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A VISIT TO THE WAIAU. EVIDENCE AT OTAUTAU.

OTAUTAU, February 28. The members of the Land Commission left Invercargill on Monday morning for Otautau. The day was somewhat cold, and ominous clouds threatened rain, which, fortunately held off. The journey brought under the notice of the commission some really good land for growing crops of oats, but, pity to tell, weeds were plentiful in a number of places. In the majority of the fields the ragwort (which is regarded by some landholders as anything but a nuisance), the yarr, and the Canadian thistle were strongly in evidence, a fact which leads one to think that cereal seed from this district ought to be carefully examined before it is used in the north, where these weeds, or many of them, have not yet made their unwelcome appearance.

Otautau was reached shortly before noon, and after a hurried lunch a drag conveyed the members and several pressmen to the llerrivale Settlement.

The drive to Clifden was very enjoyable. En route we saw that portion of the Merrivale Estate which was purchased from the Government about 10 years ago and successfully settled. There are about 50 holdings on lease in perpetuity. of an area of from 100 to 200 acres, and, according to a witness who was examined the other day, the tenants are doing fairly well. Most of the allotments had paddocks of oats, and at the rent charged, from Is 5d to 6s an acre, the holders ought to make a fair living. Further on. in the Limestone Gorge, some of the land has a very warm aspect. It is on limestone foundation, and is very good pastoral land. Rabbits are very numerous in this quarter. The Waiau Caves were passed without inspection, time being an important element on the journey. On the road we met a cart with a couple of tons of cheese from the. Waiau Dairy Factory at Clifden. The bridge over the river was generally admitted to be a fine ana very necessary work in the interests of the settlers on the west side. The bridge was opened by Sir J". G. Ward (on behalf of the late Sir John M'Kenzic, Minister of Lands) abojt five years aoro. its erection havine cost about £6000. The main span is 364 ft. From an eminence near Clifden we got a splendid view of the beauty of the outlying country. To the north were.

the Cone Hills, the Waiau and Lilßurn Valleys, and the Otahu Settlement. This settlement is not altogether a success, but with railway communication it would certainly be improved. To the south was the Longwood Range, between which and Clifden, on the Waiau Flats, was some fine country, dotted here and there with houses. The land is divided into holdings of from 200 to 300 acres, most of it being freehold, and some of it held with the right of purchase.

Mr M'Kerrow, chairman of the commission, regarded the country with much interest, and with good reason. Forty-two years ago he saw it for the first time, and although he has seen it several times since he was very pleased to look upon it again and see the changes that have taken place in that time. After a cup of tea a start was made on the return journey to Otautau, a route being taken this time through the bush. The fine bush is a great convenience to the landholders. It supplies them with timber for their houses, and a ready market may be found for the remainder. The fresh route enabled the commission to see another portion of the settlement and part of the Memvale Estate, held by Messrs Ellis Bros. Otautau was reached at 9 p.m.

EVIDENCE AT OTAUTAU. This morning the commission held a sitting at Otautau, all the members being present.

Dennis J. Heenan. settler on the Beaumont Settlement, said he held 417 acres on lease in perpetuity. The settlers found the rates too high to enable them to make a living. Witness paid 3s 3d an acre. He; was about eight miles from a railway station. His idea was that too much was paid for the settlement in the first place. Land in a better position and equally as good land had since been bought in the district at 28s an acre, whereas £2 10s an acre was paid for the estate. Ojther good land was on offer at £1 Is but was not being taken up. The settlers had been disappointed in the quality of the land, and reckoned that Is 8d was enough for i|. His average yield of oats was <& bushels to the acre. He tried wheat one year, but the results were unsatisfactory, the average yield beine 15 bushels to the acre. Richard Joseph Casey, another settler on the Beaumont settlement and holder of 391 acres, gave similar evidence. George Frederick Toogood, another tenant, of the pettlement, said he took up his land 20 months ago. About 190 acres were in English grass. The remaining 60 acres had been ploughed and left uncropped. He had taken off a crop of oats, turnips, rape, and barley. The oats averaged from 15 to 40 bushels to the acre, the barley about 20 bushels to the acre, and the turnip and 1 rape were moderate crops. He had no stock and had not built a house, but resided with, his father on his freehold adjacent. Witness had been 12 years in the district. He had 190 acres of' flat country that would! carry two dry sheep to the acre. The rest of the allotment would carry one sheep to five or six acres. It was stony and swampy. He would like to have the option to purchase the land. He could throw up his land at any time, and if the board accepted, the surrender the incommg tenant would pay fair valuation. William John Darlej; appeared for his soa

