The Sale and Seeelement of Forest Land.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 220, 12 August 1884, Page 2

The Sale and Seeelement of Forest Land.

{Monthly Revieto.) Among the remedies suggested m two influential quarters for the existing depression, some amendment of the system undei which the Crown Lands are disposed of take* a prominent place. We are told that the system should be amended, but we are not told how. Tri the absence of any more authoritative utterance on the subject, we may submit — with reference to forest lands, which now comprise the bulk of the Crown lands m the North Island — the following suggestions, which, at any rate, will have the merit of being definite and precise : — That no forest land except totara land or «uch other land as has a special value, on account of the timber that it carries, should be sold for cash, but all on deferred payment, -with conditions of improvement. If you sell for cash, it is hardly necessary to say, you can then impose no conditions whatever. The system adopted up to the present tirae m the sale ol bush lands has beBn to make a chess-board of the block to be disposed of cash sections and deferred-payment sections alternatively with one another. The I intention of the authorities who introduced the system was, to place capital, arid ■labour- "side^bytside;-; vlfrv was anticipated that the owners of the cash sections would give employ- | ment to their neighbours who were i to ibe located ( on the deferred-payment sections. ' This anticipation, however, hai» been to a very great extent disappointed, as anyone who travels through ttje bush districts can see for himself. Take Woodville, for instance. There is, as we know, a very considerable amount, of settlement, and that of a thriving and prosperous character m that district, yet anyone passing down the Napier Road would be likely to think that there was isc^rcely any settlement at all there. And why is |this.?. It is because the sections Fronting the main road were originally sold foiy cash, and the purchasers, instead of affording employment to their neighbours, have found it suit them better to let the land be idlfe till the general progress of the district should make the speculation necessary. The same unsatisfactory system has been pursued up to recent times. About two years ago the Ahnaoturangaßlock was put into the market. It was divided into cash sections and deferred-payment sections alternatively— on ; none ot M which, be 1 it , observed, was residence made obligatory — autl at the present moment it is, to all appearance, m its primitive condition, except that there v are a few' clearings here and there scattered through* it, There is hardly ■a- resident settler oil it frbnVone end to the other. The original idea of locating capital and labour 'side by side was, ho doubt, a good one, but the wrong means were taken to give effect to it. If, instead of cash sections alternating with deferred-payment sections, small or moderate sized deferred-payment sections, with the conditions of residence attached, ha,d been placed m juxtaposition to larger deferred-pay* ment sebtioris, without suoh a condition attached, the desired result could hardly have failed to be achieved. This brings us to our second suggention, viz. : — That m the laying out of any new blocks of bush land, for sale there should be two classes of sections, the first to run from 100 to 150 acres m extent, to be sold to intending bona fide residents only ; the second to run up to as much as 640 acres m extent, to be with improvement conditions,: but without the conditions t>£ residence. The objection will be raised, \& it fair- to impose the odn- I ditious of residence on the smaller ! settler and not on the larger one ? We venture to Bay, however, that 'this objection will not le found to carry weight with the class most concerned. It. must be remarked m passing, that resolutions identical with th,e fthave suggestions have been submitted and endqised by ; public, meetings ,of settlers, both m Uie Woodville . and Pijimerston JJjstricts. Thpy. dflftol; emanate, indeed, grigin«illy .from any one; individual, but from , a body of settlers m the former district. The reason why .the, condition of residence ; i.s not unpopular among the poorer settlers themselves and. the .classes from which they , are drawn is plain enough. There are, always a large number of peraona-rrthe sons and relatives of. luwh settle win, themselves make up a considerable one —to whom it ban involve .no; hardship $t all,- Ilie very thing they want Is to get a piece of iland to live on. T A condition whlich wduld exclude the cQuapetitio^Cif outsiders tor sqch land, \vouljd tb them aud the country be an unmixed bene v fit, Though, however, this is so, it would, we think, be xmly equitable that, m consideration of their becoming bona fid? reside,ntSj tney shou|d* have certain advantages accordedjf'fov them, as compared with holders uf-% non-residential sections. 1$ event pf tfoere, hejng mare than one nppli-, oantjbr a residential section* for-, instance, it ; need not be put up* to auction, but might' be awarded' by lot. This would prevent such sections from being run up m, brisk times to fancjr prices.'* A higher rate of" improve" nient might also. fairly be exacted frdm nou-residqntial than fron^ rfcsi-. dential holders. Jt 'v.oultf, a,t the samq tim,P, . h e .' unnecessary spul u,n-, palitip to impose the conditions of residence m all oases. It does not follow that beoause residence i* not made obligatory it will not come about.. If the -sections were,, as a rule, -made larger, they would be more likely to. attract residents than they are at present. It is a matter pf daily occurrence of late for young men with a few thousand pounds to come up: to the bush distiiots looking for Iftftd, b«t Wtoke theij c^epartuvfi again, having* |oi^pd nftttung atiitable. It is hot to b*e expected, indeed, that 100 or 200 acres among remote and inaccessible hills would suit them; 500 or 60Q,' however, might. To muke residence m all cases; obligatory wb.fdd exql^de. the u,seful of men who, while, they cannot for the present'afford to give uj> their businesa or their situations m town, are anxious to acquire a piece of land, probaUly to settle on some day, and are ready m the meantime to spend a portion of their earni n o s on the improvement of it r ; . yhey would be the

" true class of capitalists (o place alongside of the bonafde l'esident. These remarks and suggestions come m appropriately at the present time as there are several large blocks of bush land m the district lefcrred v to, as well as m others whicHuAre now being surveyed for sule. Should they be. dealt with, the result as regards i the progress and prosperity of the > colony will be infinitesimal. Should they be dealt with as the Woodvillo > settlers suggest, they must of necessity shortly carry a considerable popu- . lation, and soon becoming teeming l hives of industry