The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-08-15

elusive of Maories, was, last September,
625, 1872, and the population of its four
cities, Auckland, Wellington, Christ
church and Dunedin, and their suburbs,
was, at the same time, 49,, 092, or about
20 per cent of the whole, leaving bal
ance of 442 800 distributed through the
farming districts, the gold fields and the
smaller towns; while on January LIST,
1890, the aggregate population of both
New South Wales and Victoria was about
100000, of which $4,000, or 40 per
cent, belonged to the two cities of Mel
bourne and Sydney alone.
There are four methods by which in
tending settlers may acquire holdings
out of the New Zealand crown lands;
first, by cash payments, in which case
not more than $40 acres of first class and
2OOO acres of second class land in any
one district is allowed to each applicant;
second, the deferred payment or Install
ment method, in which any person over
seventeen years old may be an applicant,
and the holdings are restricted to 20
acres of suburban and Gao acres OF rural
land. These lands are paid for by semi
annual installments extending over a
period of five years for suburban land and
fourteen wears for rural land. Residence
on the land by the purchaser must begin
within six months from the issue of the
license, and continue for four years on
suburban land and six years on rural
land. Opportunity is given to settlers
under this method to pay cash, at their
option, before the period OF payment by
installment has expired upon iull pay
ment, grants are delivered to the pur-
chasers; third, the perpetual lease
method, which allows to the settler
thirty years. lease with rent fixed at five
per cent. on the value of the land, with
the refusal of new lease, at the end OF
the term, for tWenty-One years longer.
In case the tenant does not wish to re-
new the lease, the privilege is put up at
auction, the incoming tenant being
obliged to pay the old lessee the value OF
his improvements. AT any time ten
ant under this method, who has per-
formed the improvement conditions,
may buy the land for cash at the money
value upon which he has paid rent at
five per cent; fourth, the homestead
system, under which the settler makes
no payment for the land beyond the cost
of snrvev. sUn the fulfil ment OF the
conditions, which are five years resi-
| denCe. the erection of house and the
| cultivation of one-third of the selection
| if open land, and one-ffth if bush land,
| the crown grant is issued" Persons
over Is years of age may take from % to
| rs acres, and persons under IL, ~ to 80
acres. Those taking lands under this
| m .thod are debarred from obtaining
land on the instailment or perpetual
lease plans, and those who have received
land in those ways, or who are freehold
era. NAV not take advantage OF the
homestead system. A somewhat similar
restriction is part of the perpetual Lease
method above referred to.
1.-The average sized holding for the
last few wears lin New Zealand) Is 2ZC
acres: and for the whole colony there
were in February last 1880 somewhat
less than 10000 agricultural and pas
toral holdings. The instalmene ano
perpetual lease systems appear TO De ths
most popular and under their condltlon'
, the greater part of rural lands are occu
: pied. This occupancy under these 1--WE
systems is now progressing at the aver
, age rate of lightweight applicants
month, requiring %. 1872 acres OF lano
giving 263 acres as the average extent o
the holdings. 1,
/ under these circumstances mas sal
8 and prosperous future, even with ne
+ heavy burden of public debt.
t Ii with our available public ana pr
: vate lands we should, by the INTEL
: gent adoption and administration OF
: wise land policy, create some three g
It four thousand holdings within the mex
d ten or fifteen years, owned, inhabite
V and used by their occupiers, each on
y becoming home and family inner inner
e lance, and equal to the generous MAJ, MAJ,
d tenance of a healthy family life, woul
n we not be working more effectively Il
a the future peace and prosperity OF o,
) country than would be possible ! oy al
a other disposition OF our resources