The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, July 14.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 282, 14 July 1855, Page 5

The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, July 14.

Mr. Mathias, whose letter we publish to-day, has misunderstood the remarks on the value of the Church Property in the s ttlement which we made in our. .issue »--f ihe 30th -ult. He takes exception to the followino paragraph : — "Noris this the only property which is left to this Province by the" Canterbury' Association. One of the most frequent and fruitful sources of attack has been the alleged failure of the Association in their attempt to found an endowment for churches and schools under the direction of the Church of England. We have carefully gone over the list ofthe Church and Educational property now in the hands of the Church Jtrustees, which has been collected oneway or another by the instrumentality of the Association, ami we have no hesitation in saying that it is worth upwards of £40,000. When we consider the -age and the size of this settlement, and the rapidly progressive value of the landed property of the Church, we cannot, we think, maintain that she is scantily or meanly endowed. When we compare this Province to those around it, we have no reason for looking on that portion of the Association's scheme which related to the Church as by any means a failure." The arguments of Mr. Mathias are all based upon the supposition that we washed it to appear that there were ample means for the payment of clergy at the present moment. We cannot see how such a construction can he put upon the words above quoted. What we wished to point out is that the endowments.dedicated to Ecclesias-. tical and Educational purposes, are larger than are to be found in any other colony in proportion to its size and importance. No colony in the South seaj has at the age at which this settlement has arrived shown so much promise for the future of the Church. And when this is the case we are fully justified in sa ing that the scheme of the Association in this respect has been by no means a failure. We did not speak of the amount per annum to be divided amongst officiating clergymen, aj.art from sums devoted to education, but expressly of the gross amount of Church and Educational property in this settlement collected in one way or another, by the instrumentality.of the Association. We do not know why in answering our statement concerning Ecclesiastical and Educational property, Mr. Mathias ex-

pressly.puts aside the Educational portion of that property, as well as the Bishopric Fund, when attempting to calculate the gross value of the whole. jAs the correctness of the estimates which we put forward of the value of the Church and Educational property now in the settlement has been thus" publicly challenged by one who ought to be so good an authority as Mr. Malhias, we feel it due to ourselves.and to the public to state the grounds on which we arrived at our conclusion. In the first place the Province has consented to raise the mortgage which was imposed upon the reserves in favour of the Bishopric Fund. Provincial Debentures will be handed over to the Church Trustees on this account to (he amount of £10,000. Four thousand acres of ruralland belongs to the Ecclesiastical and Educational Department. This land, which is some of the most valuable in the Province, is situated in different places within and around the populous snd cultivated districts, and much'of it is heavily timbered. Any one who knows anything of the value of land in such localities will say that we have underestimated its average value in placing it at £5 per acre. This gives us £20.000. Fifty acres of Christchurch Town Land at £70 per acre, gives £3,500. Eight acres of Lyttelton town land at £100 per acre, £800. The Soames' estate, which is now- producing a rental of £200 a year, is worth £2000 at this time. Six hundred and fifty acres of Jackson trust land at £5 per acre gives £3,250. Six and a half acres of Christchurch Town Land belonging to the Jackson Trust at £70 per acre, £455. The buildings and Miscellaneous property is worth at least £3000 —so that we have— Provincial debentures, bearing interest at 6 per ?ent ... £10,000 4000 acres -Rural Land ... ... 20,000 50 acres. Christchurch Town Land 3,500 8 acres Lyttelton Town Laud ... 800 Soames'Estate ... .. ... , 2,000 Jackson Trust Rural Land ... ... 3,250 Do. Town Land ... ... 455 Miscellaneous Property ... ... 3,000 £43.005 Of course such an estimate is a veryrough one; but it is certainly under and not over the real value of the. property. A private individual would certainly not take £5 an acre for such land. About half of it is let at rates producing- now upwards of £600 per annum, to increase in 3 or 4 years to £800, in 8 ot 9 years to £1,200, and in 12 years to £1.500. There is every prospect of the rest of the land letting rapidly. When ihe leases fall in, in 21 years, the land will probably fetch £l per acre, i. c. £4000 a year. The Provincial Debentures will give' £600 a year, and the Soames* Estate, £200. Mr. Mathias's letter is quite beside the point. We agree with him that the payment ofthe clergy is wretchedly had. We were, however, talking distinctly of the whole propertj 7 in the hands of tlie Church Trustees for Ecclesiastical and Educational purposes ; aud we still maintain that iv comparison with the colonies around us the Church in this settlement is neither scantily nor meanly endowed.