SOUTHLAND LAND BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 1973, 12 September 1889, Page 2

SOUTHLAND LAND BOARD.

At the last monthly meeting of this body the following business was transacted :

Joseph Lyle applied, on behalf of Eobert Neill. mining agent, Duuedin, for a mining lease of 100 acres south of South Fiord, Te Anau Lake.— Granted for SO years at Is per acre and the usual royalty of 3d per ton. The. following applications for land were granted: — For cnsh : John Brook and others, section 2, block 111. Woodfield. On deferred payments : Nathan Chatterton, section 21, block XXV, East Gore. On perpetual lease: W. Kobinson, section !<}, block VII, Waikawa; D. M'Neil, section 13. block 11, Wendonside; H. Coster, section 3, block VII, Waikawa; H. P. Sppi.ce, section 82, Kyre. Andrew Christie wrote acknowledging receipt of notice i • pay interest on sections 271, 272, and 273, Taringatura, and expressing dissatisfaction with the reduction of his rant. Letters from John Tippet t (Linn-hiUs), E. B. Taylor (Pahia), Joseph Beck, senior (Wairio^, John Cantrick, and Thomas Eider asking tor reductions of rents were also received.— Keferred to the ranger for report. The application of James' Haldane to change the tenure of his lease of section 1, block VIII, Waikawa, was referred to Mr Wardeu M'Cuiloch.

Permission was gianted, subject to the usual conditions, to John Pearsall to transfer his interest in section 3, block VII, Wondon, to James Stephenson, junior. . Joseph Lyle, on behalf of Whealler and ValH, aßked for permission to cut flax from the east bank of the Waimatuku to the beach,— Granted.

Patrick Cody applied for permission to transfer section 5. block XXXII, Limehills, to Lawrence Cody.— Granted. 'I homas M'GratH and Edward Whelaa applied for leases of reserves at Limehills.— To be informed that the unleased municipal reserves in the township would be put up to auction. Ay. the request of Joseph Davis his license for section 3, block IIT, Otara'. was declared forfeited.

Tenders were opened for the perpetual lease of section 10. block V, Lougwood, and that of H. A. Printz, at Is 2d per acre, accepted ; another tender of Is 6d being considered iuformal. T. O. Ellis was granted lease ot Kun 415, Takitimo ; and the N.Z. Loan and M..A.. Co. were granted a lease of Eun 494, Forest Hill (1280 acres), for 10 yeara. Twelve months' exemption from residence was granted to William Brown, holder of perpetual leaseholds in the Waiau district. •

A transfer of occupation license, No. 195, from A. Perrin to Jos. Shuttleworfch was sanctioned.

Guetavus Morton, according to instructions given him ata public meeting held afc North Wairio, wrote with regaid to the reductions affecting deferred paymeut settlers. He inquired it ti.e revaluation affected reuts already paid, or deferred payment selectors who had completed purchase of their holdings.—Referred to the chief commissioner. At the instance of Mrs Bourke the occupation license for eec&ion 2, block XIII. Hirstfield, was declared cancelled.

Wm. Snodgrass applied for 10 or 12 acres of land at lake Te Anau, offering 5s per acre per annum. — It was decided to recommend the Government to constitute the area a ma, to be put up for 10 years at £5 per annum, Christopher McDonald having applied for 50 acres east of section 36, Forest Hill, on perpetual lease, it

was resolved to recommend that the section be constituted a perpetual lease at dBl per aero, provided the survey fees were deposited. The license for the lignite area of 75 acres at Nightcaps held by Jesse Alley was at his request declared cancelled. ' The application of Wm. Peace for the lease of section 9, block IV, Seaward Bush, was refused, it being bush laud.

W. Henderson submitted a petition signed by six selectors in East Gore asking that their holdings be revalued and their rents reduced. — deferred to the ranger for report, pending the passage of the bill for the relief of Crown tenants.

M'Callum and Co. were granted an extension of time from one month to three months, during which to cut timber on sections in block I, Oteramika.

