The Globe. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1057, 16 November 1877, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1877.

The propriety of extending the Northern Eailway beyond Amberley, a,nd the route it should take if the line is constructed, is discussed by one of our morning contemporaries. The question is an important one, and raises a point of great interest to the colony, in the present state of our finances. It is admitted that there are no large blocks of Crown land available along either of the routes proposed, and therefore that the only effect of the extension of the line would be to improve private freeholds. As itihe Press justly points out, if the Treasury were full, and settlement had progressed sufficiently in all the rest of the .Canterbury district where land is freehold, it would be most judicious to opeE. ;ep the stores of private land in the Morth. If the extension of the lino would have the effect of causing the great freeholders there to Bell their lands for settlement, the country would be benefited. But the construction of the Northern Eailway ought, w( chink, to be one of the last public works undertaken in Canter-! bury. The construction of brand lines which will open up large track

of Crown lands is a far more important work, and should certainly be proceeded with first. Until every acr< of Crown Land has been brougb.l within the reach of the market, the Government would not be justified in proceeding with a work which would have the effect of enriching a few wealthy property holders at the expense of the colony. Of course it is most desirable that these large tracks of land should be occupied by the settler. But there is a much cheaper and more effective method of doing this than by contracting an expensive railway out of colonial funds. A land tax will speedily bring about the desirable change. This tax would have the merit, not only of being a just one, but also of answering the purpose exceedingly well. Those large estates would speedily be divided into small freeholds, upon which a large population would be settled. When that was brought about, it would be time enough to consider the question of constructing a railway into the district, because the produce of the numerous farms which would have sprung up would probably give sufficient traffic to the railway to make it self-supporting. We are aware that there is another reason why this line should be pushed on —it is that communication with the West Coast may be opened up. This is, no doubt, a very desirable object. But until there is some chance of the whole line being constructed, it would, in our opinion, be a waste of money to go on with petty extensions. Let us wait till the whole line can be taken in hand at once, and completed. But to go on with small extensions of say, fifteen miles at a time, would be benefiting settlers who have done very well out of the colony already, and who can well afford to wait till their more deserving fellow-settlers have had their wants attended to. As our readers are aware, nearly the whole of the Amuri district has passed into private hands at a comparatively small price per acre. We have before us a table which we believe to be thoroughly correct, showing the extent, cost, and price per acre of nearly all the land sold in the Amuri district. We publish it below for the information of our readers:—

It will be seen from the above that about half-a-million of acres in that district have been sold at a cost of £200,000, and at an average of about Ss per acre. About 350,000 acres are held on lease, but it must be remembered that until those leases expire, there is no opportunity of acquiring any of the land comprised within their area.

"We learn from a private telegram from Wellington that the Public Health Amendment Bill has been altered so as to do away with the necessity of imposing a twopence rate. It now provides that the expenses of the Local Board of Health shall be paid out of the ordinary revenue of the Drainage Board. The other clauses have been excised.

Acres. Cost.. "£ 8 j Hawkswood . 39,100 17,012 10 u 0 Mt. Parnassus .. . 45,000 14,178 10 6 Mendip Hills .. . 11,000 2,498 9 0 Cheviot Hills .. . 84,696 31,070 17 9 St. Leonards .. . 92,344 30,426 2 0 Balmoral 39,927 20,734 10 0 Tekoa . 14,341 4,377 6 0 Culverden . 25,789 12,559 14 0 Montrose . 22.486 8,621 14 6 Leslie Hills .. . 33.061 12,478 9 <; Lyndon . 35,000 14,190 7 0 Highfield . 22,700 14,539 14 0 Lottery 278 492 1 0 Upper Wairau .. . 23,757 10,176 11 6 Clarence 5,943 2,658 10 0