Occasional Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 48, 10 June 1875, Page 6

Occasional Notes.

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7 The Clutha River Trust "seems at present to beiri -a, rather 1 - 7 anomalous- or unsatisfactory ' condition/ We are ' ih•dehfed "to Messrs Thomson and Henderson for having made active exertions tq secure the endowment. Mr Thomson especially, Loth in the 'Provincial Council and General Assembly;- seems

to have taken a prominent part in' the hiatter, and we ought to be obliged to him for the 7 history of the trust Which appears hr the ./Leader' of the 27 th of last nionth. According7 to the'pi'isseht arrangement, in the absence of a Crown grant, the Act of the General Assembly would seem to operate as asortof.de"claration of trust, that the Crown shall hold the land specified as trustees for the Board of Conservators. The Board itself has no legal estate in the land, and can therefore neither sell, or lease, or mortgage the land. Mr Thomson suspects that the proposal to give the Board powers to lease and mortgage is ■an' "-error, and' it would seem he is quite right. How can a man give a qualified interest to another, out of that in which he has no estate ? Unless or until a ; Crown grant be made to the corportion of Conservators, the corporation "cannot exercise either limited or unlimited powers of ownership over the land — can neither sell, lease, or mortgage the land. The powers of ownership remain in the Crown, which can either sell, lease, or mortgage. Whether the endowment is in a secure state at present is doubtful. If the Board of Conservators had been formed into a corporation previous 'to the passing of the Act of General Assembly, and that Act had declared in effect, that the Crown should hold in trust for the corporation, the corporation then, though it had not, what the lawyers call the legal estate in the land, would be entitled to the rents and profits of the same, and have been able to enforce the due payment of the same at last. As, however, the corporation was not formed, and did not exist when the Act of General Assembly was passed, there was on the passing of that Act no. body corporate recognisable at law for whom the Crown could hold in trust, therefore it may be questionable whether that Act would operate as a declaration of trust, or whether consequently, the corporation would have such a legal right to the rents and profitsof the land as it could enforce at law. One of two things seems to be now necessary: either that another Act of the General Assembly should be passed, in order to vest the right to the rents and profits in the corporation of conservators ; or, that a Crown grant of the land shall be made to the conservators. Supposing such an effective trust is created by such an Act of the General Assembly passed subsequently to the corporation being formed, the Board would then seem to have a certain beneficial interest in the land ; that is, it would be entitled to all the rents and profits, and be able by law to oblige the Crown to pay them over to it. The Board .even then would not be able to sell, mortgage, or lease the land, but the Crown might do either on the request of the Board. An Act of the General Assembly should also declare that the proceeds of sales, if any, of the whole ' or any part of the land, should be paid over to the corporation. It would, however, appear much more, satisfactory that the corporation should have the land Crown-granted to it, so that it might possess both the legal and beneficial interest in the land. Then the corporation Would be able to exercise such powers of ownership as by law it should have enforced upon it, such as leasing for certain terms of years. It would, not seem advisable to give the Board a power of sale over the land, or to lease not over more than a certain proportion of it. ' A substantial portion of the land should be held as a permanent endowment. If, however, the Board had no power of sale -over, the land, it could not mortgage the land, giving the mortgagee a power of sale as security for payment, but I suppose it could mortgage the rents. If it be proposed that the Board of Conservators shall have a certain indefeasible interest in the rents and profits of the land, it appears altogether incomprehensible why the land should not be vested in the corporation by Crown grant, or what objection to Crowngranting the land there can possibly be. To secure the inviolability of the trust, and place matters upon a satisfactory ■footing, after the corporation has been legally constituted, a Crown grant should be made to it, or another Act of Assembly should be passed subsequent to the corporation being constituted, declaring that the Crown shall hold in trust for the corporation. At present the trust seems to be in a very precarious condition. I am disposed to think with Mr Thomson that it would be advisable at first to confine the purposes for which the fund. may be ap^ plied, especially to the improvement of the navigation of the river, and protecting its banks. It would not be advisable that because this endowment is made, the Provincial Government should consider that all works connected with the River are off its hands' altogether, and that the district, as far as the river is conderned,/has no7further claims on the general revenue of the Province.. In the. course of years, when land in the colony becomes more valuable, the incoihe Arising* from; the' Clutha 'river estates, may hesuhlcieht

%-*ftr-Cr^^ ottotfo;rksl-.bu^ oi-tarids'av^ .seteiri- to >be-e[uite ; iriade^t^fdr-pavirig^ the expense' df a'large-ariibuTit bfwdrk* whichtfught to be done' in^Connection with thisfine 1 river 1 arid : valuable' -water-- -' way. ■ Ldo ridt think it would-be well tq select the 1 conservators exclusively friom ■ landowners on 1 the river banks. The "question of river traffic affects -many more people besides the immediate dwellers in the vicinity of ■ the' river. ; Wherever they ; come from, howeverj the principal object ought to be, to -get* competent and trustworthy- men to fill the important office of' conservators of the river. * -