THE LAND BILL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1024, 15 July 1871, Page 1

THE LAND BILL.

The Bill embodying the land policy of the Executive has been introduced by the Provincial Solicitor, and thirty of the clauses have already been approved of. Passing over the Preamble and the Interpretation Clause, it is proposed by clause 3 that certain Acts and parts of Acts mentioned in the Schedule should be repealed. These consist of, the Hundreds Regulation Acts of 1869 and 1870, the ' Ota&o Waste Lands Act, 1866, Amendment Act, 1869 ;' clauses 40 to 46, inclusive, of the < Ofcago Waste Lands Act, 1866,-' which relate to the manner of dealing with applications for unsurveyed land ; clause B<s, of the same Act/ which provides that the rights of pasturage in new Hundreds should remain with the lessee until wardens are appointed ; and olauses 95 to 115, which relate to the management of Crown lands within the limits of a Hundred. In clause 4it is shown how unsurveyed land is to be sold. The applicant is to receive a license to occupy immediately on the payment of the purchase money, and the land is to be laid off as soon thereafter as conveniently mar be by a Government surveyor. Under the Act} ot

1866 surveys could be conducted by surveyors approved of by the Waste Lands Board, and it is difficult to understand why it should now be proposed to exclude professional men who are not receiving Government pay. Clause 5 enables the Board to sell land by private contract to any person -who shall have occupied and made valuable improvements thereon before such land shall have been open for sale. The purchase money is not to be below the rate obtained for adjoining lands. Clause 6, which furnishes an additional covenant to mineral leases, provides that at the termination of any such lease a valuation of all machinery and other improvements shall be chargeable against and payable by the incoming tenant ; and if there be no incoming tenant, no charge shall be made against or liability incurred by the lessor for the amount of such valuation. By clause 7 the Board may sanction the transfer of a lease of mineral lands, and for every such transfer a fee of five pounds shall be paid. By clause 9it is provided that any person may apply to occupy an allotment of waste lands in any Hundred or block, and shall at the time of application deposit the fee for one half-year's occupation. Cases where objections are made to applications, or where more than one application has been made to occupy the same land on the same day, are to be left to the decision of a Board of three members, of whom the Disti-ict Land Officer shall be chairman, to be appointed by the Superintendent. In a series of sub-sections the procedure to be followed by the Board in deciding upon these applications is fully set forth. By clause 11, the Waste Lands Board may issue a license t to occupy any portion of the land within a Hundred or block, not exceeding 320 acres, for three years, at an occupation fee of three shillings per annum for every acre to any applicant who shall have paid a half-year's fee in advance for such, allotment. Then follow the conditions of the license. These are — (1) A condition for the payment of the fee in advance at half-yearly intervals. (2) A condition that during the currency of the license, the licensee shall not assign his interest in the allotment or in any portion of it, nor sublet the allotment or any portion of it, and the license shall become void if assigned or sublet. (3) A condition that the licensee shall within two years enclose his allotment with a good and substantial fence, and shall during the currency of the license cultivate at least one acre out of every ten. (±) A condition annulling the license in case of nonpayment of the fees, or in case the licensee shall not within six months after the issue of the license occupy the allotment, or in case improvements to the extent of one pound per acre are not effected before the end of the third year from the commencement of the license, or in case of the breach or non-fulfilment ot any of the •conditions of the license, or of a violation of any oi the provisions of the Act. (5) A condition that if the licensee, at the expiry of the third year, shall prove to the satisfaction of the Board that he has complied with all the conditions attached to the license, he shall be entitled to obtain a Crown grant upon payment of twenty-one shillings per acre ; or he may obtain a lease of his allotment for seven years at a yearly rent of three shillings per acre ; and at any time during the currency of the lease he may claim a Crown grant by paying for each acre a difference beifcween what he has already paid by Way of rent and thirty shillings. (G) A reservation of a right of entry to dig for gold, under such regulations for the purpose as may be in force. It is provided that no such ■ license or lease shall be deemed to give the licensee or lessee the right to search for or to take away any metal ; also that before any license or lease is issued, the j applicant shall make a declaration on j 'oath that such application is made by him in conformity with the provisions of the Act. Under clause 13 no person shall become the licensee of more than 320 acres of land, and no person under eighteen yearß of age shall become the licensee ol an allotment. The remainder of this clauae, as well as clauses 14 and 15, relate to the forfeiture of licenses.

It is provided by clause 16 that if at! the end of the third year the Board ia satisfied that improvements to fehe extent of one pound per acre have been effected, a certificate to that effect shall be given. But if the Board is not satisfied that the improvements have been made, the matter is to be referred to the decision of three arbitrators ; one appointed by the Board, another by the licensee, and a third by the two arbitrators. Some unimportant clauses then follow. Under the 22nd it is provided that the licensee shall have all the rights as against trespassers which at law belong to the owner of land except the right of impounding, but shall have that right so soon as his allotment is enclosed with a substantial fence. Under clause 23, holders of agricultural leases who have improved their allotments, and who have been in possession for three years, may, if the land is not auriferous or required for public purposes, obtain a Grown grant by paying the difference between what they have already paid and thirty shillings per acre, or obtain a lease for seven years. Clause 25 enables licenses to be granted for the occupation of land within Hundreds in which the land has been open for sale for seven years ; the total sum to be paid by the licensee in such a case to be fifteen shillings per acre. Clause 26 enables the Superintendent and Provincial Council to "set apart areas outside of Hundreds or blocks for purposes of settlement, and defines also the depasturing privileges of licensees. Each licensee is to be allowed to run ten head of great cattle for any quantity of land not exceeding 100 acres, and one head for every ten acres in addition which he may hold. By clause 27 it is proposed that the Superintendent and Executive should be empowered, upon the petition of the inhabitants of any district in which settlement by mean* of license shall have taken place, to proclaim such district into a Hundred. Clause 29 empowers the Superintendent to grant a license to occupy an allotment to any person who may be willing to plant the same with forest trees, and to fence the land planted, under such conditions as may be prescribed from time to time ; and on fulfilment of the conditions, the licensee shall be entitled to receive a Crown grant, without payment of any annual fees or rents. We defer the enumeration of the remaining provisions of the Bill to another occasion.