tknant of 'jhe Otago School Commissioners. Riverfidale, October 22.