SALE OF THE WAKATIP RUNS.

Evening Star, Issue 3458, 23 March 1874, Page 2

SALE OF THE WAKATIP RUNS.

' (From the Mail.) ; Re sale'of depaaturihg funs in the which has been anxiously looked' forward tothroughout the district, took plate : on the! ■l6th, at noon. •So Urge was 1 the attendance, ; of actual buyers and spectators' that ,tlie! lpla.ce of sale had* to. he rfehaovecL f Iron) the ;martof the auctioneers, i •»> . Town i&ail, which waao ;well filled. Of course ktieh 'cbmpetitioh. whs hut nothing like the spirited bid*.. ding xof every'lot Which Was exhibited' duf.’ mg the sale. The particulars of the sale ire 1 ;as follows;

Total area ... 375,100 ” £7,325 It wM thug be seen that the country brought lid per acre throughout. It is not flat country, for the Government in re-adjusting the runs met the mining and. agricultural interests in a dair spirit, and set apart for their use and benefit the cream of the unsold : portions of this part of the - country This area will be used for purposes of commonage for cattle, and for agricultural settlement : lfc IS , large in exfccHfc . amounting to nearly 180,000 acres, and is amply sufficient for the' purposes intended. Indeed, the Government have acted more than, fairly si thpy have displayed a spirit of liberality that has obtained general commendation amongst those interested. In addition to these) reserves, the conditions of sale were by no means of a tempting nature; J 'The GbVemment did noti 1

laud up the property to be sold as something grand and worth acquiring at any risk. On the contrary, there were no inducements offered, and some of the conditions of sale were absolutely restrictive. Clause 6 read hs follows :

Each allotment will be sold subject to the; right of any holder of a Miners Right, Business License or Mining Lease to depasture frpe of charge three head of great cattle thereon.;The Licensee of each allotment shall allow all; persons at present legally depasturing stock" thereon one calendar month to remove su’oh’ stock. Each allotment will also be sold subject to the right of holders of Miner’s Rights to enter and mine upon the land comprised therein, to take up residence areas, to cut and cart timber for mining, building, or domestic purposes, and to take up Agricultural or Mining thereon under., any Regulations made under the " Goldfields Act, 1866,” or any Act amending the same. Yet, despite of all this, and the fact that hill tops-comprised, a: very largo portion of the country in blocks sold-after No. 5, buyers were found to offer on an average a price of lid per-acre, and for some.of the country as high,as..-Is 3d,per ante, and this for an annual, rental. Capitalists did .not .compete; the; bidding was. confined ‘ ,tp lobal mem,.; ;■ -We cannot lopk upon, Messrs v Howell and Bntoment as other than loqal menthpugh runholder and. as they choose, to, give such a sumof money for the annual, rental of the, blocks bought by them' a very simple calcn , latipn would show the annual Value of both - their rails, which adjoin, the blocks purchased by thorn. _ Under these circumstances, buyers cannot with'any grace com®' forward at a future time and claim from the Government a reduction of rent. There are no oircurastancps shown in this sale to justify any hopeqf, that being able to be urged upon the ground that the sale was a misleading, or a forced.one. J ,The . present .buyers may, if they forfeit their blocks of country, have a Chance to buy in on cheaper rates ;'bat we, trust that the present Government or any bth'er Government that may be in power at the time, .will insert a clause in any sale prohibiting, either directly, or by dummyisin, the party ,so forfeiting , from r buying .such, block again. Thitfisbat due to those 'de-' pasturing license-holders wfcp have lost the potyer to acquire country by this sale, and who are forced to part with their stock.”,-

RUN, PURCHASER, ■ i ri \ ' | : i ; ; •; AREA, aw: mwiv 1 Wesley Turtoh 8,500 acres 1 £485 V. . ' 2 1 Alex; M'-Kenzie 10,500 ",, 355 1 3 4 Geo. Ludiman John Wither 10,700. „ 5.400 „ ■215 ;J 95 - ; >0 .6, • ■ ; David M‘iKinIay 15;8Q0 „ = • 37.0 .JohuHowell ILOOO,. 380;’ ■ 7 8 vyesloyTurfcon Jas. Kirkpatrick « ” 486-1 -280, 9 Jane Meiklejohn 16.000 225 ” 11 Lawton & Gardner 14,000 . ” , ■275 490 r| J 12 do.' do ‘ 22.500 ‘ v, 1 ’ 13 J1 ' Julien' Bbrdfeau ■ 14.000 •, J 365 14 John Biiteinent 25,000 110 15 Ewen Duncan ' 10,800' „ '' : ’315 I 16 • f Ewen Duncan' ; (leds reserve) ■ 7,000 „ : • K i 220 " 17 Julien Bordeaii >: 18;300 .' 425 18 J ohn Butement 40,000 „ 595 19 26' 2r do Julien JBordeau. . Root., M'Mofah 35,600 » j 24.000:,, ;; 32,000 „ 20,700' ‘ ■8) 310 ' 22 Ewan Duncan 470 23 Wm. Paterson 16,300 „ 495 ,