CROWN LANDS BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9445, 16 August 1889, Page 3

CROWN LANDS BOARD.

The regular meeting of the Crown Lauds Board was held yesterday afternoon. Present: Mr. Humphries (Crown Lauds Commissioner, presiding), Messrs. Gill, Lake, and Pearce. Alteration op Time op Meeting.—The Uuder-Secretary of Lands wrote notifying that in compliance with the wishes of the Board the time of meeting was altered from 2ip.m. to 10 a.m., and the change was gazetted. Land Opekations.—The following synopsis of land transactions for the past three weeks was submitted : —Cash sales, 6 for 352 a2r 18p, £213 12s 3d; deferred payment, 2, 170 a, £10 12s 6d; perpetual lease, 14, 2376 a Or 2op, £60 14s 9d. Unsorvkyf.d Land. —It was agreed to proclaim an area of 793 acres unsuryeyed land at Maungatawhiri open for selection. Reservations. —The Board recommended the following reservations:— 5 acres for a school site, parish of Te Papa; landing reserves, 1 acre 11 perches, Waiuku, and 1 acre 1 rood 30 perches, Pahi; and 10 acres, school site, Pakiri. Papakoa.—Mr. W. C. Mills wrote, asking that the price of sections 115 and 116, Paparoa, might be reduced from the upset price of £1 per .acre. The land had been offered for saie, but no offer was received. Mr, Smith, the local surveyor, reported that it was not worth more than 12s 6a per acre, and it was agreed to reduce the upset price accordingly. Maori Occupancy.—Mr. J. 11. Edgecumhe, surveyor, reported on the occupancy by a native of a small area at Lake Waikare. He said it consisted of about 10 acres of dry land, the remaider being undrainable swamp. About (5 acres had been cultivated by a native named Ksi.tipa, but at present there were no crops in. There was a small rough whareon the land, but he did not consider the improvements (?) to be worth anything. Agreed to offer the land for sale at 15s an acre.

Grkat Barrier. —In regard to tlie complaints of the destruction caused by wild cattle in the Great Barrier, the Commissioner had written to Mr. Campbell, the local ranger. He recommended that the bulls and some of the cows should be shot, and that some person should be authorised to do so, retaining the hides as remuneration. He recommended William Saunderson, of Blind Bay, as the most suitable person for this purpose, to report to Mr. Campbell monthly. The Commissioner thought it would be a good thing to kill oil" the bulls, but that the cows be not interfered with. The suggestion was agreed to. Waikato River Islands.— Further correspondence was received in regard to Mr, Brook's application for islands in the Waikato River. A report was received from Mr. Edgecumbe, surveyor, on the four islands referred to. There was no sign of any cultivation on the islands, but Heeni te Aro had been running pigs on them. The Commissioner/ had written to Mr. Wilkinson, native agent, as to whether permission had been granted to any natives to occupy any of those islands. No reply had been received yet, and the matter was allowed to stand over till next meeting. Bkmovin'o Ci<ay from Crown Lands.— In regard to the complaint that Mr. Booth had removed clay from certain land at Ngaruawahia for brickmakiug purposes, which was before the Board at lust meeting, and in respect of which Mr. Lake promised to make inquiries, he now reported that Mr. Booth's occupancy was on a bonafids promise from the Commissioner. He had written to Mr. Sinclair, but had not yet received an answer, and what he would suggest was that the land should be redassifieu, and offered for sale. The town of Ngaruawahia was originally laid off ou a very large area, and the prices were kept high, but of course none of it was sold. The Commissioner suggested that they should get Mr. Edgecumbe to give a scheme as to the re-arrangement of the roads, etc., in the district; also on the suburban allotments between the town lauds and rural lands, as regards reclassification. Mr. Lake concurred in this suggestion, and it was agreed to, and Mr. Booth's application was deferred until the whole scheme of reclassirication came before the Board. Timber Floating Lcokn'sk. — Edward Browne applied for a renewal of the license to float timber on the Ornawharo and Tauhoa rivers and their tributaries in terms of the Timber Floatage Act of 1884. His license had just expired, and lie had paid the fee required by the Act. The renewal wjub granted for a year. Forfeiture ok Homrstead Land. — J. de Erneste wrote, stating that he had just received notice of forfeiture of ]'2O acres, the portion of his sisters-in-law, Mary aud Fanny Pearce, section 191, parish of Mareretu. I'rior to this, they were residing on their selection, nud would have been only too willing to come up when he did, had circumstances permitted, but having an aged mother and two younger members of their family dependent on them, they could not do so. lie asked the Board to take all the circumstance into consideration, and reconsider their decision. The ranger's report was that the Misses Pearce resided in Christchurch, and had not occupied the selections, and the Board forfeited the land, aud if they were now on the land, it must have occurred since his inspection, in December last. The ranger was called, and stated that they had not resided on the land. It was agreed that the Board adhere to their decision as to forfeiture, but that they lie allowed to re-select, if they thought proper. Homestead Selection'. —Thomas Wallace applied for the issue of a Crown grant for section 83, 100 acres, in Victoria Valley, under the Homestead Act. Jt was recommended by the Ranger, the improvements being satisfactory. It was agreed to recommend that the Crown grant be issued. Leavk oi<" Absence. —Stephen Olnam applied for three months' leave of absence from iiis homestead selection at Kaiaka block, Mangonui, as he-had been offered work at the mill. The application was granted. Extension of Time.—G. E. Major, of Okaihau, asked for six months' extension of time in which to complete his improvements on the grounds that he had been burnt out. The application was granted. Crown Grant. — Mr. Harrison, for J. Welsh, a homestead settler at Mangamuku, applied for the issue of a Crown grant for his selection. The application was made on his behalf by Mr. Harrison, as Mr. Welsh was at the point of death, and was anxious on account of his wife and family, it was agreed that the Crown grant should issue at once.

