CROWN LANDS LEGISLATION.
The Code of 1860.--Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1868.
--Pastoral Leases Act of 1869.--Homestead Areas Act of 1872.
--Crown Lands Alienation Act and Settled Districts Pastoral
Leases Act of 1876.--The Griffith-Dutton Land Act of 1884.
--Co-operative Communities Land Settlement Act.--Land Act
of 1897.--Forms of Selection.--Act to Assist Persons to Settle
on Land by Advances from the Treasury.--Extension of Pastoral
Leases.--Closer Settlement Act.--Land Orders.
The land code of the session of 1860, so enthusiastically eulogised
by Sir George Bowen in his despatch to the Secretary of State,
unfortunately by no means settled the complex questions involved in
the management of public lands extending over 15 degrees of longitude
and 18 degrees of latitude. Indeed, to-day the land laws are probably
as complicated as ever they were in the history of Queensland,
notwithstanding the desire of the Legislature to make them as simple
as possible, and to meet the wants of every description of settler,
whether he be a homestead selector with his 320 acres, a grazing
farmer with his 20,000 acres, or a pastoral lessee with his 1,000
square miles.
During the first decade several Land Acts, amending the Acts of 1860,
were passed; but by the advent of the year 1867 it was found that
the facilities offered for settlement were inadequate, and that new
methods, especially in the direction of mixed farming adapted to the
country and climate, and demanding holdings of increased area, were
indispensable if there was to be close settlement on a more extensive
scale than that contemplated by the pastoralist. Among the members of
the Assembly in 1867-8 was Mr. Archibald Archer, of Gracemere, then
member for Rockhampton, who earnestly voiced the popular contention
that the upset price of L1 per acre was excessive, and that the
holdings permitted to the settler by law were too restricted in
area. In October, 1867, the Minister for Lands was Mr. E. W. Lamb, an
old-time New South Wales land office official, and then a Peak Downs
squatter. He introduced a Crown Lands Alienation Bill, which,
after discussions showing its futility, was, on the motion of Mr.
Macalister, then in opposition, referred to a Select Committee
comprising the Minister and Messrs. Archer and Fitzgerald, the latter
member for Kennedy. In the next session a new bill was introduced,
giving effect to the recommendations of the Select Committee, which
provided for the resumption of the halves of all runs within the
Settled Districts, and for making available such resumed areas
wherever required for settlement. The bill also provided for the
opening of these areas to free selection before other than a
feature survey had been made. This land was to be classified as (1)
agricultural, in areas not exceeding 640 acres and at 15s. per acre;
(2) first-class pastoral, in areas not exceeding 2,560 acres, at 10s.
per acre; and (3) second-class pastoral, in areas not exceeding 7,680
acres, at 5s. per acre. The purchase was to be conditional upon actual
occupation and improvement, the payment being spread over ten
annual instalments, called rents, of 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d. per acre
respectively. Provision was also made for homestead selections not to
exceed 80 acres of agricultural land or 160 acres of pastoral land,
at a yearly rental for five years of 9d. an acre in the case of
agricultural land and 6d. an acre for pastoral country. This measure,
having become law, caused a tremendous rush for land, and in some
cases, no doubt, too large areas were taken up, regarded from the
standpoint of the public interest, the abuse partly arising from
faulty classification by the Government Commissioners. By at least one
of these officers it was held, for example, that land, no matter how
accessible or good its quality, was only second-class pastoral if
destitute of surface water. But, whatever abuses crept in, there can
be no doubt that the Act of 1868 was the first legislation to place
the people on the land in areas of such extent, of such quality,
and at such prices as were then deemed requisite for successful
occupation. Many of the most prosperous farmers of to-day, or their
parents, settled under the 1868 Act, and now form most valuable
members of the community.
