THE LAWS OF THE LAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 130, 29 November 1904, Page 5

THE LAWS OF THE LAND.

LAST SESSION'S ACTS SUMMARISED Appended will be found a summary of a further batch of the Acts passed by Parliament lasfc session : — NATIVE LAND RATING.' The comparative freedom from rates enjoyed by native lands has been regarded by local bodies, more especially in the North Island, as a hindrance to settlement. Not only this, but it is an injustice to th& European settler who, paying his full share of local rates for the formation and maintenance of roads, has resented the fact that neighbouring Maori landowners have contributed at most halfrates while making full use of the facilities of transit provided for the community generally. Representations to this effect have been made from time to time to the Government, , and at length the Native Minister introduced and the Par- < liament agreed to an Act making certain naive lands liable to full rates. After Ist April, 1905, the following native lands will be «o liable: — Land occupied by a European ; that situated within a borough or town district, or within ten miles of any parb thereof; that situated within five miles of any Government or county road; that has been at any time purchased from the natives by the Crown or any private person ; that has at any time been liable for full rates, or the owners of which are incorporated. All other native lands, title to which has been ascertained, will be liable to only half-rates, and if the title has not been ascertained they will be exettipt. All native lands vested! in the Public Trustee in trust for tho natives will be liable for rates. Power is given to the Governor to declare native lands the title to which has been ascertained to be liable to full rates, or to exempt native lands from rates wholly or partially. Ratable lands are to bo entered on the district valuation roH. Judgment for rates is not to be enforced without the. consent of the Native Minister, and instead, of granting such consent the Minister has the power of handings over the land to the District Maori Land' Council for administration. He may also adopt the alternative of paying the rated and lodge a caveat against the land. When the Minister has paid any rates the Court has power, in partitioning the land, to set aside a portion of the block equal in value to the amount, and declare that portion to be vested in the Crown. The native reserves in the Middle Island! are not affected by the Act in so far as regards the payment of full rates. REGISTRATION OF DENTISTS. The necessity for the examination and registration of dentists baa been frequently urged on the House by Mr. Sidey, member for Caversham, and last session the Government gave him facilities for putting through his Bill dealing with the subject. It provides that the Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths Bhafl keep in his office a "Dentists' Register," in which are to be entered the names, residences, and qualifications of all persons registered under the Act. Everyone whose name is on the Dentists* Register under the Dentist Act, 1880, will be registered under this Act, and fot the time being the register under that Act will be the dentists' register under the New Act. The register will be open to public inspection, and wiH be gazetted once a. year. A person is entitled, on payment of the necessary fee, to be registered as a dentist who is registered or entitled to be registered in the United Kingdom as a dentist or medical j»ac* titioner; ,\vho is ' the -holder' of a degree l in dental' surgery of the New Zealand University, or. has fulfilled the require ments of the University Senate in that respect; who is entitled to be registered as a foreign or colonial dentist j or who satisfies the .Registrar that he 'has been engaged in New Zealand, other than as an apprentice or pupil, for three years before the passing of the Act, 'in dentistry work. This provision" wilVjipf apply .to any person who has only been engaged in the work of extracting teeth, and -applications for registration undev the provision must be made on or before Ist January, 1905. Apprentices and pupils are, however, entitled to Tie examined by a Board of Examiners under tho previous law, and to be registered if they pass. This right will expire on Ist January, 1910.- Colonial and 'foreign certificated dentists are entitled to be register- -j without examination, but the Seiuit' jf the University is given power to specny what diplomas shall be recognised fot this purpose, and, under ceilam circumstances, may provide for the examination of applicants for registration under this provision. The Registrar is empowered to examine on oath an appucant for registration, and to call witnesses, and if he refuses the applicant has the ri^ht of appeal to the Supreme Court. The penalty for fraudulently obtaining registration is twelve months' .imprisonment, and the name of any person registered by such improper means may be removed from tha register. Further, the Minister may order the removal from the register of any dentifct who is convicted in New Zealand! or elsewhere of any offence which in tha Minister's opinion renders him unfit to be on the register. Every one registered under the Act and every medical practitioner is entitled to practise dental surgery and dentistry, and fro the future no one but a medical praefcitiouer or dentist will be allowed to hold any appointment as a dentist, or dental practitioner, or dental surgeon in any hospital, infirmary., dispensary, Or in any lunatic asylum, gaol, or in any institution receiving financial aid from the. Government or licensed under any Act. No URregistared person will be entitled to recover any fee or charge in any Court of law for the performance of any dental operation, or foi any dental attendance or advice. This, however, will not apply to a person who practises as an extractor of teeth only. In future, too, no one who is not registered under the Act will be allowed to call himself a dentist or dental surgeon, or any like name, and every person, company, or association contravening this provision is liable to a heavy penalty. Dentists are exempted from jury service. The Senate is empowered, with the consent and approval of the Governor-in-Council, to make regulations prescribing the course of study and so on, providing for the registration of dental students, and generally for carrying into effect tha objects of the Act. It is provided, however, that the Act shall not come into operation if more than twenty people satisfy the Registrar that they have been engaged other than as an apprentice or pupil in New Zealand for a period of not less than three years immediately preceding the passing of this Act in the work ol extracting, stopping, and otherwise treating natural teeth, and of fitting and adjusting artificial teeth, and that they have for the lasv three months been engaged in that work as principals. THE PUBLIC HEALTH ACT. The, chief object of the Public Health Act Amendment Act is to make it clear that District Hospital Boards are responsible for the establishment and maintenance of idfetious diseases hospitals. The Act also^avides that where a local ■ authority itself undertakes the removal of nightsoil it may levy a uniform annual fee in lieu of a separate rate. Tha cost of providing and maintaining an infectious diseases hospital is to be apportioned among such local authorities as the Chief Health Officer directs,, in such

