THE QUACK AND THE LAND. 39 



New South Wales land legislation since responsible 

 government, before giving the results of my own 

 observations of that legislation in the working : — 

 " After the excitement of the first rush, 

 following the discovery of gold in 1851, 

 had died away, the interest in gold- digging 

 commenced to decline, and the number of 

 people desiring to settle on the land greatly 

 increased. The question of land settlement 

 had accordingly to be dealt with in an 

 entirely new spirit, to meet the require- 

 ments of a class of immigrants differing 

 greatly from those contemplated by the 

 Act of 1847. The public interest in the 

 question which thus arose resulted in the 

 passing of the Crown Lands Acts of 1861, 

 under the leadership of Mr. (afterwards 

 Sir) John Robertson. The object of these 

 Acts was to facilitate the establishment of 

 an agrarian population side by side with 

 the pastoral tenants. 



" It had hitherto been difficult for men 

 with limited capital to establish themselves 

 with a fair chance of success, but under the 

 new principle of free selection before survey. 



