TARANAKI LAND BOARD.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 28, 17 July 1880, Page 4

TARANAKI LAND BOARD.

(Prom the Taranaki Herald.) The Board met on Monday, when the Crown Lands Commissioner presided. Present — Messrs. Crompton, Stand isb, Barleyman, and Syme.

LAND OFFICE AT HAWERA. Mr, Croiupton said a more simple and convenient method of transacting tho business of the Land Office at Hawera was desirable. He would ■move, M That the Board is of opinion that it is necessary to make arrangements for receiving applications and receiving and refunding deposits at Hawera, -for the purposes of sahs of Crown lands ; and that the Chief Commissioner coufer with the Receiver of Land Revenue, and report upon the subject to the Board-" Mr. Syme thought tUe delay in connection witfc applications for land at <he recenG Haweca laud, sale luul arisen out of a TOisvmdpvatanding on the part of Captain VVray, and that in future such a delay could be ■•avoided. He was afraid, if they altered the present system, that it •would cause additional expense. Mr. Standish thought if any arrangement could be made without incurring extra cost, it would be a •great benefit to the public Mr. Barleyman seconded the motion. He had spoken to Capt. Wiay, the District Land Officer at Patea, and he expressed a decided opinion that a Receiver of Land Revenue should be appointed at Hawera, and applicants could then have their deposits returned after the sale, instead of being compelled to go to New Plymouth to obtain the refund. Mr. Whitcombe explained that <>ffect could be given to the resolution proposed by Mr. Crompton without any additional expenditure being incurred by the department. The delay referred to by previous speakers in connection with the completion of purchases made at the Hawera land sale was not occasioned by any fault of the Receiver of Land Revenue at Carlyle (Captain Wray), but arose from a defect in the system, and he thought that by making a reeommen--dation somewhat in the form of Mr. •Crompton'B l-esolution, this defect, if the recommendation should be adopted by the Government, might be remedied. Thus, say A paid deposit on a section to the Receiver of Land Revenue at New Plymouth, other applications were also received for the same sections; consequently the land had to go to auction. At the auction at Hawera A succeeded in securing the Section, but under the Act had to pay the twentieth amount of his bid in excess of his deposit at the end of the sale, consequently, to the Patea Receiver. Here there was confusioa ■caused by two payments for the same instalment being paid to two different receivers. This confusion was further increased if A had paid deposit on say three sections, and had competed successfully for two out of the three, and wished to apply the deposit paid on JNo. 3 to his advance in bidding on 1 and 2. What he suggtstcd was that land offices should be established at Hawera as well as at Carlyle, and that applications received at them should be treated as if received at New Plymouth, but that the officer receiving the applications should receive the deposit, not as a Receiver of Land Revenue, but as agent for the Receiver in New Plymouth. Thus, all payments would be received by one receiver, and arrangements could be made for a refund without delay, and without the necessity for adjustments called for by the present system. Now, applications could not be made at Hawera, but had to reach the Land Office either at Carlyle or New Plymouth before they covld be treated as legally received, which placed Hawera applicants at a considerable disadvantage. The motion, as proposed by Mr. Crompton, was put and carried. RETURN OF LAND SALES. A return of land sales, compiled in accordance with a resolution of the Board, was read. Mr. Standish said it was obvious ' from the return just read that the Land Board had not been in the habit of placing absurdly high prices on the land, although it had been accused of doing so. The fact of all the land having been sold was a proof of that. surveyor's report. The following report by the Chief Surveyor was i*ead :—": — " I have the honor to state, for the information of the Waste Lands Board, that the survey of 8000 acres of land for settlement has been completed, a map of which will be supplied in about a fortnight's time. 2000 acres of this land, in the Ngaire district, joins the New Plymouth Borough Endowment, the greater portion of which is reported by the surveyors to be of superior quality; 2800 acres in block X., Huiroa; and the remainder, 3200 acres, three miles west of Stratford. ROAD MAKING AT HAWERA. Mr. Barleyman asked the Commissioner of Crown Lands whether the work for opening the roads in the Ngaire district is carrit'd on under the authority of the Land Board, and, if so, whether the work has been let by public tender ? The Chairman said the Land Board had nothing whatever to do with the making of the roads. The works were authorised by a vote of the House, and were carried out under the superintendence of the ranger and

