Tour in New Zealand.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 977, 10 September 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

Tour in New Zealand.

No. IX.— Conclusion..-. * j_lrom the Melbourne Leader. <• In drawing the account of my tour to a close it will only be necessary to refer to a few subjects that have not yet been commented upon. The land question is one of great impoi*tance, bi.t I can only now point out a few leading facts in connection with it. 1 tie total area of New Zealand is upwards of 64,000,000 acres. Of this, 14,000,000 have been .sold or disposed of in education and other public reserves; 16,000,000 belong to the aborigines, or to the Europeahs who have purchased from them ; and 34,000,000 acres of Crown .lands still remain for disposal. Of the latter, 15,000,000 are open grass or fern country, 10,000,000 forest, and 9,000,000 of barren mountain tops, lakes, and worthless country. The Native or Maori lands are chiefly in the North Island, but it is the 15,000,000 acres of Crown lands available for settlement that are of the most importance, as these can be dealt with by the Government. The two systems of dealing with these lands are sale by auction, and by deferred payment, the latter being a form of free selection. Rural lands are classified as agricultural and pastoral land. Under the deferred payment system not more than 320 acres of agricultural land can be taken up, and of pastoral . land not less than 500 or more than £OOO acres. The price of rural lands, an Otago and Southland, must be not leas than 20s per acre, but it can be raised by the Government, and is fre?uently 30s per acre, while is is also requently raised by limited auction. In regard to payment, the period is ten years, with twenty equal instalments, payable one each on Ist January and Ist July of each year for the ten years: thus, for example, if the land was offered for application at 20s per acre, and was applied for by A and B. and went to auction, A closing the bids at 30s per acre, he would have la 6d per acre to pay every six months for ten years. In Canterbury the fixed upset price is £2 per acre, .there being no limited auction. In pastoral land the period of payment , extends over fifteen years, with thirty equal instalments, one being payable every six months, on Ist March and Ist September each year, until the whole is paid. Residence on the land by the purchaser is compulsory for a certain period in all cases of land on deferred payments, unless where the land wholly or mostly covered with bush, in which case 1 the Govern or may declare residence optional. In agricultural land the period of residence is six years. In pastoral land residence must begin within twelve months, and continue for six years. The purchaser of agricultural land must bring into cultivation not. less than one-twentieth the first year, one-tenth the second, and within six years must have cultivated one-fifth, and effected permanent improvements to the value of £1 for every acre. But he has the option, at any time after the first three years, of discharging all his .obligations by paying up the balance of the purchasemoney in one payment, provided he has effected the improvements. He is then entitled to the Crown grant of the land. There are no improvements required of the purchaser of pastoral laud. 'The only condition is residence for six years. He has the option, at the end of ten years from issue of licence, of dischaiging in one payment the balance of price, and thereby acquiring the right to the Crown grant. I here are in Otago and Southland about 3,000,000 acres of Crown lands held by ninety pastoral licensees, and about a similar extent of land in squattages in the province of Canterbury. These pastoral leases all expire at different periods, but they all terminate within two years. What is to be done with this large extent of land is one of the political questions of the day. The leases may either be renewed for a period of ten years, or the land may be opened up for settlement under the deferred payment system. I hose desiring a continuance of the leases are strong in capital and influence, but I believe the popular party is sufficiently powerful to force upon the Government very considerable concessions in the direction of agricultural settlement. The Premier, Mr. Hall, in his Ministerial manifesto, stated distinctly that the agricultural lands are to be classified, and that as soon as the classification is effected ’be agncultuxal land will be »urveved !

into blbcks for village settlements, blocks for sale on deferred payments and for eash • and that with regard to the land that is not suitable for- agricultural purposes, it .will be divided into two classes—into the better and the less good. The latter will be surveyed into blocks not exceeding 5000 acres, to be sold on what is called the pastoral deferred payment system ; the other to be divided into much smaller runs than it is at present, andleased by auction in the ordinary way, As the Hall Government is what is called Conservative in New Zealand, it is not likely that anything less favorable to agricultural settlement than its proposals will be carried into law. It is just possible, however, that liberal land reformers may, before the end "of two years, succeed in carrying a system of s'ettling the people upon small areas of leased land, instead of hastening the wholesale alienation of the public estate.

