"SOUTHLAND WASTE LANDS' ACT."

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 47, 17 September 1864, Page 7

"SOUTHLAND WASTE LANDS' ACT."

(From the Sotjtaland Tiaies, Sept. 10, 1864.) j Chief amongst the causes which, have led j to the difficulties of the Province must i be ranked bad legislation. The new Council will have it in their power to effect a great change for the better in this respect ; but there* are some points upon which they will be powerless, or nearly so. The regulations for the sale of the waste lands of°the Province is one of these points. A despatch, which we publish in another part of to-day's paper, contains the information that on the 26th instant. " The " Southland Waste Lands Act, 1863," will be proclaimed as having received Her Majesty's assent, and will, of course, come into force as soon as the Gazette is received in Southland. It may be too late to do anything that will postpone the proclamation, but the attempt is well worth making, for, should the neAV Act come into force, we feel convinced that a heavy blow will be struck at the prosperity of the Province — a blow she, in her present depressed condition, is but little able to sustain. If this Act is once proclaimed it must remain in force till the Assembly again legislate on the subject, and until the result of their labors has received the assent of the Crown, aprocess which would take at least a year to accomplish. The old Provincial Council of Southland more than once remonstrated about this Act, and during the last session a memorial, to which were appended certain resolutions of the House, was forwarded to His Excellency, praying him to delay putting "The Southland Waste Lands Act" into force, should Her Majesty have assented to it. JS T o answer to that memorial has, so far as we are informed, been given, and that, coupled with the despatch to which we before alluded, is conclusive that Sir George G-rey and his Ministry have definitely decided to put the Act in force. It is possible that a strong memorial, j numerously signed, and forwarded without delay to Auckland, might have the effect of inducing the G-overnment to withhold the proclamation, and permit the , present regulations to continue in operation till further legislation has effected an entire change in the land system. "We should be wrong in saying that the new Act has not some good clauses ; but these stand side by side with others of a 1 eery baneful tendency, and, in considering the utility of the Act, we must look at it as a whole. Viewed thus, we feel sure it will do worse than add to the complexity and insufficiency of the present Land Regulations. The fifth clause provides that "all " rural land shall hereafter be open for " sale or disposal except such as at the " time application is made for the pur- " chase of the same is leased or reserved " for leasing or is included or comprised " within any license to depasture stock " or is reserved from sale by virtue of " any power or authority in that behalf " given by any Act Ordinance or Eegula- " tions for the time being in force," etc., and the Superintendent may, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, reserve or withdraw any land the sale of which may appear to him prejudicial to the public interests. Clause six is important. Its provisions are that the Waste Land Board shall | decide on any application for land witliin j twelve days of such application, instead of as in the old not until at least ten days after application. It is evident, therefore, that under the neAV law the Board can decide if they please in twentyfour hours after application. This is a decided improvement on the existing regulations, which place it in the power of any one to shut up a whole block from the public for ten days, and to continue to do so, time after time, should no one else happen to apply for the land on the same day with himself. The new Act provides for open Auction of the land, if more than one apply for the same section, thus enabling everyone to compete, whereas under the old system only the first applicant and those who applied on the same day were allowed to bid. It is evident that under the new Act the pro- ] babilities of the land realizing a fair price j would be greatly enhanced. The old "dodge" was for any one wanting a section or two out of a block to apply for the whole of it, and then, should any j others have played the same game, they agreed outside as to their respective sections, and got them at the upset price, the public not being allowed to compete. We come next to the price at which under the new Act the land will be offered for sale, viz., two pounds per acre This is throwing a direct and serious obstacle ■ in the way of settlement. Considering the great existing depression, there is not; much inducement to settle at one pound per acre, and the land revenue is not what it should be; but when that price is doubled; tne sales are pertain to diminish ; to air'" enormous extent. ■" It ' j was the; opinion of the advocates of this measure that, {B^ "raising -^He-price of the land, its yain^'aß'a^eimriV f° r loans, would be

