ROADS THROUGH LAND BEFORE SALE.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 70, 11 September 1880, Page 3

ROADS THROUGH LAND BEFORE SALE.

$O^^THELHQHiIig^ MlNfBX^ O? La^DS— Sib, -jl have -received a letter,' dated; --, August ~i§tb, i f roar ihsf-, Cpmmissioner of . Crbwnlvlian'dsV^askipg for.a repqH on the . progress. p_f . the roa^.worlf: m the Eiwitea I Blockiyand also for an j genera}, infopointion ■Sthat might be of use to the 'I)eparinient m : seUipg the 7000 apres, now being openpd m " i.liirdi»tHct. ■•■--■-- - -- . j • „ Knowing that you are interested m the.. ■ question-bf the best mode of dealing with bash lands^'thg mode which, whileaffording to the Government, as seller of the pub'c pstafe, the highest popsible pr|Ce, will Jalso . prpre most profitable to -the settler • who' ■ .purchwCt h»Tfl i^PßgHt this a.g004 opportunity to submit for your ponsideration - p, scheme which .would, I belie re, combine : ; both of abov# req^iteein-f>he highest -.ifegre'«/!' ;^-- ; i' s ;:5; 7 : ;v : -:\ _: „,, . li AsryHS,!;;perhap«Jf «W-iWar#/^have^w-sistel Mr, Jffalcpnabe m the co^c-nisation and settlement of the Manchester B,lqck, which hasj : to a great; eitent, been settlpd prosperously oy adUirence to |;be principles ' - I now wish' to s«t forth, and I ifeel- therefore' , ' justified, m sayjqg that ..thy $6]:rectnejss of these principles has stood the.fces.| of experience. _. ..-, ,;,r.v-, ,-,-■ :■■'. ''„:'■:■{ L"t:n The first and main feature of this system '" is, that the 'Government should i cjearly' , realise that it is to their in^ereit, as vendors of the land, to coiivplete all the roads, With? m the block about to be offered for sale^that is, to clear, form, aqd metal the said -. ,^?a.ds i jan,djtp^-COnrtjuc^necesiary^bJiidgM ~ and culverts tnereon. — ~ ' >ii This polioy having :b#en resolved upon, and that it is a wise one from ! every [point , .pf view,l hopeto be ablet to ; shoW further "ioni that th'eneitstepis settle the details .!wb^b:^haveTtp;h*<oarried.out m a block pold

and will be sold— parti j for cash, and ;" partly on deferred payments, extending, according to. the Land Act of 1877, over a period of ten years. Fir»fc— -An approximate estimate mutt be ■ made of> the cost of completing all roads within the block. I made such an estimate some 'time ago, baud on my experiemce ■; within the Manchester. Block, of the proba- , ble ebst;.ofi J r tb> road* within the 24,000 acres I sold jsome few .years, ago bj'Jbjw, Government . m the Kiwitea. *; The* estimate igave .the sum of 15/ per acre, at the amount necessary m fairly average country. Any large bridges, or exceptionally heavy works wold .have to specially calculated ..for, but :f or purpose* ' 'of illuttVa'tion' the sum of 15/ par acre will answer my purpose well enough. Let this sum, t then, be, added by,., the Government to *• ! the upset price of ■ the ; laud to '" be sold fer cash, and a distinct' guarantee, given before 'salij 'that funds fcb fcbatiamaunt-per acre would be religiously set aside, arid spent on the roads m tbe block; within, say, three years from the date of the sale. •; • ' .; Secondly— Let .the lltti Glause of the Land'Acti 1877, Amendment -Act;; 1879, ! be repealed, and the excellent provi»ioneonUained -in-^iaiM^iS^ofi'the Land let, 1877, 'again "come intV 'operation, with , perhaps some modification as to 1 the- control to be exercised.on -the expenditure* of the money. : The]effect of fcbese'two proposals would be, that buyers having, a guarantee of the completion of, the; roadt : w.itlun three, years or thereabouts, would wiilingly .give:, .riot only the 15/ pe(r acre j added ; for road , purposes, or 'm case of selectors on deferred payments, such a price' «s 'would recdup ibe Q-overn-}.mentJthe'oneViHird;Ve»6rrect for roads under the Land Act, 1877, ; but;a: much higher price ; and I _ feel jay? that it, would pay "tHem" well to give such enhanced price, while Jbbe >adyantage'.toi the 'Government is unquestionable* Tvas, some b uyers Would ■be obliged ,toi purchase fl«s« : land m codie- : guence, Lut with-, the, Inducement .of lowpriced land, ..even, the so-called fiona fid* settler become* ih pact a , speculator when he buys more land than he can render productive Wifchin: a reasonable time, thus keeping out another, producer and. consumer of dutiable goods, while his promts on the land he does farm; are much decreased from the want of a road whtreon to take his produce to market. The eleventh Clause; of the Amendment of the Land A_ct, 1877, is fault/ j inasmuch ~a» iV-provides" that' the" payments ""for road purposes, shall ba madein^such driblets e« Would enfairunprofitahle expen'dfture • while the roads could not be completed under the operation!. of ithat clausiin^less'tiian ten years from the date of selection— a period of . time, which, I belieye, would ,settle the fate'oif^a settler id VaistVict separated from a market by ; the .want, .of roads, „fAt the there Would br^no iriddcimftnt to settlers to taie up land, such as there would be under the system of a prompt completion; of raadsj While th'e^nhaneea" prices- Which, under ttie{prospect_ of; such prompt cjompletion would be freely given, would under the ten y«aiV~system be non-existent. ; i . Thirdly— Let the^bvernm>nt tiefore wle, "fall and clear just enough of the road lines to. enable intending purohasers to enter the ■bIOCk v 7 :,: v, :.,--. v - , -, ' ;; „-, -; ; ' ¥ou*thly-^J wp^ld further propose, as settlers m a' bush' 'country for the~fiVi't year, of their occupancy have tbeir hands tied during the period, which elapses between the bush' falling and^^ the'hUrßing ■easbni that the further construction of the roads should be allotted to »«?, of the resident settlers who might ctfobse to take up contracts at ruling- pi*icei, such. pnces,to ht paid by the Odiltilj Odttricil ahd the Distinct' Engineer, or m any other way which, would seem a judi "oi'.s expenditure of the money. The settler, while improving his communication with a market, would lthu» be enabled to earn something *' tojteep the^ pot _bftUitig>" untiThis land began to bring him. m aretavn for ti» ioutlaVr:" x ' \ A reprebenfca'tioit to thii . affect on behalf }"cf jthe (rovtroment be/ore>aje, (would also tend toward the realisation of a satisfactory' price forthe land offered, lf If it was found that the settlers did notVop would not, Uie the^ road' contact j at the prices offered, I the Work could be'lefc m t!ie usiml way through the County'Gouncilby ptiW'c tender. .' , Fifthly-rTjbougli. I'have nob .thought out 'tK.iS p'art;,bi i: mjf sclieme' sufficiently "to enable me ! t6 prescribe the 1 eiacfc details, I think an advantageous" atrangemerifc could be^made by which the • balance of. tilt one- ; 'tkircl of the instilments, afterdeductJng t!»e ■one-tenth deposited at'the time of the selecstion, could be paid, at the: option of them in labor -at coniil-act prices on! the feUoads Jr jinstead; of -wholly ,m money, as at f pj?ttent.,.5 W f., :,,-,;., : i!;!H - . ; I These proposals, if carried out, wojild, I I.aTa;Bit|e, .tend .greatly rto f the effectual and ? ■p^ptp,eTOusßeUlement.of 'the bush' lands of New Zealand. The land question, as a probable financial difficulty m the future, is a matter w.hiqh.desprr^s the -moßt serious consideration of the Government. Already the ■system of selling land ; without providing -a fund for road making purposes is bearing its fruit m the shape of incessant cry for snbsidiesiiind'guantsfdii iroads and bridges which proves suoh a thorn m the side of tbe .I^QVernm^nt. j The- more. Jand.w jsold iand< - settleii'on tb,e old iplan, .)i,he [§ reader^t.be! evil , will . beco]pq;e.J ;;The' number and . political ppwer.6| settlii>iS-jQ^^ fihese! blocks will; in-> ; creasej as sales go on, ( to a pitbK i the ft'overnmenKof/theday ?riil'-findL/'it'4iffl.culfc or, impossible; to, resist j and demands will,' if no alteration be ■ made, from a serious embarrassment to any Government that h^old the, veinstpf of power. '.'.-." '..' „'..;. Experience has pretty clearly proved that rate alone can do no more iba|q .pcoride for tb« maintenance of roads, and the power proposed to be coo ferred upon the Local bodies,' of rating higher than one shilling m, the £, will he quit* inoperative. ; Even ■if any district^ :^n ;(tiear ihe v higjiiir rate, .which, if questionable, . the.: older tettled parts, which hold as a matter of course the maiorjty pf the m the Iqctl bodies, wilt not consent : to tax themselves to coostrv^ci roads , in c, newly opened : and possibly distant ''part 1 of this country, } " 'The payment- aCthei local: bodies ; twenty per cent of the receipts derived, from cash sales of land, , was an attempt t« solve; the difficulty^bufnot altogether a successful: jmej forthese reaspna— fi>4it, that, the ( t wonty "per cenL, ; was jan arbitrary proposition: not regulated by the necessities of the case i and as a consequence, many local bodies on the other-island -have large sums ' derired if > > om this source lying-on deposit m the bank, there, being no legitimate raefchod; of spendthe enormous sums they have receired, while the reverse is the" case m bash districts like the Maiiawatu, Where, 'settlement is unprofitable, or we?l nigh impossible Without a heavy expenditure on ' roads, : to jcomJefcewhioh |he 20 per cent, is guile,, made Seronaly-^-TheßQ per cciii. HaTinig been f'hijn'ded^f'vet unconditionally to the local >body, , was, m, the,; nature ; ,pf things, more iikejy^o f l>4 spent m the older ; s'ettlea,: and therefore more fully represented part of the - ; dwtrict,^than on the newly sold, and unsettled portion,, where the greatest necessity existed, andrWheise ine quity the money derived from the. sale ft? th| Court QHghfc to' have been, spent. _ • „ . ■■■-.. The only feasible Rlan, then, is that of what v virtually a ; if oscad Bubscripticjn ty the b^yer at-the time of sale, for joadmaking purposes, the plan; will just" put the purchaser, m posiesien of the raw material manufactured *s tg ft it^fro^ jwlj^ h*

