GUM LANDS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2208, 22 July 1914, Page 4

GUM LANDS

' REPORT OF THE'COMMISSION. taieTepbrt of the'commission set up to inspect and classify the kauri gum reserves to ascertain which reserves contain sufficient gum to justify their retention as kauri glim reserves, and which reserves are sufficiently .exhausted • of cum to justify the removal of the reservation; and the opening of tho land ■'for settlement, was presented to the House of Representatives ; yesterday by the Right Hon. W. IV Massoy. Summarised, the conclusions and recommendations of tho Commissioners, who were unanimous in all of them, Were as "follow 1. That .the reservation bo uplifted from various kauri-gum reserves, of a tctal area of 71,161 acres.. 2. That tho Crown gum lands have been mismanaged in tho pastgreatly to their detriment. ■ • ■ . 3. That better -methods of managemeat are essential. ■• ■' .•*. 4. That tho development of tlio Crown gum lands under judicious management offers a practicable, solution of the "un-'=: employed" difficulty" for many, yeais to ' come. . ' -. 5. That the settlement of the gum lands by men possessing little or no capital can only be brought about by a gradual process. . 6. .That'tlie State should break in and develop tho gum lands before disposal, and that cuch a process Would ,bo an cconomio success. , 7. That Section 20 of the Land Act o U m? n is? as '*° w^en its scope. 8. That the 'cheeking of sand-drift on of Aliipara, afFectiiis ' acres of Crown lands 1 and; 200,000 acres private lands, is a matter for. serious consideration. 9, That tlie afforestation of certain areas shmiM be taken 'in ,hand.' ' < 10. That the wineshops on the.kauris sum .reserves .on the northern gum.' fields are having; a most pernicious effect. .' V • . "; - . ]1. Tliat a Department *be set .up to ■' tako. charge ,of: the Crown gum lands and the kauri-gum industry generally, Runli a Department to be supported bv imposnifr an export duty of £1 a toil oil kauri-gum. ■■ ' The amendment proposed in Section 20 of the Laud Laws Amendment Act of 1912. is .'intended to provide that land in any ijart of a kauri'jnim=reserve may be proclaimed as open for, selection as "unsurveyed land," in lieu of land in .allotments as at present stipulated. It is suggested' that .provision, may, bo .made by regulation that such, selections can be made only, in accordance With a scheme of subdivision prepared by the Commissioner .of Crown"Lands, and that some of- preference l may be given to men who have continuously resided' on such land forj.a period of' six months prior to tho date of theproclamation. .