greatly increased ; but the idea is altogether and obviously fallacious. If the land will not sell for two pounds per acre, it is absurd to suppose that its value as a' security will be increased by raising the upset price to that figure. A parallel 'case would be that of A Avishing to borrow a certain sum on property Avhich he could sell, let us say, for £1,000. The lender does not consider the security sufficient in amount. A then advertises his property for sale at £2,000, vainly imagining that by so doing he has substantially increased the value of his estate as a borroAving security. The lender might think otherwise. Looked at in this light, the argument that raising the nominal price of the waste lands of the Province would add to their value looks absurd enough. We grant that if at two pounds you could command as ready a sale as at one pound, or even a sale which Avould produce an equal amount o£ cash for a less quantity of land, the security would of course be augmented, but that such wotild be the case Aye altogether deny, and the onus of proof should rest with the advocates of the new measure. We loioav that, in the case of toAvn sections, raising the price had A r ery far from a beneficial result, and if the Act comes into operation Aye shall be much surprised if the Government do not have private individuals, who bought at one pound per acre, competing Avith them. The interests of the General Government demand that the land revenue of Southland should be kept up. They have advanced already to the piwince £45,000, and are about to advance another £15,000, on the security of the waste lands, and their chance of repayment depends on the sales Avhich are effected. The neAV Act Avill stop sales altogether. With our present " Education Ordinance," our " Roads Ordinance," and land at two pounds per acre, he Avill be a bold man Avho ventures to become an agricultural settler in. Southland. Clause eight makes it laAvful for the Governor, on the recommendation of the Superintendent, to raise the upset price of land still further, a course of action not very likely to be called for. - Clause ten is a great improvement on the existing regulations, Avhich only entitle the purchaser to a CroAvn grant at the expiration of four years, during Avhich time he must have expended the sum of two pounds per acre in improvements. There i& no penalty attached to the nonfulfillment of this stipulation, further than the refusal of the CroAvn grant, and it is doubtful whether the G-overnment have the power of re-entry. The question is about to be nade the grounds of an action in the Supreme Court of Otago. The neAv Act provides that, on payment of the purchase money, the 2 5urcn a--ser shall at once he entitled bo hits Crown grant. The eleventh clause affects purchasers under the existing regulations, Avho have not expended the required amount of two pounds in improvements. They can get their CroAvn grants either by paying another ten shillings an acre for their land, or by taking one-third less land ; in either case, the improvement clause, as far as they are concerned, would be inoperative. Those Avho do not elect to do one or other of the above-mentioned things within six months after the Act comes into operation will be deemed to have decided to stand on their rights, and to remain subject to [ their original liabilities under the improvement clause of the old regulations. The thirteenth clause is also one of importance. It is to the effect that on the declaration of new Hundreds the pasturage rights of squatters shall not cease until the appointment of Wardens for such Hundreds. Now, at first sight I this may appear an improvement on i the old system, under which the | pasturage rights of a squatter cease immeI diately on the declaration of his run into Hundreds ; but, practically, the boon is of no great magnitude, in as much as the new system Avill certainly tend to accelerate the election of Wardens, so soon as any land is bought. t As Aye before remarked, the Act should ■ be looked at as a Avhole, and Avhen that is j done Aye are of opinion that the eA"il predominates over the good, and that it Avould be better to remain under the present regulations for the ensuing twelve months than to run the risk of seriously impeding the progress of the Province by virtually putting a stop to bond fide settlement. We are amongst the last to advocate the alienation of the Avaste lands of Southland at a price below their fair value ; no doubt great mischief has been done elsewhere by adopting so foolish a policy, but when Aye look at the present state of trade, the general depression, the embarrassment of the Provincial Government, and the great necessity there is of speedily getting the lands of the ProA r ince " out of pawn " to the General Government, Aye are compelled to think that the Avorst course which could be taken at the present juncture, is to raise the price of land. If our fellow-colonists are of the same way of thinking Avith ourselves, Aye Avould remind them they have no time to lose in again appealing to the General Government. Should there not be sufficient time to stay the proclamation, it Avill be the duty of the Provincial Council to again memorialise the General Government, and endeavor to get the subject reconsidered by the Assembly at its next session.

Highland Logic — A contractor iv the Highlands was waited xipon by a deputation from his workers, to request Mia to make " no a pit o' difference in the - wages, but shust a wee shynge in the time for paying." On cross questioning I the deputies, he found they wanted to be paid weekly instead of fortnightly, but they also wanted the fortnight's wages weekly. ""Why, my lads," said the con- , -tractor j' "you. are demanding exactly - : double wages."'—" Hoots, uo, sir !"• said one df the deputies, "it's shust as niore as less as tnW same wedges, put you must shiSßt^aid^bwice -as a© everxoor©."