33

A.—3

Henri Pain, sworn: I bought section 22 from Mr. O'Conor, who purchased from West, but I have no receipt from West. I gave £25 for the section, which sum included the purchase money for a horse, both being included in the one receipt. I have been in possession since July, 1873. I have built a store, storeroom, stable, cart sheds, &c, on the section at a cost of £410, which amount I claim. The two sections would be worth £4 a year under a fourteen years' lease. Ido not think a twentyone years' lease would be much more valuable. The sections are in an out-of-the-way place, though they are suitable for my business, that of a cordial manufactory. I have paid no rent at all upon them. I never thought of offering any, but lam quite prepared to pay when called upon to do so. Section 23 was allotted to me. The Commissioners : You have no papers to show that West sold to O'Conor. You must get a certificate from West to show that West sold to O'Conor. Your claim cannot be dealt with until we receive that paper. The certificate was subsequently put in by Pain. [Case closed.] Sections 24, 25, and 159.— J. S. SUISTED and ANNE AVEBSTER, Joint Claimants to 159. Mr. Haselden appeared for the claimant. Mr. Mackay admitted original allotment to H. Stannard by Commissioners Giles and Dobson. J. S. Suisted, sworn: I bought section 24 from F. Courtney, who purchased from Stannard for £20. I have paid rent upon the section up to January, 1875. I produce receipts. A fourteen years' lease of the property would be worth £1 to 30s. a year. I have erected a dwelling-house upon the property. If I had a twenty-one years' lease it would bo worth £1 or £5 a year, but Ido not think I should leave the buildings on the ground at the end of the term. I have spent about £250 upon the section. The improvements consist of fencing, clearing, planting garden, &c, which I value at £100. If the sections were improved, it would be worth £1 or £2 a year. A person named AVilkinson was the original allottee of section 25. 1 gave £25 for it. .In the state in which I bought it, it would be worth £1 or £2 a year, but with a fourteen or twenty-one years' lease it would be worth £4 to £5 a year. There is a four-roomed cottage upon it, and it is planted with trees. The remarks in the previous claim apply to this one. I claim half section 159, which was allotted to me by Commissioners Giles and Dobson in lieu of a section which was in danger of being washed away. No rent has been paid upon it. It is valueless at the present time, but it may become valuable if a road is made to it. The whole section is not worth more than £1 a year. Aim Webster, sworn : I produce receipts for the purchase of half section in Lyttelton Street, in exchange for which I was granted half section 159. 1 have no objection to a lease being issued jointly in favour of myself and Mr. Suisted. I have paid no rent upon the section. By Mr. Mackay : I still occupy my half of section in Lyttelton Street, which has not yet been washed away. I have a house upon it, which I let for ss. or 6s. a week. [Case closed.J Sections 26, 27, 52, 53, 66.—ROBERTS and MUNRO, Claimants. Mr. J. B. Fisher appeared for claimants. John Munro, sworn: I own these sections jointly with W. C. Roberts. The original allottee of section 26 was John Clarke, and of section 27 AY. J. Patterson. [Mr. Mackay admitted correctness of allotment.] I produce the sale notes from Clarke and Patterson. The transfer is blank, but I and Roberts are the persons whose names should have been filled in. Roberts gave instructions for their purchase, Section 52 was the subject of law process some time ago, and the receipt of transfer was forwarded to Hokitika to Mr. Button, and cannot now be produced, but we have a receipt from Graves and Fleming, and paid rent upon the section. Section 63 1 purchased from Robert McParland. That transfer is also iv blank. AYe were buying jointly, intending to divide the sections afterwards. Section 00 was bought from Dickinson. The Commissioners : But this is a transfer to Roberts, and not to Roberts and Munro. This is a most extraordinary way of doing things. The transfer was completed on the 10th July, 1873, and here we have a letter signed Thomas Dickinson, dated 12th July, 1873, giving his assent to the sale. So that really the sale was effected before his assent was obtained. Then, again, this style of making transfers in blank savours very much of speculation; but worse than that, it opens the door to fraud. AYe do not wish to impute that Mr. Munro would do anything of the kind, but what is to prevent a person coming here with a blank transfer and saying that he is the person whose name should appear on the face of the document. We can only say that if that is the way the people of AVestport conduct their business, it is not a creditable state of things. AV'itness : I had verbal instructions from Mrs. Dickinson to deal with this section, and it was sold in consequence of those instructions. The buyer, however, objected to accept the transfer without Mr. Dickinson's signature being attached, and I wrote to Mr. Dickinson for his consent to the purchase. He duly forwarded the receipt, and the transaction was completed. The Commissioners :It seems to us that the whole of these transactions are extremely lax. Such a state of things ought not to be tolerated. What right had Mr. Munro or anybody else to sign away another man's property without his approval ? That surely is not a correct or legitimate way of transacting business. AVitness : Mr. Dickinson was managing a quartz mine at the Lyell, and the means of communication at that time was not very good. Mrs. Dickinson represented that the property was her own, and that she had a right to deal with it as she pleased; and more than that, Mr. Dickinson was rather pleased at the price I got, because it was more than the reserve placed on the section. I paid £42 for section 26, aud have made improvements to the extent of £5. 1 gave £65 to Patterson for sections 27 and 28. The latter is the most valuable of tho two. It is worth £35. I gave £55 for section 52, and I spent £5 in clearing it. Section 53 I gave £51 for, and for 56, £40, and spent £5 in improving each. I paid rent up to the time it was refused. Under a fourteen years' lease the annual value of