ADMINISTRATION INQUIRY COMMITTEE.

11

H.—No. 1

that the block embraces near 10,000 acres of good agricultural land, besides an extent of country proved to be auriferous, and that quartz reefs are reported to exist within the block. The meeting indignantly protest against the sale of large blocks of land within gold fields, and that the General Government be requested to veto the contract entered into by the Waste Lands Board to sell privately to the lessees of Eun No. 199 20,000 acres of land, as being a gross violation of law, and to take the necessary steps to prevent any further sales of large blocks within the gold fields in future. That the co-operation of the various mining districts be invited, with the view of making an appeal to the General Government to take the control of the gold fields out of the hands of the Provincial Executive, and havo them either erected into a County, or the Colonial Government to administer their affairs as should be deemed most advisable. Eoxburgh, 31st July, 1872. T. M. Kinaston.

Telegram from Mr. McLeod to Chairman, Otago Waste Lands Inquiry Committee. I know the 20,000 acre block on Cargill and Anderson's run. Consider more than one-half is good agricultural land. Gold has been found in the block, and will, in my opinion, prove payable when a proper water supply is brought in. I understand that all the Teviot water races are more or less within the block. The _ sale will damage both the miners and every settler —in fact, every resident in the Mount Benger district except the runholders, who may now be said to be proprietors of the whole countryside. All the inhabitants, without exception, are against the sale. Not only will the sale prove injurious to the further interests of the place, but those at present residing here, who in good faith expended their capital on the strength of the fulfilment of the repeated promises of the Provincial Government to throw open the land, will be serious losers, and many will be compelled to leave the district. Eoxburgh, 31st July, 1872. E. McLeod.

APPENDIX D. Messrs. Cargill and Anderson's Application to Purchase 20,000 Acres of Land on Eun 199. Memorandum by Secretary for Land and Works. The Chief Surveyor is requested to report on the nature and quality of the land shown on the tracinoannexed, its elevation and general character, whether any and (if any) what proportion of it is fitted for agricultural settlement, and what for pastoral purposes only. The land fitted for agriculture should be indicated on the plan in a separate colour. D. Eeid, 27th June 1872. Secretary for Land and Works.

Department of Lands and Survey, Otago. Memorandum for Chief Surveyor. The block of 20,000 acres on Eun 199, and marked on accompanying tracing, consists principally of a mountain ridge, with numerous spurs and gullies running down from the Lammerlaw and Knobby Eanges to the Clutha Valley. The front line of the block will be about 1,000 feet above sea level, and the back line over 2,000 feet; the whole area being of a general elevation between these two altitudes. The block is intersected by the Teviot Eiver and several minor streams, that run in rock-bound gorges—there being no extent of flat nor gently sloping land along their courses. The country lies on schist rock, which crops out frequently, and appears on the ridges in large isolated masses. There is no bush within the block nor adjacent to it. Eor agricultural settlement, the land is wholly unsuitable—being too high, too broken, and difficult of access. As pastoral country it is good—the irregularities of surface sheltering stock, and fostering the growth of a variety of grasses. It has also a position value, from the fact of its being winter and spring country to the high summer country on the back ranges of Lammerlaw. James McKereow, Dunedin, 29th June, 1872 Geodesical and Inspecting Surveyor.

APPENDIX E. Mr. Kinaston to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Sib,— , Eoxburgh, 2nd August, 1872. I beg to enclose copies of resolutions passed at public meeting held here on the 29th ultimo, in respect to the sale of 20,000 acres of land agreed to by the Waste Land Board of this Province. _ In a previous letter I pointed out the disastrous results which will inevitably follow, both to the agricultural and mining interests on the gold fields, if such a suicidal policy be allowed. The sale to Clarke of about 60,000 acres on Moa Plat, and the present sale of 20,000 acres to Cargill and Anderson, will have the effect of permanently locking up the best inland district in Otago from settlement—a district admittedly cabable of supporting a population of several thousands if its landed estate were honestly administered. The following are the resolutions alluded to :— 1, Proposed by Mr. Beighton and seconded by Mr. Manuel, and carried, That the sale of the proposed block to Cargill and Anderson will be most injurious—will tend to effectually stop all agricultural settlement and mining industry in this part of the country. That the block embraces near 10,000 acres of good agricultural land, besides an extent of country known to be auriferous, and that quartz reefs are reported to exist within the block.