LAND BOARD.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1216, 23 January 1886, Page 3

LAND BOARD.

At the Land Board meeting on Wednesday, Mr J. C. Brown moved the following resolution :— " That in the opinion of the Board it is desirable in all future surveys of Crown lands that a description of each section be furnished the Board for public information as to its suitability for agriculture or otherwise, altitude and general features of the land, and whether accessible or not by road." — " That the Board request the Government to cause a report to be made on the suitableness for a special settlement of the unsold Crown lands in the Rankleburn district, on the slopes of the ranges opposite Tuapeka Mouth." In speaking to the first-mentioned motion, he said he was well aware that when Crown lands were surveyed the surveyors supplied full information as to its character, and he could not understand why the Board were not put in possession of it. It was a matter of the highest importance that all available information should be placed before the public when Crown lands were opened for settlement, and the chief medium for disseminating such information should be the columns of the Press. He objected to the guides issued by the Government as being but little seen by the mass of the people.

Mr Mackeuzie seconded the motion, which he considered a desirable one in many respects. Mr Clark thought the motion a good one, but was inclined to believe that those people who intended to settle on the land were the best judges of what would satisfy them most. It frequently happened that the Board from the reports and information supplied to them by their officers were induced to classify the land on a certain system, and it was subsequently found that it was the desire of intending settlers to have it opened up in a different way. Mr Harlow mentioned that when any lands were to bo disposed of, it was customary to distribute some 5,000 posters in the different parts of the country, and these posters contained all the information it was, possible to give, both as regards the nature of the land and its price. The reason why such full particulars were not inserted iv the newspapers

was owing to the heavy costs thereby entailed. He had received instructions from Mr Ballance that the advertisements were to be kept down as much as possible, owing to their high price. If people really wanted a certain block of land they would be found inspecting it for themselves, and also taking a little trouble to hunt up information respecting it which was always available in a handy form in the various publications issued by the Department. The members all being favorably disposed towards the motion, it was decided to recommend the Government to also view it in that light.