THE SALE OF TOTARA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 952, 7 May 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SALE OF TOTARA.

The sale of Totara Estate, which took place during the past month, must be looked upon with feelings of gratification from two points of view by all well-wishers of the district. , The immense gathering at the sale—a gather-

ing such as has never before, we believe, been seen at any land sale in the Colony—and the high prices obtained speak, as plainly as such things can speak, of the great future in store for North Otago, while the result of the sale must be accepted as affording some indication of the value of land in the district. Looked at from any point of view, we cannot but feel gratified with the result of what must henceforward be looked upon as a memorable sale. It clearly proved that although money is decidedly scarce and the screw is being put on by the banks with a vengeance, and that although our farmers are from these and other causes—the depressed state of the grain market, for instance —not in so flourishing a condition as we could wish, every confidence is maintained in a better state of matters being experienced in the not very distant future. Man is, we know, at all times a sanguine creature, and even in the very worst periods of financial depression and misfortune looks hopefully forward to better times. Such is. we believe, the case at present, and that, too, not without good grounds for indulging in the expectancy of a speedy improvement taking place in financial matters, if not a thorough recovery from the present unhealthy state of trade and industry, The fact that as much as L3J 10s. should have been obtained for good agricultural land at Totara plainly shows that. the hope of better times must be well based, for no man in his sound senses would for a moment entertain the thought of giving so high a, price for land unless he were fully convinced that he would obtain from it an adequate return for his money. He must feel tolerably well convinced that he can put the land to some useful and remunerative purpose. Land speculation has undoubtedly been too freely indulged in during the past few years, and not a little of the present tightness of the money chest is due to the easy facilities afforded by the banks for carrying the land buying mania to too great lengths. But in the case of the sale of Totara we are firmly convinced that speculation had little to do with the high prices obtained, for the time for buying land at Totara purely for speculative purposes has long since passed by, and the man who would now purchase land there in the hope of obtaining a speedy advance in price would not be a, man of very great perspicacity. A glance at the list of those who became purchasers at the late sale must dispel any notion that speculation played any part in the spirited bidding which characterised the sale. For the greater part at any rate they are men who are not likely to purchase with any other object than that of putting the land to some useful and reproductive purpose. And here we find fresh grounds for congratulation. The cutting up and sale of a large block of land in moderate-sized farms carries with it many benefits to the whole eommunity. Every new farmer introduced into the district, and every new field of industry opened up, adds so much to the wealth of the country. Every fresh enterprise entered upon, with the consequent augmentation of the population, cannot result otherwise than in increased prosperity. It is casting no reflection upon the New Zealand Company or its managers to say that the Totara Estate has not up to the present time been turned to full account, and that in consequence it has not added its quota to the material prosperity of the district. Moderate-sized estates vigorously worked and well managed are the true source of a country's wealth and prosperity. On this ground, then, we hail with satisfaction and jaleasure the subdivision of this magnificent estate amongst a body of men who will, doubtless, turn every acre to account, and so increase the productiveness, and, at the same time, add considerably to the power of. consumption within the district.