the Crown Lands Commissioner ; he had received orders at first from the Government to let the works by public tender. It being afterwards represented to the Government that j there was a number of unemployed in j the district, the Government directed that the works on the oth^r side of Mangawhero should be cut np into small sections so as to give settlers the chance of getting work on the roads. The ranger had compiled a statement showing how the work had i been let, and the amount of work done, as follows : — Roads felled, 26 ; contracts, 42; contracts let to new settlers, 28; contracts to deferred payment settlers, 7. The statement in the Patea Mail as to certain settlers getting all the contracts, was not correct. TJRENT7I VILLAGE SETTLEMENT. A telegram was read from the Tsnde>-Seerrbary ior Crown Ziands^ stating that no person is to be allowed to acquire more than one section either on deferred payment, or immediate payments, in the Urenui Village Settlement. NGAIRE SWAMP. A letter was read from the General Crown Lauds Office, informing the Board that the Minister of Lands was of opinion that the Board could exercise its own discretion with regard J to the price to be paid for the swamp land in the Ngaire district applied for by Messrs. Campbell Brothers. He did not consider that 30s. per acre would be too much for the land, and if that price cannot be obtained, the matter had better stand over. MIDHIRST SETTLEMENT. Mr. Fookes addressed the Boai-d with reference to a defaulting settler at the Midhii-st Special Settlement, and requested that his name be struck off the list of settlers. Mr. Pookes was in attendance, and stated that Mr. J. Baker had taken up a section on certain terms, which had been broken by him, and the allotment was now forfeited. He wished the Boa v d to remove the name of Mr. Balcer from the list of settlers in the block, and to accept another name in lieu thereof. On the motion of Mr. Barleyman, it was agreed, "That Mr. Fookes's application to remove the name of James Baker from the list of settlers at Midhirst be acceded to, on hisiiling with the Commissioner a statutory declaration verifying the facts, and that the agreement had become void, and was determined By him." A MISTAKE. Mr. C. M. Kyngdon stated that he was surprised to see a notice advertising for sale sections 18, 67, 68, 81, 82, 83, and 96, Huiroa, these allotments having been given to him in compensation for roads taken over his property. It was found that a mistake had occurred in advertising the allotments for sale, and it was resolved to ask the Government to withdraw them from auction. EXTENSION OP TIME. The following persons were allowed an extension of time for twelve mouths for the payment of the instalments on their holdings : — James Surrey, section 114, Moa; and William Gable, section 126, Moa. CANCELLED AGREEMENT. A letter was read from Mr. Wm. Stewart, surrendering his agreement to be cancelled for the purchase of section 34, Midhirst special settlement. TRANSFERS. Several applications for transfers being informal, they were held over until the . necessary conditions were complied with. The transfer from G. G. Sparke to P. Beattie and P. O'Shea, of section 17, block 9, Huiroa, was accepted. A transfer from J. Zeatch to A. J. Quin, of section 30, block 10, Ngaire, was not allowed, as the other allotments held by A. J. Quin were not contiguous. APPLICATIONS TO PURCHASE. Hugh Irvine applied to purchase section 67, Urenui, at <£l per acre. ( The application was referred back for further information . P. Bluck applied to purchase sections 5 and 6, block J 104, and sections 1 and 2, block 78, Ealeigh West; G. G. Davidson applied for section 17 in the suburbs of Stratford ; R. E. McEae applied to purchase section 89, Kakaramea. These sections were ordered to be offered for sale. Messrs. J. Clarke and B. Burdett applied for sections 75 and 66, town of Stratford. Several sections in this township were ordered to be offered for sale on Saturday, 14th August, at 11 o'clock. PAYMENT OF INSTALMENTS. Charles Weeks and Henry Golding forwarded the sum of <£6 as part payment of the instalment due on section No. 34, block 5, Ngaire. The chairman was requested to communicate with the Receiver of Land Revenue on the subject. LITHOGRAPHIC PLANS. Mr. Barleyman moved, " That it is desirable that linkage should be shown in all future lithographic plans." He said that inconvenience was felt through the want of this information, and, as the extra trouble in putting the figures in would not be great, he hoped in future this information would be supplied. The Chief Surveyor having been called in, said that it would delay sales of land if the plans were not published until all the details of the surveys were checked, so as to avoid the possibility of error.

The Chief Commissioner said perhaps it would meet the difficulty if a plan showing the linkages were furnished to the offices at Carlyle and Hawera as soon as possible after the sale of each block. The resolution was then allowed to lapse with this understanding. The Board then adjourned.