obstacles which then stare them in the face, and shut their eyes to the real advantages, such as they are, which a fertile unoccupied soil presents to a hardworking industrious man.

We have stated that any system of emigration for labourers without a corresponding emigration of capitalists would be fruitless; it is also obvious that if capitalists only were to emigrate without being able to secure a supply of labour, the result would be equally unfortunate. Considerations like these led to the formation of a scheme of emigration which was first brought into operation in the colony of South Australia. "The distinguishing and cardinal principles of the colony of South Australia are, that all public lands shall be sold, and that the proceeds of the sale shall be employed in conveying labourers to the colony." Further: "It is essential to the prosperity of a new colony in which there are neither slaves nor convicts, that there should be a constant supply of free labourers willing to be employed for wages. No productive industry worthy of the name can be undertaken, unless several hands can be put on the same work at the same time; and if there be not, in a colony in which the compulsory services of slaves or convicts cannot be obtained, a constant supply of labour for hire, no extensive farm can be cultivated, no large and continuous work can be carried on, and the capital imported must perish for want of hands to render it reproductive." (First Annual Report of South Australian Commissioners, 1836.)

It was therefore the object of the commissioners to prevent the labourers, for some time after their arrival in the colony, from purchasing land. This was done by fixing the price of land sufficiently high to prevent the labourer from being tempted too soon to exchange that condition which is for the time the most profitable both to himself and the body of emigrants for the apparently higher character of a landowner.

It is justly remarked in the Report that the result of such premature purchases "would be alike disastrous to the capitalist and to the labourer; as the supply of labour for hire being thus di

minished, improvements requiring the co-operation of many hands would be suspended, and capital would waste and perish for want of means to use it; and the labouring population becoming separated upon small patches of land, each family would be obliged to perform every species of work for themselves; and the absence of all division of employment and combination of labour would so reduce the efficacy of their industry, that instead of advancing in wealth and civilization, they would fall back to a semibarbarous state." Such a result has already been witnessed in numerous new settlements, and such a result must inevitably follow the dispersion of small capitalists and labourers who aspire to be land-holders over a large uncultivated surface, however rich it may naturally be.

The mode in which unoccupied Land is disposed of in the colonies has, it will be seen, a most important influence on the condition and welfare of immigrants.

By the application of a general principle of law the waste lands in the British colonies were considered to be vested in the Crown, and that every private title must rest upon a royal grant as its basis. But since 1831 another principle has been acknowledged and observed: that the Crown holds the lands in question in trust for the public good, and cannot, without a breach of that trust on the part of the responsible ministers of the government, be advised to make to any person a gratuitous donation of any such property. It is held in trust, not merely for the existing colonists, but for the people of the British empire collectively. It must be appropriated to public uses and for the public benefit. (Instructions addressed by Lord John Russell when Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, 14th Jan. 1840.) The Land Sale Act for the Australian Colonies (5 & 6 Vict. c. 36) prohibits land being alienated by her Majesty, or by any one acting under her authority, except by sale, and in the manner directed by the act.

Down to the year 1831 no regular or uniform system of selling land appears to have been adopted in the British colonies. In place of such system conditions

were attached to the occupation of land under the name of Quit-Rents, money payments, or the cultivation of the soil; but these conditions were not effectually enforced, and in fact it was generally found impossible to enforce them. Land was profusely granted to individuals in large tracts, and as cultivation was not enforced, and no roads were made through these tracts, they interrupted the course of improvement. Under the old system lands in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, amounting to upwards of thirty-one million acres, have been disposed of for less than 46.000l. In Prince Edward's Island the whole of the land was granted in one day to absentee proprietors upon terms which have never been fulfilled. The influence of these proprietors with the Home Government prevented such measures being adopted as were calculated to enforce the settlement of the grants, and consequently the greater part of them remained chiefly in a wild state. (Report of Mr. C. Buller, M.P., to the Earl of Durham, on Public Lands in British North America, 1838.) This Report contains an account of the system of granting lands in each of the provinces of British North America; and in all of them it appears to have been injurious to the public interests.

