OTAGO.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 439, 17 January 1857, Page 6

OTAGO.

A short session of the Provincial Council of this province has just been concluded, in which some most important ordinances-, have been adopted. An alteration has been made in* the' Waste' Lands Regulations. The following resolutions were agreed to by a majority of 12 to 4,. on a division caused by an amendment moved by Miv Cutten : — "1. Thai it is advisable to give power to the Waste Land Board to sell waste lands of the Crown, outside hundreds, proclaimed or to be proclaimed, to an extent not exceeding 600,000 acres, in blocks of not less than 2,000 acres, at the price of 10s. per acre, without stipulating us a condition of sale or of purchase that the purchaser shall lay out upon the lands, in money or labour, a sum equal to 40s. per acre. " 2. That it is advisable that, so long as the conditions of the lease of any sheep-run, outside hundreds, proclaimed or to be proclaimed,- are I observed and performed, such lease shall not suffer or be liable to defeasance by or in respect pf any sale of the. run. •:■ "3. That bills be prepared and brought infor the purpose of giving effect to the foregoing resolutions." The ' Otago Colonist,' in its first number, thus explains the object of this alteration : — " The Land Sales and Leases Ordinance lias for its object the sale of 600,000 acres of land, at 10s. an acre, without conditions, to be laid off and sold in blocks of not less than 2,000 acres each. This land is intended to be selected so as not to interfere either with the holders ot runs, or with the small agricultural holders, for whom there will be ample land retained all over the province, in the best localities. The bill also provides for security of tenure on the part of the runholder, whose lease will be indefeasible for.a period of fourteen years. We deem tins to be a great boon to the runholder, who'wiU now have every inducement to improve his runknowing that he cannot be disturbed until tne

iry of s lease> vrn"ess ie country should be ibsolutely required for humanfamilies, in which 'ase it is proclaimed into hundreds, and may be purchased. The great object on the part of the Government, in passing this measure, lias been to raise money at once, with a view to payingoil' our share of the New Zealand Company's Debt; and also to provide for immigration, road-making, public works, and education, on a i., rire scale, in some measure commensurate with the"wants of the province. As Avas well stated by the Provincial Solicitor, the scheme may be rewarded as selling a part of our extensive estate in°order;to improve the whole." Other arguments were used in favour of this scheme, a Mr. Adam's opinions being reiterated by other speaker^; He said : — ' " Canterbury, he believed, looked with a tanking eye at the fair dimensions of Otago, and would fain appropraite a slice of our northern plains, to the extent of about 5,000,000 of acres of the best land, which, at 10s. an acre, would be a clear loss to the province of 2^ millions sterling. Far better, then, would it be to sell the land at ss. per acre, than to run the risk of losiu 0" it altogether. But another danger to Otago loomed in the southern horizon—-the dismemberment of the province^ There was no injustice too glaring for Otago to be exposed to. Let the General Government but take the initiative, and this injustice would be consummated. Wellington, Nelson, and Canterbury would throw all their influence into the scale, and it was easy to foresee the result. The House was aware that the New Zealand Company's debt had been divided into three equal parts, Otago being liable for one-third, or £66,000. But if the province were dismembered, a new adjustment of the debt would follow, to one-fo\irth of which the new province would be liable, and Otago be thus saddled with one-half of the whole ineumbranee. The object contemplated by the resolutions was the avoidance of these evils, by offering for sale 600,000 acres of land, free from those conditions which had hitherto kept purchasers out of the market." The sum of £20,000 was voted for immigration purposes- During the debate on the appropriation of this sum, the Provincial Solicitor stated that the firm of Macandrew and Co. had offered to bring out emigrants at £16 per adult head ; one-half to be paid in cash within three days after the ship was reported at the Custom House ; for the other half they were willing to accept Provincial Government debentures, payable either in London or Otago at the following dates, viz., one-third in January 1860, another third in January 1865, and the remaining third in January 1870. The debentures to bear ten per cent, interest per annum. On the subject of steam communication with Melbourne, the Council approved of the suggestion of the Superintendent of Wellington, proposing to run a steamer monthly between Australia and Wellington and the southern provinces of Canterbury and Otago, at equal cost to the three provinces, and sanctioned the appropriation of £2,000 for this purpose, Otago's share of the £6,000 bonus ; but as some doubt was expressed if more than this amount would not be required to secure a really efficient steamboat, the folloAving was added to the resolution, — " Upon terms and conditions, in the opinion of the Superintendent and his Executive Council beneficial to this province." The ordinary revenue of the province is estimated at something over £13,000; the sums appropriated amount to £47,000. The deficiency was to be met by a further issue of debentures. We give the remarks of the new editor on the appropriation of the anticipated revenue for the year :— >( The crowning business of the session was the Appropriation Bill, which will be somewhat startling to many, and no doubt, when compared with the limited resources which we have hitherto been accustomed to, this is not to be wondered at. The total sum appropriated amounts to about £47,000 ; £20,000 of this goes towards immigration, £6,000 for roads, £5,200 for education, and £2000 for steam. All these amounts will amply repay themselves, even if it should be necessary to borrow the money. We could have wished to have seen a much larger sum tor immigration, as, after all, £20,000 worth of immigration will be but a drop in the bushel compared with what the province could absorb. However, we must not despise the day of small tnmgs. We hope the Government may succeed m at once placing as much land as will not only

provide means for all that they have now been authorised to spend, but as shall involve the necessity of calling the Council together at no distant date in order to dispose of the surplus."