Wellihgton, to-day. A report from the Crown. Lands Ranger on the deferred payment and perpetual leases selectors was considered at to-day's meeting of the Land Board. Only 6 out of 480 selectors have failed to effect the requisite improvements to their holdings, Mr Marchant, the Commissioner, said these six were scattered about the Mana watu and Wairarapa, and added that out of 480 selectors under the deferred pay ment and perpetual leasing systems in the Wellington district only two were be hindhand with their payments, a circum stance which he regarded as simply wonderful. Regulations for the special settlements to be framed by members of the police and A.C. force are gazetted. The Post says : — The promoters of the Wellington special settlement scheme are to be congratulated on the success which attended their first meeting last night. The attendance was encouraging, and con sisted to a large extent of the right sort of people. It would be a great mistake to j encourage land speculation under the dis guise of special settlements. Many scores of tradesman and persons engaged in clerical work have sons growing up whom they would like to see started in country life. These special settlements afford an easy and convenient means for doing this. The father can take up land without requiring to pay a largo sum of money down, and he can send his son or sons to live on and improve the land, and probably in addition to the annual payments to the Government he may be able to pay wages to more steady and ex perienced bushmen to aid his lads in sub duing the wilderness, and thus without involving any aeriouß pecuniary sacrifice, a valuable property may be developed, and a home built up to which the father may in time retire to spend the autumn of his i days, and afford his sons an honorable and independent means of livelihood to earn, to bring up their children, and still fur ther extend the Work of settlement. If these special settlements fulfil the expec tations entertained of them, and give the good results they are really capable of pro ducing, the colony will have reason to be thankful to Mr Ballance for having es tablished them, and we rejoice at the scheme he has devised being taken up by the people. 