THE NEW LAND BILL.

Evening Star, Issue 4210, 24 August 1876, Page 4

THE NEW LAND BILL.

.iriOPaoo -si aww 'lo oh ■ , \Ye jto .the h-Lpily, Ti.iju.G3,. for a summary of tEe Waste Lauda Admlmstra- , tion Bill, whicE ; ; j;epeals . all existing Land Acts, and provides inter alia For the cPntimtanGftin forse of ay existing proclamations, &c., affecting the waste lands m any case, wherP any. time heretofore a ia*oa orJicenaeJias been granted to hold land certain, terms or conditions, the Comrnis-h rioners whether license have been complied wiiffi, ami shall have all the powerfe^/^toto^ti; red U P°? any body or person by the Act under which ceed in the manner indicated on that behalf in such repeal,

sesrfAn of any landdmpnfvmftents Or-mbhey forfeited " c< sS®P s ‘ contained in Adt mterdand has been offered forlsale by auction and not gold it for sale after thirty days public notice thereof shall have been given. I*-i-«iay;-tbeh be (1) either offered again, .from time to time in one or more lota for saleHy pdblifc aictftfn, ofo(2) dedated_open for sale on application in such lots, at swSjpricea apre. f ap t Jie ßoard shall determine, ■beifff’a: pridetibt Bess in any case than the rtftiinhuih price payable for land of the same quality that is open for selection for,caGh*. ... „, T - , ■RWn and after th ; 6 cominff into operation

of this Act, notwithstanding anything contained <hanyt ■vtfist®’ lands, nn, undefined l #e-*toptidn.-.over; any land shail ne granted w'-lfe? persoirfand no new.lease prficense, or renewal pf ) any,, .pi' li.pense,. ahall be deemed to create orjo'grant to any| person any pre emptive rights of pre-emptj.on a j t : any.,time heretofore; -granted and. not exercised shall be exercisedprevious to the,lst ,day of May, 1880, ami if: not so" ’shall ■ b<3 absolutely; void. Nothing'ih J thisr* section contained; shall preclude; any . Board from; giving to the purchsisfir at public auction of} lease,pr: hcense:the ijight of pur-1 chasing in one blockany quantity of the land; I %onipri6ed r withih tfich lease;- or license' the-wbple 200 acres price penaere’as thehsaidßoard: shall have; Every: purchase-Shall fljfe .thß •sixurnonths from the day of the aforesaid-auction, and if not so shafl r forfeited and of ‘ v \

shffirhd"lawful from time to time, as he shill- ; think fit, to make of'the provisional rererves for e^ca^iM^Uipiisei‘ ; ofk public character, anS J f6r the e’nctoAVment of educajOtii&aliiartitutioiJß of a.dike character, wfacfctt-the xiiaaUeavauce lldusl of The existing Land Boards) remain; in office till '‘Members ofthe Board are not More. tUah; a guinea per sitting, anti r . the. Assernbly bn Account of that O l-.t.r Bpard' may from tune to tune, with >"qy. rural Iqhds that are opeii for sale, or that may. hereafter be opened ffir sale, such hffiefea-or adldfeinehts of land there

