The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1874.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1820, 2 November 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1874.

In a batch of Parliamentary Papers recently to hand we have several reports on the purchase or sale of land. One is a " schedmle of lands purchased under the Immigration and Public Works Act of 1870 and declared to be Waste Lands of the Crown." From this report we find that the following quantities of land have been purchased :— Auckland, 131,680 acres; Wellington, 184,213 acres; Taranaki, 48,770 acres; total, 364,663 acres The land purchased in this province is comprised chiefly Of blocks on the Hauraki Peninsula, which ha 3 been noticed in detail in previous issues, the other districts in which purchases have been effected being Hokianga, Bay of Islands, Mahurangi and Kaipara.

As showing the value of land in the Patea diitrict, Mr. C. A. Wray, officer in charge of confiscated lands on the West Coast, reports that on the 28th February kit an area of 5095 acres was sold, realising £20,515 17s, or rather more than*£4 per acre. It is further stated in the repoit that of this area a portion was composed of bush and sandy sections, offered at an upset price of 5s per acre, which would make the average for land of good quality much higher. A much larger area could hare been sold, as many intending purchastr* had to return unsatisfied. Mir. Wray statesthat, with few exceptions, the land passed to bona fide settlers, the high prices-ruling preventingthe purchase of land for speculation. This land sale at Patea may be taken as a fair indication of the value of good land in eligible localities in the North Island. . .

Mb. Thomas Bussbli/ counsels the Government not to enforce the penalty incurred bj Mr. Webb for his failure to

continue the San Francisco mail aervicoi and gives some reasons for this "view of the case. He says that when Mr. Webb undertook the service there was a reasonable probability of one or more of the Australian Governments affording assistance to the undertaking, and that to secure auch assistance Mr. Webb for several months ran his boats through to New South Wales and Victoria free of cost to those colonies ; ®nly withdrawing his steamers when the negociations failed. That after this the continuance of the service to New Zealand was impossible, owing to the high price of coal in this colony and the want of facilities for docking and repairing the large vessels employed in the service. That the service was a great benefit to the colony, and the cost inconsiderable after deducting the amount that would have had to be paid as the colony's contribution to the Suez line, and that the trade of the colony was promoted and stimulated by the opening of direct communication with America. That the service was maintained by Mr. Webb during the whole of its continuance at an enormous loss, and Mr. Eussell believes that the contractor's money expenditure in New Zealand, in connection with the service, left a large balance of profit and advantage in favor of the colony procured at the cost of the contractor. Perhaps the strongest reason urged by Mr. Eussell against extreme measures being adopted is that in which he states that from what he could ascertain qf the probabilities of the success of a lawsuit instituted by the Government against Mr. Webb in America, he could not advise such a proceeding ; and further, that as reasonable efforts were made to perform the service —a new, costly and difficult undertaking —entailing heavy losses upon Mr. Webb and inflicting no pecuniary loss on the Colony; but rather distinct advantages, Mr. Eussell believes the enforcement of the penalty for failure under such circumstances would be both illiberal and impolitic. ;