The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1881.

Kumara Times, Issue 1384, 9 March 1881, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1881.

Many have been the public meetings held, deputations appointed, interviews taken place, and bitter words expended in connection with the question of the sale of the Kumava Education Reserve; and yet at the present time the matter can be hardly said to have advanced one step in the direction required by the leaseholders. At the outset , it ap peared (and there were good grounds for this supposition) that the School Commissioners were placing every oh. stacle they possibly could in the way of the leaseholder's obtaining their respective sections as freeholds ; but subsequent action on the part of the School Commissioners fairly gave the leaseholders of the Reserve an opportunity of expressing an opinion as to whether the majority were in favor of purchasing the sections on which they resided, or otherwise. A circular forwarded by the School Commissioners to nearly all persons interested in this question read as follows ; Sir—The School Commissioners have under their consideration a proposal for selling the leased sections at Kuinara. Will you be so good as to fill up the form in the fly-leaf, and return it to me, showing whether or not you are desirous that Section No occupied by you, shall be offered at auction upon the terms there stated. The form in the fly-leaf referred to contained the following statement, to be addressed to the School Commissioners, Hokitika:— I am willing that Section No , occupied by me, be put up to sale on the following conditions : Ist. The upset price to be equal to three years’ rent, with value for improvements added. 2nd. Payment of all arrears of rent previous to auction sale. And I value my improvements as under. £ In the case of a section-holder not desiring to purchase, the word “ not ” was required to be inserted as a prefix to the word “ willing.” It would naturally be supposed that after all the hue and cry that had been raised in regal'd to the sale of these sections, theie would not have been a leaseholder but who would only too gladly have affixed his signature to this document, and thereby affirmed the gener-ally-expressed opinion in favor of the sale of the sections on the Kumara Education Reserve. From good authority, however, we are surprised to learn that the very persons who were the strongest advocates publicly of the sale of the Reserve have so far neglected to forward any reply to the circular addressed them by the School Commissioners. Meanwhile, the Commissioners can take no farther action in the matter, pending the receipt of an expression of opinion from the majority of the leaseholders for or against the s;ile of the sections, through the medium of the inquiries made of them rela. tive thereto in the circular to which we have referred. In not replying to the

question at issue, the leaseholders are simply standing in their own light, as eveiy day the sections remain unpurchased is an additional day in the present year’s rental. Let the leaseholders to a man sign and return the circulars forwarded by the School Commissioners either iu the affirmative or negative, and then it will be at once seen if this action on the part of the School Commissionets was a bona fide one, with the idea of allowing the present residents on the Honiara Education Reserve becoming the freeholders of the sections they now possess on lease.