In 1831 the Earl of Ripon framed certain regulations which required that all land in the colonies should be disposed of at a minimum upset price for ready money only. In 1842 an act was passed (5 & 6 Vict. c. 36), already noticed, "for regulating the sale of waste lands belonging to the Crown in the Australian colonies." The chief provisions of this statute are given in a subsequent part of this article under the head "Australian Colonies and New Zealand," to which islands the act also applies. The expense of making surveys, which are usually from 4d. to 44d. an acre, and other expenses connected with the sale of the land, are, under this act, the primary charges on the land fund. The rest of the proceeds are applicable to the public service of the colony, after one-half at least has been appropriated to the purposes of immigration.

The select committee of the House of

| Commons on the disposal of lands in the British colonies, which sat in 1836, recommended that the whole of the arrangements connected with the sale of land, including both the price and the precise mode of sale, should be placed under the charge of a land board in London.

In January, 1840, commissioners were appointed under the royal sign manual to act as a Land and Emigration Board. The sale of the waste lands of the Crown throughout the British colonies is regulated by the commissioners, and they apply the proceeds of such sales towards the removal thither of emigrants from this country, when the land-fund is appropriated to this object. This board is a subordinate department of the Colonial Office.

In none of the British colonies is the disposal of unoccupied lands conducted in such a systematic and perfect manner as in the United States of North America. The unoccupied lands within the limits of the Union are vested in the Federal government. There is a General Land Office at Washington, under which there are above forty district land-offices in other parts of the Union. Connected with the Land Office is a Surveying Department. The surveys are founded upon a series of true meridians. The greatest division of land marked out by a survey is called a township, and it contains 23,040 acres, being a square of six miles to the side. The township is divided into thirty-six equal portions, or square miles. These portions are called sections, and they are subdivided into quarter sections of a hundred and sixty acres each. The quarter sections are finally divided into two parts, called half-quarter sections. Section sixteen (one square mile) in every township is reserved for schools in the township. All salt springs and lead-mines are also reserved, and are let on lease by the general government. In 1820 purchasers of land were no longer allowed to obtain land on credit: and in the same year the minimum price of land was reduced from two dollars to one and a quarter dollar per acre. The mode of sale is by public auction, and lands not sold on the day

at the minimum price. Squatters, or persons who settle on the land without a title, have pre-emptive rights. [SQUATTER.]

Of the public lands of the United States there had been sold up to 1843, 107,796,536 acres, and the amount received for the same was 170,940,942 dollars (36,000,000l.). In the year 1836, the receipts from land sales amounted to 25,167,833 dollars. The net residue of the proceeds of lands are distributed amongst the different states under an act passed in 1841. In 1843 the estimated quantity of land remaining to be sold within the limits of the unich was 1,084,064,993 acres, and of this quantity 272,646,356 acres had been surveyed.

The following is an abstract of the regulations at present in operation in the British colonies for the disposal of waste lands:

Canada. By a provincial act of 1841 Crown lands are to be sold at a price to be from time to time fixed by the governor in council. The proceeds of the land sales are not specially appropriated, but form part of the general colonial revenue. The prices fixed for the present are as follows:

For Canada, West (Upper Canada), 8s. currency (about 6s. 7d. sterling) per acre; for Canada, East (Lower Canada), in the county of Ottawa, and south of the river St. Lawrence, to the west of the Kennebec road, 68. currency (about 48. 11d. sterling); and elsewhere in that division of the province, 4s. currency (about 3s. 34d. sterling) per acre. These prices do not apply to lands resumed by government for non-performance of the conditions of settlement on which they were granted under a former system now abolished, nor to lands called Indian Reserves, and Clergy Reserves; which three classes are, as well as town and village lots, subject to special regulations.

The size of the lots of country lands is usually 200 acres; but they are sold as frequently by half as whole lots.

The following are the conditions of sale at present in force:-1st. The lots are to be taken at the contents in acres marked in the public documents, without guarantee as to the actual quantity contained in

money will be received by instalments, but the whole purchase-money, either in money or land scrip, must be paid at the time of sale.-3rd. On the payment of the purchase-money, the purchaser will receive a receipt which will entitle him to enter on the land which he has purchased, and arrangements will be made for issuing to him the patent without delay. The receipt thus given not only authorizes the purchaser to take immediate possession, but enables him, under the provisions of the Land Act, to maintain legal proceedings against any wrongful possessor or trespasser, as effectually as if the patent deed had issued on the day the receipt is dated.