for sale exclusively on deferred payments. ATI appli<^fin'k : ''^for- : la^ t ''<)n deferred pay--?nents shall .be made in the same manner reject ■ ;jlarid ifire f’directed to be thfe Waste'; Lairds yAct Of the- dis- . notbednbonsistent pif .this..Act..,','Tbe Bqard' shall ;■ of tlie names, and descriptions of alTseiectors, showing the, extent o' the land selected at anytime in the nainc of each peridif,-and such register shall be kept ‘ > ’*ffir , aikfiabetieal-order,audextract£Lt.hexefrom shall be transmitted in each month to the Secretary 'Sf c Orown • Lands in such manner «,3 he shall direct. No person shall be entitled to select both suburban land and rural. The maximum area of land to be : - lield hereunder by any one selector, shall not exceed in the whole (1) of suburban laml, ten acres ; (2) of rural laud, 200 acres, in any land district. The price per acre to be Eaid for land taken up by any selector shall e where land is open for selection and sale for cash, then such cash price, and one half thereof added thereto, or where laud is re- ' mured to bie put up at auction, then the highest price bid for the land at auction, and ane-half thereof added thereto. In all cases where it is provided that land, the subject of -Simultaneous applications,- shall be put up At public auction, then the bidding at such auction shall be limitedtotheap'plicants. Any person of the age of eighteen years aihd upwards may becPme a selector hereunder ; hut no selector having assigned his interest Jiereuhder shall be allowed at any time to «aake a new selection under this Act. No person employed by, or on behalf of Her y any land office, or. in tire Survey Department, no owner of a pre-emptive right, no married woman not having obtained a decree of judicial separation, or d protection person who at the time of making his application has made any arrangement or .agreement to permit any other person, to acquire by purchase or otherwise the allotment in respect of which his application is made, or which he has bought at auction or* any part thereof, or the appli- . , eant’s interest therein, shall become a selecv‘‘ ‘tor hereunder.' Every- selector, .-i before miking his selection, shall make and produce a statutory declaration that he is of the age of eighteen years, making the present selection of land under the system of deferred payments bond fide for hia own exclusive use and benefit, and not directly or indirectly" for the use or benefit of any other person whomsoever, and for. the pur- ... pose .of cultivation, is not the holder (either in his own name, or in the name of any other person, and is not beneficially interested in any waste lauds of the Crown within the Colony, under the deferred payment system to any amount Which, added' to the acreage comprised in ■the present application, would exceed two hundred acres in extent, nor has at any time assigned any interest in any land held dby him on deferred-payments.- In the event ~ oj any of the statements contained in this •declaration being knowingly false, the selector "shall forfeit all rights to the land comprised; in his selection, and all moneys paid in respect thereof, and all improve- ; ments made thereon. Every selector shall, - 1 . either r.t the time of making application for the land, or forthwith after the.auction, d 0... ... ! posit with the Receiver of Land Revenue, r . aHi innouut equal to one twentieth of-the ; :-. prica,of tho laud, and tne deposit of every selector shall be absolutely forfeited if he ' n gleet or refuse to take up his license. The ".-' Boardshall, upon production of the declaralion, and payment of the deposit, issue to such selector a license to hold the land . selected.upon the following terms and con- - - ditions, which shall be endorsed upon every "license {—* v - 1. The license shall be for a period of ten years, to he reckoned from the next first, say, of January ■ j cn'julj’following the date thereof, and shall, inaddition, include the period between the date of the ■s£* : i license" and inch day. .2, The yearly fee in respect .-of /cuehr-licfuse. shall be in amount cqpal to out:j-,, tenth of the price of the laud, and shall bcpayable pftrts balf-ytftrly in advance on the first day of January and the first day of July in each year to the Eeceiver of Land Revenue. 3. The deposit paid at the time of application or after the am tion

shall ho in discharge of foe due on thfift , next first day of-Jandtiry or July; following'thhdate of license as the oito<Baay,be.-4, Th® selector shall, within six months, personally reside on the land, but the Board njay, if it.shall think fit, give permi ,- sidn in writing'dispensing witfr personal rcsidbnoe for the first ■ ei&hteeh fiKihths ttomthe 1 ate of the UcCnSe 'if the'laud is wholly or mostly covered with bush. 5. The selector -shall, witlvin one year from the dnte of his liCepseu. bring: into cultivation not less-than Qua-twentieth of the land. 6. The selector fetall, within two voarsfrom the, date of his'license, bring into cultivi t onuiot less than one-tenth of the laiidJi)?. The selector; shall, within- four years frown less thaiv one-Sith- of thpland, 8. The selector Ishalt, vvitlifh s"iS years trom lhe 'date of 1 is license, In addition, to the cultivation of tlie-one-flfth oh ithe land; ' have ' put Substantial iim rovom-nts ■of'a pprSncmriTt the -land to the value of ofth'-ivouud for .everyi-Sfcre of such laud. Th© seltfctoE maytrat lay time; after the expiration of six.i.ysars,(.'hp,Qn haying/complied .with aVlddie.etmdilioßs ef-his-iicense during the currency thereof, aMinpoir-ebtaiuiiig a certificate from the Commissionsrs of Avsdife [a? provided in section : acquire the right to a Crown, grftut of the.laua on ipayment-of-so- much-of the .price, thereof ’M shall remain unpaid.! ‘J(>; -For a breach ,of any ct the con--1 ditions ftuipboicd fro,a 2 t0.8,, inclusive, the right [ of theselector-to hehjiuid to, acquire thcltod described in his license," tdi’ll "bo forfeited-.-dl. r>o [ selector .shall bo entitled to iinjiauud, ©v to oling any claipi for damages.done on any part or the Janaheld, by him, by trespass;,of; any horses, ogUlc, or ! sheep belonging to '.any ' pAstoral tenant •ot the ! Crown, unless the lantLso"■ trespassed on- s iall hfaxe ■been enclosed with a good-and substantial fence. : wilhiu lho meanlyg. of ;tho fencing laws in force in . tlihdistrict, ' ” ". , ' l ‘' ; ’

