THE COMMONAGE QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 904, 27 March 1869, Page 4

THE COMMONAGE QUESTION.

We have been requested to publish the following document, copies of which have been forwarded to the Wardens of the Hundreds throughout the Province : — [circular.] Moeraki, March 17th, 1869. Sir— l am instructed to briiig under your notice the necessity of an immediate and united effort being made by the Wardena of the various Hundreds within the province, in order to secure to the freeholders therein an area of land as a permanent Commonage. The subject of Commonage is one which the rapid absorption of the Hundreds is tending daily to increase the importance of. It has at various times been brought under the notice of the Government, but always as »in abstract and independent question, affecting only the interests of some one particular locality. It has never 13060. regarded — as it properly should have been - m the light of a general question, influencing the interests of the whole of the settlers in the province, and to a great extent determining the value of their properties. The justice and policy of granting common rights has never been denied by the Government : the difficulty has always been in dealing with the question as an a' stract and iso'attd one, without creating a precedent, the general application of which, might prove detrimental to the public interest. In order to place the subject of Commonage in an entertaiaable position before the Government, and at the same time secure an opportunity of freely r»iscußßing the general question, it is proposed that a convention, consisting of a delegate — if possible, a Warden — from each of the Hundreds, be held in Uunedin, upon a day prior to the meeting of the Council ; and that a deputation be appointed thereupon to wait upon, the head of the Government, and urge the introduction of a Bill, having for its object the establishment of a general system of Commonage throughout the province. [ am instructed respectfully to submit, as a basis, the following suggestions :— ■ ' I. That ia each of the Hundreds a Commonage, having an area commensurate with that of the freehold land within stick Hundred, shall be set apart, and that the trus. tees thereof shall be allowed to purchase the same upon a system of deferred payments, extending over a period of years, at a price of from shillings to shillings per acre, according to class. 11. That the trustees thereof shall have power to collect all fees, fines, and other revenue, and to apply the same in liquidation of the charge upon their trust. 111. That the common right of each freeholder shall be inalienable per se, but negotiable and transferable with the freehold. IV. That any Hundred which does not; possess land appropriate or available for Commonage, or within which the whole of the land shall have been sold prior to the coming into operation of the Act, shall be entitled to special privileges in acquiring land without the boundaries of the Hundred for use as a Commonage. In conclusion, I am instructed to refer to the beneficial results which nave attended the eatabliflhrnent of Commonages in other colonies, and also to the effect the operation of the Bystem has had in enhancing the value of property in older countries, where the value of the common right often exceeds that of the freehold from whence it is derived. Trusting you Mrill take an early opportunity to bring this matter under the notice of your Wardens, and inform ma of their feeling.— l am, &c, Wm. L. Leggatt, Secretary to Wardens, Moeraki IlundraU The Secretary to Wardens, Hundred,