'* -**JSHi 



Photograph of specimen in U. S. National Miibeum 



A KEA, OR MOUNTAIN PARROT, KILLING A SHEEP: NEW ZEALAND 



In this bird we see the harmless, vegetable-eating parrot transformed into a vicious bird 

 of prey within the space of a few decades. Having gotten a taste of sheep fat from the 

 frozen carcasses hanging on the meat gallows at the ranch houses during the cold winters, 

 they soon learned to attack the live sheep. These attacks became so frequent that a bounty 

 had to be put upon the head of every kea. 



and politically and practically controlled 

 the State parliaments. Laws favoring 

 the large landholder were passed and acts 

 designed to protect the small holder often 

 were nullified. By the familiar processes 

 of bogus competitive bidding, exaggerat- 

 ing the value of improvements, employing 

 dummies, and choosing choice bits of 

 land in such situations as render large 

 adjoining areas useless for purposes other 

 than grazing, the 640 acres which an in- 

 dividual might lease under the law could 

 be indefinitely expanded. 



DUMMY LEASE-HOLDERS 



In one case the purchase of 27,000 

 acres in forty-acre blocks scattered broad- 

 cast over the run effectually secured an 

 area of 258,000 acres, and by the trans- 

 ference of dummy leases four squatters 

 obtained control of 55,000,000 acres, not 

 in the arid region, but in the heart of 

 New South Wales. The situation was 

 complicated by large free grants of the 

 choicest land in the Commonwealth — 

 grants given to army and navy officers, 

 to favored politicians and promoters. 



Settlement by farmers was delayed 

 also by a strange economic theory that 

 the way to colonize was to sell land at a 

 high price, using the proceeds to bring 

 out more colonists. By keeping the land 

 beyond the financial means of the average 

 immigrants, a "nicely graded society of 

 landlords, yeomen, and laborers" could 

 be established ! 



That the problem of regaining for the 

 people the enormous holdings already 

 alienated to wealthy stockmen and ab- 

 sentee landlords is under vigorous attack 

 is shown by the bewildering mass of 

 legislation enacted during the past twenty 

 years. 



The significant difference between the 

 present Australian and American practice 

 is that the public lands of the Common- 

 wealth are in general leased, not given 

 away or sold. Free land to which unre- 

 stricted title may be obtained by settle- 

 ment and cultivation is now unknown in 

 Australia. On lands not previously occu- 

 pied the farmer secures possession by a 

 five-year residence and the payment of a 

 small annual rental — a figure subject to 



536 



