The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 477, 30 May 1857, Page 7

The Lyttelton Times.

Saturday, May 30. We have not space to-day to enter upon the news from the neighbouring provinces. The Nelson Waste Land Regulations occupy the most,prominent place in public attention. It is. felt that the Nelson Govt rnrnen.te has initiated a most perilous course, one aL any rate which it -wilt be wise to watch narrowly in the neighbouring provinces. The system of selling land on credit appears to most commentators put of the province a most dangerous onej : and the experience. of otner colonies where it lifts been tried ig against it. The reckless way in which the land is offered on apparently easy tei;ms 'iivill tempt many who are, not in a position to purchase large tracts of land, and we dp not see how the province is to enforce its rights against a large body of debtors under a popular Government. Besides this, the Nelson people seem bent upon killing the goose with the golden egg:—to get rid of their land without any adequate Quid pro gup. -'.They were very loud against borrowing a little while ago,—they even; preferred to let the Provime stagnate; we confess that we cannot perceive the greater wisdom of selling their securities to the first bidder for what they can get. The success of our' regulations is most satisfactory in the race of ;the failures elsewhere. The high-price system may not do in other provinces: in ours it has succeeded: wonderfully. Without any of the complicated and artificial restraints resorted to in other settlements, both our stockowners and our agriculturists are protected against the speculating capitalist. Since the regulations came into force, on the Ist October, and all doubts were cleaied away, we have sold in eight months upwards of £9,000 worth of laud, ail.in small allotments of chiefly 20 and 40 acres. These have been generally purchased by bon&Jide agriculturists. And to realise this sum we have only parted with about 4,500 acres of our immense estate, while the unsold portion is bringing in a yearly income of nearly £7,000'