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a diminution of the Revenue by
the continual abandonment
of Land by its holders, and next of precluding all hope of the growth of native Establishments
in Victoria, on which its value
as an Entrepôt must considerably depend. He proposes therefore
that a Commission should be instituted to report upon the state of the landed tenure of the Colony generally and on each individual case of
Hardship, and that on Report such relief as may appear to Lord Grey proper should be granted to the present holders and a new rate fixed
for the future.
In the meantime, Lord Grey has instructed the Governor to
discontinue the resumption by Government of Lots which the purchasers wish to abandon, and has approved a
suggestion of the Governor that instead of reducing the Rents
of the Crown Lessees, they should be allowed an extension of the term of their Leases.
These are the circumstances under which the general
question is brought under Lord Grey's notice. We proceed, next, to state the facts of the particular applications forwarded by the Governor