40 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



introduced by Robertson's Act, country 

 lands were sold in limited areas from 40 to 

 320 acres at a price of £1 an acre, payable 

 partly by deposit and partly by annual 

 instalments carrying interest. The land had 

 originally been occupied for pastoral pur- 

 poses under a system of yearly licences ; 

 later on the licensee had been given fixity 

 of tenure, the fee being calculated according 

 to the stock -carrying capacity of the run. 

 By the Occupation Act of 1861 the colony 

 was divided into first- and second-class 

 settled districts and unsettled districts, and 

 the whole of the pastoral leases were left 

 open to the operations of free selectors. 

 The runs in the first-class districts were 

 available only on annual leases at £2 per 

 square mile ; while in the second-class and 

 unsettled districts runs ranging in area 

 from 25 to 100 square miles could be 

 leased for a term of five years, being open 

 to competition by public tender. The system 

 of unconditional sales was still continued 

 under the Act of 1861, and remained in 

 force until its abolition in 1884. 



