The Evening Star MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1870,

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2096, 24 January 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1870,

The Land Question is the stock subject for political debate in all the Colonies, but in .none has it assumed the same importance as it has in Victoria. For the last fifteen years there never lias been a session of Parliament without this being the chief bone of contention. Government after Government have come to grief in the attempt

to clear away weeds that clustered round the question. It would take almost a volume to even glance at the various systems which have been adopted, tried, and condemned as failures. However, at last a model Land Act has been forged, and which appears to have met the views ot both Houses of Parliament. As the legislation of Victoria on this vexed question must, to a greater or lesser degree, influence that of the neighboring Colonies, such a measure should possess no inconsiderable interest to a large majority of our readers. We have not yet received a copy of the Land Act as passed, but we can gather from the Melbourne papers, and a short analysis in the Lyttelton Times, sufficient _to enable us to shadow forth the leading features of this important measure. The basis upon which the Bill is framed is to increase the facilities for the obtaining of land for agricultural and other industries, the limitation of the pastoral tenant’s privileges, and the defining clearly conditions for the management of commons.’ The right of the Crown to permit mining on all Crown lands is rigidly provided for, although not in detail, it being deemed advisable to make this a subject for speci .il legislation. This Act possesses increased importance from the fact that while it repeals all other Acts relating to land, it in no way repudiates claims arising from previous legislation, but “ rigidly preserves the rights and lia- “ bilities which they have brought into “ existence.”

Free selection is the main feature in the Act. Any one—Government officials excepted, may personally apply for a license to occupy such allotment of Crown lands as he may have selected. The license entitles the holder to occupy the land granted for three years, at a yearly rental of two shillings per acre, upon the following conditions : All rent to be paid half-yearly in advance ; the licensee not to assign, transfer, or sub-let; the land to be enclosed with a good, substantial fence, and at least one acre out of every ten cultivated within two years ; the lease to be annulled if the rent is not paid, and the land not occupied within six months of the issue of the lease ; or if at the termination of the three years, substantial and permanent improvements to the value of one pound for every acre have not been made. Value for improvements, however, may be given, under certain circumstances, the amount to be determined by the "Waste Land Board. The licensee who fulfils all the conditions of lease to the satisfaction of the Board, can, at the end of three years, the term of his lease, either obtain the fee simple of the land for fourteen shillings per acre, or get a seven years lease at the same • rent and subject to the same conditions as the first lease. Thus, at the end of this second lease, the land becomes the sole property of the occupant, without any further payment; and more—“ A t any time during the “ seven years, he can secure a freehold “ },y paying the difference between the “ fourteen shillings and what he has “ already paid on account of rent under “ that lease.” In short a man can secure a freehold by paying two _ shillings an acre for ten years. No interest is charged, bona fide cultivation being the only exacting condition required, except “ that no license or lease shall give the “ right to its holder, under any circum- “ stances, to search for or take any “ precious metal.” Still, great care has been shown to prevent other than actual settlerstakingadvantageof the free selection privileges : “No licensee can, either “ in his own name or that of another, “ take up more than 320 acres, that being “ the maximum size of an allotment.” Nor is a selection allowed to any one who lias taken up to this extent under the provisions of preceding Acts, or whose previous holdings have been forfeited for evasion of the conditions under which they were taken up. Another stringent and salutary provision is—“ No one “ who is under eighteen years of age, “ ‘ or who shall be a married woman “ ‘ undivorced or not judicially sepa- “ ‘ rated,’ or who is merely a trustee “ or agent, or who has at the time of “ application agreed to let some one « acquire the allotment by purchase or • l otherwise, can obtain a license to oc- “ cupy. If there should be the slightest “ violation of any stated conditions, “ the Governor may at any time, by “ publication in the Government Ga- “ zette, declare the license forfeited, “ and the holder loses any payments he “ may have made.” In short every conceivable barrier has been erected to prevent the abuse of the free-selection system adopted, and the punishment of evaders is provided for. Having rapidly glanced through the agricultural clauses, we turn to those having special refei’ence to the pastoral tenants of the Crown. It provides for the issue of yearly licenses to to those persons who may be in occupation ot the runs at the time of the Act coming into operation, but only on conditions which, to use a mild term, are distinct and stringent. No licences shall, however, prevent the Government from selling any part of the same, or pro-

claiming it a common or otherwise dealing with it. From and after the first day of January, 1871, every pastoral licensee is to pay as rent eightpence for every head of sheep, or four shillings for every head of cattle, which the Waste Lands Board, or whom they appoint for that purpose, shall declare the run capable of carrying. Such rent is apparently liable to readjustment at anv time the Board may think fit. With regard to new runs, consisting of unoccupied territory or runs previously forfeited, the Act provides that they shall be put up to auction, the highest bidder becoming the licensee. None of these runs may he of larger area than is sufficient to carry 4,000 sheep or 1,000 head of cattle all the year round. No pastoral licensee is allowed to cultivate more agricultural produce than is required for consumption on his own station. The runholder is entitled to a pre-emptive right to 320 acres, upon which his 4i Homestead ” may have been erected, at the upset price of LI per acre. This is one of the chief features of the Bill, although there are many other items of importance. For instance ; it provides that the upset price of land shall bn LI per acre, that not more than 200,000 acres shall be sold in one year, and that the sales shall be by auction. Perhaps the most interesting and wc may say instructive portion of the Act, is the positive recognition of the value of internal communication by means of railways; the danse is to the following effect—From January, 1870, and every year thereafter, there shall be paid out of the moneys arising from the sale and alienation of land, a sum not exceeding L 200,000 to a trust account, called the “ Railway Loan Liquidation and Con- “ struction Account.” This money is to be appropriated to the purchase of railway debentures heretofore or hereafter issued, and for the construction of such railways as the Governor in Council or Parliament may authorise. The Act is generally accepted as a fair, comprehensive, equitable settlement of the long debated Australian question. The Press in all the colonies speaks favorably of it. It would be premature to give a positive opinion without the opportunity of studying the measure, but wc may with sincerity call the attention of New Zealand reformers to this New Victorian Land Law.