THE CANTERBURY RUNS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1880, 18 April 1889, Page 4

THE CANTERBURY RUNS.

The following is a copy of the final report to the Minister of Lands by the Commissioners for the classification of the Canterbury runs We beg to advise that we have completed our classification of the runs lying between the Rakaia and Rangitata, and those lying east of the main railway in the Ashley and Selwyn Counties, not included within the Midland Railway area, and now forward the result for the approval of His Excellency the Governor. In our first report we called your attention to the principles by which we proposed to be guided in our subdivision of the runs which we have strictly adhered to in ‘ our 'classification of all the country we have been over, and whenever we thought there was any probability that the country could be profitably worked in blocks below 5000 acres we have not hesitated to subdivide it accordingly. It was, however, apparent to us in going over the country that the purchased land extended far higher up the ranges than is commonly believed, and being in most cases unfeuced, it has doubtless led many persons to think that the low-lying country seen from the public roads is still Grown land which could bo subdivided; but we venture to believe that, after the country has been examined with the aid of the maps proposed to be published, it will be apparent to anyone having any knowledge of the difficulty of working high mountainous country without sunny faces, suitable for wintering stock on, that only subdivisions such as we have made will allow the run country to. be profitably worked, having also in view the necessity of making the most of the public estate for the benefit of the colony. We were forcibly struck whilst inspecting the country at the immense loss of capital and interest already made in Canterbury through the purchase of land at £2 per acre under the free selection land Jaws. Under this system thousands of acres have been purchased in some cases by the runholders in fear of their holdings being interfered with; in others by speculators, hoping to get an enhanced price on their purchases, but with the same result in both instances. The land purchased, from its elevation or chatacter, is not capable of improvement by agriculture—at any rate, during the present generation—and now, ten years after it has been alienated from the Crown, it remains, and must so remain, in its native state, and yields no adequate return, either to the runholder, who in many cases has been ruined by the interest he has had to pay on borrowed capital unremunerativelj employed, or to the speculator who has bad to let the land at a nominal value only. It will, therefore be understood why it is that we have been able to select so few blocks which could be set apart as agricultural pastoral laud to bo dealt with under the Land Act. A s far as our inspection of Canterbury outside the Midland Railway area goes we are forced to the conclusion that the agri-cultural-lands have practically already passed out of the hands of the Crown, and, with the exception of the land we have set apart under Class 111,, consisting principally of the remaining portion of the Canterbury plain, and mainly light stony land, or a few odd pieces of inferior land left out when the other land was selected, the whole of the remaining portion of Canterbury must be classed as pastoral land only, Outside the Midland Railway area we found that there are 19 runs, containing about 51,266 acres, situated on the Canterbury plains. This has all been put under Class 111., and is recommended for disposal uader the ordinary provisions of the Waste Lands Act of 1887, for cash, on deferred payments, or on perpetual lease conditions. This, with a few isolated pieces found to remain for disposal or selected, out of the runs, principally in the Mackenzie Country, and also put under Class 111., gives a total of 97,789 acres for disposal under this head, We found that there are about 2,418,840 acres held under a great many licenses, but practically owned and worked as but 66 separate runs or holdings, a large number being held by Loan or other Financial Companies, the original holders having, through the indebtedness caused by their having to purchase so much freehold, or by the bad seasons or the depression of the last five years, had to relinquish their rims. Of these 2,443,840 acres we have classified 2,289,300 acres under Class 1., in 68 holdings, which in oiir opinion cannot be worked with profit in blocks of less than 5000 acres, and we have put 154,540 acres, under Classs 11., into 50 holdings, which we think can be worked with profit in blocks of 5000 acres and under, thus dividing the present sixty six holdings into 118 separate runs under two .classes.

The aggregate area of the ' pastoral country is increased by a large quantity of the tops of the high hills, generally shingle or rock, but ■which we were obliged to include within the runs in order to obtain natural boundaries, and not to leave vacant pieces of country which would be no man’sjland. Generally speaking we have divided the country so that runs under Class I. may carry from 10,000 to 15,000 sheep in the back country and a smaller number in the front ; in only one case, that of Mr Sutton’s station on the Waitaki, ucied in our irst report, have we

allowed any run to be large enough to carry more than 20,000 sheep. In our first report we called your attention to several matters which we deemed should be provided for in the new leases, viz,, re spread cf sweetbriar broom or gorse, grass fires and run fences. We can only say in conclusion that we have thoroughly examined every run south of the Eakaia, excepting these on the Plain with which we were sufficiently acquainted to determine what class they should come under without a more minute examination, and a few runs south of the Waitaki at the head of the Ahuriri river, Hawea and Wanaka Lakes, which wo were aware from our knowledge of the character of the country could only be held under Class L, and of which wo had a detailed report from the Rabbit Inspector of that district, Mr Thompson, who has been intimately acquainted with the country for years. We were travelling 74 days, during which we went 1123 miles by rail, drove 264 miles, and rode 1520 miles to enable us to see every part of the country we had to classify.