an carry on its manufacture into the iraroved and profitable form, without Goernment intervention or assistance. It may c said that the purchasers of land could ust as well combine after purchase, withut any Government interference, and comlete their roads by a voluntary subscription f 15/- per acre, or whatever 'sum may b» equired. This may be true m theory, but n practice it would be found im-posnible to get a number of parchasers with Tarving interests, means, and dispositions, to join m any scheme of the kind. The Government alone, as sellers,- could force the scheme as an organised whole, which, if left to individuals would never be carried out. Some of the purchasers would be absentees ; some perhaps, would have exhausted the means ; a selfish few would hold back, thinking that the majority would do the work without their assistance ; and others, again, would vesort to the good old plan of badgeWnn tbe Government, than dip their bands ig their own pockets. As the majority would be disinclined to complete a work the selfish minority would benefit from equally with themselves, it is evident that the failure of one or two links. would destroy the whole chain. The tendency of all land buyers, especially on deferred payment, is to take up more bush land than they can render productive, and this tendency, which it is desirable to check, would be counteracted by the higher price, entailed under my plan, I think, also, it wonld be politic, as an assistanoe m this direction to make rural sections smaller ,than is usually done, giving less road frontage, to as not to increase the proportion of roads to the acreage. I was surprised to hear the objections offered to the Native Land Sales Bill, principally on account of what I look* upon as one of the .best and most necessary f sutures m it, that of reserving from ten to twenty per cent for 'roads from the purchase money. The Native members seemed to think that a very : small per centage of , the purchase money would finally revert to the sellers, and tins may be true ; but the confusion of ideas with respeok to per centeqe needs correction If the effect of the policy proposed m the Bill werd to obtain an increased price for the owners — as I fully believe it would be — it is evident that a small per centage of piofit on an enhanced p : 'ice, may mean a much' larger sum of. money than the larger per centage on the. low Thus, a block of land sold without the reserve fund of roads, brings 10 per cent, make a reserve fund, and the certainty of having the land opened up will cause it to realise if sold by auction, perhaps 80/ an acre, of which 20/ reverts to the vendors, or 66 per cent., leaving the 10/ as road fund. The Native owners could scarcely complain at having the lower per centage of these two cases forced on them by Act of Parliament. Practically, a reserve fund for roads — which means an increased value to the land ~ will be paid .by the purchaser, and not by tbe. seller ; and although the figures given above, are no doubt exaggerated, they serve to illustrate the principle. In any case, it "is the duty of the State, having first set its own house m order, to see that a provision is made for opening up blocks of land sold to Europeans by the Natives, m order to avoid the pressure which would most certainly be put upon the Government •hereafter to make those roads out of ths general revenue. I have been thus diffuse m stating my opiuions because I consider it of the importance to succeed m proving my mnin proposition to be both sound and practical, i.e., If the. Government add the cost of the completed ro»d* to tbe pries of the land within any block, and guarantee their completion within a limited time, t.bey will not be -put \o one penny of expense for road making; they will have the use of the road fund until it is paid away for road construction, and very possibly they wiil make a direct profit by obtaining a higher price, while the indirection avid relief will be immense ; and, on the other hand, the settler will be .placed; in,— perhaps, I may say forced into — a much better position for improving, producing profitably and becoming a prosperous member of the community, than under the old plan. That there are many crudities m the above suggestions, I am quite willing to admit, but the ona main principle being accepted, there is nothing m the details which cannot be improved or . modified to suit the varying cireumstaacei of different districts. I). H. MACAE'i'&ps.