hope and anticipate to have the gratification to witness, under the auspices of the talented Surveyor-General, who has personally and officially examined the locus in quo)-and secondly, as the enunciation of a general principle, proposing that £25,000 should be placed on the estimates towards the attainment of this very greatest and best of objects ;(d) no man will doubt, who, like the Honorable mover or the undersigned, is a practical man, long and intimately acquainted with this Colony and its physical as well as moral requirements and resources.

So forcibly impressed was the writer, with the paramount importance of this consideration, and with the expediency of turning to account the vast capabilities of this splendid but arid pastoral country (immediately after his first inspection of some millions of acres of the same, chiefly in the hot and level district of the Murray), with a view to remedy the crying evil "want of water;" that--as may be in the recollection of some of your readers-he prepared and read before the members of the Mechanics' Institute, in July, 1849, a paper on "the physical qualities and capabilities of Australia Felix, with reference principally to the best remedies of the great evil of the interior-a deficiency of Water." The views and ideas put forth in that document, afterwards published (and of which I presume that a copy may be seen at the Institute), may I would hope, be deemed worthy of consideration by all who, like the Hon. Member for Grant, shake off the apathy of which squatters and settlers in Australia, are unfortunately, by common consent, convicted, and take a real and earnest interest in this subject of literally vital importance. (ƒ)

To allude even to the many ramifications to which anything approaching to a full discussion of the most important interests of Australia, namely, unlocking the Lands effectually, and efficiently giving Water to the colonists, and as far as practicable to their live stock, would necessarily lead; would involve a volume, rather than a column of print: apologising therefore for the great length to which my lucubration has unwittingly extended, I will confine myself to one single remark, namely-that valuable public reservoirs may be made under legislative enactment, in thousands of sites, (as illustrated by the magnificent pool which affords a good supply of Water to the large population of Campbell Town, New South Wales, who formerly had to cart their water from the Manangle, a distance of five miles)—before Crown Lands are disposed of to purchasers, each of whom has a right not only to fence in his farm or his allotment; but to open dykes through the same or on his boundaries, if he think proper; but which desideratum cannot be effected afterwards, when once the ground is subdivided by ditches, and located.

I have the honour to remain, Sir,

Your very obedient servant,

N. L. KENTISH.

NOTES.

NOTE 6, p. 15.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Feb. 20, 1855. (Argus.)

THE motion of the Hon. Member for Grant, debated in the Legislative Council on the 20th February, 1855, and for the present "negatived," on the ground of it not being within the power of the House, to amend or alter the Imperial Land Regulations, as yet in force; (the principle on which it is based, namely, that of enabling the industrious agriculturist to occupy and cultivate land, for his own advantage and that of the community, by the sale of farming land in small quantities on long credit-being at the same time warmly applauded even by the Hon. Members who spoke against the motion)-is as follows:-

"1. That in the opinion of this House, it is of moment to the present advantage and future prospects of this colony, that agricultural operations be carried on with prompt industry.

"2. That crown lands of great extent adapted for the plough, exist in those portions of the colony known as 'intermediate' and 'unsettled' districts.

"3. That the system now pursued in the disposal of crown lands in certain localities therein, is opposed generally to the prosperity and happiness of the people, and directly to the financial interests of the country.

"4. That to insure the speedy occupation and cultivation of land fit for agricultural purposes, and the full value thereof to the Crown, (due regard being paid to Reserves where necessary for the preservation of the winter rains; and also strict reservation of the rights of the crown where minerals may be supposed to exist); allotments, in situations at the option of his Excellency the Governor and Executive Council, not less than eighty acres each, should be open to selection by persons intending to become bona fide occupiers thereof, on payment of twenty-five per cent. of a valuation, in no case less than one pound per acre.

"5. That with a view to insure the cultivation of the land so selected, the occupier should be entitled to the use for grazing purposes of a like quantity of the land adjoining, for the term of three years, at a nominal rental; and at the termination of that period, provided he shall then have under cultivation not less than three-fourths of his original purchase, be entitled to purchase the second plot of land on the same terms-or if it be of less value, at a price according thereto.

"6. That the balance of purchase-money due on each selection be payable by equal instalments in two and three years respectively, bearing interest at the rate of eight per cent. per annum.

"7. That nothing contained in the foregoing resolutions shall be considered to interfere with the right of the Executive to the disposal of Crown Lands under the system now in force, in such places as to them may seem advantageous to the general interests of the country.

