REPLY TO MR CORRIGAN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 15 August 1910, Page 3

REPLY TO MR CORRIGAN.

To the Editor of the "Timaru Herald." J. Corrigan says, • "I. have with lunch interest 111 vour issue of the 10th -iJI .sL. a letter written bv Air J; Scaly, u liif claims to represent, the Crown tenants on the Land Board." 1 nil hi iu .statements; are always int:>r\ir Cornwall. J feel proud and Jnghly honoured to hav<> Ijcen elected - ( roiyn tenants tu represent them ou tliu Luud. ior ihc hist- two years, i have read Air CornVan'.s letter'in vour valuable issue of tlm 10th iust. with pity that, a man ot .such pretentious ability shoidd s u exno-e his want of knowledge oi the matter under discuss:on. air Corrigan states that for the last twelve months in almost all eases the .Board_ has refused transfers pending enquuies, the last Board meeting bcijif; an exception. This statement I <■ 111 toto. I have had the honour Ol a seat on the Canterbury Land Jioard tinder live commissioners and I do not know of a single instance of a transfer being refused wlien the conditions ol tile lease had been complied wi hj, no matter what the amount of goodwill, all things Irfiny; in order. Indue interference m this matter oi" transfer I also rirny hi toto Mr Corr,-aii says •! will"ask .Air Scaly it the Commissioner of Crown Lands did not state that in cases, when in his opinion there was too much given for Koochvill, lie would stop the rebate, and it -lr i.ealy entered a- protest against •such a. statement." j'\,r .Air Corrigan \s luloi niation 1 may say that- the J,and J oard has nothingwhatever to do with tic lebate, therefore it- would be waste te -t CnCl Th " n r my pi,rt t0 cntcr ;l > te -t- Jhe Government in their wisdom appointed the Commissioner of (Crown Lands and Receiver of Land 1?,.- ; venue to administer the clause in relation to lebate. (See section 110 1903.)' 18 Q 3 aJUI 4 Land ! en' A 'V!e gf ir S , f !,e 1 tral of a holding ' ", tc -Highbank Settlement, tlfs i tiansfer was granted without a won! j being said about, the amount ol' goodJ :uid r n| iprovements. this bein-r ;ls I " r ,. aS ~a a "" ilre a ret-orcl for impi ovenients and goodwill namely i'SToU , lor a holding of 091. acres, farmed bv a widowed lady who had alwavs com. , pjed witn the conditions of lier lease. ! and who had brought up a iarge familv' ,She is quite entitled to the fruits of , her industry and hard labour, j Mr Corngan advises every Crown i tenant to take a lirm stand against iwhat ho repeats to be the undue in- . terterence of the Land iioard as regards cropping regulations. He *ays that a. lew years ago the Land Board put its toot down and .said it would not allow more than two white crops in succession. Mr Corrigan savs h e !'; as »!f m ?». wll ° showed the iioard tie Jolly of its proposed action, and the result was that he forced the Board to a handout his idea, and to make the cropping conditions more elastic i-or Air Corngan's information I will liere quote the clause in the L.T.!\. winch was in force when AVaikakahi was settled and which Mr Corrigan must have signed when he signed his Jea.se. he same cropping conditions are still in force although .Air Corric-an says that he has been the means" of bringing about more elastic conditions and forced the Booard into doing so ' J-erms and conditions of 1.. I.l'. as regard cropping clause 21. the. AVaikakahi pamphlet:—' 'The lessee shall not take more than three crops, one of winch must be a root crop, from the sa,me land in succession, and either with or jrisiediately after a third crop f any kind, lie shall sow the land clown with good permanent, cultivated grasses and clovers, and allow the land to remain as pasture for at- least three vears from the harvesting of the last crop belore again heing cropped " This cropping regulation has been in force since 189G, when Highbank was settled and I am not aware that the Board at a "T, tln ' e "iflicted any hardships on sintlers by restricting them to less than three crops in succession. On the oontiary they have on mnnv occasions granted permission to settlers to take a fourth crop when under certain ',x 0" ? failures permission was askto do so._ This being so, I fail to S'.e where this undue interference corner m as stated by Mr Corrigan, unless is rn jiiq presumptuous imagination. J1 V! r Corn 2 an desires to know howdie Canterbury Land Board transits %± S! T S , he ; f-an ei:,im to the rLc r l y paying for the privit?r' ? r +l C '? nnot Illnt ' ''P ™n ittend the meetings of the Board, who ;ransae.t f.h« business with open doors.

I . j and if the public arfe desirous they may be .present. i -Mr Corrigau savs be, was the first. I to impress upon the Government Ibc I absolute necessity ot having the Crown I tenants represented on the Board. It , I will indeed be a very sad dav for the j i Crown tenants should anything serious | j happen to Mr Comgan. It ma- bs I j news to lum that there, are two Crown I .tenants on Ihe Canterbury Land Board j i—ilr J. Stevenson, of Flaxton has been i ion ihe. Board for se n>i| or c,ght years; j I and ilr .1. Gibson of Cheviot, for one j i and a, half years. |? o th are. highly i I honourable, and capable gentlemen who ! j would scorn to do a wrong to anyone, i • much less to unduly interfere with one : i of their own class, let alone to the ! j general body of Crown tenants in i i Canterbury. | I I must say that the Board has very \ I little discretionary power. There was: | a case ot very great, hardships cropped ! i up at the examination of applicants for ! ithe Tripp Settlement, of an applicant' ; named U. Geaney. who held a section ! jor lour acres in the Puhuka Hamlet, j ;:ind has a family of eight children. The : ; Board could not admit him to the bal- I ' lot because he held a I, I I' section | i under the Land tor Settlement -Act \ \ ; think the Board should have di-ere- I {ternary power to act in such cases- I I ' am. etc.,- | JOSEPH. SEALY.