The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1893 THE CHEVIOT ESTATE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2912, 2 March 1893, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1893 THE CHEVIOT ESTATE.

It is not all surprising that no bid bid was elicited for the tenancy of the Cheviot estate on Tuesday last. The right to occupy for a period of eleven months only wiw scarcely likely to bt^ competed for, seeing that the purchaser had to face a rent of £867 a month, to be paid monthly in advance and at once to make arrangements for the purchase of sonio 30,000 to 40,000 sheep wherewith to stock it, and then to run the risk of selling the same sheep ten months hence at a profit or a. loss as | the case might be. Ihe fact is no one ! but a capitalist could have gone in for such a transaction, not to say a capitalist of decidedly speculative tendencies. Of course we do not lose sight of the calculations read out by Mr J. T. Matson, showing a probable profit of anythingfroin£Boooto £18,000, but then auctioneers' estimates, when they relate to properties of which they have the disposal, are notoriously couleur de rote, and we again say that we are not surprised no bid was elicited. It is quite possible that the Government may be successful in temporarily leasi ing the property in subdivisions, but ! we not anticipate that the aggregate rentals will amount to anything like the rental at which the whole wqp offered on Tuesday. It seems to us that the Government cannot expect to receive a sum equal to the interest on the purchase-money for so short a term of occupancy, and that they must be prepared to submit to considerable loss in this direction. The only way in which such a loss could have been avoided would have been for the Government, having bought the estate, to buy the sheep also and keep them on it until they were ready to dispose of the property in suitable sub divisions. Had they done this the clip of next season would have more than returned interest on the whole outlay. We hear indeed that suggestions to that effect were made to Ministers from more than one quarter but that these could not be carried out because the law does not empower the Government to purchase the stock upon any estate taken over, as this was under the Land and Income Tax Act. Another matter in connection with this Cheviot purchase is the course of considerable public anxiety; We refer to the formation or proposed formation of syndicates or Settlement Associations for the purpose of taking up blocks of the land. There is a fear abroad that, if the Government deal with such bodies the result will be that the best of the land will be secured by them, leaving only the inferior land for individual settlers. It is asserted that there are plenty of persons anxious to take up land on Cheviot who are ready to do so in individual holdings, and it is urged that if this be the case preference should be given to such applications and not to those of Settlement Association* which should ouly be provided for after the demand of individual settlers has been satisfied. We sympathise, we confess, very largely with thw view and we hope that, in this matter Mr Mackenzie will be well advised before taking action which might lead to much disappointment and dissatisfaction.