12

I.—B

only divided by a road from the Toka Block, was offered at £1 for cash, £1 2s. 6d. for deferred payment, or at a rental of Is. per acre on perpetual lease. The purchase of 1,000 acres in the Toko Block would at the end of five years have paid in principal and interest, at 6f per cent., £2,397 4s. lid., equivalent to a rental on his outlay, at 6|- per cent., of £165 16s. lOd. A purchaser of 1,000 acres in the adjoining block at £1 2s. 6d. per acre on deferred payment, paying all instalments as they become due for five years, would at the end of that period have paid in principal and interest,-at 6-|- per cent., £759, equivalent to a rental of £49 6s; but his interest on the capitalisation of the nine annual payments thereafter, at 5 per cent, on the balance of £625, would be only £31 ss. His entire rental would therefore be £80 11s. for nine years. If, however, he capitalised after the first year's payment, his first year's outlay for principal and interest would be £133 2s. 6d., and at the end of five years—four years' annual instalments of £56 ss. having been paid, with interest at 6J per cent. —would amount to £433 15s. 6d., equivalent to a rental of £28 45.; while his annual payment to the Government being £56 55., his rental would be equivalent for nine years to £84 9s. If he obtained his 1,000 acres on perpetual lease at Is. per acre, at the end of five years he would have paid in cash and interest, at 6J per cent., £303 Is 2d., or a rental equivalent to £19 145., which, added to his rent to the Government of £50 per annum, would be equivalent to a rental for the remainder of the term of his lease of £69 14s. £ s. d. £ s. d. Toko Block ... ... ... ... 165 16 10 Deferred payment for five years ... ... ... 80 11 0 Deferred payment for one year ... ... ... 84 9 0 On perpetual lease ... ... ... ... 69 14 0 £234 14 0 averaging £78 4s. 4d. ; which doubled would be ... ... 156 8 8 or ... ... ... ... ... 9 8 2 more than twice the rental of Toko Block purchaser. This is understood to be the first instance when private and Crown lands of equal quality and position were disposed of at the same time. The private land was bought at the higher price because the purchaser was not restricted in area, and was not subject to occupation and improvement clauses ; hence the difference of more than 100 per cent, paid by the purchaser as against the occupant of Crown land. It follows from this that the land disposed of by the Government since the raising of the loan under special conditions has realised so little as compared with land disposed of without special conditions. In the case of land adjoining the Toko Block, which is a typical one, the difference of price amounted to more than 100 per cent. It would therefore be an exceedingly low estimate to add 50 per cent, to the price obtained for Crown land and on the valuation made in the returns for land to be disposed of hereafter with special conditions. The capitalised amount due by deferred-payment holders who have £ capitalised to March, 1889, was ... ... ... ... 73,621 The capitalised value of the rental of perpetually-leased land at same date was ... ... ... ... ... ... 68,200 141,821 Add 50 per cent, to the Government returns ... ... ... 70,910 £212,731 One-fourth due to Harbour Board in account ... ... ... 53,183 The Government estimate of the extent and value of the unsold land in the provincial district at March, 1891, is,— Surveyed Land open for Sale. A. E. P. £ S. d. 50 1 0 town land... ... ... ... value 1,793 10 0 183 111 suburban land ... ... ... value 369 12 0 41 037 village land, ... ... ... value 442 16 0 274 3 8 £2,605 19 0 3,435 0 0 first-class rural land ... value 3,71112 0 22,345 1 2 second-class rural land ... value 14,435 8 0 5,864 0 0 grazing-runs ... ... value 1,466 0 0 19,613 0 0 Unsurveyed Land. 465,975 0 0 first-, second-, and thirdclass rural ... ... value ... 187,228 0 0 206,841 0 0 Add 50 per cent, to Government value ... ... 103,420 0 0 310,261 0 0 Add at nominal price, as above ... ... ... 2,606 0 0 £312,867 0 0 . One-fourth due to Board, as sold ..„ ... ... 78,217 0 0 Capital due at 31st March, 1891 ... ... ... 53,183 0 0