The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA : FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1878.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 203, 31 May 1878, Page 5

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA : FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1878.

||At tbe present time when we have the j prospect before us of a land tax, it is \ peafrable thae we should be well in- j pjrmed in >all matters relating to land. | We purpose placing before our readers ga few matters, chiefly of a statistical •character, relating to this subject. It |*?6 not our intention at present to dispones on its merits the question of a land |tax. We may on a future occasion take |flp this -question. The figures we give Kmay, however, assist our readers in pnuking calculations and in forming for themselves, A One important particular, especially present, is the area of freehold land gin the Colony. We find that the area f*that has been disposed of by the Crown Ha one way and another up to the 80th pf June, 1877, is 33,488,884 acres. jb.We have one or two remarks to make "about this area. In one official return ito which we have referred there is a |-note stating that the information supplied from Nelson is very incomplete. |The return does not give any infbrmaj •tion at all in regard to Nelson, probably rbecause an*y information it might give [;. would not be reliable. We find, howfyvter, in another return the freehold I land in Nelson up to the Ist of January, AW7. put down at 1,037,178. Adding i this to th© 12,451,706 acres which we r nnd to be the area of freehold land in j^e other Provinces, we obtain a total AJat the Colony of 13,488,884 acres. AWe think it right to make these reA marks regarding Nelson as, our figures to this Province may not be •Btrictly correct. Further, the area we have mentioned does, not include any lands tbat have been dealt with by the Native Lands Court It is well known ["__ - That; many of these lands become the property of private individuals as soon V as they pass through the Court, and are Jo all intents and purposes freehold lands. Neither does the ahove area include any of the confiscated lands. We are aware that portions of these lands ; nave been sold by "the Government, and thus have also passed into the position o» freehold lands. We have not, howler, been able to ascertain the oxtent to which this has been done. It may oe wrong to make a guess in a matter of which we do not know much. Let us, however, allow 1,550,000 acres to cover the lands to which we have just \: referred. Granting that we are not far ; from the mark, we bring up the area I of freehold lands .in the Colony to say 15,000,000 aores in round numbers. - We shall confine our attention for a y little to tho 13,188,884 acres, which is ;.'■ tne area regarding which our information may be said to he almost strictly \ accurate. Of this area 2,324,527 acres '■ have been granted to the Natives under i l jifi Native Lands Acts. We refer to wis matter simply because it is more ; than probahle;;ttiat when a land tax A comes to be proposed, a strenuous effort •_'. be made. to have all Native lands, 5 and even lands that have been Crown- j i panted to the Natives, provided these i lands are still-'ih Native occupation, from the* operation ot the tax. A, 9 Ur readers, therefore, in any calculaI tions they may make as to the probable | "revenue arising from the tax would do I well to keep this in mind. We do not fvwish our readers to understand that all I m area of ;2,324,527 acres is still in | dative . occupation. Some of it has i^woubdess been sold, and some of it

leased. Still a portion remains in Native occupation, and as to this portion we may be sure that no stone will be left unturned to have it exempted from taxation.

Some of our readers may be curious to know how this area of 13,438,884 acres is apportioned as regards the two Islands. We need not say that the 2,325,527 acres that have been granted to the Natives are almost without exception in the North Island. Leaving these out of account, we have a balance of 11,164,357 acres. This is the extent of the area which we know is in European occupation. Of this area 5,004,000 acres are in the North Island, and 6,160,000 in the Middle Island.

And now as to tbe money which these eleven millions and odd acres of freehold lands have realised. We need scarcely 8»y tbat a good deal of this land has heen given away for nothing — at least for no money consideration. It is in the North Island almost exclusively that this has heen done. In Auckland alone 446,671 acres have been given gratuitously to immigrants. This may have been the only way of getting- the land settled. We are not, hcwever, at present concerned with this view of the question, but simply with the fact that a very large area has been given gratuitously to immigrants aud others. The price which these eleven millions and odd acres have realised is L 9,195,638,, 195,638, as we make it out, or a fraction under 16s 6d per acre. Of this sum the North Island has contributed L 1,659,907, and the Middle Island 1*7,535,73 1. In o'her words, the Middle Island has yielded considerably more than four tiroes the land revenue of the North Island. It is easy to see also that each acre in the Middle Island has yielded to the State about four times as much as each acre in the North Island. The two Provinces that are the antipodes to each other in regard to price are Auckland and Canterbury. In the former the freehold lands have yielded rather less than 6s per acre. In the latter they have yielded very nearly L 2 per ncre. We are inclined to" think that the impression prevails that there is far more freehold land in the Middle Island than in the North Island. This, however, it would appear is a mistake. It is true that the area that has been disposed of to Europeans is 1,160,000 acres greater in the Middle Island than in the North Island. But theu we have to recollect that in the North Island 2,324,527 acres have been granted to the Natives. We must also recollect that a large area has passed into European hands directly from the Natives, and that portions of the confiscated lands are now also freehold. If we put all these togeiher, we sliall find that the freehuld lands in the North Island very considerably exceed in area the freehold lands in the Middle Island. We make the following estimate :— North Island. _ , , Acres. Land granted to Europeans 5,004,000 Land granted to IVatives under Native Lands Acts 2,324,527 Land sold by Natives to Europeans, and confiscated land sold by Government, say ... 1,500,000 8,828,527 Middle Island. Land granted to Europeans 5,160,000 Total. North Island 8,828,527 Middle Island ]". G,'I6OJOOO 14,988,537 We have endeavoured to show the position of the Colony in regard to freehold lands at the end of the financial year, namely, 30th June last. We are aware that a very large area of land has been sold during the current financial year. This is true particularly of Canterbury. We have not had an opportunity of ascertaining the area that has been sold up to the present period of the financial year. If, hawever, we say a million of acres for the whole year, we presume we shall be rather und-r than over the mark. This would rpve us a grand total of about 16,000,000 of acres of freehold land in the Colony.