The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1886. Village Settlements

Feilding Star, Volume VII, Issue 142, 11 May 1886, Page 2

The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1886. Village Settlements

With reference to the formation of vil lage settlements on the perpetual leasing sj'stem, and the regulations as published in Government Gazette, the Wellington Post says : " They make ample provision for placing upon the land the best class of working men who may be inclined to take advantage of the facilities offered. They will not be burdened by prices regulated by the auction room ; they will have perpotual and fixed tenure, which will protect their improvements, and they will have secured to them at the outset a home without the necessity of having capital to start with. They will be assisted by the Government to make these homes, and will thus enter upon possession of their allotments under the most favorable conditions for ultimate success. It is intended that the settlements shall be near towns or railways, or where employmeut is obtainable. The land, we are assured, will be of a rich quality, suitable for small industries. The regulations provide that the land to be selected is to be held on perpetual lease for the first term of 30 years, and for subsequent terms of 21 years, without any right of acquiring the freehold. The rental is to be based on the capital value of the land which shall in no case be less than 20s an acre. Within the first five year* of the date of selection, an advance of a sum not exceeding £20 will be made to assist a selector in the erection of a house on his selection ; and in bush lands a further sum up to £2 10d per acre will bo advanced for bushfolling and grassing. The annual rent ia fixed at o per cent, on tho capital value of the laud, together with 5 per cent, on such sums as may be advanced, payable half-}'early. liosidence is necessary, and the conditions are easy. Under these conditions the selector will find employment iv the o;e---pamtion of his own land, and will bo enabled to erect such a building as will pro^i vide for his immediate wants. With ro^l gard to the charges alluded to, it may be mentioned, by way of example, that if the allotment is 20 acres and the price £3 pelacre, and if the settler within five yeauL should have cleared the whole of his holding at £2 10d per acre and erected a house, receiving £20 toward the cost of the building, he would then have to pay half-yearly £2 5s or 5 per cent, interest on the capital value of £130. For this sum he would be provided with a home and sufficient land to enable him after a time, without outside assistance in the shape of employment, to maintain his family. He would also, according to the regulations, have the privilege of transferring his interest in the farm at any time ; but no one person will be allowed to hold two selections under the system, and no one holder will be allowed to buy out another, the object, of course, being to prevent the baleful effects of monopoly, and to keep the people with all the industrial advantages on the farm. It is pleasing to know that the system, the scope of which we have here briefly alluded to, is to be first applied to lands in this provincial district, and at no great distance from Wellington. The system will be to the whole of the colony, and the Government consider that it yfill be found to be the true cure for the. unemployed trouble."