The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1874.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1784, 21 September 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1874.

Mb. J. Sheehan, M.H.E., Provincial Secretary, i 6 to be entertained at a banquet to-morrow night by residents of the Thames for his exertions in promoting the passage through the House of Representatives of the Auckland Waste Lands Act, 1874. This Act, which was, we believe, drafted by Mr. Sheehan, embodies the recommendations of a Select Committee of the Auckland Provincial Council presented during last session. The Committee, recommended the consolidation of all existing laws, in ord«r that the lands might be administered under one general system. This has been done so far as the laws which previously regulated the sale of waste lands in the Province of Auckland are concerned, no less than fire difforent Acts being repealed by the measure under discussion, which, it is hoped, will have the effect intended by the Committee in their recommendations and sought to be attained by the framer of the Act, namely, uniformity in dealing with the

waste lands of the Province,"so 1 that settlement may be promoted rather than impeded. A further recommendation of the Select Committee- was that all country lands should bo properly classified according to quality, to prevent land from being kept from sale by exacting a uniform price for good, middling, and inferior descriptions, under which system (which existed until the passing of this Act) the best portions of large blocks vhave been taken up, and the inferior land—very often the largest area —has remained un- , occupied. The Committee further recommended that in opening land for settletlement two considerations would have to be kept in view : 1.. That the revenue for roads and public works must be, in the future, mainly derived from sales of land; 2. That provision should be made to open lands for settlement to persons of small means in such a way as not to cripple them by absorbing their limited capital in purchase money. These j recommendations of the Select Committee of the Provincial Council appear to have beenkept prominently in view by the framer of the Auckland Waste Lands Acts of 1874, and the result is a measure which, as far as can be judged from perusal, will admirably serve to promote the settlement of the waste lands of the Province. While providing for the introduction of immigrants and offering encouragement to them to settle on the land, the interests of residents in the Province are considered.

The Act is divided, into seven parts. The first is merely preliminary, and relates to the interpretation of certaia terms and Acts repealed. The second part contains general provisions affecting waste lands ; provides for the appointment of Crown Lands Commissioner arid Deputy or Deputies, for surveys and surveyors, land districts, salaries, classification of lands and for reserves. The classification will comprise town lands, suburban lands, rural lands, special settlement lands and timber and mineral lands; reserves are to be made for the use of the Provincial Government and for public purposes; for highway roads, places of worship, forests and mineral lands —all on the recommendation of the Superintendent. Part three relates to' the sales of town, village and suburban lands, which are to be disposed of by public auction, and sales to be duly advertised. Part four provides for the proclamation of rural lands as first, second and third-class lands. This part of the Act also provides for selection under the Homestead and deferred payment systems. Under the former any person of the age of eighteen and upwards may select fifty acres of first-class and seventy-five of secondclass land; and persons under eighteen years of age twenty acres of first-class and thirty acres of second-class lands : provided that the total quantity to be selected by any one family or number of persons occupying the one household shall not exceed two hundred acres of first-class or three hundred acres of second-class land. At the end of five years, certain conditions of cultivation and residence having been fulfilled, grant or grants to issue for the land so selected and occupied. Under the deferred payment system double the quantity of land may be selected, one-fifth of the purchase money to be paid yearly ; the area of cultivation to-be in the same proportion as under the homestead system. Regulations affecting both, systems are to be made by the Superintendent for the laying out of lands, directing the manner of application, and other necessary provisions to secure bona fide settlement. Part five of the Act is devoted to special settlements, and it is provided that the Superintendent may set apart blocks for this purpose, appoint agents for promoting immigration, and contract with any person or persons either within the Province or non-resident, or with any company or association for the occupation by parties or associations of audh blocks of lands as may be set apart for special settlement under conditions, namely, no special settlement to contain ;less tban ten families, nor the area to be settled less than one thousand acres ; de- : tails to be subject to the operation of other portions of the Act, except special condi.tions which may be made by consent of the Governor in Council. Part six provides for the dealing with timber and ! mineral lands, and part seven contains general provisions, such as right to grant leases to cut flax —granting of water rights, right of resident occupiers to graze cattle on waste lands, and penalties for nonresidents grazing cattle, settlement of disputes, settiag apart lands for settlements near goldfields in sections of five te twenty acres, and altering and amending of regulations for carrying out the Act. The Act contains 83 clauses, and the above is merely a brief digest of some of its most important provisions.

From whatever cause or causes, the administration of the waste landsjof the Province of Auckland has not hitherto been cry successful in promoting settlement,

but the Act now passed will, it is hoped, remove some of the most prominent difficulties which have operated so unfavorably in this direction. In view of the probability of a large area of land being opened in this district for settlement, the present Act would seem to be admirably adapted to answer the purpose for which it is intended. It will prevent the possibility of speculators monopolising the best pieces of land to the exclusion of persons of small meansj and at tho same time it will offer unusual facilities to the latter class —of whom there is a large number in the community— men who have acquired a small capital in the pursuit of mining and are anxious to make for themselves a home. The intention of all land laws should be the settlement of the people in the country. No species of legislation has been more 'experimented upon than land law-making, especially in this colony, where circumstances differ so widely in different Provinces; but as far as we can judge before ifc has been put to the trial, Mr. Sheehan's measure promises to answer the purpose for which it has been formed; and it is especially acceptable to a large class in this district who have viewed with longing eyes the splendid country which they "have looked forward to obtaining a slice of. Special settlements have been talked of amongst combinations of individuals and by members of different societies; and now that the Act has been passed which proposes to offer facilities for those settlements a greater interest will be manifested in the opening of the country in which it is proposed to locate these various settlements.