Review of Reviews, 20/^00. 



LAND MONOPOLY IN TASMANIA. 



Bv Percy 



A WONDEEFUL ISLAND. 



If there is one spot more specially favoured than 

 another in the Southern Hemisphere, it is surely the 

 beautiful little island, separated by Bass Strait 

 from the Australian coast, and pendent like a locket 

 to the maiiiland of which, in comparatively recent 

 limes, it formed a part. Its praises have been sung 

 l)y poets and travellers from the time when Tasman 

 first set foot upon its shores. " The seas which en- 

 compass it," wrote one of the Young Irelanders who 

 was exiled here for high treason in '49, " the lakes 

 and rivers which refresh and fertilise it, the woods 

 \vhich shadow and the genial sky which arches it," 

 and, he might have added, the mountains which 

 make it so pictures'jue, and the climate which is its 

 principal charm, " all bear testimony to the goodness, 

 the munificence and power of God in its behalf." 

 Its fertility is remarkable. The finest fruit in the 

 world is grown in the south, the best potatoes in the 

 north; on the midland plateaux graze the purest 

 flocks and herds ; the mountains in the north-west 

 gleam with copper and tin ; in the eastern valleys 

 and plains grain springs luxuriantly from a chocolate 

 soil, enriched by volcanic outbursts from the very- 

 bowels of the earth ; the deposits of coal are both 

 mmierous and fine; and forests of eucalypts and 

 other durable woods adorn the plains and cover the 

 mountain slopes. In addition to this there are nume- 

 rous harbours and bays, some of which are capable 

 of floating all the navies in the world. Yet with 

 all these natural gifts so abundantly showered on 

 this favoured land, and with a constitution as 

 free as that of England herself, an evil has been 

 allowed to take root which threatens to turn all these 

 marvellous blessings into a curse. That evil is 

 land monopoly. 



A FEW ILLU-MINATIXG FACTS. 



Of the total area of 26,215 square miles, or 

 i5'57i'5°° acres, exclusive of islands and lakes, com- 

 prising Tasmania, nearly one-third, or over 5,000,000 

 acres, has passed into private hands; more than half 

 of the alienated lands are held in large estates of 

 2000 acres and over, and it is estimated that less 

 than I per cent, of the total population (whidi 

 amounted to 180,632 in December last) own over 

 90 per cent, of the soil ; over 100,000 compete 

 against one another for a living in the towns ; sixteen 

 niral municipalities, comprising an area of over 

 10,000 square miles of well-watered and fertile 

 land, where some of the big estates are located, lost 

 2600 residents between 1891 and igor, instead of 

 gaining, as they should have done under natural 

 conditions, about 7000 souls; 32,000 others, born 

 on the island, have fled to more prosperous dimes ; 



R. Meggy. 



and last year the total increase of population, after 

 deducting the loss by emigration from the gain by 

 excess of births over deaths, only amounted to 432. 

 One company alone, that familiarly known as the 

 \'.D.L. (Van Diemen's Land), own estates in the 

 north-west variously estimated at from 366,500 

 acres to 422,000 acres, and probably very much un- 

 dervalued at ;£i90,ooo. Of this enormous terri- 

 tor)- I am officially informed they have only parted 

 with 10,000 acres at the outside. But most of the 

 alienated land is on the eastern side of the island, 

 where the country is more settled, and land much 

 more valuable. Among the most prominent land- 

 owning families are the Camerons (3), who own oe- 

 tween them 61,700 acres, valued at ;<^204,o9o; the 

 Nicholas family (3), who own 123,000 acres, valued 

 at ;£i 78,324; the Archers (5), who own between 

 them over 90,000 acres, valued at ;^i63,7oo; the 

 O'Connors (2), who own 80,500 acres, valued at 

 ^159,550; the Headlams (4), who own 93,000 acres, 

 valued at ^147,000; Brock's estate of 25,400 acres, 

 valued at ^£99,000; the Bisdees (7), who own 

 63,670 acres, valued at ^8i,oooj Bowman's estate 

 of 15,345 acres, valued at ;^62,ooo ; and 35,000 

 acres owned by the Union Bank, valued at ^60,500. 

 A lengthy list of landowners holding estates down 

 to 5000 acres was published in the weekly organ 

 nf the Labour Party on January 13th, from which 

 the above figures have been condensed — estates held 

 by different members of the same family being given 

 as one family estate, and all the smaller properties 

 l;«ing omitted. The gist of it is that 2,500,000 acres, 

 or half the total alienated land, approximately valued 

 at ^4,000,000, is held by 273 persons and com- 

 panies, in estates ranging from 2500 acres to at least 

 366,500 acres. 



THE STRANGLECG OF THE TOWNSHIPS. 



I was interviewing the Surveyor-General and Sec- 

 retary for Lands (Mr. E. A. Counsel, F.R.G.S.), on 

 the subject of land monopoly, and he was just about 

 to give me instances of big estates when the paper 

 containing the above-mentioned list came in. After 

 hastily glancing at it, Mr. Counsel said it seemed 

 to be fairly accurate, but it omitted all mention of 

 the Gellibrand estate, comprising from 20,000 to 

 30.000 acres on the Derwent, which blocked 

 settlement, and prevented townships from being 

 formed. One of the tributaries of the Derwent is 

 the Ouse. At or near its junction with the main 

 stream there is a bridge, a police station, a public- 

 house and a store, with rich land on every side, 

 owned by Gellibrand and Brock, but not a foot to 

 1:« obtained by producers or business men, who would 

 gladly settle down in such a highly-favoured spot 



