A.—4,

85

Statutes, and making one Land Law for the whole Colony, but it was not thought advisable to introduce a uniform system throughout. The general mode in which lands had been previously sold was preserved in each district, a separate Schedule for each being attached to the Act. In each district a Land Board was established, consisting of the Commissioner of Crown Lands and from two to five other Commissioners appointed by the Governor, by whom the lands were to be administered. The general features of the land system in each district are as follows : — In Auckland. —Rural land is divided into first, second, and third class. The two first are sold by auction at an upset price of 15s. and 10s. an acre respectively for cash. Third-class lands are sold or leased by auction, if sold, at an upset price of ss. an acre, if leased, for not more than twenty-one years, at a rental fixed by the Board; no block leased to contain more than 10,000 acres. The Board may set apart blocks of land for disposal under " the homestead system," to be granted without payment upon conditions of occupation and cultivation for five years, the total quantity granted to one family not to exceed 200 acres. In TaranaM. —The Board may set apart land to be sold for cash at the price of 20s. for bush land and 40s. for open land. All other lands are sold by auction, with the same rates as the upset price. The Board may also lease lands of special value for a term of not more than seven years, at a rental of not less than 2s. an acre, with pre-emptive right of purchase at not less than 20s. In Hawke's Bay. —Rural lands are sold by auction at an upset price of 20s. an acre , but certain blocks in which the land has hitherto been sold for cash at 20s. the acre are open for selection on the same terms. In Wellington.- —Land is sold for 20s. the acre for cash , and, in case of two or more applications for the same land on the same day, by auction between the applicants, at the upset price of 20s. Lands declared by the Board to be pastoral lands are sold in blocks not exceeding 650 acres by auction, at an upset price of not less than 10s. an acre In Nelson. —Lands are sold by auction at an upset price of from 10s. to 40s. an acre to be fixed by the Board, or for cash at 405., lands are also leased for fourteen years at a rental of 10 per cent, on the assessed purchasing value, not being less than 10s. the acre. Pastoral runs are let by agreement with the Board, but the license may be determined at any time if the land is sold or leased. In Marlborough. —Land is divided into rural land and pastoral land, which are sold by auction at the upset prices of 20s. and 10s. the acre respectively. In Canterbury. —Land is sold for cash at 40s. the acre. Pastoral runs are let on an annual rental of from 9d. to 2s. per head of sheep, and from 4s. to 10s. per head of cattle which the run is determined by the Board to be capable of carrying All licenses are to cease in 1890. In Olago. —Land is sold for cash at 20s. the acre, but only in districts proclaimed to be Hundreds, simultaneous applications being settled by auction. The unsold land within Hundreds is depastured by the freeholders of the Hundred under the management of elected Wardens ; the land outside Hundreds is leased as pastoral runs. On any lease falling in, the run or such part as is not required as rural land, is put up to auction on a lease of ten years. In Southland. —Rural lands outside Hundreds are sold for cash at 405., and pastoral lands at 20s. the acre. Inside existing Hundreds the-price is 20s. In Westland. —All rural lands are sold for 20s. the acre. Blocks of land are set apart for occupation under the homestead system without payment, the conditions being the same as those of Auckland. Under sections of the Act, which apply to all parts of New Zealand, lands are