THE LANDS REPORT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 11

THE LANDS REPORT.

The report of the Department of Lands atfd Survey, prepared by the Surveyor-general (Mr J. W. A. f Marchant), and lately presented to Parliament, contains so muc^ interesting and' authoritative information concerning- the question of land tenure as to evoke more and more questioning as to why the - colony should have; been put to the enormous expense of a Land Commission, more especially -since the Commission has failed in its only possible objective--viz., to provide the Government with - a land policy. The outstaridiiig,! feature of~,the report. is> the indication "everywhere given'-of the-preference shown by settlers 1, for acquiring -the freehold, whether~by; direct.payment or under occupation with right of-.purchase licenses, as against the lease in perpetuity: .. This, is strikingly shown in the ' comparative, table 'giving the number of selections under the three tenures of the optional - system of the -Laj^''Act-of--1892r from the timV-w^en: the^Act first came into operation hip ; to the present" date. During the 13 years under, review 5124 selections:-of an area, of 1,422,294^aeres have been taken up under "the Joccupation with" right of purchase system,-and 1904 selections of an area of 291,167 acres under the.cash ' system, as against 3597 selections:-^ an area of 1,049,928 acres .under the lease-in perpetuity system. In making the comparison ( it has^ to .be/borne in. .'.mind .that the:, disposal- of .Crown lands > for cash-has,-, in -keeping -with tlie accepted ' "policy \cf the. .Government, only been applied to town and suburban 'lands "and to -a few'small | areas .of -special, value scattered. through: the: colony. In "Otago, too, j where, lease An\,,perpetuity- selections ,l, l preponderate/VtKjs. is largely Jattri- . butable : t6> therffact -that, the -areas opened <for/"selection~in -this^pro'vince , of recent" years^aie; almost exclusively restricted, to- -that-- form of -.tenure. I 'As showing - the -widespread, desire ( for- the'freehold .amongst settlers in all parts, of the "colony, the Surveyorgeneral states-that no fewer than 99 | holders of - 22,668' acres under theoccupation with" right of purchase. tenure having converted their licenses ' into freeholds-within the last 12 months. The total area offered for selection during,the year was much smaller than- in' the previous 12 | months, and amounted" to . 778,414 acres." Of-this-acreage the ordinary Crown -lands opened for the first, time totalled 255,380 acres, whilst 442,7-29 \ acres were- reopened", the balance ;. of -' 80,305 acres coming under the,head" of land for settlements.^- Of-'ijhis gross area 133,104 acres were offered under, the optional system, 43,917 aferes'as small grazing' runs, and 1743178" acres on lease in perpetuity only. . It is explained that the fact that: the 'greater.-proportion of the lands was opened under the last-named tenure was in - part due> to the necessity of conserving the interests of-miners in the,-Nelson and .Westland.- districts,-"and the rights of the- Crown tp coal- and other minerals in ' other. .districts. Of the areas opened - under the land for settlements":.-, policy, Ma.tama.ta (in .and' Edendale (in Southland) provided the 62,044 acres offered for -the.- first- time during the year,' these'lands, having been, promptly and" readily selected, with every prospect of a successful and prosperous future before the settlers. Taking tbetOtagb-<figures,Hhe striking feature is. in: the decrease in the number and extent, of the pastoral runs,- which_now number only 213 of a total area~ 'of -four million odd

acres. In, reference to these, the Commissioner . - (Mr D. Barron) remarks : — " The difficulty is becoming more and more acute of dealing with pastoral -• country already deprived of so much of the lowerlying lands necessary for sustaining stock in the winter season and for lambing purposes. The- pastoral tenant, on the one hand, i& protesting against the taking away of any more of such country, and asking for greater permanence of title, with encouragement "for grazing, etc. ; whilst, on the other hand, a number of intending settlers are agitating for the cutting up of the better class of pastoral lands into smaller areas." This is one of the points which engaged the attention of the Land Commission, and also upon which the members of the Commission gave a divided finding. Apart from the engrossing subject of land tenures, the most interesting portion of this report deals with the important matter of afforestation. The

urgent necessity which exists for energetic action in this respect is seen in the fact that the estimated annual output of the sawmills in the c010ny— 372,000,000 superficial feot — represents the depletion of 37,000 acres of forest ( lands, and this with out reckoning the annual destruction by axe and fii'e for clearing rjurposes. These figures very vividly suggest the near approach of the time when the scarcity of timber and the increased cost of securing supplies for building and manufacturing purposes will cause considerable loss and inconvenience 'to the people of the colony; if, indeed, New Zealand *will not shortly be dependent upon other and distant countries for supplies. Too much emphasis cannot I therefore be placed upon the recommendations - | mendations of the Surveyor- general that more extensive operations 1 should at once be undertaken to proj vide a& adequate supply of indigenous timber trees for future use, and that every _ facility be put in the way ol the -tree-planting carried "out by the Forestry Department. The suggestion here thrown out, that the areas of waste lands unsuitable for the ordinary purposes of settlement* should be utilised for afforestation purposes, is an admirable one, more especially seeing that experiments in this direction at Waiotapu, between Taupo and Rotorua, have been of the most encouraging nature. The interesting details of the tree- [ planting operations carried out !by the Chief Forester (Mr H. J. Matthews) merit separate notice ; but it should be said that, apart | from the purely economic aspect, there is a consensus of opinion that the climate of a country depends to a very large extent upon the maintenance o"f a certain area under 1 forests. History and geography , combine to enforce tne lesson that 1 man's wanton destruction of virgin forests is~ inevitably followed by altered physical conditions, in some | parts of the world so complete that 1 the inhabitants find it ' difficult to ! live upon the soil. One of New Zealand's chief glories is her climate, enabling her to produce wool and ' meat, butter and cheese of a quality ' which compares favourably- with the j product of any country in the world. j Take away our climate and the outlook at once becomes an ominous one.' Wherefore it is well to take time "by the forelock, and the Government should without delay make increasing provision for extensive afforestation operations.