In 1869 the Pastoral Leases Act was passed by the Lilley Government,
and gave the lessees in the unsettled districts a better tenure
than they had before enjoyed--21 years in respect of new country and
renewed leases, and 14 years in the case of existing leases, with
septennial automatic reappraisements of rent in all instances. The
Liberal members of the Assembly assented to a pre-emptive purchase
clause in this Act by which a lessee was empowered to purchase on his
run without competition an area of 2,560 acres, containing permanent
improvements made by him, at the price of 10s. per acre. But it was
only discovered by many members after the Act had become law that a
run might mean a block of 25 square miles, and that a lessee with a
dozen blocks could secure strategic freeholds in as many different
parts of his holding. However, the provision remained unaltered until
in 1884 the Minister for Lands in the Griffith Ministry (Mr. Charles
Boydell Dutton) refused to sanction further purchases of the kind, and
during the same year endeavoured to sweep away the privilege by new
legislation. Parliament, however, refused to repeal the provision, and
would only consent to withhold the privilege of pre-emption in
respect of leases acquired after the passage of the Land Act of 1884.
Altogether 363 pre-emptive selections in respect of as many runs were
made. By the Act of 1868 the pastoral lessees in the settled districts
had also been granted ten years' leases for the unresumed halves of
their runs; but in both cases the Minister was empowered to resume
part of any run on giving six months' notice.
The Homestead Areas Act of 1872 provided for the setting apart of
special areas as "homestead areas," to be exclusively settled as
homestead selections, or selections taken up by virtue of land
orders issued under the Immigration Act of 1869. A departure from the
generally accepted principle of "homestead" settlement--that the
land is granted at a nominal price in consideration of the selector
personally residing on it--was made in providing for increased areas
up to 320 acres at conditional purchase prices. This anomaly was
corrected by the Act of 1876, which styled such larger homesteads
"Conditional purchases in homestead areas."
In 1876 Mr. Douglas, as Mr. Thorn's Minister for Lands, introduced
an amending and consolidating Land Bill, repealing all existing
alienation Acts. Extended powers were given to Land Commissioners to
expedite settlement. Monthly Commissioners' Courts were provided
for, but no decision of a Commissioner's Court, except in case of
certificates of performance of conditions, was to be final until
confirmed by the Minister. The most noteworthy provision reduced the
maximum area that one person might select. The area conditionally
selectable by one person was made not less than 40 acres nor more than
5,120 acres. The Act declared all leased land reverting to the
Crown on the Darling Downs to be homestead areas, and empowered the
Government to establish such areas elsewhere. Within these areas
conditional purchase selections were restricted to 1,280 acres and
homesteads to 80 acres. Personal and continuous residence by the
selector was made compulsory, and, before the fee-simple could be
acquired, permanent improvements to the value of 10s. per acre were
required to be made. A homestead was protected against claims for
debt. A Settled Districts Pastoral Leases Bill also became law this
year, providing that on the expiration of the ten years' leases then
held runs should be offered at auction on a five years' lease at a
rental of not less than L2 per square mile, an outgoing lessee being
allowed six months' grace in which to remove his stock. In 1882 the
Act of 1876 was amended so as to abolish the sale of runs by auction
unless when there was no application for re-lease by the existing
lessee, and lessees under the Act of 1876 were given the right to an
extension of their leases for a period of ten years instead of five
years. The rent, however, was to be subject to appraisement.
The next great land measure was the Griffith-Dutton Act of 1884. Its
main features were the abolition of the pre-emptive rights of pastoral
lessees; the creation of a Land Board consisting of two members--an
independent tribunal acting like Judges of the Supreme Court, and,
like the Judges, holding office during good behaviour; and the
introduction of the leasehold tenure in connection with grazing and
agricultural farms. The object of the Government was to bring about
close settlement. As it was recognised that it was not feasible at
that time to devote the lands of Western Queensland to agriculture,
provision was made for the gradual substitution of a smaller class of
graziers for the pastoral lessees with their many hundreds of square
miles of territory. Accordingly inducements, by way of fixity of
tenure and compensation for improvements, were offered to pastoral
tenants to surrender their existing leases and bring their holdings
under the Act. The Crown was thereupon entitled to resume one-half,
one-third, or one-fourth of such holdings, the proportion varying
inversely with the length of time the leases had to run. These resumed
areas were then divided into smaller holdings called "grazing farms,"
the maximum area being 20,000 acres, which were to be opened to
selection on a thirty years' lease, with periodical reappraisements
of rent by the Land Board. It was believed that the lessees of these
smaller holdings would so improve the country that its carrying
capacity would be greatly increased, and the Crown would derive a
larger revenue from its pastoral lands, whilst at the expiration of
the leases agricultural settlement might be possible. The success of
the grazing farm system has amply justified the expectations of
the framers of the Act. The leasehold principle was also applied
to agricultural farms, the maximum area of which was fixed at 1,280
acres, with a fifty years' tenure, but the selector was given the
right to acquire a freehold after ten years' (later reduced to five
years) personal occupation. Although dropping the name of "homestead,"
the Act maintained the homestead principle by providing for the
freeholding of agricultural farms not exceeding 160 acres in area at
2s. 6d. per acre after five years' personal residence by the selector.