A coal mining area of five acres was granted to Henry Butt, at Waikaia, at a rental of 20s per annum. L. B. Reade, on behalf of Thomas Cannon, wrote applying that the balance due for improvements on forfeited section 182, Wairio, be handed over to him, —Balance to be paid. Communications from Alex. M'Hardy and the clerk to Wallace County Council were received, asking that part of block 11, Calcium, be reserved for a cemetery.— lt was resolved that an area of not less than 3£ acres ba granted ; and the matter left in the hands of the chief commissioner. The forfeiture of a section held by David Lamb was revoked, and capitalisation sanctioned.

It was decided to recommend that Run 177 A, Waikawa, be offered for a term of 10 years at a rental of £1. John Concher was granted permission to cut timber on several sections at Oraki. The deferred-payment licenses for sections 613 and 614, Hokonui, and the deferred-payment license of Michael Connor were extended trom 10 to 14 years, applicants not beiug in a position to pay. Section 97, Wairio, held conjointly by 6. C. Buttolph and Denis Hart was declared forfeited.

8., E. X., and J. Miller applied for 640 acres of land on the run held by R. Tapper to the west of the Waiau.— To be informed that thelessee of the run would receive 12 months' notice provided that a guarantee whs given to the boaid that the present application was a bona fide one ; price to be £1 per annum.

Michael Spratt applied to uhauga hiß perpetual lease Bection 44, block XIV, Chattou, to a deferredpayment license.— Referred to the wardeu for the district, the section being a mining reser'-e. A similar application from James Paterson, Chatton Mains, was dealt with in the same «ay.

William Brown applied to have 60 chains long by 10 wide, adjoining section 220, Fortst Hiil Hundred, thrown open for deferred payment selection. — To be recommended on > aymeut ot survey feos. John Wither apph- d to leas- sect'vm 4 on Wake, tipu run, 14 miles from the lake.— Licence to occupy granted at 20s per annum.

Twenty-six applications focapifaiise weieg anten, and 14 to complete purchase sanctio ed The tender of Peter Johnston at 5d per acre for a grazing right 0,-er block X. n reserve ..t WaikaUa, was accepted

William Weatherburn offered 3d per acre for right to graze on village re»erve, block IX. Waikaka. -Accepted.

