3

C.-2

No. 2. The Commissioner of Crown Lands, Dunedin, to the Secretary for Crown Lands. (Memorandum.) Crown Lands Office, Duuedin, 24th June, 1881. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your memorandum of the 30th May last, numbered 271/2, as to dealing with runs in the interior of this district, the leases of which expire in 1883. The various proposals were duly considered by the Land Board, at a meeting of that body on tho 22nd instant, when the following resolution was unanimously adopted : " That the Board, having considered the memorandum of the Secretary for Crown Lands relative to the disposal of Crown lands in Otago to be dealt with at the expiration of the current leases of the runs in March, 1883, desire generally to express their concurrence with the views of the Government contained therein, as tending to promote settlement in the interior, and that the Board will be glad to co-operate with the Government in carrying the same into effect." J. P. Maitland, The Secretary for Crown Lands, Wellington, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

No. 3. [Advertisement, .] Sale op Pastoral Leases of Crown Lands. —Preliminary Notice. General Crown Lands Office, Wellington, 7th November, 1881. Three million acres of Crown lands will shortly be open for sale and lease in the Provincial District of Otago, New Zealand. This country is at present held under lease in large runs until the Ist March, 1883. These runs, after agricultural blocks, townships, plantation and other reserves have been taken, will be subdivided into areas of about two or three thousand acres and upwards, according to the nature of the country, and will be offered for lease or for sale on pastoral deferred payments in terms of " The Land Act, 1877," and " The Land Act 1877 Amendment Act, 1879." The agricultural blocks will be forthwith surveyed, and will then be offered for selection on immediate and deferred payments. Areas exceeding 5,000 acres will be let as runs for ten years, from the Ist March, 1883, with pre-emptive right over 320 acres for homestead. Areas under 5,000 acres will be generally for sale on pastoral deferred payments. In order to give new pastoral lessees time to make arrangements, the licenses will, in terms of the Land Act, be sold by public auction, at the Land Office, Dunedin, in the latter end of February, 1882, twelve months before possession is to be given. One year's rent will be payable in advance on the license at the time of sale. The pastoral deferred payment sections will be offered for sale by public auction probably in November or December, 1882; possession on the Ist March, 1883. Terms: A deposit of onethirtieth of the price of the land on purchase, the balance in half-yearly payments extending over fifteen years. .Residence within twelve months is compulsory, and must continue for five years, Balance of instalments may be paid at end of ten j'ears, in whicii case Crown grant issues. The country has been occupied for upwards of twenty years. It is well grassed, well watered, sound, and healthy. Distance from port by good roads, and railways part of the way, from 30 to 150 miles. Maps and further particulars will be obtainable at the Land Offices in New Zealand early in December next, and at places in the Australian Colonies to be named in future advertisements. Suitable blocks of land will also be surveyed immediately in the Provincial District of Canterbury, for sale on pastoral deferred payment, and will be offered for sale about March, 1882. AVir. Eolleston, Minister of Lands.

No. 4. The Hon. the Minister of Lands to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Dunedin. Sic, — General Crown Lands Office, "Wellington, 24th December, 1881. In the month of May last a memorandum was forwarded to you by the Secretary for Crown Lands for submission to the Land Board on the subject of the future disposal of the runs in the Provincial District of Otago, of which the leases are to terminate in the month of March, 1883. That memorandum embodied the principles which, in the opinion of the Government, should guide the dealing with those runs so as to promote the beneficial settlement of the country and increase its productive power to the utmost. I have now the honor to forward, for the information of the Board, maps and schedules showing the manner in which these principles appear to work out in their application to the blocks of country to be dealt with, and to express the hope that the information thus afforded will enable the Board, without much difficulty, to exercise the function which devolves upon it under the Act. The results of the work of the department, as shown upon the map, are briefly as follow: (1.) Seventy-six runs comprising an area of about 2,427,000 acres, the leases of which expire in the month of March, 1883, and which, in terms of " The Land Act, 1877," have to be dealt with not later than the end of February next, are subdivided into 150 runs, comprising in all a total area of 2,162,000 acres. (2.) An area amounting to 265,000 acres is withheld from leasing for the purposes of pastoral deferred payment and agricultural settlement. The topographical information on the maps and the descriptions in the schedules have been broighfc up to the date of the most recent surveys, and the contour lines showing the altitude of the country