SUMMARY FOR EUROPE AND AMERICA.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3270, 5 August 1871, Page 2

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE AND AMERICA.

There is nothing of any great colonial interest to record this month. The Provincial Council of Otago has finished its session, an unusually stormy one ; but the only measure passed interesting to home readers was a Land Bill resembling, in many respects, the recent measure passed by the Wellington Provincial Council. As, in our last summary, we enumerated the principal provisions of the latter, we now summarise the most important provisions of the former. In view of a tide of immigration setting in from the home country, such measures are greatly enhanced in interest and importance, and are worthy of the consideration of intending immigrants : — Immediately on the payment of the purchase money for unsurveyed land to the receiver of land revenue, the purchaser 6hall receive a licer.se to occupy, and as soon after as conveniently may be, the land shall bo laid off by a Government surveyor. The expense of such survey shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall, at the time of pm*chase, deposit the amount of the estimated cost of survey, which shall be made as soon as practicable. It shall be lawful for the board, if, in their discretion, they shall see fit so to do, to sell by private contract any parcel of land to any per- j son who shall have occupied and made valuable improvements thereon, before the land shall have been open for sale. If sold by public auction, the board may put a valuation upon the improvements made on the said land. The board shall have power to issue a license for any waste lands proclaimed open, not exceeding 320 acres, for three years, at three shillings per acre per annum. The conditions to be complied with by the occupant are these : — Payment of fees in advance at half yearly intervals ; allotment must not be transferred or sublet ; allotment must be fenced within tsvo years from the issue of the license, and during the currency of the license one acre out of every ten must be. cultivated ; the license may be annulled in case of non-payment of fees, and must be occupied personally by the licensee within six months of the i^sue of the license, and during its continuance. It may also be annulled if the required improvements have not been made ; if the licensee complies with the conditions set forth, viz., improvements to the value of one pound per acre, he may demand a lease within thirty days, after three years' occupation of the allotment, or he may demand a Crown grant upon payment of twenty-one shillings for each acre of land held under his license ; if a lease, it must be for a term of seven years, at a yearly rental of three shillings an acre, which sum shall go towards the purchase of the land ; a reservation of a right of entry to search and dig for gold upon the land occupied is made. Each licensee or lessee or purchaser on deferred payments, shall have the right and privilege of depasturing outside of his fenced land to the extent and at the rate of ten head of great cattle for any quantity of land not exceeding one hundred acres, and one head of great cattle for each ten acres additional. The pastoral licensee or lessee shall be entitled to compensation on account of the land taken at a certain amount per acre per annum during the remainder of his license or lease. . . . Districts, or blocks of land, may be set apart from time to time for settlement, under the deferred payment principle referred to above, and land may be also opened for sale by immediate payment. Licenses will be granted for allotments to persons willing to plant the same with forest trees, and on the fulfillment of the conditions and regulations prescribed, they will be entitled to receive a Crown Grant for such land without payment of any annual fees or rent for the same. The Provincial Council of Canterbury is still in session, but its proceedings hitherto are not of much interest. A long-pending dispute between the Superintendent and the Bank of New Zealand is finally adjusted, after cvi dence taken before the Provincial Council. In both of these provinces the railways under construction are being prosecuted vigorously, while throughout the colony, ]North and South, the surveys are rapidly approaching completion. It is believed that when the Assembly meets on the J 4th instant, they will have all the information before them necessary to guide them in the direction of railway legislation. In the North Island the unusually wet season has greatly retarded road-making and other operations, but it is expected that when full reports of these works are before the Assembly, they will show that never before in the same space of time has so much real colonising work been done. During the month, Captain Baldwin in the South Island, and Mr Macffarlanc in the Worth, have been delivering lectures explanatory of the Government scheme of annuities and insurance, which have attracted much attention to this important subject. Captain Baldwin is reported to have been remarkably successful in the South, and we understand that the report of the Commissioner of Annuities to be presented to the Assembly, will show a largo increase of business done at a surprisingly low rate of expenditure. Another measure to which we have frequently referred, has been extending its usefulness and popularity widely since it was brought into operation — we mean the Land Transfer Act, This act, which is, mutatis ■miotantls, a transcript of the South Australian " Real Property Act" — better known as " Torrens' Act," was brought into operation early in the present year, and the results up to the present time have been in the highest degree satisfactory. There is every reason to believe that the public is becoming rapidly alive to the great advantages which it holds out to all who have dealings or interests in landed property. "We are informed that if the business of the department goes on increasing in the proportion in

