THE UNCLAIMED LANDS ACT, 1894.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9117, 30 May 1895, Page 4

THE UNCLAIMED LANDS ACT, 1894.

A somewhat important Act of last session which has been but little noticed is the Unclaimed Lands Act. It is in lien of the Act of 1892, which it repeals. The new Act seems to differ from the Act of 1892 in some important particulars. It preserves the real owner's rights for twenty years instead of for only twelve as in the Act of 1892, and by the new Act unclaimed land ultimately falls to the General Government instead of to the local body. The control of the procedure required by the new Act is put into the the hands of the Public Trustee. He is to begin by calling upon the owner of unclaimed land by notice in-the Gazette to establish his title. If the title is not established within a specified time a simple process is provided by which the land is vested in the Public Trustee. When it is vested in the Public Trustee he has extensive powers of managing the land and leasing it, and if it is of a value under £100, he can sell it. Subject to the payment of all costs, charges and expenses in connection with such land, it is held by the Public Trustee upon trust for the owner when he comes forward and establishes his title thereto. Any claimant can establish his title if possible by an order obtained on the hearing of a petition which must be served on the Public Trustee. When he establishes his claim he of course gets back the land and all surplus of income or the proceeds of the land if it has been sold. If the claim is not made out within twenty years, then such land or moneys become absolutely vested in the Crown. Ths Act on the whole, therefore, provides tolerably satisfactory procedure for dealing with those bits of land which, as must often happen in young communities, are not infrequently to be seen, where no owner is known. It is unfair to the neighbourhood that such land should lie waste and idle, and it would bs equally unfair to let anyone who liked squat down on the land, and gradually acquire a title by mere length of occupancy. It is better in every way that an officer of the State should assume the duties and privileges of ownership till the true owner can be found. It is also right that if the owner does not make his appearance within a certain time, the land should become the absolute property of the State. Twenty years is a better period to fix than twelve years, we think, for in young colonies circumstances often arise which prevent an owner knowing of and making claim upon his land for many years.