79

A.—4,

There appears to be considerable difficulty in obtaining a punctual payment of the rents, and it is stated roughly that about one-half the tenants are in arrear to the extent of two years' rental, more or less. The rents are payable every six months, dating from the commencement of the tenancy, and every month a list of the payments in arrear for each month is published :in the Gazette, the arrears for the month of January, 1880, amounted to over £4,300, owed by 2,720 tenants. The condition of forfeiture has been enforced in a great number of cases where the rent has not been paid, nor the conditions of tenancy fulfilled; but it is found impossible to forfeit the land in cases where the tenant has fulfilled his conditions of occupation, and invested considerable sums in improving the land, and has failed only in paying his rent. All revenue derived from lands is paid into the hands of the Receiver of Revenue of the district, who pays it into the Public Account in common with all his other collections. The Receiver makes in most cases a daily return to the Treasury of all his receipts on Land Fund Account, which is sent on to the Land Office with a certificate from the Treasury that the money has been received. Elaborate ledgers are kept in the Land Office showing the state of every selector's account with the Crown. These ledgers consist of eighty-two large folio volumes. A similar accout is kept in the Audit, and also by each Receiver in his district. In addition to the abo Are, a register is kept of the pastoral runs, of which there are about 800, at a rental of about £120,000 per annum. A list of the runs and the rentals due for the year is published annually in the Gazette. Besides his other returns, the Receiver sends to the Audit Office periodically a " declared return " of the land revenue which he has collected. This corresponds to the attested return of New South Wales. There are between six and seven millions of acres of land under selection at present. The number of selections current does not appear to be on the increase , the numbers in which the purchase is completed, or which are forfeited for nonfulfilment of the conditions, being about equal to the new selections.

The public lands in Queensland are sold or leased under various Acts, In gold fields they are managed under the Gold-Mining Acts, and are administered by the Minister for Mines , elsewhere they are broadly divided into " lands open for selection," and " other lands," and are administered by the Secretary for Public Lands. All " other lands " may be purchased as "mineral lands " at 30s. per acre. Any lands may be sold by auction as " town," " suburban," or " country " lands, after being proclaimed open for such sale by the Government. The upset price being not less than £8 per acre for " town " lands, £1 per acre for " suburban " lands, and 10s. per acre for "country" lands. Mineral lands are also leased, and conditions of occupation are attached. The great bulk of lands taken up for settlement are those applied for as " conditional selections " under the Act of 1876, and the Act, now repealed, of 1868. Under the latter they were divided into classes—"agricultural," "first class pastoral," and "second class pastoral," at the prices of 155., 10s., and ss. per acre respectively Under the Act of 1876 the upset price of the land is declared by proclamation. Conditions of improvement, either by fencing under Act of 1868, or the expenditure of a fixed sum per acre under the existing law, are attached to all conditional selections. The purchase-money is payable in equal annual instalments in ten years, but the first year's payment and the fee for survey must be paid on application. The second year's payment is a broken sum propor-

Queensland,