shares as tho local authorities may agree on at a meeting called by the District Health officer, or in such shares as, in the absence of any agreement being arrived at, a Magistrate may direct after hearing the District Health Officer and the local authorities. In apportioning the shares regard is to be had to the distance of the district of each authority from the hospital and the means of access thereto, and also to the population of each district. Another provision of the Act is that the local authority of every borough must supply a morgue, but where one borough is not more than two miles distant from another, the obligation to supply the morgue will be only upon the borough which has the largest population, which, however, may call upon each adjacent borough which has no morgue to contribute a proportionate share of the cost. Where^ there is no public morgue situated within three miles from any public hospital, the dead-house of the hospital will be the public morgue, and if a dead body is refused admission the person in charge of the institution will be liable to "a penalty not exceeding £5. No innkeeper may be required to receive a dead body into his licensed premises if they are within three miles from a public morgue or from any hospital dead-house which is deemed to be a public morgue. v LAND FOR SETTLEMENTS.. Strong complaint has frequently been made by the Premier that the Land for Settlements Act was evaded through the parcelling out of an estate among the various members of a family, who " picked the eyes out of the land," which •was acquired, and left the State merely a second-rate remnant. With the. Object of counteracting this practice, the Land for Settlements Act Amendment Bill was passed. It provides that at any time before the amount of compensation is fixed by the Court, the Minister may discontinue proceedings on payment of costs and expenses, the amount of whicli will, where necessary, be fixed by the President of the Compensation Court. The owners of tho land will be entitled to include as expenses any loss directly and reasonably caused in connection with the working of the land by reason of the proposed acquisition by the Government. ' Further, the Minister may offer any bum he thinks fit for the land, instead of being restricted under the Government Valuation of Lund Act, 1896, to the amount appearing on the valuation roll. , Another important amendment is that any one who has acquired a section at the ballot, and afterwards disposes of his section, •will not be eligible to again select land until a year after the disposal, unless under special circumstances nnd with the permission of the Land Board. Also, an applicant for any allotment may be examined by the Boijrd of the district in which lie resides, and the certificate of that Board will entitle him to take part in the ballot. Power is given to the Crown to grant land on leases as a site for a public hall or for recreative purposes.