Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 384, 22 August 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

When may a person be said to be of sufficient age to become a qualified appli ; cant for 400 acres of land on the goldfields ? is a question which was settled at a' recent meeting of . the Waste Lands Board. One of our well-to-do settlers is blessed with foursons, and when he thinks of the great future lying before them, bis paternal heart glows with deep emotion, and he plans for their welfare. He applies to the Waste Lands Board for a section for one of them — only 400 acres. After satisfying themselves that the application is a hona fide, one, although the youth for whom it is applied ia only fourteen years of age, tho liberal-minded gentlemen who constitute the Board, grant the application. Well, we do not grudge the young man his broad acres. We sincerely trust that he will grow up and settle upon the land, and become a worthy member of the commonwealth. But if our readers will follow ns in looking at another application which w,is made on the same day, although at different place and before a different Court, they will be able to realise the glaring absurdities and- contradictions which pertain to the laws and regulations affecting the disposal of the waste lands of the. Province. An application was made before Mr. Care w. by a Mr. Blackie for 200 acres of land, under the Agricultural Leasing" Regulation?. Uufortutunately Mr. Blackie was only nineteen, and was therefore under age, and the application was consequently refused. Mr. Holmes, who .appeared for the applicant, informed the Warden that Mr. Blaokie was a most c'i^ihle pei'son, being a priz3 ploughman, and in every respect likely to become a good settler. His Worship replied that he had no discretion allowed him ; but suggested that the applicant should withdraw, and some one elae of full age might apply who was interested in the applicant. Now, we ask, is it not supremely absurd that such a contradictory state of things should be character- ', ised by the name of the law ? Say rather, it is "confusion worse confounded." Rut such is, indeed, the state of the land laws that a boy of fourteen year 3of age can obtain the fee simple of 400 acrps of land on the goldfields by applying tp the Waste Lands Hoard, whereas, under the Agricultural Leasing Regulations, a young man of nineteen, and a prize ploughman, cannot obtain lease of a few acres without resorting to what is familiarly known as the " dummy system." See, too, the awkward posi-

tion in which it places the Warden. Perhaps he never before had a more eligible application brought before him, and yet he cannot act ; but being convinced of the genuineness of the case, suggests the dummy remedy, or evasion of the law, as the only means by which the applicant can obtain his wishes.

The Tuapeka Hundred, which was surveyed some time ago, is to be proclaimed on the 2nd September, and arrangements will be made for opening it for sale as soon thereafter as possible. Such is the substance of a Government memorandum read at the last meeting of the Waste Lands Board. The Hundred consists of 15,000 acres of passable land, situated on Mr. Smith's run, Tuapeka West. According to the survey, a small portion of it is included in Bellamy run. The Hundred is intersected by the 2000-acre block recently thrown open on the deferred payment principle. We have on more than one occasion pom ted out the .desirability of having, this land opened under the agricultural leasing system, which, notwithstanding its liability to abuse, is by far the most preferable system yet devised for the occupation of land on the goldfields. The Provincial Government, however, some years ago, being in want of money, by some interpretation of the law, suitable to its own purposes, discovered having a power to declare Hundreds on the goldfields, and lost no time in getting the assent of the Provincial Council to Borne four or five such blocks of land. From some cause or other delay occurred in the proclamation of the Tuapeka Hundred ; and since the survey was completed, the opening of it has remained in abeyance, but the recent demand for land on the Tuapeka gold fields has been so urgent that the matter has pressed itself upon the Government with the result stated in the memorandum above quoted. We have no doubt as soon as the land is open for selection there will be numerous applications m?.de fo purchase as large blocks of it a3 the Waste Lands Board will permit. Four hundred acres is at present the maximum quantity allowed by the Board ; but there is no reason to suppose that that body might not alter its decision, and, instead of 400, make4ooo the maximum, for of tho Board are indeed the most "nliicb tl loae _ Q f t h. c Medes and Persians we have ever heard of. At all events, if any man is lucky enough to have lots of brtys in his family — no matter although the youngest bo a child of tender years, who has not learnt his letters — and bo possessed of the wherewithal, he can procure a stretch of country of several Ih-uisand acres at the upset price of £1 an acre. This system of disposing of land in ihfe immedi&Le neighborhood of a rising town will, no donnt, suit a few persons who are bless 3d with capital ; but we are cer'ain it will not suit the bone and sinew of tho district — tho men who have saved a few hundred pounds by dint, of hard work and frugal habits. To meet the latter class, we would recommend the Government to throw open the remainder of Mr. Smith's run on the agricultural loading system. The Hundred so cuts up the run as tp make it almost useless to Mr. Smith, and he would gladly relinquish hia claim upon ifc for a 3mal! compensation.