THE PUBLIC ESTATE IN VICTORIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5469, 7 October 1878, Page 3

THE PUBLIC ESTATE IN VICTORIA.

'■'"{From the Australasian, September 21.) The' report issued by the Minister of-Lands aud Agriculture for the year ,1877 is a document which should “give us pause for it points to ft state of things in the near future which no one who has made this colony his permanent home can contemplate, without feelings of the gravest anxiety. And in analysing the figures it presents, we desire to disclaim all party senticqpnt; for the; rapid dissipation of our public estate has been go*rig on under every Ministry which has held office during the last sixteen years, and the blame must be distributed pretty impartially all round. Like the prodigal son, we have been wasting our substance in riotous living, and the day is not far distant when the last remnant of• our rich patrimony will have been alienated, and when we shall find ourselves burdened with an onerous load of debt, and compelled to submit to fiscal exactions very grievous to bo borne. ■ ' It seems that up to the present time the total area alienated from the Crownis 19,243,425. acres, to which must be added 3,237,968 acres, on account of land included in towns and cities. See., reserves in connection with pastoral occupation, auriferous lands available only under section 49 of the Act of 1869, State forests and timber reserves, making a total of 22,481,393 acres; from which must be deducted about a million acres representing forfeited holdings.- Now, as the total area 1 of' ’.land in the colony suitable for settlement is only estimated at 33,446,720. acres, it follows that we have already parted with nearly twothirds of the public domain; while as sale and selection still continue, tho unalienated! portions of that domain will melt away as rapidly and imperceptibly, aa snowdrift in the sunshine. Last year, for example, tho following quantities were sold or selected:— Acres. Country lands alienated .. .. 73,750 Town do do . 1,301 Suburban do do .. .. -O. • 910 Selected under section 19 .. .. 1,113,200 l)o section 30 .. .. .. .. 33 220 Total .. .. 1.202,408 Now, as tho average area alienated or leased during. the last, five ■ years has been over 1,100,000 acres per annum, 10 or 11 years will suffice to exhaust the public estate. ; About the year 1890 there will be no more land to administer, and tho last President of the Board of Laud and Works will havo an opportunity of penning, an epitaph for his department, aud of drawing up a final report something to the following effect Thirty-four years ago tho Imperial Government handed over to us a magnificent patrimony consisting of 56,446,720 acres of land, less 4,382,355 acres which had been previously sold by auction. Under wise and prudent management this grand estate might have been made to yield a revenue amply sufficient to cover all the expenses of government; for although those, would necessarily increase with the growth of population, tho value of the laud and the income accruing from it would increase pan passu. This was pointed out to the people of Victoria soon after the institution of responsible government in this - colony, by tho first of living economists. But his admonition and advice were disregarded. Popularity-hunt-ing politicians emulated cachother in promoting a general scramble for tho national domain ; and this had the effect of demoralising tho community, and of sacrificing the interests of the many to the.,cupidity of a few, and of robbing posterity with the one hand, while saddling it with ahoavy load of indebtedness with tho other; until at length the painful duty devolves upon me of announcing that the public estate is now a thing of tho past, and that my boo. colleague tho Treasurer will havo tp ask for additional taxation in order to make both ends meet." ’> Such a prospect as this is a very disquieting one ; especially in view of tho fact that we are now proposing to borrow an additional £5,000,000 under tho Loan Bill, and to raise a further sum of £500,000 under the Debentures Bill before the Assembly, with another loan of four or five xui lions in the immediate prospect. Supposing theao two Uille to become law,”, observed Sir John Q Shanassy the other, oven-, “f “ 6 ° £ tl ‘° col °ny would amount to £22,C00,000, and a further loan of £4,000 000 or £5,000,000 would probably ho wanted,’ according to the Treasurer’s ideas. They w’ould thus arrive at a total debt of about £28,000,000. The revenue from land would bo entirely gone in eight o'r tVn years, ajfd the Government

would then have nothing to fall back upon 'but .the Customs dues and , such other taxation.-’ as they might impose for the : carrying: .on of tho Ordinary. Goverument ;of ; the country,: and for paying tho interest on their-liabilities. The interest on the total debt would then be about £IOO,OOO per month, which would have to be ' paid in gold sovereigns. This was a most important . feature .of ,the ■. but: the.i Treasurer had not even, referred to it. The 100,000 sovereigns- would Jiaye to! be‘paid monthly and perpetually;] but where were they, to come from ?” t If our railways were laid out, built, equipped, and worked up n business principle?, we might anticipate that most '»f them would afford such a profit as would go far to meet the interest on the loans raised for .their construction. But wc know, as a matter of fact, that many of the lines now projected havo been planned for political purposes, altogether regardless .of: their paying or non-paying.-capabilities ; that the large expenditure aimed at is a despeiato expedient to.bribe constituencies, to counteract the increasing .depression of trade and industry,: aud to produce a, factitious and temporary prosperity ; that the railway accommodation winch it is proposed to provide will bo.out of all proportion-to our present requirements ; and that the Minister who has charge of this , department cannot resist the pressure'which is brought t bear upon him to provide billets on the various lines,for the nominees of the wirepuller* of his "party; so that the economic and profitable management of these large undertakings is almost out of the question, even assuming the head of them to be actuated by an honest desire to make them pay. In fact, when we come to consider that number* of! what were reputed to .be the best trhnk line? in the United Stat-s have become bankrupt during the last two years, owing to the receipts having fallen below, the working ex--1 penses, we must refuse to accept Mr. Muuro’a , sanguine expectations with regard to the remunerative character of some of our own railway projects. But so long as we had a valuable estate as part of our national assets, we could go into the London money market with the confidence inspired by the reflection that we had a tangible and convertible security to offer to those whose money we were proposing to borrow. That security, however, we are getting rid of with alarming celerity, aud arc knocking it down with as reckless a disregard of its value as that which Charles Surface exhibited when disposing of tho family. portraits. Nor ought wo feci any surprise if, under such circumstances, our credit should become; “ blown upon" in Lombard-street aud Change-alley, and if, when we apply for a loan of! four or five millions, we should meet with the reception due to thoughtless spendthrifts, instead of that which' is ordinarily accorded to prudent, cautious, and trustworthy men of business.