The Act, which practically superseded the Pastoral Leases Act of 1869,
continued the right of pastoral lessees to depasture their stock on
the resumed areas until they were required for closer settlement.
It also repealed existing alienation Acts, and provided for all the
contingencies which might be expected to arise. Among the repealed
Acts were two which had given rise to much party contention in
previous Parliaments--the Western Railway Act and the Railway Reserves
Act, to which allusion is made in the parts of this work dealing with
"Public Finance" and "Fifty Years of Legislation."
[Illustration: SURPRISE CREEK FALLS, CAIRNS RAILWAY]
Amending Acts were passed in 1885, 1886, 1889, 1891, 1892, 1894, and
1895, but these do not call for mention except to say that the Act
of 1891 introduced a new mode of selection called "unconditional,"
providing for selections up to 1,280 acres at prices one-third greater
than those for agricultural farms, and payable in twenty annual
instalments.
In 1890 an Act was passed providing for a five years' extension of
leases held under the 1869 Act and not affected by the Act of 1884. In
1892 an Act (extended in 1894, 1895, 1897, and 1898) was passed giving
a seven years' extension of term to pastoral lessees, and an extension
of five years (afterwards increased to seven years) to the lessees
of grazing farms selected before the introduction of the bill and
situated in the southern part of the State, who should enclose their
holdings with rabbit-proof fences.
In 1893 the Co-operative Communities Land Settlement Act was passed
at a time of stress, with a view to enabling men of good character
but without capital to settle on the land with the aid of Government
advances. In all, twelve "self-governing communities" were formed with
a total adult male membership of 485. In no case did the venture
prove successful, and by an amending Act passed in 1895 the several
communities were dissolved, the members thereof were absolved from all
liability to the Government for advances made, and the land and assets
were suitably apportioned among the remaining members of the dissolved
groups, to the number of 88. They were assigned an area aggregating
13,491 acres to be held on a five years' tenure at a rental of 3/4d.
per acre per annum, subject to a condition of personal residence and
to the purchase of the land during the fifth year at 2s. 6d. an acre.
Only three-fourths of these 88 settlers brought their selections to
freehold, and the last transaction was not closed till ten years
had elapsed, instead of five, from the dissolution of the groups.
Consequent on another period of depression, Parliament in 1905
authorised another experiment by way of Government assistance to
would-be settlers without means, but the communal element is not so
prominent in the new measure, and the "self-government" principle is
excluded. Only one settlement has been formed under the Act of 1905,
and it is under Government control. While holding out some promises of
success, these are not so tangible as to lead to further ventures of
the sort. Indeed, the need for them has disappeared with the return of
prosperity.
The last comprehensive Act, extending over 101 pages of the
Statute-book, was passed in 1897, and it still remains the principal
Land Act, upon which all subsequent amending measures have been
grafted.
