10

G.—l

that these transactions are still going on. Considering the magnitude of these transactions, honorable members will not be surprised to hear—in fact, it would take a great deal to surprise honorable members now —that the salaries for the officers of this Land Purchase Department amount to £10,265 16s. Of course, there is another very important item, which I have not time to explain to-night very fully—namely, " Incidental Expenses." But the sum I have named is the sum actually paid for the salaries of the officers of the department. With respect to those salaries, I want to point out —and I do so to strengthen the argument I commenced with, namely, that the control of those moneys is passing away from this House—that, up to the year 1877, the whole of the salaries of those people were voted by the House in detail; the officers' salaries were given in the estimates, and voted in detail. That has now been altered, and in a way which I do not think is an improvement. A lump sum is now voted, and is distributed, practically, by the Native Minister. Those transactions have attained to such magnitude that I think it is a matter for the serious consideration of this House. It is a question for serious consideration whether the transactions are profitable ones or not; and I use the word "profitable" in the widest sense, as expressing not only the commercial idea, but also the settlement idea. One of the principal West Coast purchasers, in his last report sent to the Department, states that he finds that land which he could have purchased two or three years ago for 2s. 6d. or 3s. an acre now costs from 7s. 6d. to 10s. an acre. Now, if the land is worth it, Ido not grudge these payments to the Natives, but that is the question. In my opinion, a great deal of the land purchased on the West Coast is not worth the sum paid, or anything like it. I speak with some little knowledge of this particular matter, and in my opinion a great deal of the land purchased upon the West Coast will not promote settlement for years to come. Shall Ibe saying too much if I say it will not promote settlement to any extent for generations to come ? It is not a rocky country for the most part, but when you get back some distance from the coast you come upon some of the most rugged country I have ever seen. Some of these blocks are inaccessible to a high degree. If you tap one portion of a block, the remaining portion would remain inaccessible until a very great expenditure of money had been incurred upon it. A great deal of this land is rugged bush land of a character that, in my opinion, will not encourage settlement, and will not, in fact, be settled upon for many years to come. I say that, whether it is regarded as a matter of commercial profit or in the view of promoting settlement, the aspect of many of these blocks is unsatisfactory in a high degree. When the large amount of money that has been devoted to the purpose of acquiring them is considered, I think it will be admitted on all sides that it is really a matter to which each member of this House should give his careful attention; because I presume interest on this money will have to be paid for years to come, and, if no good result arises from acquiring the land, then I say it is an unfortunate thing that we have acquired it. Now, it may be argued, and I dare say it will be argued, that there is competition upon that coast, and that, from the fact that there is private competition, the colony is not giving more than the fair value for the land. I think lam stating the argument against myself as fairly as I can. However, I dissent from that view. 1 say this: that, in my opinion, with respect to a great deal of the land —two-thirds of the land acquired upon the West Coast—there has heen no competition, in the true sense. What I mean is this : that private individuals going to buy that land have not bought it for ordinary purposes, nor for purposes of private speculation and profit. I believe they would not have looked at the land with this object. They have treated for it with a certain object. They enter into negotiations with the Maoris, or get a claim upon the land, for the purpose of parting with it at a higher price to the Government: the object is to get a hold upon the land, and then to offer to hand over their interest to the Government for a consideration. That is the sort of thing that is done. That is not competition in* the ordinary sense of the word. There has, in my belief, been no real competition for a great portion of that land which has been purchased on the west coast of this Island. I will give a case in point: There is a block of land estimated at 100,000 acres not very far from Wanganui. lam well acquainted