CROWN SETTLERS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 November 1933, Page 7

CROWN SETTLERS

OVER £1.000.000 IN RENT ARREARS

COMMENDABLE EFFORTS MADE

WELLINGTON. November 11. “Crown settlers in general are in good heart and are making commendable effort to keep their properties in order and to meet their obligations to the best of their ability,” states the report on the sett Lent cf Crown lands for the year ended March 31 last, which was tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday. Receipts from rental and other payments are stated bo have been fairly well maintained, the total amount collected during the year being only slightly less than for the previous year. Numbers of the department’s tenants had been unable to meet their rent in full, and it had been necessary to assist them in accordance with individual circumstances, as long as these circumstances were beyond the tenant’s

control. The first consideration had been tkeep him on his farm and to maintaii his property as well as could be reason ably expected, while at the same tinn reuuiring him to budget his expendi ture carefully, and to contribute to th< State a fair share of the revenue produced from the farm. Selections of Crown and settlement lands on all tenures during the y©ai totalled 280',518 acres at March 31, Tenants on the books of the department- numbered 37,7,14, occupying a total area- of slightly over 19,000,000 acres. Pastoral runs accounted for nearly 9,000,00 Oacres ,while 1,800,000 acres of purchased estates were held under lease under the provisions of the hand for Settlement Act. Receipts from all sources, excluding Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Account receipts, totalled £742,820, a decrease of £33,669 on the previous

year’s figures. Rents, the payment of which remained postponed at March 31, amounted to £223, 253. Arrears of rent at March 31, including arreas in respect of the, current half-yearly charge, totaled .£1,010,979.