THE Grey River Argus, PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1909, 18 September 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus, PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1874.

The new Waste Lands Act of the Province of Nelson is a most formidable looking piece of legislation, comprising, as it does, no less thu.ii one hundred and ten clauses within twelve sections, some of these sections containing as much new law as is usually found altogether in average Acts of Parliament. The Act is, however, very comprehensive and carefully compiled, embracing within its scope complete directions and detailed provisions for dealing with every description of land, whether pastoral, agricultural, mineral, or forest, together with instructions as to the terms and conditions to be observed in selling, leasing, reserving, or otherwise disposing of the same. The first section refers principally to the other Acts relating to the Waste Lands of the Province. Nc fewer than eight of these are repealed, but existing interests held under them are conserved and specially referred to. A new Waste Lands Board is to be constituted, to consist of the Superintendent, the Speaker of the Provincial Council, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and two other persons, one of whom will be appointed or removed by the Superintendent and the other by the Provincial Council, and the Commissioner is to be the ordinary administrative officer in dealing with matters under the Act. The present Board is to hold office until after the next session of the Provincial Council, and the Act itself comes in force on Ist January, 1875. Provision is made for the surveying, registering, and sale of Crown lands, and reserves for various purposes may be made whether the land is surveyed or not. Land may be granted on payment for the construction of public works, under certain conditions, some of which are very stringent, and the grant so made is limited to ten thousand acres in any one year. Leases for pastoral purposes may be given, but the area must not exceed ten thousand acres, and all mines or minerals existing on or under each leasehold are reserved to the Grown. There are some very important alterations and amendments introduced in dealing with pastoral and agricultural lands, but as we intend on a future occasion to refer to these portions of the new measure in detail, we will confine ourselves at present to the sections applying to mineral lands, and such of those only as have a special application to the circumstances of the district. The seventy-ninth clause permits the granting of prospecting licenses, giving the applicants the exclusive right to search for all minerals, except gold, over an extent of country not exceeding an area of six contiguous square miles. A deposit of one penny an acre must be made on application, but a refund will be made in respect to any portion of the area applied for over which the license does not extend. When the prospector has found coal, iron, or whichever mineral he may be searching for, he may select a spot on which he intends to commence permanent operations, and here he may obtain a leasehold not to exceed two square miles in extent, but to ensure the bona fides of the transaction, the lease will not be granted to^ any other person but the licensee, or his assigns, during the currency of the prospecting license. Transfers of prospecting licenses must be registered at the Land Office, with an endorsement on the license. Applicants for mineral leases must make a deposit of

one shilling per acre, which will be considered as rent should the lease be granted, and a further deposit of- a shilling an acre must be made to cover the cost of the survey. The Government or the applicant can have the survey made ; in the latter case the cost will be refunded, provided the Commission has approved of the surveyor and his work. When the survey is made the lease may be granted on the following conditions : — The contents as before-mentioned, must not exceed two square miles, and the term shall be twenty-one years. A rent of sixpence an acre mußt be. paid for each of the two first years, and not less than a shilling an acre for every subsequent year. A royalty of not less than a fiftieth, or more than one twentyfifth part of the minerals raised, is to be reserved. This royalty, or the value of it, will be deducted from the rent, and if the royalty does not equal or exceed the rent in any year, no rent will be charged, so that the royalty clause is merely a matter of form. The right to mine for gold shall be expressly reserved in the lease. The lease shall only include so much of the surface as may be agreed upon, and it must contain clauses protecting the interests of the Crown, for enabling the lessee to surrender the lease, and for reserving free access and right-of-way over and through it. Conditions for ensuring the efficient working of the mines and for securing the payment of additional rents and royalty over and above those specified may be inserted in the lease, and provided he has complied with all conditions the lessee shall be entitled to a renewal of the lease, for the Bame term, but at double the rent and royalties reserved in the original lease. No land comprised in a prospecting license or lease can be sold during the currency thereof, and auriferous lands are not to be dealt with under these clauses, the Boards, decision as to whether land is auriferous or not to be conclusive. Thus far the Act refers to coal and other minerals except gold, and cannot be found fault with ; but the provisions made under the ninth section for the auriferous land are not of a very liberal character, except in so far that the getting possession of the land is not hedged round with so many obstacles and difficulties as at present, but the areas allowed are still too small to induce the free investment of capital in alluvial mining. Discoverers of new auriferous land, oniside any proclaimed gold-field, may, on payment of L 5, obtain protection, for thirty days, of a block of land of sixteen and a half acres on a quarte-reef, or ten acres on alluvial ground. A gold-mining lease may be obtained within the boundaries of the land protected, of ten acres in alluvial, or an area of 400 x 200 yards on a quartz-reef, for 15 years, or a less time. The lease must be applied for before the date of protection expires, and it cannot be granted until fifteen days' notice (instead of two months, as at present) is given of the intention of the Board is given in the " Gazette" of the Province, or in a local newspaper. The rent must not be less than £2 per annum, per acre a most exorbitant and all but prohibitive tax, and conditions as to the beneficial working the ground may be imposed. Should the leases be included within the boundaries of any gold-field, proclaimed after the lease is issued, the land shall be considered leased under the provisions of the Gold-fields Act then in operation, and shall be subject to the rules and regulations on such gold-field ; that is to say, that whenever land conies under the operation of the Gold-fields Act the Waste Lands Board ceases to have control over it, but, under the fourth clause of the first section waste lands within a proclaimed gold-field, not being auriferous land, can bs dealt with by the Board, as if it were not within a gold-field, but Biich land may be resumed under the "Resumption of Land for Mining Purposes Act of 1873." The foregoing are the portions of the new Act of most interest to the residents of the district, but as the parts dealing with this settlement of the population generally on the land is of importance to everyone, we will take an early opportunity of returning to the subject.

