THE QUACK AND THE LAND. 31 



was made practically the sole means of alienating 

 Crown lands. The minimum price for country 

 lands was fixed at 5s. an acre, which was raised 

 to 12s. an acre in 1839, power being given in 

 the latter year to select, at the upset price, 

 land for which there was no bid at the auction, 

 or upon which the deposit paid at the time of 

 sale had been forfeited. This was the first 

 introduction of the principle of selection into 

 the land laws of Australia, and it was then only 

 applied to lands which had been put up for 

 sale by auction. 



Under an Imperial Act of Parliament, which 

 came into force in June 1842, the principle of 

 sale by auction was maintained ; the lands were 

 to be surveyed before being put up for sale, and 

 the upset price was fixed at 20s. an acre. It 

 was provided that, subject to a primary charge 

 for survey, half the proceeds of sales were to go 

 to defray the cost of immigration of persons to 

 the colony in which the revenue accrued. Under 

 another Act (1847) there was a new classification 

 of lands, and the territory was divided into — 

 first, settled districts, including the nineteen 

 original counties, and the lands in the counties 



