ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 419, 29 April 1870, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not identify ourselves with the , opinions that may be expressed by our correspondents. ' THE LAXD SALES. , (to tiie Editor or the Dunstan Times.) , Sir,— Tho great cry in this province is 1 the want of population to settle on the ; lands, and it does appear to me the Govern- i ment, or the Waste Lam's Eoard, or who- ; ever it is has the management of the sale < of the land, place every possible iinpedi- ; ment in the way of the legitimate pur- 1 chaser. In proof of this I can mention i several instances which have occurred in ! j this immediate neighborhood. One person 1 applied; four or live years ago, to purchase j ' laud at the rate of £8 per acre. He was | l not allowed to do so ; but a short time since ! 1 it was put up to auction, and knocked down I 1 to the person who year 3 ago had offered I f the above high price at 255. per acre, thus ' entailing a comparatively great loss to the < revenue, and moreover leaving a barren 1 waste land which might otherwise have • been teeming with the fruits of earth. 1 Another person of my acquaintance wished to purchase lan'i which, though surveyed, had remained idle and unoccupied year after year. He wrote to the Waste Lamls : Board signifying his wishes ; but the reply ' was that the Boarl could not comply with the reque-t, that the lan 1 would be soli by auction, and that the applicant might, if he chose, purchase at such auction. Same months afterwards the land in question was ■ put up in a kind of hole-and-corner way, the knight of the hammer being a Government official. The attendance was limited to four or five, n;nd as this little knot were perfectly agreed (as I am informed) who should have which, there was of course no competition, and the little farce terminated to the satisfaction of the limited and select company, the upset price being all that was obtained. I contend that a settled population is absolutely necessary to the welfare ef the colony, and it is to the interest of the province that every inducement, not obstacle, should be afforded to people who will purchase and utilise the hind. The red-tape, system should be entirely abolished, and and anyone who chose to purchase land at the price set upon it by the Government should be allowed to do so, without the slightest delay. Certain land is surveyed and open for sale. The price is fixed, and I would really ask, in the name of commonsense, why a purchaser, who is ready to pay down the money, should not have it, same as he can buy any other marketable commodity. lam decidedly of opinion that, had a business-like system prevailed, the whole of the available land in this neighbornood would have been purchased at the price put upon it by the Government, without the expenses attending the services of an amateur auctioneer, advertising, &c, and that, long ere this, what is now a dreary waste, weary and painful to the eye, would have been under cultivation, or put to some profitable use. If the Government have an article for sale—i. e., laud—let them put a price on that article, as any business man would do, and take the purehase-inouey from the first customer who offers it. If that system were adopted, instead of the farcical one of sending a surveyor through the country, at no little expense, to play the amateur auctioneer and sell a lot or two here and there at a price which could have been readily obtained in a more simple and straightforward manner, a large increase would accrue to the revenue of the province and to the population. Hoping I have not trespassed. too much . upon your space, I am, &c, A WOULD-BE PURCHASER, Clyde, April 19, 1870.

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT. (Before Vincent Tyke, Esq, R.M.) Clyde, Tuesday, April 26. W. Parcells v. T. Huston and party. Claim £ll Bs. 4d. goods supplied. No appearance of. 'defendant. Judgment by default for full amount and 375. costs. Distress to issue if not paid within seven days, and in default of insufficient disrress, aho month in Clyde gaol. Hazlett v. Donnelly. Claim £4O 14s. 6d. Mr. Brough, solicitor for plaintiff, asked for an adjournment till May 3, which was granted. Learv v. Burnett. Amount of a dishonored 1.0. U. W. Woodman and J. Trender were each fined 20S. iot committing a breach of the 4 peace.