RELIEF OF PASTORALISTS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXI, Issue 230, 2 October 1895, Page 4

RELIEF OF PASTORALISTS.

The preamble of the Pastoral Tenants Relief Bill sets forth that m certain high-lying parts of the colony exceptional loss of live etock has been caused to persons engaged m pastoral pursuits by the unexampled severity of the past winter, and m particular by the heavy fall of snow that then occurred, and concludes by asserting the expediency of affording some means of relief to sufferers. The Bill is chiefly designed to relieve pastoral tenants of the Crown, but it also proposes to grant concessions %o U.W persons engaged m pastoral pursuits who have suffered loss from the causes named. The A.ct is to have currency till 30 days after the next meeting of Parliament, and all applications under it must be lodged by the 14th November next. Applicants for relief must state the particulars of th-ir losses and financial position, and affirm that their resources have been crippled by th« exceptional losses of last winter. These applications are to be considered by the Land Boards of the district, which shall make enquiry into each application and report thereon to the Minister of Lands, who may then grant the relief recommended, or a modification of it The relief to be granted may, m the case of Crown tenants, include the remission or refund of one year's rent m whole or part, an extension of the term of lease, the surrender of lease and issue of a new one, a remission or refund of the whole or part of the sheep rate due on the Ist September, 1895. The Land Board is m each case to specify the nature and extent of the relief (if any) recommended to be "granted. If the Board recummend no relief, its decision shall be final, and when ihe relief is recommended, the Minister's decision, when communicated by the Land Board to the applicant, phalibe final. The Minister may postpone the pay- { ment of the sheep tax by tenants who make application for relief until the application is disposed of. Pastoralists who are not tenants of the Crown are only entitled to a refund or rtmissi' n of the sheep rate for one year. The same rule applies to any losses sustained on other than Crown lands which the tenant may hold contiguous to those leased from the Crown. No penalties are pro vided for persona malting false returns, but to guard against frivolous applications for relief persons who make unwarranted applicati- ns are declared liable to pay five per cent interest on ihe rent and sheep rate poßtpored, and are also subject to the statutory penalties, as though they had made default m payment of the rent or rate. The Minister of Lands may, m special cases, extend for one month the time within which applications are required to be made