ADMINISTRATION BY LAND BOARDS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 63, 12 September 1911, Page 2

ADMINISTRATION BY LAND BOARDS.

TO TUB fcnlTOR. iSit I,—'Permit,1 ,— 'Permit, me flpace to voter (a the nmti.ir' 1 in which the \at'iou« Luhl I'osrdfi of tltp P>4trihi>in niWnttMrtM>t -H lw; Ps legftl'Jn Ci'onu rt»'M"np, t»rd <l;o l*.xii.y t»i"! wiifrar tidtninivti iti'in oJ tlv» dot>FCs which >}«h.t viWi eom'niW"} rai« ilencc. vi how buninc» compete him to travel through New Zpnliuid, nml v no is p(. till observant, rnnne*. M\ to s-oe flagrnht exftinplcß of the- efcisteurc t,{ the speculator, instances are not. wiuiting whore business men hold section* ih district* remote from that in which thry conduct a lucrative businwc, and have held the said sections for .years without, any effort being made on the part of the Land Boards to make the selector comply with Iho conditions tw regards mmtlence under which he took up the section. This class of selector readily finds n friend or relative to go nmslt ana work the section, and he, himself, calmly waits until the march of civilisation, the eonstructitoh of a railway, or the influx oi settlement increases the vnlue of his eechoh. When that time arrives he arranges to dispose of his interest, in «,h* section, and jti due time' the board gr».nte it, and enables the speculator to t\A4 substantially to an already heavy credit \£ l V^£ ft « hlB b £* k \ Sht)Uld >* nft PP en that the Crown Lands Ranger is so un. Fortunate as to discover the fact of non« residence before the. arrival of the favonrable sale conditions aforementioned, the speculator has te wrack his brpine for the best means to hoodwink the board (no very difficult tusk, as a rulfi). The methods generally adopted are »i> well known at not te necessitate my civ. ing them at length. .One of thb te&. known is by means of a doctor's pertifi. cate, and anyone of note in any com. mutiity can readily find one or two, perhapj even more, to give the necemary gertlfieate— -it is no Pin to bent r Lt\«d Board. t On such v meagre pretence, ftno Yuthout adequate enquiry, <v weak nml too considei-Bte board allows tho transfer to go through. If enquiry wer» made it would b# lonnd in th* m&ioiity of eases Hint the health of the - party seekmg exemption from the residence conditions is precisely what it vm* when he took up the section, and thnt for Imim'. ness reasons he cantiot, and never intended, lo reside. iln many casee the holder of thei eectioli, knows ps murh about the method of working ti bu«h J&ehon as hn doe» concerning the mooti. vlnile on the subject of the value of tloctors' cerhfiente*. 1 inoy mention that, not long affo one of our Supreme Court. Judges remarked that he placet! verr little value on the certificates of medical men, >vhen produced by jurymen seeking exemption, unless the doctor who gave the certificate ami <hr< man to Whom it was to apply presented themselves before the court for exnminntion, When a Judge expresses this vipw iv an instance where there is no proßb acorning from an evemption, how much more guarded should, a Land Board be in actmg oh such evidence when the granting of a trahsfer may Mean hundreds of pounds to a dummy selector or speculator., If the Land Boards of the Dominion were to take firm action, nnd refuse all such applications for tratw* fers, they would be grenlly assisting thr» promotion of legitimate settlement and conferring a lasting benefit on posterity. —1 am. etc., UNSUCCESSFUL AT EIGHT BALLOTS. Marton, lOMi September, 1911.