The Southland Times. BALCLUTHA : FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1878.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 197, 19 April 1878, Page 5

The Southland Times. BALCLUTHA : FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1878.

The burgesses of Balciutha are invited by bis Woraliip the Major to meet on Monday evening to consult as to whether the township should be divided into wards or be allowed to remain as at present, an undivided borough. Our readers are aware that one effect of coming- under the 1876 Act was to abolish the previous- divisions of wards, so that now if such divisions be deemed desirable it is necessary to ask the Govtrnor to proclaim them. It would be well for the inhabitants to enquire into and talk over the matter in the interval, so that they may be able to arrive as a judicious decision on Monday night. Our own impression is that in the case of a Borough of the size of Balcldtha wards are unnecessary, and | only lead to little petty jealousies and rivalries, which are not conducive to I the peace and good feeling- of the inhabirants. They also lead to divisions lin the Council and amongst the inhabitants, and to an. unnecessary increase of the working expenses of the Borough. Should the meeting decide on Monday night to le^ve the Borough undivided" for the present;, it could l)e divided at any future time should this course be deem* d desirable. It rn.iy be very necessary in the ease of Isivge cities to have them divided into vvsmU to be placed under the special charge of a certain proportion of Councillors, but in the case of small townships where all the Councillors know the requirements of every portion, such divisions we think partake somewhat of the nature of a farce, and lead to prejudicial results. It is, however, for the public to consider and decide as to the course they wish adopted. • In a former article we directed the attention of our readers to certain changes that had been made in our land laws during last session of the General Assembly. We propose at present to refer to other onangeb that were made on the same occasion We 'are aware that a few owners of large freeholds have taken upland under deferred payments. This ha 3 sometimes been used as an argument against; the system. "There is Mr So-and-so," we have heard people say ; "he has more land already than he well knows what to do with, and yet he bus taken tip a deferred payment section." It is impossible,- especially in the early sta<res of legislation on any subject, to guard against every defect. Granting that it was a defect in the old Act that capitalists were able to take advantage of the. deferred "payment system, it is a defect that has not produced much harm, for not many capitalists have taken advantage of it. The . defect, however, is in a great measure remedied by the present Act, for no person who is the owner of a pre-emptive right or of 640 acres of land, can now take up deferred payment land. We have also heard it said that som« persons who took up land in the early days of the deferred payment system, have bought their original selections and have gone in a second time for de- : f erred payment land. No person, howi ever, will be able to do this in future. The man who has once taken up land under deferred payments cannot do so a second time, We are inclined, to. think that .this is just as it should be. . The man who has once taken up land ,in this way! has had an opportunity granted him by the State of making n start in life.- "ii ' he sells, his" land Jie becomes a capitalist in a small way. If 1

lie wishes to go on land a second timehe should be able to do this without the assistance of the State. The deferred payment system was evidently established for thp purpose of enabling- working- man to make homes for themselves, and not for the purpose- of enabling them to dispose of rheir lands at a profit on the first opportunity. Under the old Act "every pp.rson who wished to take up deferred payment l&nd had to lodge his application personally at.the Land Office. We do not think there was ever any occasion for this restriction, and we know that many persons were put to great inconvenience in having 1 to travel long- distances, sometimes in very bad weather, to. lodge their applications in parson. We- are glad to inform our readers that the law is changed in this respect also. An application for deferred payment land may now he rna-de by the applicant in person or by any person in his behalf, and it may even " be enclosed in a sealed cover, which shall not be opened till af'ier the office hours on the dav it is made." The new Act contains a variety of provisions for taking- up suburban land on deferred payments. This is an entirely new feature in our land legislation. The allotment which one person can take up cannot exceed 20 acres in extent. As L 3 is the lowest price at which suburban land can be sold, the price of this class of land under deferred payments must be L 4 10s per acre. The conditions relating to this cla?s of land are different from the conditions relating* to rural land. These we shall shortly enumerate. The license is only for a period of five years. The annual fee therefore is one- fifth the pricp of the land, and not one- tenth, as ir. the case of rural land. The fee is payable halfyearly, as in the casn of rural l^nd, namely, on the Ist of January and th« Ist of July in ench year. The selector of suburban land must reside on his land for four years from the issue of tho license, and not six years, as the selector of rural land has to'do - He must briny under cultivation- one- tenth of his land the first year, and the same quantity the second year. Within four years he must have cultivated at least threefourths of his land. Ho must a'so have, the whole of his allotment enclosed with a substantial fence. .He must, in. fact, have substantial improvements on his property to the value of at least LlO per aero. This value per acre, however, includes the value of the cultivation. In this respecD it is different from rural land, for the substantial improvements to the value of Ll per acre that must be put on rural land are in addition to the value of the cultivation. We are inclined to think that; the conditions in the case of the selector of suburban land are more sa-ingent than there is any occasion for. There is another entirely new feature in the Land Act of last session. We refer to that part' of the Act which provides that pastoral had may be disposed of on deferred payments. The land that is to be opened in this way is laud tmu- is not considered suitable for agriculture. It is selected by Commissioners, who are appointed by the Governor for the purpose. Tun laod is to be surveyed into allotments of from 000 to 5000 acres, according to quality and as the natural boundaries of the hnd may n^uiiu Jc is to be pur, up to auction t.t the upset price of Li pur' acre. . The license is for the long- period of 15 years. The license fee is payable half-yearly, namely, on the Ist March and Ist September. The half-vaarJv fee is therefore the thirtieth part of the sum which the land realises' at auction. In the case of land knocked downut Ll per acre, the fee will amount to 8(1 per acre for the half-year. The purchaser musr, within twelve months reside on the laud, and he must continue to reside on it for live years. In ten years ho can obtain a Crown grant" for the land on payment of so much of the. price as shall remain unpaid. We have no doubt that many small pastoral estates will' be acquired under this part of the Act.