James Florence tendered £5 per <mnum for section north of section 2.8, bli>ck 111, Win ton Hundred, which, being the highest, was accepted. K. B. Williams and Co. wrote offering ijd ppr acre per annum frir sections 1 to 2-i, block XV, Campbelltown Hundred.- Accepted. Cars well and Co., on behalf ot Mi-3 Colyer, offered £5 per annum for the grazing right over parts of blocks V and XII, Campbelltown Hundred.—Accepted. Two offers for grazing rights on all the Crown lands situated north ana west of the Titipua stream were held over till n3n 3i t meeting, the applicants not having offered any ir,oneyp A deputation of eight farmers deputed by the whole of the deferrea payrrJent settlers in the Forest Hill Hundred appealed before the board with regard to the revaluation of their ho/dings. Mr M'Pherson, who acted as spokesman, said that before the valuations were confirmed he wou*d a*k the board to consider the injustice displayed in some cases. They had had their renfc B reduced only from 25s to 20a, while many revaluations in '"other placeß fixed the rent at 12s Cd, placing the selectors on a tooting which they felt they were also entitled to.— Another of the settlers Baid he had been seven years there and had not been a day away from his section, over 50 acres of which was a peat bog. A third said he had worked nine years on his land and could scarcely make both enda meet. All assured the board that unless still f urther reductions were made they could not continue on their holdings, v. high were expensive to work on account ot the drainage 'they required. The Chief Commissioner, in i eply, said that perhaps some of the valuations had been made rather hurriedly, as the Government had asked only for something to base their calculations upon. He thought the best thing the board could do was to adopt the valuations and allow parties to appeal where they considered their rents still excessive. He thought that "most of the selectors would be satisfied with the revaluations, but there might be some cases where it would be necessary to depart from them. —Mr Kinross said it seemed to him that these gentlemen were making rather a premature move in the matter.— The Chairman pointed out that they had been served with notice to pay, and he was glad to see some response from them. The board we.c taking it for granted that the bill now before Parliament would pass, and the notices having been sent out, some payment must be insisted upon. He urged them to try p.nd make some payment in t he meantime and show their jrood faith ; and any money received from them would go to their credit all the same.— Mr Dennistou - eroarked that, from what the gentlemen present had said, he understood their objection was to the paying of possibly more money than might be required of them under a fresh valuation. As they said they could not continue to hold their land at the preterit rents, any money paid now would be lost mpney to them unless a revaluation were sanctioned.— Mr Muosen (ranger) said he would like to state that in making the valuations he received orders not to go from section to section but merely to value from what he knew of the land. Another erroneous idea which prevailed was that he was to start at £1 aad value downwards from that sum.— Mr Kennedy said they did not wish to trade upon the position, as Mr Richardson had put it when addressing hia constituents at Wyndham ; there were none of that sort in the crowd. — Mr Uenuistou said the board was quite convinced o that, Any forfeituie that might take place would be of the character of a friendly aud not a hostile forfeiture. —It was resolved, on the motion of Mr Denniston seconded by Mr Kimoss— " That, having in view that clause in the Revaluation Bill which provides for appeal against excessive revaluation, the board determine to adopt aud act upon the valuations already made, leaving parties who consider their lands over-valued to make an appeal to the Land Board in terms of the bill, should it become law." The Receiver of Land Revenue submitted a list of over 100 selectors who were more than five instalments behind in their payments.— The Chairman pointed out that many of these had not paid one penny to the board since 1882, and it seemed pretty plain that they would go on in the same way unless pressure was brought to bear on them . A good many of the defaulteis occupied land horn the Otago School Commissioners, with which the Land Board had nothing to do but collect the rent. He thought that it was a disadvantage to have a divided autho rity, and that it would be better for one body to take sole control over such lands.— Mr Dennißton moved — " That the sections held by deferred-payment selectors who are deeply in arrears, according to the list submitted by the receiver of land revenue, be hereby declared forfeited, but that the said holders be notified that, in the event of their capitalising or paying up iustalments within one month from this date, all arrears calculated on the basis ot the new valuation, or of any valuation proposed in the Revaluation Billshould it become law— the forfeiture of their sections will be rescinded."— Mr Kinross said he could uot agree with the motion, for it was generally understood by deferred payment settlers that no action would be taken untifthe bill became law. It had not passed yet, and he thought the board should wait until next meeting, when it would probably have official notification of its having become law. He was quite in the dark as to its provisions, and thought it would be more judicious to hold the matter over in the meantime. Besides that, he did not think it right to treat the list as a whole. Each defaulter should be seen individually, even though it took a whole day to consider the matter. Some distinction should be made between tbo3e who had come before or written to the board and those who had treated the notices demanding payment with contempt. -The Chairman said he had received instructions to sue forarreare jand would have to do something of the kind if he was to be consistent. — Mr Kinross pointed out that no definite time had been stipulated for closing with the defaulters. As there were many who appeared willing to' pay he thought the delaying of action for one month would be judicious. —

Mr Denniston observed that there was no injustice in passing the resolution, and it would stimulate those in arrears to make their payments.— Mr Kinross said Mr Oo wan would probably be present at the next meeting, and it would be better if this motion were passed afc a full meeting.— The motion was seconded by the chairman and carried. The Pegasus Tin. Mining Company gave notice of their intention [to construct a water race to work their claim.

John Murdoch and Alfred Tapper, sawmillers, requested the board to transfer their respective rights, titles', and interests in several sawmill licenses tv the New Zealand Fine Company, Limited, who hud purchased the same. — The transfers were sanctioned on payment of all fees.