The weather for the last few days has been of a truly equinoctial description, with the exception that the high and dry winds which usually prevail at this season of the year have been supplemented by an almost incessant downpour of rain. It began to rain on Wednesday afternoon, and continued with scarcely an intermission till daylight this morning. It is feared, from the state of the weather up country by the latest accounts, that the rivers will have risen sufficiently by to-day to stop all traffic in the interior for the rest of the week. There was some little excitement in sporting circles in town yesterday, and for that matter in circles which do not by any means affect sportiveness, except in the shape of the mild dissipation of a "tea-fight," that the fortunate winner of the first prize in the great Albion Derby Sweep on the Sydney Metropolitan Handicap had been "got at" at Ahaura, or «some other place up-country, and induced to sell his chance of a small fortune for an old song so to speak. The rumor which so horrified the " stern moralists " was that some " villian of the deepest dye," or " some smart man of business," as the case may be, had succeeded in purchasing Mr M'Millan's ticket from him for fifty pounds, just before he learned the result of the race, which was telegraphed to Ahaura as soon as the intelligence reached Greymouth. It was scarcely to be credited that the drawer of Sterling was a "man of that sort," but still, numbers of those who profess to be versed in everything and every dodge in connection with horsey matters, crooked and straight, were deceived into the belief that any man, even although he were a brewer, and a Borough Councillor of Greymouth all at once, could be done for at Ahaura, for thare is a legend that the "King of the King" himself was "had for chalk" there on one occasion, but only once. However, the report turned out to be incorrect, for Mr M'Millan arrived in town in the evening, and contradicted the statement, that he had parted with any portion of his interest in the winning horse. The whole affair ! is said to be a Striking example of what may | happen in the present Staite of affairs, when even a canard on the result of a horse race and its consequences causes such an uproar in the leading town on the Coast. The farewell performance of Miss Aitken • is to take place place this evening at the Volunteer Hall, should the weather prove favorable. Those who havo not yet had the pleasure of being present at any of the entertainments given by this lady are expecting an evening's intellectual amusement such as they may not again have an opportunity of enjoying, and numbers who have had the privilege of hearing her are solicitous to do bo once more previous to her final departure.

