87 ^_ 



it. He was not hampered in any way there was no f 

 survey, no advertisement, no auction. One-fourth 

 of his grant was rent- free forever. For the remain- 

 der, he was not asked to pay a single sixpence to 

 Government, or to any one else, for fifteen years, and 

 then only about 6d an acre per annum, for eighty- 

 four years to come. By this arrangement he was 

 enabled to expend the whole of his means, minus 

 the cost of his own support, on his land, and double, 

 or, in tea, quadruple his little capital before the Go- 

 vernment asked him for one farthing of revenue. 



And in what position I would ask have his friends 

 placed him ? He now goes to the spot, and, after con- 

 siderable labour and trouble and some loss of time, 

 having selected, to the best of his judgment, a plot of 

 land suitable as regards soil, climate, and position, 

 for his wants, he applies for it, and is not put in 

 possession. As soon as is practicable* it is, at the 

 applicant's expense, surveyed. It is then advertised, 

 and, after the expiration of one month, is put up to 

 auction and sold probably to somebody else, who, a 

 thousand miles off, may have been advised by letter 

 that the spec is a good one, or possibly to some 

 one nearer at hand, who, not having* taken any 

 trouble, nor expended either time or money in its 

 selection, is, of course, in a position to pay more 

 for it. But if the land is knocked down to our 

 settler, he must pay 10 per cent, of the purchase 



* One surveyor has been sanctioned for Assam, a province 

 containing some five or six millions of acres of waste laud. 



