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date the price to the varying qualities of land, and to raise the price to a point which would represent the average prospective value would be to withdraw that advantage of cheap land, which is the principal inducement to settlement. It appears, however, to your Committee worthy of consideration whether the time may not have arrived for making some advance upon the present fixed price of 20s. per acre.

The suggestion in His Honor’s message “with respect to that class which has already settled among us, and which is debarred from obtaining land except at a high rate”—that every settler within a Hundred should be allowed to purchase as far as 100 acres, at the price of £1 per acre, on condition of continued residence, as in the case of Land Order Immigrants,”—is apparently dependent upon the adoption of the Free Grant System, and it may not, therefore, be necessary to discuss it at length. Your Committee would, however, remark, that such a concession would have the immediate effect of taking out of the market a very large quantity of the best agricultural lands, and bestowing it upon persons, the majority of whom would not require it, and would make no use of it. Looking to the limited extent of agricultural lands, such a proceeding would be open to great objections.

The recommendation of His Honor, that the Government be authorised to extinguish by a money payment the title to certain non-agricultural lands outside Hundreds, is also in a measure dependent upon the adoption of the Free Grant System. Your Committee would remark upon this recommendation, that there do not appear to be any lands of the description referred to open for purchase by the Government, and the recommendation would, therefore, appear to be unnecessary. Furthermore, your Committee would deprecate the adoption of any proceedings which would have the effect of unnecessarily unsettling the existing interests in connection with non-agricultural lands now under lease, before the expiry of the current leases.

E. B. CARGILL,
Chairman of Committee.

Dunedin, 5th May, 1862.

EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE.

1. His Honor the Superintendent:—Has the suspension of immigration been on account of any defect in the working of the system heretofore in use?—No. The suspension was considered necessary on account of the influx of persons to the gold fields.

2. Do you consider it would be undesirable to continue the present system of encouraging immigration by assisted passages?—Most undesirable. I consider it would be better for the Government to bear the whole expense.

3. What are the principal objections to the system?—The difficulty of collecting advanced passage money and the evil arising from indebtedness by the immigrants to the Government.

4. Would you propose to release those already indebted?—Most certainly not.

5. Does the difficulty in collection of immigrants’ passage money still continue?—It does.

6. Do you consider the difficulty arises from any want of diligence on the part of the head of the Department?—By no means.

7. Do you consider the difficulty is in any measure due to any laxity in the definition of the obligation, at the time it was incurred, or in pursuing it after arrival in the Colony?—The definition is clear on the face of the documents; whether it was misconstrued by them, or misinterpreted to them, I cannot say.

8. Has the present system failed as respects the class of immigrants introduced?—No. The selections on the whole have been very satisfactory.