"After due public notice and payment of fee of L2> jibe Board may transfer lessee’s inpayments of a selector who has not'fulfilled, all the conditions of his license, shall hot, during, the currencyof such license, be assignable at law or in equity, except under the-provisions-of this Act, and shall not he capable of being charged, encumbered, extended, or taken in execution in any manner whatever. At the cud. of one, two, four, six, and ten years respectively, from the date of the license, or as soon as conveniently may he. thereafter, and at any such time or times during the currency of,.such license as they .may think necessary, the .Commissioners: of . Aucit shall ascertain,_ by such means as they shall think most.fitting, “whether or not any selector, has, during ;the- said one, two, four,; six, dr ten years, fulfilL&d' 'the conditions ‘ of his license. And for this -purpose, it shall he. la.wful for the Commissioners from time to time, as they f shill “ sde fit,"to appoint one or more officers, to report .to them upon any breach oh conditions' of license, the value of improvements upon the land, and generally .for the purposes of carrying ; ont the-provisions .of this Act. If any selector shall fail to

fulfil any of the conditions :of his licen-c within thirty days after the day on which the same ought to - be fulfilled, and shall neglecfor, refuse to give up-possession of the ■land on being required in ; wilting so to do, the Commissioners of Audit shall apply to thei Resident Magistrate of the district for the recovery of the said laud in the manner indicated by the 82 nd and following provisions of the Resident Magistrate’s Act,... 18(>V, relating to the recovery of possession of tenements, and Resident .Magistrate shall have jurisdiction in such case,.notwithstanding that the vab'e of the premises, of of the license fee. payable in respect thereof, shall be ■of greater value than LSO. by.the year. And the jurisdiction of such- Magistrate shall uot be taken away or deemed to be ousted by any claim of title, quest toil of property, or suggestion of right, whether.made b jitd fide or otherwise, which rfiay be raised at ; the hearing of any such case. If the Magistrate shall decide that <iy \xf' rv£ f.lio lvnpn«PQ linvo nn+, ViPPn fill-

•filled he shall declare , the interest of the selector to be forfeited, and shall .forthwith issue, his warrant to the Bailitl of the Court or to any .constable to give p -ssession of the land to ■ the Commissioners of Audit. On recovering possession the Commissioners of Audit shall direct" the said laud and the improvements thereon to be sold by public auction for cash, at such upset price, time, and place atthey shall appoint, but at a price not less than the original cash p:lce, or less than the amount of the unpaid instalments. The pr. >- ceeds of such sale shall be applied in following maimer ; 1. To the liquidation of the unpaid balance of the license fees for t! e , whole term of the license. 2. To the payment of all costs and expanses incident to the recovery of the possession of the land and tiie sde thereof. 3. The surplus, after deducting 25 per cent as damages for breach of license, to the se’ector. At the expiratron of the term of any license, or on payment of the price of

■ the land previous thereto, the < omnvsi sioners of Audit upon being satisfied that all the conditions of such license have been fulfilled shall certify to the Secretary of Crown ! Lands that in their opinion tho selector is entitled to a Crown grant of the land held ' by him, and a Crown grant accordingly shall ' in due course be issued to the selector. And 1 when any land shall have been sold at aue- - tiOn in consequence of death, forfeiture, or under any of the provisions of this Act relating to such sales, a CTowu grant for the ■ same shall be is med as soon as may be after the payiu- nt of the purchase money for such 1 land. | The powers of the Land Board in respect to the deferred payment and agricultural leasing systems are not interfered with. The price of land is fixed at 25s per acre for rural land, and T2s (id for land de dared only lit for pastoral purposes, at au altitude of not less than 1,200 ft.