It is therefore to be hoped that that ficklerainded and eccentric party, the clerk of the •weather, will be pleased to accommodate himself to the wishes of the numerous admirers of Miss Aitken, aud arrange matters so that there will be a reasonable expectation of making the event a financial success. We understand that several of the immigrants, who arrived at Greymouth on Wednesday, have already found employment. One of the married men, an iron moulder, was taken on to work by Rae and Sewell at the Greymouth Foundry; and some of the coalminers proceeded to, and were engaged to proceed to, Brunnerton. It is satisfactory that those who have obtained work are all heads of families. It is notified that the transfer books of the National Fire and Marine Insurance Company will be closed from th 19bh inst , until after the holding of the general meeting in Dunedin on the 10th November. The Rev. J. W. C. Heine, the pastor of the German Lutheran Church, Nelson, recently received congratulatory addresses from his congregation, and from the Bishop and Clergy of the Church of England, Nelson, on the 26th anniversary of his pastoratic in that city. In the report supplied the Government, by the directoas of the Dunedin Lunatic Asylum, the almost universal practice among miners of drinking large quantities of strong tea, without using milk therewith, is given as a predisposing cause of insanity. The Nelson Government " Gazette " of 12th September, contains the official notification of the election of Mr John Reid, of Ahaura, as a member q£ the Ahaura Roard Board in the room of Mr W. H. Lash, resigned. The Province of Westland Government "Gazette," of 11th September, contains the announcement that Joseph Henry Grenville has been appointed Clerk to the Provincial Treasury, the appointment to date from the 22nd August, 1874. The Westport "Times" states that it is the intention of the Provincial Government to send down the greater portion of the next batch of immigrants, now due per ship Chile at Nelson, to Westport, where they will be employed at a moderate rate of wages opening up the branch streets through the bush from Palmerston street. This will be a boon to the public, and a source of immediate profit to owners of sections whose property will be rendered accessible. The contract for taking the Tnangahua Quarrz-erushing Company's machinery from Greymoufch to tho Company's site, aboub one aud a half miles further up the right branch of the Inangahua, River than the junction of Murray Creek, has been, let to Mr Thomas Garth (late White and Garth), Ahaura. The whole of the plant weighs about 30 tons ; the atamper-boxea weighing about two aud a half tons each, being the heaviest pieces. The time allowed for the performance of the contract is five weeks. A fresh batch of thirty new Justices of the Peace has just been turned out. There are none in Westland but an old resident of Hokifcita, Mr John Cosgrave, now of Auckland, is added to the roll of Justices. Messr3 Martin Lightband and James Selanders, of Nelson, are also appointed to the Commission of the Peace. The New Zealand Government "Gazette," of the 10th September, contains the official notification of Major Atkinson ( Mr O'JRorke'a successor) to a seat in the Ministry. There is a pleasing variety about the Gazette notices of Major Atkinson's various appointments. His appointment as a member of the Executive Council is vouched for by the signature of Forstef Goring, Clerk of the Executive Council; Francis A. Hare, Private Secretary, by command, testifies his appointment as Secretary for Crown Lands ; Julius Vcgel is the bare signature appended to his appointment as Land Claims' Commissioner; and finally K. Ferguson, A.D.C., by command, and for the Private Secretary, announces his appointment as Minister of Immigration. Variety is charming, but all this is highly suggestive of red-tape. By the following letter from the Premier, appearing in the "Colonist," of the 10th instant, it would appear that no decision has yet been arrived at respecting the through route of the Foxhill and Brunnerton railway, but that thorough estimates of the cost of each route will be made before any conclusion will be come to : — "To the Hon. M. Richmond, C.8., M.L.C ; the Hon. T. Renwick, M. L. C. ; and the other gentlemen who signed the letter. Gentlemen — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th August, enclosing copy of resolutions respecting the rai'way from Nelson to tte West Coast, which were adopted at a public meeting held at Nelson on the 7th August. 2. I will hand the documents to the Minister of Public Works, who will, I am sure, give them the utmost consideration. 3. I wish to observe that, as I understand, the department have not come to any decision as to the route the line is to take between Foxhill and Brunnerton, except that it is desirable to make a thorough investigation concerning all practicable routes, with a view of estimates of their expenses being arrived at. 4. I strongly desire to remove the impression which seems to exist in Nelson that any foregone conclusion has been come to. 1 have, &c, frjiius Yogel." The "Buller News" thus alludes to the Telegraphic Pi ess Agency: — "The AngloAustralian Press Agency is a press agency with a vengeance. Its pressure upon newspaper proprietors is like a nightmare. Its vagaries are perfectly bewildering. Some genius, who signs himself ' Knocker,' completely 'knocks us out of time.' He is a kind of telegraphic Boswell on a very small scale, and he pursues the career of little great men such as Mr Von der Heyde, with the pertinacity of a biographer. He has a passion for it." The advocates of women's rights will be gratified to learn that the cause is advancing atWestporc. At the Municipal election on j Thursday, two lady voters, each proprietress of a well-known hostelry, recorded their votes "like men." As proof of the rapid strides acclimatisation is taking in New Zealand we take the following from the "Bruce Herald" of a recent date :— " Partridges are now so plentiful that they stray into Palmerston, and in crossing the road they strike the telegraph wires which causes their death." — "The Shag River contains a million of trout, from minnows to fish of 161 b weight. The Shig River should be thrown open to the public. " — "Pheasants are now plentiful in the Palmei^ston district, so much that in crossing the fields on the hills they are started on every side. Hares also are excessively plentiful."