It is fitting to set out briefly what are the modes by which it is
sought to secure settlement on the public lands of the State after
half a century of legislation.[a] There is, first, the agricultural
farm, in areas up to 1,280 acres on a tenure of twenty years and
paying an annual rental of one-fortieth part of the purchasing price,
such rentals being actually instalments of the price, and leaving only
one-half of the price to be paid at the end of the term. The price
cannot be lower than 10s. per acre, and there are conditions of
occupation and improvement to be performed. There is the agricultural
homestead in areas ranging up to 640 acres, the area varying inversely
with the quality of the land. This form of settlement is subject to
conditions of personal residence and improvement. The homesteads are
capable of being converted into freeholds after five years and up to
ten years for a total price of 2s. 6d. per acre, payable at the rate
of 3d. per acre per annum. There is the unconditional selection in
areas up to 1,280 acres, with no conditions to perform but the
payment of rent during twenty years at the rate of 5 per cent. of
the purchasing price each year, the purchasing price being one-third
higher than that at which the land was available for agricultural farm
selection. There are the grazing selections in the remoter districts
in areas up to 60,000 acres. These selections are not capable of being
made freehold, but are held on leasehold tenures of 14, 21, or 28
years, at rentals ranging from 1/2d. to 6d. per acre per annum, and
subject to conditions of occupation and fencing. There are the scrub
selections not exceeding 10,000 acres each, intended to secure
the destruction of useless scrub in the remoter districts and the
conversion of the land into good pasture. The tenure is purely
leasehold, with a term of thirty years and at a peppercorn rental
for a period having relation to the extent of scrub to be destroyed.
Leasehold tenures are preferred for the remoter lands, and they
have the advantage of leaving the settler's capital free for the
development of his land. In case any should prefer a leasehold tenure
in the more closely settled districts, the law now provides for the
substitution of "perpetual leases" for the agricultural farm tenure.
The rapid spread of the prickly pear in some parts of the State has
been a peremptory call for the occupation of the threatened country
on any terms. Provision has accordingly been made for prickly pear
selections under conditions of eradicating the pest, the value of the
land being assessed at rates ranging from a sum paid by the Government
to the settler in addition to a free gift of the land, to a sum
perhaps as high as L1 per acre to be paid by the settler to the Crown,
such payments being in annual instalments of one-fifth or one-tenth,
and commencing ten or five years respectively after the commencement
of the lease, the period of exemption from payment having to be
devoted to the task of eradication.
Until 1901 the competitive principle was general in the selection of
Crown lands, but in that year provision was made by a special Act to
allot land non-competitively to bodies of settlers coming from abroad,
who naturally desired to be assured of obtaining land in proximity
to each other before pulling up their stakes and migrating to a new
sphere of activity. Successive amendments have been made in this law,
and, while in its inception it had application only to agricultural
homestead selection, it has since been extended to all forms of
selection tenure.
The great drought, which ended in 1902, has stamped its mark indelibly
upon the land legislation of the State. The earliest cry for relief
came from the far West, where the remaining tenancies under the
Pastoral Leases Act of 1869 chiefly lay. Large tracts of country had
become forfeited, and the Crown tenants, unable to hold on to the
remnants of their runs at the rents chargeable under their leases,
applied for relief. To meet their case, the Pastoral Leases Act of
1900 was passed, which required the reoccupation of the abandoned
country at nominal rents, and reduced the rents of the retained
country to an extent that secured the reoccupation of 13,000 square
miles. In the following year the Pastoral Holdings New Leases Act
promised the relief of extended leases to the holders of pastoral
country in the rest of the State, where the Act of 1884 operated; but
the drought still continuing, a further appeal was made to Parliament,
and in the Pastoral Leases Act of 1902 opportunity was given to
lessees to secure extensions of leases up to forty-two years according
to situation, subject to reappraisement of rent and to certain rights
of resumption reserved to the Crown. The chief desideratum of the
lessees was extended tenures to enable them to finance on more
favourable terms and recover from their immense drought losses. In
consideration of this concession and the surrender of resumption
rights which it involved, the State had to look for increased rentals.
The reassessments of the rentals under the new leases, however,
have not compensated the State for the large concessions made to its
tenants.