which it lias hitherto done, the transactions under the Act will, at the end of twelve months from its introduction, he very far in excess of those effected in any of the other colonies during the first year's operation of the system. It is not to be wondered at that a system which is at once simple and economical, and under which titles to land are guaranteed by the Government, should commend itself to all those who have dealings in landed estates. As an instance of the wide-spread facilities for dealing with land which the act affords to proprietors, we may state that in some parts of the colony, townships which have been laid out by private individuals have been registered under the act be fore the allotments have been sold Tho proprietor is thus enabled to give a certificate of title to every purchaser of an allotment, at the small cost of thirtytwo shillings. The credit of the sue nessl'ul inauguration of the act is due to Mr W. S. Moorhouse, to whom the Government entrusted the difficult and responsible task. The best proof of the fitness of the officers selected for appointment in the various districts, is to be found in the fact that up to the present time no hitch of any kind has occurred. It certainly speaks well for the spirit of progress, and reform in the colonies, that all the Australian colonies have without exception, adopted the Torrens' system of registration. Mr Batchelor has been here on a visit to see the Colonial Secretary in connection with his favorite subject of sericu Iture, and reports himself satisfied with the encouraging reception given him by the Government. He is anxious to see the Provincial authorities move in the matter in the direction of planting mulberry trees, and has recommended two suitable places for their cultivation near the city, and ihree more places at the Ilutt. He is convinced that all the climatic conditions in Wellington are as favorable as those of Nelson, to which place his labors have been chiefly confined. Yesterday he had a long and satisfactory interview with the Governor at Government House, at which he submitted to his Excellency cocoons, leaves of the morns multicaulis, eggs, silk, &c. His Excellency appeared to take great interest in the matter, and showed by his interrogatories that he had given the subject considerable attention. Mr Bacheldor received the thanks of the Governor in a letter, a copy which we append : — Wellington, N.Z., 4th Aug., 1871. Sir, — I am directed by Governor Sir Q. Bowen to express tho satisfaction he has derived from inspecting the very interesting specimens of sericulture which you have shown him. His Excellency cordially wishes you success in a new enterprise which cannot fail to prove of groafc importance to the colony. — I am, &o, H. S. Hatchell, A.D.O. T. 0. Batchelor, &c, &c. As the growth of mulberry trees, and the rearing of silkworms, arc two different branches of industry, and are often followed apart, Mr Batchelor thinks there is no reason why this should not be done here, and there are many reasons why it should be the more preferable. In the early stage of the industry it would leave to the cottager the simple task of rearing the trees, which would largely recompense him for his labor. . . Assuming that an acre of land is planted with 400 mulberry trees one year old, at the first but few leaves can be taken, but the second year each tree should produce one shilling's worth of leaves, or at the rate of £20 to the acre, and increasing in value every year. . * . The cost of planting an acre of ground would be considerable, because the trees are scarce and cannot be obtained in sufficient numbers ; but the cost of trees will diminish yearly, as they can be grown readily from cuttings, so that, commencing with a few trees, the number can be increased at little cost. . . The mulberry tree must be well manured, but the cost of this would not equal that of cultivating crops of grain, while after the two first years the returns from ordinary farming would bear no proportion to those to be obtained from growing mulberry trees. In a counlrj like this, where land is cheap, and where, from the scantiness of labor, so little is made of it, the sacrifice would bo nominal were every small holder of land to plant only a few hundred trees on the sides of the hills ; and on many ! spots where land is suffered to lie un cultivated the mulberry tree would thrive well. Several influential gentlemen in tho city are giving the matter their attention, and we hope to be able soon to record that sericulture is a new industry among us. Elsewhere we have referred to the rise inthepviceof wool. We are glad to be able here to add that private advices to one of our largest firms encourage the hope that it will continue and increase. We are also informed on good authority that the question of protection on wool is seriously occupying the attention of the United States Congress, with a view to its being withdrawn or modified ; and if this takes place we may not only look for an increased demand by Americans in London, but a large trade with New Zealand direct. NATIVE AFFAIRS. As undertakers coinplainoccasionally, like other craftsmen, of dull trade, so journalists have great reason to cry out against the Native Minister for giving them nothing to report under this head. We have no expeditions, no battles, no massacres to chronicle. We do not wish to bo understood as implying that all hostilities are for ever at an end, that there are no sparks ready on certain contingencies to create a conflagration, and that the interminable land disputes will all be satisfactorily settled by the Native Land Courts, or the award of the Native Minister. We can only say that if the same prudent and cautious policy is pursued, which has been so successful for the last two years, every day is strengthening the chances of a final peace— a peace that will leave no feelingsof degradation or injustice behind to rankle in the breast of the natives and stir them up " to mutiny and rage." i Meanwhile all wor-Hke operations have

been virtually suspended, and the native policy of the present Ministry has been so far successful. The system of road- making in the North Island, together with the spread of telegraphic lines, have been working satisfactorily, to which end various parties of natives have been employed. The organisation of the Armed Constabulary Force has progressed satisfactorily, and although temporarily retarded by the illnesg of Mr Branigan, is likely to be further advanced, now that the command is vested in Lieut.-ColonelMoule, an officer of long standing in the colonial force, In spite of peace, this body is necessary, and if employed upon road making, would be far more useful. The forma* tion of roads, in all newly settled countries has been the chief civiliser — bringing the two races into more immediate contact, and enabling an armed party by rapid and easy transit to move where required, and the more easily cope with the natives in a country naturally so difficult of access. Distributed throughout the various districts, with proper supervision, aud working by contract, the Constabulary, like the Roman legions of old, form the best road-makers, becoming acquainted with the nature and formation of the country, ready for fighting if required, and inured by the j. toil necessary in road making, for'un- 1w mediate and active service in the field. J