Walcott to Rogers (Permanent Under-Secretary)

I have to acknowledge your Letter of the 28th ultimo, with the copy
of a Despatch from the Governor of Vancouvers Island relative to the
operation of the Vancouver Island Land proclamation of 1862.

2. I am not aware whether this proclamation has ever previously been
submitted to the Secretary of State.

*

It has never been sent to this Office for report. It recognizes two
systems in the disposal of Crown Lands—(1) sale by auction at an
upset price not exceeding 4s/2d an acre and after auction sale by
private contract at the upset price and (2) "preemption," or the
acquisition of land on credit. Under this latter system any person
may acquire any unsold unoccupied and unreserved Crown lands not
being the site of any existing or proposed Town, or auriferous land,
or Indian reserve, by simply entering into possession of the land and
recording his claim thereto in the Surveyor General's Office. This
right is limited however in the case of a single man to 100 acres,
and in the case of a married man to 150 acres, with an additional 10
acres for each child under 18. Where the land is in a
surveyed district the Preemptor after two years permanent
occupation or after obtaining a "certificate of improvement" is
entitled to purchase the land at the current rate not exceeding
4s/2d an acre. But if the land has not been surveyed the purchase
money begins to accrue as soon as the Government Surveys reach it.
The purchase money is payable by annual instalments of 1s/ an
acre—the first instalment being payable within 12 months after the
claim is recorded, or after the survey of the land, as the case may
be. But in addition to the land thus "preempted" the occupier has
the further right to hold any quantity of contiguous unoccupied land,
upon payment down of 2s/1d per acre leaving the remaining
instalment to be paid when the land is surveyed.

3. The "preemptor" is entitled to a "certificate of improvement" if
he shows to the satisfaction of the
 Surveyor General that he has
continued in permanent occupation of the land and has made permanent
improvements thereon to the value of 10s/ an acre. Until he gets
this certificate or completes his purchase he cannot sell, mortgage
or lease the land.

4. The practical effects of the working of this Law the Governor
describes to be—

I. That 118,506 acres of the cream of the public lands have been
alienated for $13805 (about £2876) of which only 23,629 acres are in
part occupied and of which a large portion is unimproved and
uncultivated.

II. That a preemptor of 100 acres can take up any further quantity
of unoccupied land without any conditions whatever of occupation or
improvement—(It must be borne in mind however that he has to pay
down 2s/1d per acre for the additional quantity).

III. That bonâ fide settlement has been discouraged—and land
speculation encouraged—the best lands being locked up in the hands
of speculators who pay neither rent nor taxes for them.

5. Mr Kennedy also expresses his apprehension that "Improvement
Certificates" have been loosely issued and upon wholly insufficient
grounds, and he has no doubt that a large portion of the 118,506
acres which have been preempted has become forfeited without any
steps being taken that he is aware of to enforce the forfeiture.

6. Other minor evils, he adds, are caused by the present system—but
as the Local Legislature has declined to accept the management of the
Crown Lands or to make any provision for "Land Recorders" or for an
adequate surveying Staff, no assistance in devising suitable remedies
can be looked for in that quarter. In order however to prevent
further speculation and monopoly in Crown Lands, Governor Kennedy
issued, in July of last year, two proclamations to withdraw from the
operation of the Proclamation of 1862 certain districts of the
Island. But other measures he evidently considers [are] necessary for
placing the Land question on a more satisfactory footing.

7. Under these circumstances it seems clear that the Governor should
be authorized to prepare a fresh Land proclamation embodying what he
may consider to be the appropriate remedies for the evils he has
pointed out, in order that Mr Cardwell, before coming to a decision,
may have before him the advantage to be derived from Local experience.

8. In the meantime, & as it is advisable to preserve so far as
practicable
uniformity in the Land systems of Vancouver Island and
British Columbia,

**

I would suggest that a copy of the Land Ordinance of the latter
Colony No 27 of 1865 (should Mr Cardwell have sanctioned it)

***

be furnished to Governor Kennedy to assist him in framing his new
measure. The British Columbia Ordinance embodies the principle of
preemption but modifies its action, by requiring the previous Licence
of the Stipendiary Magistrate of the District before an applicant can
take possession and record his claim to any land, and by providing
that the preemptor's right to acquire, by an immediate payment of
half the purchase money, additional contiguous land shall be limited
to 480 acres, except with the express sanction in writing of the
Governor; so that no one can obtain on credit more than one square
mile of land, and for three fourths of this he must pay down half the
purchase money.

9. I would also suggest that the Governor be instructed to enforce
the resumption of all land forfeited by the non performance of
conditions of the proclamation of 1862—and to enjoin on the
Surveying Department the necessity of requiring satisfactory evidence
of permanent improvements to the full value required by the 19th
section of the Proclamation, before granting the prescribed
"Certificate of Improvement."