Wiiatawiiata.—'Messrs Ca'Jei", of W'hatawlmtiVi asked to be inforined as to the price of lot 274 and the acreage, as they wished to purchase or lease it. Mr. Lake was under the impression it was a reserve, and after some discussion as to the exact position of tho land, it was agreed to defer the matter in view of the possible classification of the township by Mr. Kdgecumbe. Gordon Spkcial Ssttlkmbxt.—A letter was received from the secretary of the Gordon Special Settlement, forwarding a transfer for the approval of the Board from Margaret Robinson to William It appeared the original selector had died, and, after several other changes, it reverted to the mother of the original selector, who was desirous of selling it. The Ranger's report, however, showed that no improvements had heen made on the land, and one of the conditions was that onetcnth of the laud must be brought under cultivation within two years. After some general conversation on the circumstances of the case, and the conditions of settlement, Mr. Gill nointed out that as a matter of fact the Board had nothing to do with this question. It was purely one for the Commissioner and the Minister. The Commissioner said that he had uo doubt the Commissioner and the Minister would be glad to receive the assistance of the Board. Mr. Lake moved that the question be referred to the Minister, requesting a special direction as to whether it is a matter to be decided by the Lands Board, or left to the department as a matter of machinery. This was seconded by -Mr. Gill, and carried.

Whakatane.— Mr. Williams, writing from Cambridge, Wiiikalo, wnte tiskiug that certain lands between Tariuvera ami Whakatane rivers, ui Whakatane county, might be cut up into convenient blocks and offered for pastoral or grazing runs. The matter was referred to the Survey Deportment to report generally as to the suitability of some portion of the land for small settlement purposes. Fish-coring at RussKrx,—-Messrs Masefield Brothers, who proposed to erect and establish a fish-curing establishment at Russell, and who also intended to go in for fruit tinning in the season, applied for permission to purchase a piece of Crown land on which to erect the necessary works and buildings. There was a good deal of difference of opinion as to the value, and the matter was postponed pending further information as to the value of the laud. Mr. Masefield was present, and said lie could ascertain from Mr. L. D. Nathan what he could sell an allotment for in the township. It was arranged, as Mr. Gre-cnway, recently olerk of the Court at Russell, was in town, to refer to him and ascertain what value he would put on the land applied for, which was a narrow triangular strip of less than an acre. Transfer.— J. C. Claugh applied to have the lease of section Sα. parish of Mangatete, transferred to his son Isaac, and to purchase part .of section 0. He had been informed that'his lease of these allotments was, through some misunderstanding, informal. It appeared the applicant had taken up two allotments on the same day, but they wore not contiguous, and it was agreed to offer the second section by auction in the usual manner.

Applications tor Land.— The following applications were dealt with in the usual manner: — J. Rogan, to purchase two acres in Maketu Survey District; H. G. Maboy, to purchase 50 acres adjacent section 24, parish of Maramarua; N. McLean, to purchase 100 acres aloug Whangarei harbour, west of Marsden Point; A. B. Morton, for lot 105, parish of Matata; McLeod Brothers, for lease of section 342, Avondale South ; G. Hemsley, for about 14 acres between lots S4 and 63, parish of Waikomiti; H. J. Southey, to purchase sections 1 and 2. suburbs Newcastle South; G. De Thierry, for lot 5, parish of Upper Rangariri; Captain G. May, to lease or purchase a small island near Waiheke ; F. Swindley, for lot 6a, 23 acres, parish of Waimana; J. Phillips, for two or three hundred acres west of lot 87, parish of Kourawhero, and portion of lot 30, ditto. Re Appleton's deferred payment section at Waitakerei, it was resolved to rescind the resolution of July 25th last, capitalising this section, the necessary improvements required by the Act not having been effected. The Board adjourned at five p.m. until ten a.m. to-day.