SPECIAL SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION'S RULES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3905, 14 May 1877, Page 2

SPECIAL SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION'S RULES.

Tue following are tho rules for the management of all Small Farm Associations as approved by the Government :— 1. In tho construction of these terms and conditions, unless the context shall otherwise require the following expressions shall have tho meanings hereby assigned to them : — " Association " shall mean the Victoria Small Farm Association, consisting at present of the persons named at the foot of these conditions. "Land" shall mean the block of land described in the first schedule hereto. "Purchaser" shall moan any member of tho Association or other person occupying, or entitled to occupy, land under these conditions. "Receiver of Land Revenue" shall mean tho Receiver of Land Revenue at Napier, or other officer for tho time being acting as such. " Board" shall mean the Waste Lands Board for the Land District of Hawke's Bay for the time being. '' Secretary " shall mean the Secretary

of the Association for the time being, and shall include any person acting in that capacity ; and if there shall be no Secretary then the Chairman of the Association. 2. All the moneys required to be paid for the land under these terms and conditions shall be' paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue, And receipts given by him shall be sufficient discharge for the payment of the moneys therein respectively acknowledged to have been received. 3. The price of the land shall be £1 per acre, to be paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue in quarterly instalments by or on behalf of each purchaser. 4. Upon proof to the satisfaction of the Board that he has been continuously in occupation of the land selected by him, and has paid the price required by these conditions, the purchaser shall be entitled to a Crown grant of the land selected by him. 5. All usual and accustomed fees, for the time being, payable for the issue of the Crown grant, shall be paid by the purchaser. 6. The purchasers shall be members of the Association ; they shall not be under twenty-one years of age, and shall not hold less than thirty shares in the Association, and shall undertake to occupy and pay for the land in conformity with these conditions. 7. A certificate, signed by the Secretary of the Association, shall be sufficient evidence that the person claiming to select land is a member thereof. 8. Every purchaser shall occupy and clear his selection ; and occupation shall mean the enclosing of at least 10 per cent, of the land taken by each purchaser, and clearing the same, and the erection of a house, the value of which shall not be less than ten pounds (10), before the end of the second 3'ear from the date of selection ; and further, that at least 20 per cent, of the land taken up by each purchaser shall be enclosed with a good and substantial fence, cleared, and put into crop, or laid down in grass, before the end of the fourth year. Clearing shall mean that all trees less than six inches in diameter, or 3 feet from the ground, shall be felled ; and every purchaser, or his family, shall also actually reside on the land selected during the whole of the third, fifth, and seventh years .of the term, unless previous permission in writing to be absent for a period to be specified has been given by the board, on the recommendation of the Chairman or Committee of Management. 9. The settlement shall be divided into allotments, not exceeding 100 acres each, according to the requirements of the purchasers ; but no purchaser, or any person on his behalf, shall be entitled to select or occupy more than 100 acres, or less than 30 acres. 10. The lands shall be surveyed by and at the expense of the Government of the colony, and road lines shall be reserved and laid out in such direction as may be suitable. 11. Such portions of the land as may be required for the purposes of the Government of the colony, or for educational or other public purposes, and shall be approved by the Governor, shall not be open for selection under these regulations. 12. Selections shall be made at such times and in such manner as the Association may, with the consent of the Board, require. Provided that neither the Government of the colony nor the Waste Lands Board shall be responsible for any delay occurring in the allotment or selection of any land, nor be bound to provide land for members of the Association in excess of the area of the land set aside and available for selection in accordance with these regulations. 13. In the event of the death of a purchaser before having received a grant of his land, his interest in the allotment will revert to his legal representatives, who may dispose of it to a honajicle settler, approved by the board, and the purchaser shall be deemed to stand in the position of the original occupant. 14. Should any purchaser be compelled to leave the district previous to his being entitled to his Crown Grant, and before completing the requisite term of occupation, it shall be competent for the board to permit such purchaser to transfer his rights, title, and interest in the land selected to another bonu fide settler, who shall be deemed to occupy the position of original occupant. Provided always that no purchaser shall be allowed to hold more than 100 acres under Special Settlement conditions. 15. Any purchaser who shall fail to comply with these regulations, or who may be found to have taken shares for another person, or for speculative purposes, and not with the view to bona fide settlement, shall upon sufficient proof thereof to the satisfaction of the board, forfeit his interest in the land selected, and the board shall dispose of his interest by public auction to a bonu fide settler, and these conditions shall be sufficient authority for such forfeiture and re-allot-ment. Any settler so purchasing shall be deemed to stand in the position of the original purchaser. 10. In case any doubt shall arise as to the construction of these terms and conditions with reference to the selection and occupation or clearing of any land or otherwise arising thereunder, the same shall bo settled by the board.