In the meantime settlement is steadily progressing in different parts of the Colony under the deferred payment system and other special systems which are peculiar to different provinces, and there are Crown lands yet to be taken up in all the provincial districts. In regard to the accumulation of large estates, the following return of the freeholders assessed under the property tax will form a very good guide :—

Acreage. Value, s Owners ... .

The total value of leasehold property in the Colony is £3,171,440, exclusive of Crown leases and licences. The leaseholders under the Crown k number 1378 ; value of leaseholds, £812,970. , Of the 15,000,000 or 16,000,000 acres in the hands of the Maories I can say very little. With this is mixed up the Maori question, which I confess I was not able to make myself thoroughly acquainted with. It appears, however, that these lands are owned by the Maoris, and cannot be dealt with by the Crown until purchased from the original owners. Negotiations are continually going on between the Government and the Maoris, and some Governments are more eager to acquire Maori lands than others. One of the clever moves by which the Hall Government contrived to show a favorable balancesheet was in saving a large sum of money which its predecessors had set down for the purchase of Maori land ; and as far as I can gather, Liberal politicians are in favor of acquiring these lands for settlement, while the Conservatives favor the system of leaving them to private traffickers with the Natives. However this may be, the Maori ownership of the geater part of the North Island is a serious obstacle in the way of settlement. To one, however, who looks upon the wholesale alienation of the public estate as an evil the Maori difficulty appears in the light of a blessing, for it may keep the greater part of the North Island out of private hands until such time as the people become educated to the benefits of State ownership. The best land has been bought in great quantities in the South Island, but in the North Island the bulk of it is still in the hands of the aborigines. New Zealand has a Constitution framed upon Liberal lines, and it has a decidedly Liberal population. Manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, annual Parliaments, payment of members, free, secular and compulsory education, and Government life assurance are the laws of the land. Plural vot’ing, or voting for property exists, but it is not likely tj last longer in New Zealand than in Victoria, whence it was copied. The second chamber is nominated by the Cabinet, and its number can be increased so as to pass distasteful measures. . The power of Liberal principles in the Colony is shown by the policy carried out by a Conservative Government. The Hall

Government succeeded the Liberal Government of Sir George Grey, bht it'orily held its position fiy carrying out Liberal measures. The laud tax, which was not very wisely framed, wp.s repealed, but a tax upoiuall kind# of property had to be substituted, and this was the only important plank of the Liberal programme that the Hall Government has dared to.interfere with. It carried most of Sir George Grey’s proposals, retrenched the civil service, stopped assisted immigration, and in all important matters went in for taking the wind out of Sir George Grey’s sail s. Protection and free-trade are not much discussed. The circumstances of the Colony have not yet made all-round protection of much importance, and free-trade is riot preached as a kind of gospel.- The tariff of the country is framed for the purpose of raising revenue and encouraging certain local trades, without considering how far the free-trade theory is affected thereby. There is a 15 per cent, duty upon a large number of imported articles. The timber trade of the North has an import tax which protects it, and in return there is a tax on imported grain, so that- the South gets New Zealand timber and the North New Zealand grain, instead of relying upon imports. Local industries are also encouraged by bonuses, and altogether there is little talk about theories of political economy, and little consistency with theories in the taxation, but much that suits the requirements of the country. ■ '

