EVIDENCE AT WAIKAIA

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 17

EVIDENCE AT WAIKAIA

RIVEP.SDALE, March 8. The members of the Land Commission drove from Riversdale to Waikaia this morning, passing through rather poor country, though there were some good patches here and there. Much of the land is thickly infested with rabbits. Weeds, especially ragwort and Californian thistle, flourished in abundance, and in many places are allowed to grow without let or hindrance. This is particularly the case on some of the Otago School Commissioners' land, which is leased to tenants. A number of dredges were at work near Wajkaia, all of them piling up their tailings in great heaps, and so rendering the land qmt^ useless for farming or any other purposes. kbovc Waikaia, on the Hesscy Company's dredge, .i sluice-box is employed, with tho lesult that the tailings aio levelled, and it is said that good grass and clover will grow on the level oround. The land in tho Winding Creek Valley is of a different quality from thai between Waikaia and Riversdale, and much oi \t is farmed with advantage to the holder x

Tho eommisv^n held a meeting at Waikaia on arrival,'

Mr Robertcoiv, ex-county chairman, and at present county councillor, said he held a loaso in perpetuity from the Government and a lease from the School Commissioners. Asked by the chairman his opinion of Land Boards, he said the present cousti-

tution was the best, and had worked satis* factorily. As for tenure, he liked the free* hold, but he was convinced the leasehold was tho best for the country. Ho instanced an old deferred-payment settlement, with five settlers originally, which was now one holding. Aggregation had gone op, and the five settlers had be-en displaced by ono man. The School Commissioners' land was not as well administered as it would be under the Land Board. He did not favour tho auction system. becau. c c people gave more than the land was worth, and in almost every case a reduction in rent had to be granted. He was glad to see that the School Commissioners were considering" the question of giving valuation for other improvements than buildings and grazing. At present Waikaia Riding was really penalised in the interests of education, because all its revenue went towards the> education of th© colony, and nothing was returned in the way of "thirds" or loyalty for the maintenance of roads. In tha amount raised were included rents realised from coal leases and rents from dredges. The Chairman said it seemed a pity to see good land turned over into gravel pits. Witness replied that the gold returns were* very tempting, and a return of lOOoz was somewhat encouiaging. He thought it was a pity Waikaia Valley had ever been dredged, because it had only paid expenses. The Chairman : It sepms a pity, but I suppose it wiil have to go on. Further examined, witness said he thought that to amend the School Commissioners would bo impossible, and the only thins was to end them. The district would have been well settled long ago if tho land hact been under the Crown. It would 1-c an advantage to the Education Trust if tha lands were put into th© hands of tho Land Board. Th© greater the encouragement given to settlors, tho greato-- success they would make on their land. He would like the 999 years' lease to be given. Ho also favoured' the suggestion that settlers might be given an advance of three-fifths of their interest in the improvements on their sections. The cropping conditions were stringent, but perhaps it was necessary they should be so. No sextler who improved his land was satisfied with tho valuation nowgiven for improvements. He would object to tho lease in perpetuity with a revaluation clause. He thought the whole land difficulty would be ovrrcome in the colony if the freehold could bo limited by Parliament. Roderick M'Lennan, a school commissioner's tenant, advocated that some of the* low-lying land should be drained, which, would make it fairly good land. He would be satisfied with a 21 years' lease, if valuation were allowed at the end of th© term for all improvements. Ho did not know that administration under the land board instead of the school commissioners would be an improvement if he held a lease with the right of renewal and full valuation for improvements, both to be fixed by arbitration. It would be more in the interests of th& country than to allow tho land to be taken up under leasc-in-pcrpetuity. It had to b& considered that th© land had been s-et aparfc for educational purposes. If he were in a district where ho cou'.d have got the freehold he would have taken it instead of leasehold, because the. freehold was infinitelybetter ; but, if it was to be a leas at all, a lease for 21 years, with th© right of renewal and valuation for improvements was fair. Mr Anatey : Could tho tailings be leffc in such a way that tho land could be used afterwards. : IXliningf experts have gone into the question, and it was at one time thought that good soil could be put back on top, but it was found to be so expensive thai; the- thing wnuld not be worth it. To Mr M'Cardle : On some of the dredged ground people had levelled and harrowed the ground, and good clover and grass could be- grown in place 8 . He was of opinion, pood agricultural land ought not to be dredged at all. Alexander MacGreapor came forward with a grievance. Waikaia and Muddy Creeks had been declared kludge channels. He had 32-i acros of freehold between the two channels that he bought. He understood that the. former holder bad within the 90 days allowed made application for compensation on account of dredging operations, buft ho subsequently found the ap2Dlication had! not bpen made. The prospect was now that his land would bo covered with tailings; He had brought the matter before Parlia-i ment, and Mr M'Gowan, Minister of Mines ; had informed him h© had no remedy at aIL Judging by the compensation that had been given to his neighbours, he ought to btf al'owed £300 compensation. The Chairman said ho had taken a nots of the case, and would make representation" on tho matter to tho Government. Ja°. Harner, miner, said dredge elevators, as working at present, were dc-st roving th«" land. However, if a man bought land it was his own. The sluice box was an improvement on tho elevator. In some places srasSv

