SOUTHLAND LAND BOARD.

Western Star, Issue 347, 1 May 1880, Page 6

SOUTHLAND LAND BOARD.

I 1 he following, amongst other, business was transacted at the Board meeting on Thursday. 22nd ultimo. We quite from the “Southland Times ” : Peter Power applied, through his agent, for 200 acres rural land—section 452, Hokouui district.— Granted. The following deferred-payment applications were granted : —.Robert Kennedy, section 479, Hokonui district; James Barron, section 452, Hokonui district ; John M'Donald, section 481, Hokouui district. The applications of Messrs R. Halloran, E. Prendergast, Thomus Pirie, and Charles Gardiner, for extensions to their deferred-payment holdings, were adjourned until the Judge’s opinion on the subject had been received. Mr M'Ewan applied, on behalf of Thos. Giller, for t! e freehold of sections 216, 217, Taringafuva district. —Referred to the Ranger to report upon. Richard Halloran appeared to object to the granting of James Gallagher’s application for section 44, on the ground that the land was immediately contiguous to his (Halloran’s) hold in;.—It was resolved that the minute of Ist April granting Gallagher the section be rescinded, and that he be informed of the same. Ranger Mussen reported that he had inspected all the deferred-payment sections in the neighborhood of Orepuki ; that the settlers were fulfilling the conditions of then* licenses, and from the superior quality of the soil the district could not fail to become in a few years one of the finest in the whole of Southland. The following opinion on the “immediate con tigviity ” question was read : —Council is referred to section 6 of the Land Act, 1877, Amendment Act, 1879, and is desired to give his opinion as to the true construction of that section, and particularly what constitutes immediate contiguity within the meaning of that section, and whether two sections with a public road between them can be said to be immediately contiguous within the meaning of that section ? On this Mr Macassey gave the following opinion : —“ In the absence of any authority upon the point, my opinion is that the sections of land referred to in clause 2 of the Land Act, 1877, Amendment Act, 1879, must be uninterruptedly connected with each other to render them immediately contiguous to one another. The words of the Statute are to be read in their ordinary and natural sense unless good reason for a different interpretation appears. If a public road separates one portion of an allotment from another, the sections forming the allotment cannot be said to touch each other. There might be some difficulty, too, in holding that an occupation of one part of an allotment on one aide of a road is a * residence ’ on the section upon the other side of the road. But where the various sections touch each other, and may be completely fenced, there could be no difficulty.”