Much has been said about the large amount of the national debt of the Colony, but one hears very little about it in New Zealand. The people know the rich resources of the Colony, and they express no fears about being able to bear the necessary taxation. The physical features of the. country made a large expenditure in public works at the outset necessary, just as a thickly timbered farm requires heavy expenditure for clearing, which is justified by the richness of the land. In addition to roads, bridges, harbors, and other works of improvement, there are already opened 1,270 miles of railway. The cost has been about £6OOO per mile, or a total of £9,223,000. In the South Island the railways already pay 41 per cent, on the cost, and oyer the whole Colony they return 5 2-sths per cent. In the South Island the railways connect the large towns with one another, and in both islands place large agricultural and pastoral districts in communication with the seaport, so that they may be expected ere long to pay the full interest upon the cost of construction. When it is remembered how much the productiveness of the land is capable of .being increased in the remarkably favorable climate of New Zealand, not to speak of the rich mineral resources, some idea may be formed of the rapid development which the, extensive public works policy that has been carried out will rapidly bring about. Wool is the most valuable export. I regret that I have no record of the agricultural statistics of a later date than 1873, but these will serve to give some idea of the Colony’s productiveness. These records only give the wool exports for 1878, which were valued at £3,292,807. The development of agriculture has been rapid of late years. In 1879 the area under the principal crops and the yields were as follows : —

There were also 181,264 acres under other crops, 1,251,151 acres broken up and sown with grasses, and 1,646,758 acres sown with grasses without being ploughed. The average yield of wheat was 22.94 bushels per acre, and that for the previous five years 27.62* bushels. The average yield of other crops for 1879 was— Oats, 30.11 bushels ; barley, 23.76. bushels ; potatoes, 4.98 tons. Not only are the agricultural and pastoral resources of the Colony capable of a large amount of development, but there are other important sources of wealth. The coal deposits, for instance,: will soon enable the Colony to be independent of imports of fuel. Already more than half the coal consumed is from local mines, and this year the whole of the railway requirements are supplied from within the Colony. The yield of gold has fallen off very much, but there are yet good quartz and alluvial diggings, which may improve with further working. Some of the reefs have yielded as much as 600 ozs. to the .ton, and nine com-

panies in Reefton dividedW the year 1878 the sum of £63,&08 as The total of gokKuptp 1879 amounted to 9^2*163946‘0f5., valued at x £36,110,490. . lead-, and iron are also among thtf prodifis||* of the .Colo.yiy fiwaiting development, while sulphur and petroleum are found in such quantities as to tempt capitalists, who have recently formed powerful companies to utilise them. Fellmongery, tanning and currying, established for the four years, showed an increase from 71 to 100 boiling* down and meat preserving, from 10 to 31; sawmills, from 152 to 204; briefc,, tile and pottery tvorks, Horn 84 “to 124 ; iron foundries from 22 to 29," carriage works from 19 to and boatbuilding yards frdm 20 to 43, and woollen mills from 2 to.JL whilst other clothing factories increased from; 7 to 23. The progress in manufactures has not been rapid, but the natural resources of tne country eminently fit it for manufacturing. Its mineral resources-, as 1 Weft ! as its agricultural as pastoral the sanguine expectations of the Colonists when they claim.for JNeWL Zealand the title of the “Britain of the South.” r f /FT/I .. i Cj LLxl

1 and under 26,004 £9,591,749 1 to 5 5,659 4,041,165 1,571,079 5 to 10 1,878 10 to 50 6,481 3,841,856 50 to 100 6,108 3,416,960 100 to 200 6,159 5,487,925 200 to 300 3,090 3,867,412 300 to 400 1,395 2,506,964 400 to 500 834 1,965,189 500 to 1,000 1,516 5,089,297 1,000 to 5,000 1,202 10,961,719 5,000 to 10,000 172 3,500,251 10,000 to 20,000 141 4,781,525 20,000 to 30,000 54 2,546,234 30,000 to 40,000 18 . 1,128,293 40,000 to 50,000 10 756,661 50,000 to 100,000 100,000 and over 29 2,926,851 7 . 2,582,273 Totals «. 60,658 £68,773,353

Acres. Yield Wheat.... .264,861 ... ... 6,070,599 bush. Oats ..278,031 ... ... 8,357,105 do. Barley.... .. 28,666 ... ... 709,455 do. Potatoes.. .. 17,315 ... ... 86,186 tons.