1.-7.

42

799. Is the land that has already been alienated by the Crown in Taranaki chiefly open land or bush land?—lt is chiefly bush land. 800. And what price did it realize ?—From £1 to £1 10s. per acre. 801. Did much of it realize £1 I.os. per acre ? —Tes ; a considerable area along the Mountain Eoad realized close on £2. 802. That is adjacent to the line of railway ?—Tes. I may say that the Waimate Plains realized on an average £6 per acre. 803. Can you say how much they realized in the aggregate?— The cash received for cash sales and deposits on deferred-payment sales has been in round figures £90,000, and there is a sum of £40,000 due by instalments extending over ten years. That is on account of the deferred payments. In the other portions of the Taranaki Provincial District there is a sum of £64,000 due in a similar manner under the deferred-payment system. 804. Can you say whether any portion of this sum of £104,000 due on deferred payments will be payable to the New Plymouth Harbour Board ?—Tes, 25 per cent, of the land revenue must go to the credit of the Board. 805. And if 33| per cent, of the proceeds of the land sold under the deferred-payment system goes to local authorities as well, what amount will be receivable by the Government ?—The balance of 41| per cent., after allowing for the cost of opening road-lines. 806. Will the 41-f per cent, to be received by the Government be sufficient to cover the expenditure incurred by the Government in connection with the surveys and the opening-up of road-lines ?— It will pay the cost of the surveys and the cost of opening up the road-lines, and the administration of the department. I may remark that this opening of bush land by preliminary works is absolutely essential to the sale of lands of this character for settlement. Bush lands without road-lines are, at the price fixed by law, as unsaleable as a piece of the Pacific Ocean; but, with road-lines cut so that the settlers can see the land, there is no difficulty in selling it, as the settlers follow on along the roadlines. 807 What area of bush land do you think it would be practicable to sell annually in the colony if road-lines were cut through it ? Do you think there would be any great demand ? —lt depends very much on the district it is in. I have been speaking heretofore of the Taranaki District, but I may tell you that hitherto very little settlement has taken place on the west coast of the Middle Island, whether road-lines were cut or not. That particular region is so deluged with rain that settlers do not take to it at all readily 808. Has enough land been taken up on the west coast of the Middle Island to pay for the construction of the road-lines ?—Not yet; but the most expensive tracks are the first sections of the ultimate lines, so it would be hardly fair at this stage to give an opinion regarding them. 809. Seeing that 25 per cent, of the £104,000 comes from settlers who have bought land on the deferred payment, and is given to the New Plymouth Harbour Board, and 383- per cent, to the local authorities, and that the balance only suffices to pay the cost entailed upon the colony, there can be no profit whatever to the Government ?—None whatever, except the indirect profit arising from the settlement and cultivation of the land. 810. Mr. Murray.] Do you think the harbour works at New Plymouth are enhancing the value of the lands in the district which have been sold by the Government to any appreciable extent ?—Not in the slightest degree, in my opinion. 811. Then, in fact, the State is not being recouped any portion of this 25 per cent., which is paid to the Taranaki Harbour Board, by the increased prices that the lands there may realize? —No. Indeed, it is within my knowledge that it has had the opposite effect, of deterring people from taking up land in Taranaki. People who would have made excellent settlers went to the place with money in their pockets ; but they abandoned all intention of taking up land, immediately they discovered that they might have to pay this rate of Is. in the pound for the harbour works. I may say, however, that, if the harbour works are a success, the value of property in Taranaki will be greatly increased. 812. Mr. Weston.] Can you give the Committee an idea as to what the character of this bush land is ?—The character of the bush land behind the Waimate Plains is this : the surface of the land is a beautiful slope, practically level. The soil is nice free loam, with a good deal of vegetable matter near the surface. All cleared lauds have taken grass freely and readily The land is very well watered, and I do not know of any other portion of the colony which is better adapted for the location of small settlers. 813. Is the land heavily timbered ?—No ;it generally consists of a few large rata trees on each acre; but the rest of the land is covered with light soft woods and undergrowth of scrub, which is very easily cleared away It can be felled for about 355. or 40s. an acre. 814. And for that reason, you think, the land is more likely to be sold?—Tes. 815. There is a block of bush land marked on the plan which sold very well ?—Tes ; you refer to a block of 9,000 acres, which fetched from £1 10s. to £3 17s. per acre. 816. Where is that block ? —lt is west of the Waingongoro Eiver, behind the 25,000 acres Native Eeserve, and opposite the Eltham Bail way- station. 817 Is there much building timber on the bush land behind the Waimate Plains ?—No. 818. In your opinion, would there be enough building-timber to meet the requirements of the settlers for building purposes ? —Tes ; but I may remark that the settlers there have hitherto found it cheaper to get their timber from the Manawatu mills. 819. The Chairman.] When the railway is extended to Patea, will the trade of the Waimate Plains gravitate towards Patea or Waitara ? —I think it will be divided between the two places, with a tendency towards Patea. A great deal will, of course, depend on how the rates of freight from Wellington and Auckland are arranged. 820. How far are the bulk of the settlers on the Waimate Plains distant from Opunake on the one side, and the Normanby Eailway-station on the other? —They are much nearer Normanby than Opunake. Taking Manaia Township as the centre of the Waimate Plains, it is only distant by good roads nine miles from Normanby, and the same from Hawera ; while from Opunake it is distant twenty miles, also with a good road.