Thursday, May 13. WASTE LANDS BILL.

Colonist, Issue 60, 18 May 1858, Page 3

Thursday, May 13. WASTE LANDS BILL.

The Provincial Secretary rose to move — *' That liis Honor the Superintendent be requested to recommend to the Governor the regulation of the sale, letting, or disposal of the waste lands of the Crown in the Province of Nelson, embodied in the Waste Lands Act." Dr. Monro objected to the motion. He considered a fixed price as a pernicious mode of disposing of the waste lands. He had been at the diggings, and had witnessed their undoubted signs bf^wealth. The Aorere appeared to be an exceedingly fine district, having thousands of acres of excellent land. He was sorry to say the land there seemed to be unsurveyed, and.according to present arrangements, offered few inducements to parties to settie there. He felt convinced that if more inducements were held out to settlers, and diggers more .fostered, the district would bo in a much move flourishing- condition than it was at present. But he had the same objections to the motion for private sale that he always had entertained. He was confident the sale of land at public was the the wisest; and best system of bencfitting the province, and attracting settlers, would be to consolidate a Land Office at the Aorere. The motion was deceptive; it reminded him of the apples on the Dead Sea shore, all ashes to the taste,- although gilded by the motion of his lion, friend.

The Provincial Sechetary, notwithstanding what had been stated by the hon. gentleman on his left, persevered in advocating the propriety of private sales. He rebutted the qharge of Dr. Monro respecting any expression of any contrary opinions formerly, as lie was not. in Council at all on the occasion of the passing of .the former measure in favor of a fixed price for land. So far irom his wishing, as Dr. Moriro intimated, to prejudice the pastoral interest by the present, motion, he had constructed it purposely, to avoid occasioning any disposal of pastoral lands by private sale. Instead of there being no lands surveyed in the Aorere, there were in fact thousands of acres already measured there. the diggers not being more fostered,, he said that wherever gold was to be found, the perseverance and industry of nien would surmount the difficulties that lay in their path to its possession. That he should be most willing to afford every facility to the further development of the Nelson Gold Districts the Government could spare. But whoever heard of the Melbourne or Sydney diggings being fostered, unless it were Auckland indeed. She might require fostering, with her three specks of gold exposed in a shop window, as an earnest, perhaps, qi the future, wealth of-her gold-fields. The exclusive use of the Auction System was, he contended, very defective, and as 6uch, he. introduced this measure for private sale. On being piit to the vote, the motion was rejected. ' The House then adjourned till Tuesday, the 25th instant, at o o'clock.