(Enclosures.)

Memo to the Waste Lands Board.

Referring to the Board's recent action in respect of certain applications for the purchase of hill lands proclaimed open for sale in the Otago 'Gazette' of 19th April, the Superintendent desires to indicate to the Board the consequences which must result from its action.

As the Board is aware the representatives of the people have passed appropriations for highly important and necessary public works—works which, if not provided for by means of loan, were to be constructed out of the proceeds of the sale at 10s. an acre of hill lands, in terms of section 150, Otago Waste Lands Act. (See Votes and Proceedings, Session XXXII., 1873, page 93.) On the motion of the Secretary for Lands and Goldfields it was resolved—

"That a branch line of light railway, from Oamaru to the Valley of the Waiareka, a distance of fifteen miles, be at once constructed, at a cost not exceeding £31,000, said cost to be defrayed from the sale of 60,000 acres of pastoral land, in terms of section 150, 'Otago Waste Lands Act, 1872,' such land to be situated in the Northern District.

"That a light line of railway, between Riverton and Orepuki, in length 16 miles, be constructed, estimated cost £40,000, payment to be made in land in alternate sections on either side of the proposed line at the current value.

"That a light line of railway, between Riverton and Otautau, in length 16½ miles, already surveyed, be constructed at a cost of £40,000, payment to be made in cash or land at the option of the Government.

"That a light line of railway, to connect the Otautau line with the Invercargill and Winton Railway at Wallacetown junction, a distance of 14 miles, be constructed at a cost of £20,000, payment to be made in cash or land at the option of the Government.

"Resolved further that the following branch railways be commenced next year; and that the Government be requested in the meantime to obtain the necessary survey and estimates, viz.: Waipahee to Tapanui, Main Trunk Line to Kaitangata, Main Trunk Line to Outram, Palmerston to Waihemo, Otautau to Night-Caps Coal Fields."

The Colonial Parliament declined to sanction the raising of money by loan, and hence the necessity for falling back upon the other alternative.

Instead, however, of selling hill lauds at 10s., as sanctioned by the Provincial Council, the Government has placed in the market for sale a limited area of mountain land spread over five separate runs, at 20s. an acre, at which price, applications to purchase have been refused by the Board, thereby depriving the Provincial Treasury of the revenue which it was reasonably expected would be £64,000, an amount which would have page 25 afforded employment during the winter months to upwards of 2000 men, and upon the faith of receiving which, the Province has entered into engagements which cannot otherwise be fulfilled.

The result of this determination on the part of the Board must be disastrous in the extreme, involving as it does the curtailment and cessation of the public works throughout the Province, at that season of the year when the labouring population is most dependent upon such work. In the face of the Board's decision the Government has very reluctantly been compelled to abstain from accepting tenders for various works which are absolutely necessary, and which otherwise would have been gone on with at once, and it is probable that steps may have to be taken to suspend or abandon existing contracts.

Although upon the Board must rest the onus as to the result of its decision -a decision which the Superintendent cannot doubt must have been arrived at without duly considering the grave responsibility which it involved—he cannot but feel the most serious apprehension as to the injury which the Board's action must entail upon every interest throughout the Province.

The Board appears to have overlooked the fact that the Land Acts invest the Superintendent and Provincial Council, who are directly responsible to the people, with important and responsible functions; and the Superintendent cannot but think that he has good reason to complain that in coming to the decision it did in the matter, the Board has not exhibited that courtesy to the Superintendent and Provincial Council which was due to their position as parties whom the law invests with certain powers under the Waste Lands Acts, and that instead of taking time to consider and mature its decision, it should at once, without discussion, and without assigning any reason, have arrived at an apparently foregone conclusion, and one which, it is reasonable to suppose, must have been come to either under a misconception of the value of the laud applied for, or in the absence of information regarding the resolutions of the Provincial Council above referred to.

As to the value of land, the Superintendent is of opinion that 20s. per acre all round for such land is a high price—an opinion which is fully borne out by the report of the Chief Surveyor; but if any doubt existed on this point, the Board had an opportunity of setting it at rest by submitting one of these allotments to public auction; and the Superintendent is at a loss to know under what authority the Board refused to allow the sale, at public auction, of the lands for which duplicate applications had been lodged.

There is good reason to believe that the second application was not a bond fide one, as the Superintendent is informed that land of at least as good quality on the adjoining Hundred has been open for sale during the last two years, and for which no application has yet been received. It is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that this application was not a bond fide one.

In the administration of the waste lauds there must be two objects page 26 kept in view, viz.: the settlement of the people on the land, and as a means towards this end, the acquisition of revenue. The large extent of land which is being taken up on deferred payments and under agricultural lease must of necessity diminish the amount of immediate revenue from land.

As it is necessary to dispose of land for revenue purposes—that is to say, for providing means of communication, compensation, surveys, and other requirements, among which latter may be specially enumerated school buildings, for which purpose alone £30,000 are urgently needed, there can be no question that the class of land upon which it is expedient to realise is the mountain tops, which are unfit for settlement—such land, in short, as the Waste Lands Board, notwithstanding the resolution of the Provincial Council and the recommendation of the Superintendent, has refused to sell.

Under all the circumstances of the case, the Superintendent cannot but reiterate the expression of his extreme regret at the hasty action of the Board in this matter—action which is fraught with consequences most detrimental to the public interest, and for which the Board must be held solely responsible.