and clover were growing well on aredged land. When working with an elevator the ibest part of the land went to the bottom and the worst came to the top. He thought it would not cost much to put the soil on top Some of the dredges had taken more than £1000 per acre out of tuc ground; others had taken much less. -„,„,, Thomas Baxter, farmer, said he neld 1B( lores under leasehold from the school cominiEsioners. He paid 5* 8d per acre. He got the land at auction, the price being run up from 3s to 3s 9d. H& thought the ballot Bystem was better in the interests of settlement than auction. The rent he now paid •was too much. One half of his land was liable to flood. Ths commissioners had not Been their way to reduce the rental, although they had allowed something for stock and crops destroyed by flood. He was in favour of the freehold instead of the leasehold. If he had the option of the freehold he ;ould not buy at present. The lease-m-"'^arpetuity would satisfy him. Kenneth M'Kenzie said he held a lease-in-perpetuity section from the Government and three sections from the School Commissioners of a total .area of 1000 acres. He would like a longer lease from the School Commissioners, and under the lease m perpetuity. He was going in for extensive improvements, and he could not but lealise that he was improving for somebody else. St would meet his ease if the School Commissioners were to give full valuation for all improvements and the option of renewal. He believed, people at Waikaia would never have the railway as long as they had the School Commissioners. The commissioners xrere really a greater drawback to the district than the rabbits.— (Laughter.) Thomas M'Kinnel, another School Commissioner leaseholder, and holder cf 2658 acres, said he would like to get more land. The land adjoining him had been surveyed for years, but was now partly station. The lease had been let privately to a company within the last seven years. Mr Macandrew. factor for the- School Commissioners, said that no lease could be given without being advertised. The sections the witness would like to acquire had been put into the run to enable it to be worked.

Witness said that the low-lying land he referred to ought not to have been put into the run, because there was plenty of winter -ountry on the run without it. The Chairman : Well, you will have to knock at the commissioners' door again. Witness: There is no use knocking at their door. I have knocked at it for 16 years without getting any satisfaction. — (Applause in the body of the court.) The witness went on to say that he had ; three eons growing up, and the land he held was not sufficient. John Maher, another tenant under the School Commissioners, gave evidence similar to that of the previous witnesses. Ke considered the deferred-payment tenure was the best ever given in the colony. When the settlers took up the land they were told the railway would be ready to take their first crop away, but from that t'ay to this-no railway had been provided. Findlay Murehison, farmer, also gave cviHence regarding the conditions impesod on their tenants by the School Commissioners. The commission returned, to Rive<r»dale by coach, and left in the evening train for Immsden.