CROWN LANDS REPORT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2696, 9 August 1894, Page 3

CROWN LANDS REPORT.

The annual report on the operation of the Lands and Survey Department for the 12 months ended on the 31st March last, shows that the transactions during the year, as compared with those in the previous year, were:— 1893. 1894. No. Area. No. Area. Acres. Acres. Cash 627 36,882 500 34,999 Deferred payment ... 198 21,474 96 12,668 Perpetual lease 549 125,192 17 3,854 Occupation with right of purchase ... ... 161 54,271 471 108,499 Lease in perpetuity 964 212,701 1,228 255,348 Pastoral tuns 119 1,104,226 227 898,945 The fact that the selections under the lease in perpetuity system were much more numerous than under any other was, it is pointed out, due to the fact that special settlement associations, village settlements, and village homestead special settlements can only be selected under that tenure; and in order to arrive l at an approximate idea of the system of tenure which is most popular the rural lands dealt with under Part 111. of the Act are referred to with the result that there are shown:—Cash selections 249, lease in perpetuity 447, occupation with right of purchase 461. The latter system seems to be favoured in the Auckland district more 'than in any other part of the colony, this being probably due to the low value of the lands in that district, while the lease in perpetuity system seems to be a favourite with the public in all other districts but Auckland. The totals number of selections of land on all systems was 2876, but if 337 purchases or selections of miscellaneous leases and licenses which cannot in all cases be included in permanent settlement, 85 pastoral leases, and 173 town sections, are deducted, the number of settlers who may be considered as having selected for the purpose of occupying the land was 2281, a decrease of 161 on the same figures for the previous year. The totvl number of selections under all headings as compared with the previous year, showed a decrease of 195 selections, the figures being 3071 in 1893 against 2876 in 1894 The in the number of selectors is attributed to the fact that the area of Crown lands to select from was very much less, and often vei/ inacessible. In order to arrive at the average size of the holdings taken up, the systems representing more or less close settlement, in which the soil is the mainstay of the selector, were considered, with the result that the average came out at 194 acres : that for the previous year being 190. In these figures are included the special settlement associations in which the average size of sections must by law be 200 acres. By including small grazing runs and the Cheviot grazing farms, which may properly be included in the term “ settlement lands,” an average-sized section is got of 292 acres. The mean prices at which lands, exclusive of the Cheviot estate and lands acquired under the Lands for Settlement Act, were disposed of during the past year were:— For cash, 13s per acre; for occupation with the right of purchase, 14s 9d per acre ; for lease in perpetuity, 17s 6d per acre—prices which do not differ materially from those of the year before. The area of lands, both surveyed and unserveyed, thrown open for selection, was 1,045,652 acres of town, suburban, and rural lands, and 1,747,129 acres of pastoral lands. The approximate area of Crown lands remaining, exclusive of any pastoral leases which may fall in and prove suitable for smaller settlement, is about 11,000,000 acres, but not more than 4,000,000 acres of this can be utilised for settlement or pastoral purposes. A rough approximation of the lands remaining in the hands of the natives in the North Island gives about 8,000,000 acres as having passed, and about 2,260,000 as having not passed, the Land Court. It is probable that 3,000,000 acres is an outside limit of the area of this country that is suitable for # settlement. The lands selected by the Midland Railway Company under their contract with the Government up to the 31st March was 282,329 acres, exclusive of 84,262 acres held in trust.

The arrears of rent due to the Crown showed a decrease in the number of selectors, but no decrease in the total amount, the arrears in 1894 being £32,205 owed by 3104 selectors, against £28,875 owred by 3382 selectors in 1893. As the result of revaluations there had been a total loss in capital values of £169,085, and in rentals of £2448. During the past year 5311 acres had been added to the area of State forests, making the total area reserved at 31st March 1,141,778 acres. The offers of estates under “ The Land for Settlements Act 1892 ” numbered 102, covering a total area of 913,266 acres, but the groat majority of these had to be declined because they contained land which could not be divided into farms of 320 acres. The Board of Laud Purchase Commissioners recommended 10 properties for purchase, but in four case? the owners declined the offers made to them. The five estates purchased contained 9113 acres, and the total cost, includin g purchase, survey .administration, and reading was £39,117 12s lOd, The total rental for which these lands were let to date was bringing a return of 4.57 per cent, on the whole, whilst those cases in which the whole of the farms were let were paying over 5£ per cent. When all the lands were let the return would be 5.8 per cent on the expenditure.