SETTLING THE LAND

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2570, 18 September 1915, Page 3

SETTLING THE LAND

GOVERNMENT'S' OPERATIONS.' The annual report of the Govern* ment's operations' under the • Land for. Settlement Act wag tabled in the Housei of Representatives on Wednesday. ■ - The number of properties considered' was 137,'of.aii area of 365,198 acres,'o£ which 50,211' acres were purchased ,at cost of £350,087. With the exception! of 1693 acres, of" which, delivery has not" been taken, the whole has .been satisfactorily settled. The demand for sev«. eral of the blocks was extremely geen, and anything offered suitable for mixed'farming, but more especially for graz-i mg, is eagerly competed for: - Further; purchases have lately been made totalling 13,963 acres, valued at £108,316, and negotiations are pendiiig for , other l areas.- Notwithstanding tho unsettledcondition of affairs, a good many pro-! perties are changing bands .at: prices quite .up to those ruling prior to - the outbreak of war. While the present' prices for our products aro maintained, tnero would appear to be sufficient warrant for tho high values obtaining: lhe total area purchased to'the end of March 1915, is 1,540,578 acres, at a cost of £7,293,300. . ; ■ < Thero have been, six associations im- £ j Land Settlement Finance Act formed during the year, with 37 memS i a> -an area of 3279 acres, valued at £62,553. Several other proposals wore under consideration, but for van, ous reasons woro not approved." The associations already formed, with very, few exceptions, appear to bo prospering.' iho mode of procedure, states'the report, for. the formation of an association is very cumbersome, and in several instances has been tho moass' of preventing suitable men taking advantage of tho provisions of the Act. The present Act should, it is urged, be repealed, and replaced by a simpler one with wider powers.