in perpetuity, at a rental of 4 per cent, on the capital value. A system that is daily growing in favour is known as the "Improved Farm Settlements" plan, which may be briefly explained as follows:—In order to find work for the unemployed, considerable areas of bush-covered Crown lands have been set aside, and small contracts, for clearing, burning the bush, and sowing it with grass, have been let. The land is then sub-divided into small farms, and let on lease in perpetuity, at a figure sufficient to cover the cost of clearing, etc., together with a fair rental of the land. The size of holdings averages 100 acres. By the Land for Settlement Act, too, the Government has the power to compel owners of large blocks of land to sell them to the Crown; and these properties are, when acquired, sub-divided into small farms not more than 320 acres in extent. The Government is also yearly purchasing large areas of native reserves; and it will thus be seen that there is no lack of land on which persons, even with small means, may settle and make a home for themselves. Further, by an Act passed in 1894, the Government was empowered to borrow money for the purpose of lending it to farmers on the security of a first mortgage on their land, the amount being payable by instalments; and there are not wanting signs that the operation of the Act has resulted in a great deal of relief being afforded to struggling settlers. Most of this agrarian legislation, it will be seen, has its parallels in Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales, though these colonies, for the most part, have been able to improve upon New Zealand precedents. Western Australia, characteristically, contented itself with starting a State Agricultural Bank, which appears to have used up its available capital mostly in loans to wealthy absentees.
Closely associated with the colony's land system is the