and daughter, who ~vrere eettterii "on the Otahu settlement. • His^son held" 4-04- acres .and Kis"' daughter ' 1012 aeites,- both sections being held under lease- in perpetuity. His son" paicT 2s *£6r per acre/and his daughter 2s 'on cne section, and Is '7£d on another. The land- was mostly for- sheep and cattle. There were afcout^ 1200 sheep and 30 cattle. TMs year 130 tons of turnips were grown a\ foofl 'for" sheep, 12 tons of artificial nufimre being used. As a matted of fact, his son "and <3aughter were carrying on at a loss, and "would not be able to continue' unless -tKe* rent was reduced. Some people were ""• leaving tKe settlement. Ha believed ft' would *be in the interests of the State" to "give fhe lease-in-perpetuity tenants the sight' of purchase. Personally, lie believed that-H;he people could not bebetter served than they were by the present Southland Land Board, -but he approved: of the principle of tenants having a representative .on the-^ board. He_ believed in the Government or syndicates cutting up estates — anything that would draw the people from the towns in£o tbe VeoujQwy- " "Why should the blood all gs>*'*p r^ttte_ head? I*et it foe circulated. Jpady.*,Jt At : ;j>r§sent' i£Jw*s not bo, sty&s he*r'Was &&rry : tsr&a.y:+ fchJgVaW'gooddeal "of .thor^bbiie -"and sinew was "drifting "there, "BjoV Rabbits were one of the greatest-, hindrances? "to settlement on 1 .tKS" Ota-nu" settlement. 'Tnev settlers gof nofitihg -from the trappers. A tenant might be given the right of- purchase after he had occupied hi 3 land for a certain time to show that he was a bona fide settler. "William- Scott, representing his son, who was a tenant on the Otahu settlement, said l\is son held 155 acres. It was lend of light quality, and was used mostly for stock, while portion was cultivated for oats and turnips. Th© rent was Is 9d an acre. There jvere' 70 acres of bush. He thought ihe Government paid, too much for the estate in the first place. They paid 25s an aero for it, and it was not worth more than 12s 6d. " It was nothing but a rabbit warren. This fact -considerably 'reduced the carrying capacity. There was also great expense in keeping the rabbits down in the spring and summer time, although in the winter something could be made out of trapping. If the land had no rabbits it would be worth the rental now charged. Three* settlers had been summoned for not keeping down their rabbits, and one of them, he believed, had. surrendered his holding. To put rabbit netting on the ground was expensive, and if the rent was not reduced it would eer~ tainly assist the settlers if the Government would supply them with netting^ at cheap rates. He believed his son was satisfied with his lease in perpetuity tenure. H« did not approve of the principle of revaluation being applied to future leases. The lease with the right of purchase was the tenure he himself favoured. James King, of Clifden, said he held 4-72 •acres under lease in perpetuity, and three sections (15ff- acres) with the right of purchase. He was a strong believer in the freehold. It_was not fair that tenants should be loaded for all time for their roads. The payments, which amounted to 4- per cent, on the expenditure, should cease after a time. Money lent out at 4- per cent. doubled itself in 18 years, and therefore, at the end of that time, as the Government would be recouped for its original outlay, the loading should cease. Three years ago he sold bis wool at 3£d per 1b in Invercargill, and this year he sola it privately at 9d per lb. He would give the freehold to all Crown, tenants, restricting the area. He would' -also give tenants of Harbour Boards. Education Boards, and so on, the right of purchase. Robert Tapper, jun.. said he was a sheep and cattle farmer at Clifden, West Waiau. He had 885 acres under lease in perpetuity, fcis~ rental being about £30 a~year. HecultiTatecl oats and turnips for winter feed. Much of the land was under bush when he took it up. and be had cleared 200 acres. He ■was frightened to clear any more en account of the Californian thistle. The land had taken grass very well. If the local body were to strictly enforce the noxious weeds regulations it would press very hard on some of the settlers. If the- thistles were not regularly cut he was sure the farmer would have to go out. He would like to have the freehold. Some of the farmers sowed their own seed, sending it to town to be machinedressed, go that the yarrand other noxious eeeds would be taken out. One- of his n-eighbours tried wire nettmer. and found ho bad more rabbits inside than he had had before. John Horrell. farmer. Lillburn Settlement, Clifden. said h-e held 6SO acres freehold. He used it principally for stock. He was strongly in favour of the freehold, which ba legarded as -the best for all concerned. Th-s leasehold was best for people of small means, but when once they bad shown they intended to be bona fide settlers they ought to be allowed to secure the freehold. He thought it would be fair to the Crown tenants to be represented by cne member on the Land Board, so that their grievances sould be. dearly j^t before thg bp.ard. Jf

