Unclaimed Sections.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 138, 18 May 1883, Page 3

Unclaimed Sections.

[Timaru Herald! : i We have long held the opinion that there ought not to be any unclaimed land m the country. The evils attendof unciaiihed land are very. great, ;> It. is a public loss, because it is never improved to the-utmost, as it -^otherwise would be. It is oiten an ejespre irom being left vacant, a gruesome wiWerness^n vie midst, perhaps,: of a :j sightly •, quarter of a town. It is an iniury to the locality by notcontribnting a due proportidn to the local i '■ reTehue,rand to the. State by not con>. tribnting a due proportion, of taxation. , finally, it demoralises the public by the> spectacle of wrongful ownership. But how can it be avoided ? How is it pos./jibjei to[,find the owners of allj the Tacantjots . m a , young country, or to compel to exercise their rights of ownership ? We would not attempt to do anything- of the kind. We would limply have the Public Trustee enter into posseßsion, after due notice, of all unowned land, and sell it by auction, the proceeds being credited m the Trust Funds account to the registered or recorded grantee or owner, whoever he might be, and 4 per cent, iuterest being added annually to the capital sum. Ihe 'sutje'et is well worth the cpoßideration of some of our politicians; muck more so than many subjects with which they occupy a great part of every * 88S8ionr ------ .■.:-:.-rV:':"-: .- - '