"8. That these resolutions be embodied in an address to His Excellency the Governor.

In his very effective opening speech in support of the above resolutions, Mr. Wills is reported to have said, "a few days ago he had received a statement of the agricultural products imported into the colony during the year 1854, viz., flour and bread, 31,272 tons; wheat, 128,315 bushels; barley, 62,560 bushels; malt, 85,062 bushels; maize, 94,707 busheis; rice, 2,321 tons; other grain, 35,903 bushels; butter and cheese, 3,332 tons; potatoes, 12,394 tons; onions, 549 tons; and of hay, 10,656 tons; and vegetables, 158 tons. He (the honourable member) had submitted that statement to an experienced mercantile man, who had, at very low rates, estimated these imports at upwards of two millions and a half.

NOTE C, p. 15.

REPORT of the Special Committee of the MELBOURNE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE on "the best means of promoting Agriculture and the Settlement of the Waste Lands of the Colony."

Your committee disclaim all political feeling in this momentous question; they have endeavoured in all their suggestions to provide for the general welfare of the colony, irrespective of all class interests; and in laying before the Chamber the result of their labours, your committee wish it to be understood that in making the following remarks on the Land Question they are not wedded to any particular system: if a more practicable and equally comprehensive mode can be suggested, they are prepared to support it.

Your committee having duly considered the subject, and availed themselves of all the documentary and other evidence they could procure, as well as information furnished by several members of the Chamber, practically acquainted with what has been done in other countries, have agreed in the following Report, which they now with confidence submit to this special meeting of the Chamber for its approval and adoption:

1. Your committee cannot but express their decided conviction, that the present Crown Land Regulations of the colony are radically defective, and have tended to produce and aggravate much of the depression under which the colonists are now suffering.

2. Your committee consider, that it is only by a complete change in these regulations -their thorough revision and remodelling,---that the colony can gradually be restored to a state of permanent prosperity.

3. Your committee declare, without fear of contradiction, that the sale of Land in Victoria has failed to provide food for its population. Out of 62,800,000 of acres, the estimated area of the colony, about 1,400,000 acres have been sold up to the present time; the remainder is held almost entirely by 800 individuals, under the annual licenses of occupation for pastoral purposes. Had proper care been taken when selling the above Lands to secure their improvement and cultivation by the purchasers, it would have provided food for all the present population of the colony; but as there is no such condition involved in the terms upon which the Land has been alienated from the Crown, it is the opinion of your committee,---although, in the absence of all reliable statistics, they have no positive evidence --that not one-tenth part of the land sold, is actually under cultivation with crops suitable for the food of man.

4. Your committee consider that the aspect of the Land Question has been entirely altered by the sudden and large increase of the population of the colony, an increase unparalleled in any country, except California On the 31st December, 1850, about four or five months after gold was produced in quantity, the whole colony contained about 88,000 souls; and on the 31st December, 1854, it may safely be estimated at 320,000; shewing an increase in three years of 232,000 souls. It is most desirable that a sufficiency of Land should be sold, and not only sold, but cultivated, to provide food and employment for this large in

crease in the population, and render us in this respect independent of the neighbouring colonies and of foreign countries.

5. Your committee report that the effect of the large increase in the population, combined with the large production of gold, and the want of any provision to insure the cultivation of the land---has been to diminish the resources of the colonists, and impoverish the colony generally, by causing an yearly importation of breadstuffs and vegetable productions to the amount of two millions, all of which we have to pay to the neighbouring colonies, to Chili, the United States, and the mother country.

6. Your committee, while deploring a state of things so prejudicial, to the welfare of the colony, express their conviction that the evil will be aggravated year by year, as population increases, if an effort be not at once made to change our Land System, and suit it to the wants and desires of the colonists.