a man' took up a " lease in perpetuity his rent ought not to be increased under any oircumstances. He" wa^s a member of the Farmers' Union, but" dieT not represent that body' before the commission. At a public j meeting; of settlers held' at 1 Clifden recently j the- -following motion.. 'was .carried: — "That I tHis meeting is strongly in: favour of all Crown "tenants getting the optio» of the freehold." The Otah^i Estate was never suitable' for close' settlement, r -aakl if the settlers there had the t * option- of the freehold to-morrow, he -telieved tfyit none of them "would take it. ". Thecef be no revaluation unless the land was too dear. — (Laughter.) He- would take- lees than £5 -per acre far his land. It was second-class land, and would carry one or one and ahalf sheep to the acre. The 0 value of his ' land was' £2 an acre when he took it up first. The loading of land in the back j .country was a mistake. He had to grow ] 100 acres of turnips to feed his sheep, and I used: 'from 8, to 10 tons of manure every j year. j ■* George Andrew Scott, farmer, Merrivale j Settlement, said he- held ,357 axsres on lease j ml perpetuity. He had been, on- his present j -place' fop -five ."The land"- was open^ -"wifetfc-he- got Et."^ It' Had' all been ploughed, and he,iftd. i^ijj'oe been grazing " cattle and" ft&d- been milking for the 1 -f tfetonr."- "His r^fffc^wae 4s 6d an acre. In J regard, to the he wished to say it was generally conoede>d that in the^ first place the rente were' too dear. The] land was valued too hjgh. Taking the settle- i roent as a whole, it was 'not a go-ehead ■ place. >It could not be 'classed "tinder the same head as Cheviot, Waikakahi, or any of the northern settlements. There were several drawbacks' to contend against, the greatest of which was- the climate, whioh was particularly severe in spriag. Two years ago there was a foot of snow on the 23rd October, and all on the block lost considerably in the lambing. He diet not get 50 per cent, of his lambs. Another great drawback to the settlers was the broken j^and steep nature of the land. They could 1 not' work it profitably, because the narrow, broken ridges lying away from the ' sun could not be ploughed. The sections being \so small, unless a. man could work the whole of his land in rotation he could not make the best xuse^of it. There were some good tops and flats, but the bulk of the land was such that a person could not ! plough it. The settlers were heavily rated j for the roads. The estate, he understood, ; was>_ bought in the first place for £2 10s j an" acre, and the loading, etc., had brought J it up to £6 an acre in some oases, which was a rather severe charge on the settlers. : He was confident there were -not two really successful settlers on the whole of Merrivale. Some of the settlers had empowered him to say that they had not the means now they had when they went on to the I estate. He had 28 dairy oows, 75 sheep, ' and six horses, and to provide for this stock j he had 50 acres under cultivation which left 200 acres of grass. He sold no grain : it was all consumed on the farm. The settlers had not applied lime to their allotments { because they could not get it. Th« land was clayey, and all the lime in the country would not do it good.

The Chairman : If your land was sold as freehold now what do you think it would bring? — Witness: If I were a buyer I would give 50s an aor.e forNt.

Does that remark apply all over the settlement? — Perhaps not to such an extraordinary degree, but in the majority of cases it would.

Further examined, witness said the carrying capacity of the land was only one sheep to the acre. He did not think the payment of interest or the loading ought to ©0 on for all time. He knew nothing about the district when he took up the land. He was not satisfied with his tenure. He did not want to purchase his land at the price now put upon it, but he thought a man ought to have the option of purchasing the freehold. He was strongly against the lease in perpetuity. The allotments on the estate ought to be larger — not less than I 300 acres at least.