Government land agents are appointed in the several municipal districts, with full power to sell to the first applicant any of the advertised lands which the return open to public inspection may show to be vacant within their districts.

Nova Scotia. The public lands are here also sold at a fixed price of 1s. 9d. sterling per acre, payable at once. The smallest regular farm lot contains one hundred acres. Any less quantity of land may be had, but the cost would be the same as for one hundred acres, viz. 81. 158., the minimum sum for which a deed of grant is issued.

New Brunswick.-The mode of sale in this province is by auction. The upset price is generally about 2s. 8d. sterling (3s. currency), but varies according to situation, &c. The average price of ordinary country lands has been from 4s. 6d. to 9s. sterling (5s. to 10s. currency) per acre, according to situation, &c. Fifty acres is the smallest quantity usually sold.

Prince Edward's Island.-In this colony the Crown has little land at its disposal, namely, about 8400 acres. Sale by auction prevails, and the average price realized for ordinary country lands has been from 10s. to 14s. currency per

acre.

Newfoundland.-There exists no official return of the surveyed and accessible

This is Scrip issued by the local government in satisfaction of certain old militia claims.

land at the disposal of the Crown in this colony. The area has been estimated at about 2,300,000 acres, of which about 23,000 have been appropriated. Although the agriculture of the province is progressively increasing, there are yet comparatively few persons exclusively employed in it, the population being nearly all engaged in the fisheries.

The Falkland Islands.-The lands in this colony are now open for sale. The mode of sale is the same as that adopted in the Australian colonies. The upset price of country lands is, for the present, 8s. per acre. Town lots of half an acre each, and suburban lots of fifty acres each, will be put up at 50% Deposits of purchase-money may be made in this country, in the mode prescribed for the Australian colonies, but the depositors will he entitled to nominate for a free passage six, instead of four, adult labourers, for every 100l. deposited.

Cape of Good Hope.-Applications for the purchase of Crown lands must be made to the governor, if the lands are situated in the western division; and to the lieutenant-governor if in the eastern division of the province. The application must pass through the surveyor-general to the land board, and if the land be unsurveyed, the applicant must deposit an amount equal to the probable expense of inspection and survey. If on inspection it be decided that the land ought not to be alienated, the deposit for survey will be returned; otherwise, the land will be surveyed and offered for sale at public auction. Should the applicant not become the purchaser at the sale, he will be entitled to a return of the preliminary expenses, which must in that case be borne by the actual purchaser; but should the lands be not then sold, the deposit will be retained until they are sold. The upset price will in no case be less than 28. per acre, and should it become necessary to ascertain the amount which ought to be demanded for lands under peculiar circumstances, such amount is to be ascertained by valuation, and made the upset price at auction.

Ceylon. In this colony the Crown lands are sold by auction, at an upset price, which is to be fixed by the go

vernor, but which is not to be less than 17. per acre. Before being put up to auction, the lands are surveyed by the government, and duly advertised.

Hong Kong.-The Crown lands will not be alienated in perpetuity, but let on leases, which are to be offered for sale at public auction. The duration of the leases will not exceed 21 years for country lands; but land for building purposes will be let on leases for 75 years, not renewable of right, but at the option of the government, and on the holder's paying an increased rent. Powers will be reserved, when necessary, for regulating the character of the buildings to be erected in particular situations.

The rent to be paid for lands designated as marine, town, or suburban lots, will be determined exclusively by public auction; but leases of country lots, if they have been once exposed to auction and not sold, may be afterwards sold by private agreement at the upset price.

The governor will decide whether there is sufficient demand to call for public sales at fixed periods, or whether the leases should only be advertised and brought into the market as they may be applied for.

The colonies in which military and naval officers are allowed privileges in the acquisition of public lands are the following:-New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton, the only province in North America where privileges are still allowed. In the different Australian settlements, and in Ceylon, land is disposed of by sale only; but officers purchasing land are allowed a remission of the purchase-money. Thus field-officers of twenty-five years' service and upwards are entitled to a remission of 3001.; and in proportion for different periods of service and according to the rank of the officer. Subalterns of seven years' service and upwards are entitled to a remission of 1007.; but subalterns under seven years' standing are not entitled to any remission in the purchase of land. Regimental staff officers and medical officers of the army and navy are allowed the benefit of this rule.