THE KUROW LAND SALES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1365, 8 October 1886, Page 3

THE KUROW LAND SALES.

In a recent issue we adverted to a sale of deferred-payment lands at Kurow, which took place a week or two ago, and pointed out as evidence of the unsatisfactory working of our land laws and their administration, that out of fifty-nine applicants only ten succeeded in obtaining sections, and that those who were successful had to pay on an average thrice the upset price. Since then a sale of perpetual leaseholds, in the same district, has taken place, and the results of that sale only serve to accentuate and emphasise the evils of the system. Of eight sections offered three elicited no offer, owing, it is suggested, to the upset rental being fixed at too high a sum, while, not improbably, the fact that the sale was held at Dunedin instead of within reach of the district most interested—say at Oamaru —may also have contributed towards bringing about this result. Or it may be that the preference exhibited for the other four sections may have induced some to tender for these in the belief that they would be successful, who, had they known that others were prepared to give a much higher rental, would have preferred to send in offers for one of the three passed over. Be that as it may, it was abundantly manifested that there were five times as many persons wanting to take up sections as there were sections to be taken up, the five sections tendered for being tendered (or by no less than twenty-seven applicants in all. For one of the sections there was only one tender (at the upset), and consequently for the remaining four sections there were no less than twenty-six competitors, so out of the twenty-seven applicants for land no less than twenty-two failed to obtain it. And of the five successful ones one only obtained a section at the upset, the other four having to pay between twice and thrice the rental assessed as the value, or approximate value, by the Lands Department. Now, in the first place, it is exceedingly unsatisfactory that land should be doled out in this stupidly stingy fashion, and that by keeping the supply so infinitely short of the demand, prices should, as a natural consequence, be enhanced enormously, to| the almost certainty of plunging the settlers in difficulties and not improbably entailing forfeiture in the future, while the how-not-to-do-it methods of Government could not be better exemplified than by the fact that the sale was held in Dunedin—a hundred miles away—instead of within easy reach of the residences of ninetenths of the applicants. Writing on this subject the Oamam Mail has the following sensible remarks : —“ It is anomalous that, in this colony, where there is a general outcry against private landowners for asking high prices for their lands, and charging such high rents to croppers, administrators of our waste lands, whose actions are supposed to be controlled by the people, should interpose thesauaebarrier to an and profitable settlement of the lands. But the recent sales of lands in this district have brought out further blots in the administration of the Crown lands in this part of the colony. Not only does the State, by means of the tender system, realise tyo or three

times the value of the land ; but it adds to this imposition the necessity that applicants must apply in person to the : Board in Dunedin or be represented beiore that body by an agent armed with the applicant’s written authority to act in his behalf. We have reason , to believe that, in most cases, applicants, preferring to do their own business, incur the expense of going to Dunedin and the consequent loss o( lime. Thus the land really costs a ! successful applicant much more than i appears on the surface, because of this 1 trouble and expense, and of this extra amount the State receives a considerable sum in the shape of railway fares. When there is such a system of blackmailing on every hand it becomes a matter of grave doubt as to which is the luckier individual —the successful or the unsuccessful applicant ? But with the chances five to one against him the settler from Kurow or from other parts, with a praiseworthy anxiety to get a bit of land on which to work out his own destiny in an honest way, went to Dunedin. It was a forlorn hope. Experience has already taught him that ; but the flimsiest chance is tempting where the alternative is, perhaps, want of employment, and not improbably the worse contingency of a lack of sustenance. How many out of the 22 men who were disappointed in getting perpetual lease land at Kurow actually went to Dunedin themselves, and how many were represented by agents, wo cannot say ; but the fact remains that 22 persons came out of the experiment poorer as well as disappointed. The lessons to be learnt from all this are—that an insufficiency of land is offered ; that the tender system induces a man to pay mote than he ought and more than the Government is entitled to receive; and that land, officers should be available in the centre of population nearest to the place where the land is to be sold. The Minister for Lands appears to have been too busy in.the North lately to devote any attention to the South ; but we think that now his northern tour in the interest of settlement appears to have come to an end, he might with advantage visit the South, personally inspect the lands of the Crown, and listen to the representations of citizens and settlers, with a view to bringing about much-needed improvement in the administration of his department in these parts.” We heartily concur with our contemporary in ois opinions, and sincerely hope that Mr Ballance will during the present recess manage to spend a few weeks in this part of the colony devoting his personal attention to the forwarding of the cause of settlement. He has promised to do so for two years’ past, but except flying visits of a few hours has as yet done nothing towards redeeming his promises in this direction. It is, however, never too late to turn over a new leaf, and we are glad to see that the Minister is apparently about to “ tak’ a thocht an’ mend,” as recent telegrams from Wellington have informed us that he purposes coming south on this very errand at an early date.