MILITARY LAND CLAIMS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2322, 7 January 1890, Page 2

MILITARY LAND CLAIMS.

Notwithstanding that more than one Royal Commission has been appointed and has reported on the subject, and although Parliamentary Committees have enquired and made recommendations, and pursuant thereto, a number of claims hare been provided for, the fact remains that there are a number of officers and men of the Naval and Military or Volunteer forces who hava unsatisfied claims for land for service in New Zealand. If we recollect rightly the last Commission reported on soino 1650 of these claims, and from petitions presented at last session, there would seem to be in all not less than 2000 claimants. Not all these, probably by a good many, will be able to substantiate their claims, but it is certainly very desirable that the matter should be settled one way or the other—the more especially as many of these claims have been outstanding for thirty years or more. In order to enable this consummation to be arrived at, Parliament last session passed an Act entituled "The Naval and Military Settlers and Volunteers Land Act, 1890," which applies to (l]i All offioers, non-commissioned or warrant offioers, private soldiers, seamen, and marines formerly of Her Majesty's Naval and Military Forces engaging in suppressing tbe iaeurrec* | tion of the Nativea in the northern part of the former province of Auokland, and. being disoharged from the said servioes, have since then been resident within New Zealand, and claim under "The Naval and Military Settlers Act. 1856," of the said provinoe; and to (2) All persons who retired from Her Majesty's Naval or Military Service with a good oharaoter for the purpose of settling in New Zealand, at any time before the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and who have so settled in New Zealand as aforesaid ; and to (3) All persons enrolled in the Forest Bangers under tbe conditions presoribed in a memorandum of the Honorable Thomas Russell, Minister \ for Colonial Defenae, dated the sixth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three or of another memorandum of the same Minister, dated the ninth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and sixtythree respectively; and to (4) All officers of Volunteers or effioient Volunteers who were enrolled in any Volunteer corps witnin the oolony on or prior to ha thirty-first day of Ootober, one thousand eight and seventy-sis, and who, inolusive of any period of service prior as aforesaid, subsequently completed five years' continuous servioe ; and to (5) All persona enrolled under ' The Colonial Defence Foroe Aot, 1862," who served within the Provincial Distriot of Auckland under the late Golonel Nixon or Major Walmsley, and who had, on or before the tenth day of Ootobar, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, completed the conditions of their enrolment under euoh Aot before the said date, or having served under suoh Aot partly before the said date, oompleted such servioe affer that date.

Section 3 of the Act provides that " Every person who thinks himself entitled to a grant of land in respect of services rendered in any of the classes mentioned in the last-preceding section shall send in his claim in witing, together with all documents calculated to substantiate each claim, to the Commjspioner ot Crown Lands in the district wherein he may be residing, or wherein he desires to obtain land, not later than the 31st of December, in the year 1890." Those of onr readers residing in this provincial district who may be claimants should therefore send in their claims, and the necessary proofs to Mr Baker, Lands Commissioner, Christchurch, unless they desire to take up land in §iome other land district,, in which case the claim and proofs must be forwarded to the Lands Commissioner of that district. We think that it is a great shortcoming in the Act that provision was not made either for the Land Commissioners to visit outlying districts to hear and determine claims, or that the Governor was not empowered to appoint Resident Magistrates, or other local officers, to discharge this doty. This was not lost sight of in the House. M»jor Steward having urged that the Resident Magistrate in each district should be empowered to hear claims and report upon them to the Crown Lands Commis sionor, and Sir George Grey haviug gone fqrther and suggested that the power to do this should be conferred upon Justices of the Peace, Formal amendments were not moved in that direction, only because the Minister for Defence undertook to make provision in •'another place 1' for the appointment of additional Commissioners if found necessary. This, however, was not done, and since the session the suggestion hag been made to the (Government that the Commissioners should be directed to visit the outlying districts. To that suggestion, however, the Minister for Lands has replied that he is of opinion that " the facilities provided by the Act are sufficient to meet requirements," We do pot agree with him and believe that the result will be that large numbers of claims will be outstanding after the close of this year and that further legislation will yet be necessary. In the meantime however we again remind those who have such claims that they must send them in as befke stated on or before the last day of December pf the current year.