JA'TKODUCTURY. 21 



clear in many cases from whom the tax should be 

 demanded, rights of property in land having fallen 

 greatly into abeyance during a period when to claim 

 the proprietorship was to invite spoliation and oppres- 

 sion. Our strong and equable rule so greatly encouraged 

 the arts of peace, that a population soon began to press 

 upon the immediately available land ; and this circum- 

 stance, together with the moderation and certainty of 

 our land taxation, soon bestowed on property in land a 

 value which it had never before possessed. Rival 

 claimants then began to bring forward conflicting, and 

 often long-dormant, claims to possession ; and the courts 

 established for the ordinary business of the country 

 were soon swamped by the number and complexity of 

 these cases. It was found, too, on inquiry, that there 

 had never really existed any clearly recognised right of 

 property, in our sense of the term, which would give the 

 agricultural classes a real interest in the improvement of 

 their lands, while many classes of persons had been 

 allowed to exercise very undefined powers over the 

 whole of this immense area of unreclaimed land. The 

 culturable wastes were becoming much in demand by 

 enterprising settlers, a demand which the opening of 

 the country by the railway promised to largely increase. 

 Such operations were clogged by these uncertain claims, 

 and thus the progress of the country was in danger. 

 The forest question also became urgent, timber being 

 required in large quantities by the railways, while a fear 

 arose of the impending exhaustion of the whole forests 

 of the country. Nothing could be effected in this 

 direction either, until the question of title in these 

 wastes should be determined. The Government then 

 determined to appoint special ofl&cers for the settlement 