7. Your committee beg to draw the attention of the Chamber to the great rise in price of all agricultural products; premising that they quote the Melbourne wholesale prices, which are much enhanced by the cost of carriage to the mining districts in the interior, where a very large proportion of our population is now settled, all of which might be supplied much more cheaply by the cultivation of Land in the immediate vicinity. They quote from the "Victoria Almanack," for 1855:

8. Your committee are of opinion that the system in operation at the present time for the disposal of Crown lands is the worst that could be adopted in a country like Victoria. In a new country, land should be obtainable by actual settlers at a low rate. The experience of Canada and the United States,-countries settled and improved by Englishmen and their descendants, proves that the greater the inducements offered to emigrants, in enabling them to settle on small sections of land, and in the terms of payment, the more the country advances in prosperity and wealth. California, one of the States of the Union, presents so strong an analogy to the circumstances of Victoria,-in the small number of inhabitants prior to the discovery of gold; in the rapid increase of population, and enhancement of the price of labour and of food,---that we cannot do better, while considering this great question, than keep it constantly before us. But all analogy ceases when we come to the land question. Owing to the freedom from artificial restrictions and impediments, California, within six years, has become an exporting country. We have good soil, abundance of it, a fine climate, and an energetic population; let us remove the barriers which prevent us from free access to our lands, and in a few years we shall do as California has done.

9. It is the opinion of your committee, that the policy of Government in the sale of Crown lands has injured the colony, and impoverished its inhabitants. Had our Crown lands been surveyed and offered for selection, at a low fixed price, to actual settlers, the land would have been cultivated, and an immense amount of capital retained in the colony; all of which has been either swallowed up in the purchase of land at a high price, or paid to other countries to provide us with food. The following shows the quantity of land sold and the price paid for it at different dates:--

1st July to 31st December, 1855,---sold, 145,000 acres, for £838,557, or nearly £6 per acre.

1st January to 30th June, 1854,---sold, 213,270 acres, for £810,789, or nearly £4 per

acre.

This money has been employed partly in making roads and bridges, and partly in bringing out emigrants; but your committee think that the extraction of £1,600,000 from the pockets of the colonists in twelve months, has impoverished them and absorbed a great part of the capital that would, with land at a cheap rate, and thereby entailing loss on themselves and their connections; also to the numbers who have come out to Victoria, and returned to the old country, or re-emigrated to the neighbouring colonies, in consequence of the want of suitable employ

ment.

10, Your committee have to report that the present system has had the effect of causing Government and the land speculators to combine against the interest of the great body of the colonists. By the 11th section of 5 and 6 Victoria, the Land Sales Act, the Governor is em powered to raise the upset price one-tenth part of any country land offered for sale; but at a late Government land sale the proportions were almost reversed---about one-tenth was put up at £1 per acre, and nine-tenths above that rate. Besides this, in general, all lots at £1 per acre are too large for the small farmer, but are eagerly purchased by speculators and capitalists; and whenever a working man, the most valuable kind of settler, attempt to purchase a lot of eighty to a hundred acres at a Government sale he is exposed to the competition of parties who never intend to occupy or cultivate the land.

11. To remedy this state of things, your committee, after due consideration, have to submit to the Chamber the following outline of a plan, similar, in many respects, to that which has attracted such an extensive emigration to Canada and the United States, altered, in a slight degree, to suit the circumstances and wants of the colony of Victoria. It has been your committee's wish and endeavour, to provide a remedy for the present state of things, to avoid any partiality to a particular class, and to have our land system established on a firm and permanent basis.

12. In recommending their plan to the Chamber, the committee have refrained from alluding to vested interests, or to any claims which may exist upon the Crown lands of the colony, for two reasons: firstly, it does not come within the scope of their duty; and secondly, they consider the interest of the great mass of the people to be paramount, and that any impediment in the way can be equitably arranged.

13. Your committee recommend to the Chamber the following system, as one which has been tried and found successful in Canada and the United States, and has furnished a home to thousands of our countrymen, and which has tended year by year to increase the prosperity of those countries :--

PLAN FOR THE DISPOSAL AND SETTLEMENT OF CROWN LANDS.

1.---The Colony of Victoria, so far as practicable, to be surveyed and subdivided into township sections, of about six miles square, or a superficial area of 36 square miles.

2.---That roads be laid out at proper intervals in every township.

3.---That every township be laid out in sections of one square mile, or 640 acres subdivded into 8 or 16 sub-sections or lots, of 80 or 40 acres respectively.

4.---That Government reserve for sale all land ascertained to be mineral, also such lands as may be necessary for Government purposes, such as military stations, and other public buildings.

5.---That Government land offices be established in different parts of the colony, where all information shall be provided to the intending settler, in relation to all lands offered for sale in the neighbouring townships, its location, description of soil, adaptation to agricultural or grazing purposes, its facilities for irrigation, etc. Also that detailed plans of the surveys be kept in these offices, showing the reserved lots, those sold, and what remain unsold.