The Closer Settlement Act of 1906 superseded the Agricultural
Lands Purchase Acts, 1894 to 1901. These statutes provide for the
acquisition by the Government of private estates for the purpose of
subdivision and sale in areas adapted for closer settlement, payments
being extended over twenty-five years. The principle is not quite
impervious to criticism, for unless great prudence is exercised the
acquisition of these large estates has a tendency to raise the value
of agricultural land; but a few figures showing the settlement which
has taken place furnish convincing proof that the primary object of
the Legislature has been achieved, and that rich arable lands, which
previously produced nothing but natural grasses for the sustenance of
sheep and cattle, have become the homes of many hundreds of thriving
yeomen farmers and the support of numerous rising townships. Since the
passage of the first of these Acts in 1894, a total area of 537,449
acres has been repurchased at a cost of L1,490,489. Of this area
456,742 acres had been surrendered by the former owners at the close
of 1908. By the same date 364,334 acres had been selected at an
aggregate price of L1,050,864, and 10,677 acres, with the improvements
thereon, had realised L70,727 at auction, the purchasing price of the
whole area disposed of amounting to L1,144,081. The area remaining in
the hands of the Government, after deducting roads and reserves, was
78,781 acres, valued at L264,200, almost entirely consisting of land
only recently acquired and not yet offered for settlement. On 31st
December last, no less than 1,654 agricultural selectors, the majority
with families, and holding among them 1,909 selections, were settled
upon what but a few years ago were twenty-six sheep and cattle
stations, with a mere handful of employees.
It has been mentioned that the Alienation of Crown Lands Act of 1860
provided for granting to any immigrant who had paid his passage-money,
or to any other person by whom it had been paid, an L18 land order
on arrival, and a further land order for L12 after he had resided two
years in the colony. These land orders were made receivable as cash at
any Crown land sale, and they led to a large traffic, as the fact that
land orders could be bought from immigrants at a discount stimulated
the demand for land, especially for town lots. At first these
instruments could be bought at very low prices, but after a time the
L18 land order had become of the recognised market value of L15 to L16
cash, and could be readily purchased at those prices from agents in
Queen-street, Brisbane. But the effect upon land sales revenue alarmed
the Government, and after a time they refused to receive land orders
as payment in lieu of cash at sales of other than country land. In
1864 an Immigration Act was passed providing for the appointment of
an Agent-General for Emigration in London, and for the repeal of the
land-order sections of the 1860 Land Act. A new provision was made
by which the Agent-General was empowered to issue to an approved
passenger in London who had paid his passage-money a land-order
warrant for L30. On arrival in the colony the passenger was granted in
exchange for the warrant a non-transferable land order receivable as
cash at face value at sales of suburban and country lands only. These
restrictions lowered the market price of the instrument, although by
means of a power of attorney the non-transferable provision was for a
time evaded. Eventually, however, the restrictions were made so
severe that for market purposes the land order was worth little, and
immigrants who had come out and failed to settle on the land found
themselves in possession of a document of no practicable value. The
extent to which the land-order traffic prevailed will be understood
when it is mentioned that, in 1865, of L218,431, the total revenue
from land sales, only L59,461 was cash, the remainder being
represented by land orders. By 1875 the system had become discredited,
and was abolished by legislation, but outstanding land orders were
still used. In 1883-4 the amount so received had fallen to L16, while
the cash receipts for sales were L378,637. The total value of land
orders received as cash between 1861 and 1883-4 was L853,583. Some
public men have contended that, if the initial practice of receiving
the land order at face value in payment for any Crown land sold at
auction had been continued, the Treasury would have been recouped by
the larger demand and higher prices realised, but obviously a system
which stimulated speculation in land was not good for the country,
besides which it encouraged dummying. In 1886 the Griffith Government
determined to give the system a further trial, and in the Crown Lands
Act Amendment Act of that year power was given to the Agent-General
to issue land-order warrants to persons paying their own passages to
Queensland. Each member of a family of twelve years of age and upwards
was entitled to a L20 land order, and each child between the ages of
one and twelve entitled the parent to a land order for L10. The land
orders were not transferable, except in case of death, and were
available for ten years for the payment of rent of Crown lands
acquired by the immigrant. The Act authorising the issue of these land
orders was repealed in 1894. The value of land orders issued under the
Act amounted to L62,140, and of this sum only L8,956 was utilised. The
great majority of the immigrants who received the orders had no desire
to go on the land, and as the orders were not transferable they lapsed
at the expiration of their currency to the extent of 85 per cent. of
the whole.
[Footnote a: For fuller details regarding various forms of
land selection, see Appendix E, post.]
[Illustration: FOREST SCENE NEAR WOOMBYE, NORTH COAST RAILWAY]