ROYAL COMMISSION.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 June 1923, Page 3

ROYAL COMMISSION.

ON ROYALTIES QUESTION. SUITING AT HOKITIKA. MON DA A'- JUNE 25i1i. The (’oiiiimssinniT. Air John Stiauc hen presided, taking his seal at 19 a.m. Mr St in in-lion said lie had come down to hold a fair i-u'jitiry in a- c-i.rdr m e v. illi the order of relerein-e. Mr T. \V. Duff congratulated Mr Strauehiili oil his appointment t i the position el' ('.oininis-ioiii'i-. He tell that they would icecive a fair and impartial hearing at his hand-. 'I lie matter was one of great importance to the lcr-al bodies. Mr Strum-bun thanked the ( nairman for I:is "clc-uine. Evident e was then given as pillows : .lames A. Murdoch, sworn, stated he was a member ot the Westland Countv Council. There was no need to read the section of the Act cr order of the refeieiice. as that had been read. He would endeavor to confine himself ta the order of relereii: e. Westland is n mining di-triet constituted by proclamation. This was of special importante as various acts alieeted the ba d bodies therein. The Westland County Ci.-niK-il wag .-learly on titled to c.M rents, royalties and lees m respect ef timber cutting rights within what were known as the Alidhmd Railway reservations. Cniler Regulation 111 ' ' the main Alining Act. special provisions applied, enabling the Warden to deal with applications for timber areas. Ihe regulation lias a proviso that the Warden. is authorised to act on behalf u! the Land Board, and such revenue is deemed to be territorial revenue. The local body under the Act. was entitled t„ the whole of the revenue received from the Afidland railway area, .Section 409 says all fees, rents, royalties and other moneys received in respect to Crown lands open for mining (not ineluding land sold, or used for agricultural purposes) shall he paid into tho public account as goldfields revenue and all such moneys (save the cost of collectienJ shall 'c paid to the local body affected. In 1007 a section apI reared dealing "itli section 199. It provided that the cost ot collection should not be debited against the fund. TPe\- said that section -109 was a special section affecting the land in a mining district. As to halves and thirds under the Land Act, he would not deal, but would leave flax also to tile Commissioner of Crown Lands,

Dealing with tho future royalties cn oil, the Chairman intervened and stated he could not ileal with that, and asked for anthoritv for same.

Jlr Jfurdoeh said he was proposing to show what were the rights of the local body and quoted sections affecting the position, and the manner of application. His reason for bringing this out at present was because of the very favorable reports of the Government geologist on the possibilities of oil in Kumar,,! district. At the present time a high American expert Prof. Millson is engaged to ropoit on the possibilities. They looked forward to royalties from oil prospecting. The claims they made were that they had a right to the royalties which the Forests Act took away. The Westland County Council was the first body to move in connection with the .Midland Railway area loyalties. Tn 1915 as a result of complaints the Westland County i'ounci'. received a lump sum of £I9OB. This payment, was a clear admission of error on the part of the Government. No local body can sign a discharge of liability. After the payment of this sum. the quarterly payments showed an increase. The County did not consider tht'si* payments adequate. During the war peri'd they did not actively make their representations. Since the war they renewed their activities. In 1920, a Furl!ir lump sum of £495 was paid. This was a second admission of error, flic* Grey County received .£ll*lß, Innngaliua £I3BB, and Bailor a larger sum. We still say that they were not yet getting the whole of the royalties tliev were entitled to. lie would refer again to Set. 2-1 of the Forests Act, and War Legislation and Statute Act of 1918. They had established that they had certain rights, and that they had been taken from them. He proposed to show the effect and stupe of their claims. The sawmill areas in Westland granted by the Wardens Vi nil amount to 10.190 acres and reservations attached total 25,093 acres. In Grey the sawmill areas are 11.103 acres and reservations 28.291) acres. Tlie State Forest reservations in Westland of Crown Lands are 947,311 acres and in endowment land 357,080 acres a total of 1,30-1.100 acres. In Grey district the area under the Forest Act is 1158.510 acres and 239.355 acres. Even the areas granted hv the Warden are affected, as they are liable to he cancelled, and some had already been so affected. He gave instances of how the Forest- Ad had affected the revenue of the County Council. The passing of the Forest Ad interferes with the revenue i.f the County Council as regards rates. lie considered there wore half a million of timber carrying laud lit Westland, carrying 10.000 feet to the acre. The loin! holy had a right to look forward to the loyalties i n ibis timber. I hey Inul looked forward to receiving £12...00 a year from timber royalties before the passing of tlu* Forest Act. 1 lie improved cutting facilities enabled a far larger area of niilkihle timber being secured. The percentage oi State loit-st to-day ill West hind is I 1.2 ]or coni. In 1921 alone, the area in Westland hind district under the Foro-si Act increased hv 1(1.087 acres. He asked the Commissioner to make an addendum to his report dealing with ices on applications. The applications are filed in the Wardens Court for Midland Bailwav reservations: second, the rents on timher licenses ; third, tin* whole ot the rovalties in timber licenses on .Midland railway reserves. Then as to Hie Land Beard timber revenues, these revenues are a'eomcd to be goldfields revenue. Thru miw miller*, have hem allowed to cut i n timber reservations, and allowed lent, to he credited tn royalties, which the local body did not get as it was paid in as rent. Concluding he had pointed out that the Ci miei! had the right to royalties, the extent of t-ho-e- rights, and Lkil they had been taken away by the \Eorestry legislation and had inferred e> the loss involved in the future. The Chairman i-otigrat ulated Mr XI il r-do.-h on iho style in which the evi,j. ~, ~ „r> -■ h 11 had I n -i-h'Prhd- !-. placed heh" i him. (Left Sitting).