George Barwell said he held 350 acres on the Merrivale Settlement. He had had it for*" nine or ten years. About 250 acres of the land was bush, of which he had cleared 70 acres. He did not consider tho lease in perpetuity a secure tenure of land. The allotments on Merrivale were too small. He had 410 objection to the present constitution of the Land Boards. He objected to the loading, because it was a special tax which the people had to pay for all time. The fact that revaluation hp.d been hinted at caused uneasiness among- Crown tenants, and for that reason, among others, he thought tbf> tenants oueht to have the freehold. Unuer a freehold a man was more certain to pet his improvements than under leasehold Oulv people without money took up the leasehold. Another objection to the leasehold was this: The Government Valuation Department valued improvements on a man's «>ction at £300. and when the tsaaat a^ligc) for. a lojyi of J62QQ his re-

3 quest was refused, and £100 was all that r was offered. i j Andrew Soltam, Merriyale. said he had b ; 233 acres, principally grazing land for sheep 3 _ and cattle. JBEe had to pay Ss 2d an acre. t ! On account of his section being so small he b | could not mak. a living on it. If it were 1 j larger he coiriaL do better out of it. He i thought the settlers ought to have the option r of purchase. Some of the sections ought to i be 1400 or 1500 acres in area to enable a - I man to bring up, a family. f { The Chairma'nr said there were otter ) t tenants from Merriva!e, but unless they - | had something new to tell it would be j unnecessary foi them to come forward. ] i j Mr Fowlds, one of the tenants, said that j - j the loading and the rating and the fact s : that the areas were too small were the prin- > cipal grievances of the settlers. : William Saunders. representing his son, r who is a tenant on the Ringway Estate, I and other settlers complained of the foul condition, of tbe r ., ground when the tenants ' .took it> up. Calif ornian thistle was the ! s, prj^neinal. enemy, a'cdy cultivation seemed only > \td make" ?b -thrive -tlife^.'Sßbre. He thought ; [."the. valuatumjpf lmpfo^efctants exiting" when ' \£ ztiriii^^&p^^tii&S lai^d^-j^w^. excessive. The • i /"s^Jlejs % li¥ed?juji3fer^ir^igii of terror" front ' I ' i&e^noxloiis wpe^Jjisp^ctor. T?he sum of J t "£5 vrbfiEJ-'rfi^y clear the bad places, j i He thought this wdik should be done by ■ » the Land Board, which could levy a, small j s.^ rate to do the work. Settlers were told to ; ; clear the land, bur w« i- o given no scientific • i information as to hCw to ' proceed. They I had done their best and could do no more. > The poisoning of rabbits all over the district : by the Government would need only a small s rate. f i Cyrus Cipio Smith, farmer at Eastern t Bush, said he -held 190 acres under the 893 years' lease. Ho used the land principally for grazing. He objected to Mr Saunders's suggestion that tne Government should take over the poisoning of rabbits. If seven or ■ eight men went into his land, each with a bag of poison, what was he to do with his stock? The Chairman said that -the Government officers would use some discretion in carrying on their work. Witness said that if the poisoning was done in a way that would enable him to shift his stock h6 would noo object to it. John Nevlor, settler on the Ringway j Estate, said he held 337 acres, which he j used chiefly for crop and cattle grazing, j The land was very full with weeds, and the j settlers had great difficulty in eradicating ! them. They were chiefly troubled with j thistle, wild turnip, and varr. ' i Mr Saunders was recalled, and asked if he was in favour of tenants having the option of the freehold. He replied that he thought it would be a srood thine- for the , tenant but not for thr Staff, as the result J would be that all the irood allotments would , be made freehold, and the State would be [ left with the inferior land. Asked if he did not think that it would be better that a reduction should be made in cases in I which tenants were paving 1 too Iveh a rent. I witness «.aTfcV. he thouarht it would be well for thf>. State anr] for the tenants for th^se matters to te adjusted with as little delay { a* oossible. This concluded the taking of pviderrp. To-mo'TOw mornirif the commission makes | an early start for Winton by coach.

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Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 16

Word Count
3,467

A VISIT TO THE WAIAU. EVIDENCE AT OTAUTAU. Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 16

A VISIT TO THE WAIAU. EVIDENCE AT OTAUTAU. Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 16