EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 333, 23 July 1875, Page 2

EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT.

There appears-to! ba;no : the eccentricitiesija : and .a3^jta c f4episipiis]'ape;j when relating to land gerieraliyp-yet when. auriferousiigrpiikdr'hwt'o, be, dealt]with 3ncohere^ie'sf*lnc^ like^are .placeji^jfar:,- supremeVfblly /helJseat o£ modern" wisdom.l- ,H H ] The latest dey^lo^ment^/aSf'reported; in %h^^,oaa^flialiV'felieV-ih4^ ? fofm : T 7 . Mx:. -Bastings:: sd&Ye'\hoficpdc-a' in one of the papers thatj the.?fWaste Lands idation; cfithe. "District >LandUOfficer.'-; il am sure that is not correct. Tv ril .ia'AJq \ •■'- "■ £'„?. She .Chief CommissioH&pTnatrtis.3Kieriii'B • case. ' ■ ■ - | :ni.<.W£- tfio'' : Warden. crtOl ! / 7 J;hQ3e<whp considery.tHe* land auriferous are prepared to pay?:£:erin compen-iPa^oi^sifcsjiKillinotlie.gold;-ill volqiilS j fr. Bastings : It has gone we this lan'i'agaiiist Ihe.advice' of .tKeDistrict Land Officer. " o~r'A ! • when the appKcationiwas,before, J.u^er||o.sn-SfciiWasf»s rfollo.ws :tM'- Eefer^ctfor. i.adyjße, toittlfe District tain whether^. to pay .wWlu' ,X J, I .i :i -,, Mr. Reid said thafc.thte.obje'cfcors'uhadlbeen cinformed/that-no. .theiExeputivejtothe saleJ6f/the land in question unless they.were prepared to ,? pay jcom-. I pensation to JEerin. .; ;■■,•'. .:;,. i ,■/;;;'■■!". ~, jfc v.-:

". ; G?ommtssioiier.: 'application ha8 t beeii;sentfbacfc to .the-Warden;••> ■■: i: < . .."" ' ':':, ".'-If. "tihp- t h :isGase-6f :3^:riri's i is^p* T he,,'a7 prmcipjg'"''which E,in tha ; it amounts to this thafr<the members take; upon -therflselves ; tb ! "aTriend the* Waste 'Mri'&s Act. w The'Actevery.'whereiprortects,aujifeiro.us..!land.,,fr9m; sale, -, and provides thrbughoiit ytfoat •a/:sustained objection, ishowms; that the'-ground applied for is auriferous, or likely,.toi"be' required for public purposes 1 ,' 7 shali, be .a valid objection .prphibjt(ng,tl)e issue of a title. We look in vain in. the; Act for<any .clause bearing-the peculiar definition that no land is tb,.be held to be auriferous unless' willing to pay the .tempbraryV. p'qcupier such compensation as may' bo adjudged to him if his license of occupation is ;eancelled/ 1 ; 1 - 1 h ■ r '--' 1 '' , :.i .•■-";•

Two di.fferentoperationa of tlie', .let appeal?-to, be jumjwedvup., __JEiVst,i- the* Act" provides that proof that thegi-ound is auriferous or likely to be required

poses is sufficient reason td-ieserve such ground from sale. Secondly, it also provides that at any time land so reserved, although occupied, may be resumed on payment of compensation.

The exact facts of Kerin's case do not appear in the reports. It appears "clear tha¥^tne : lsist?ict Officer had supported the!objection raised to the sale. Also, that the. application was again sent back to him" folf"the purpose of ascertaining whether the objectors were prepared to pay the compensation. If not, the objections would be dismissed, and the land would be sold apparently in direct violation of the Waste Lands Act. : Such a decision exhibits a gross ignorance of mining pursuits. On a Groldfield it may te safely laid down that every acre of auriferous ground will be worked. Ground that is being worked now was not pegged out, or in any way appropriated, a year or two ago, although known to be rich. A, limited number of miners cannot hold more than a limited amount of ground at one time, and yet .-/.might be quite justified in objecting to .ground being alienated that they wouldrequire, and beentitled to hold-inthe : coarse of & few years. ;'. '■':-' -'--■

: i.Shch considerations are, of course too trivial for a judicial vbody that, in total ignorance; of-the.Tequwements of the -Goldfields, decides without hearing argument,-arid too often? disregards the only practical adyice it .condescends to receiye"-T*thatv.of its_ "own. ibistriet Officers. "° ;.".. :'" r

•u If thiscaseTof Kerin's is to be a precedent; objection is in future to be only one that the objector is prepared to pjiy for, the sooner a general protest" is entered against it the better. The Waste Lands Board of Otago is a most expensive luxury, whieh could be with advantage.- Professing: to' be a judicial iody it is the most arbitrary, development of red-tape autocracy to be found among, our endless g©Ternisg--bodies;- v be a body defending the rights of the people, by its ever-changing developments—creative of-«-constant ill-will between •class and, the people's : w£ist"foe., The sum spent in litigation since the board 'was J constituted—if ifr could- be : summed up—would prove enormous.' -The ' amount lost, in the endless delays and ihcon-veniences hp tending settlers have experienced enof the.;Bpard?S;fliismantrials pf viemjer/cannofc eyenbesurmised.