The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 212, 7 September 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER

The new Land Bill introduced by Mr Donald Reid was considered in all its bearings by the -Nelson Waste Lauds Board ou Wednesday }as<t ? and, as might have been expected by all who have studied it. the third part, which specially refers to the acquirement of land on deferred payments, was, so far' as' it relates to the Nelson district, unanimously condemned. So full is it of harassino* restrictions, and so hedged round by vexatious conditions, compliance with some of which is almost impossible, that the Board apparently found it useless to attempt to suggest any amendments but preferred to pass resolutions to tlje following esect;-(l). « That Part HI. relating to the selection of l^tid on deferred payments % coul.ql not be made applicaable to the lands in this district, and if brought into operation, to the exclusion of the existing leasing laws would in the opinion of the Board seriously (retard settlement, and the occupation, and cultivation q£ fljp country. (2). That the leasing clauses of the Nelson Waste Land3 Act, 1874— sections 51 to 78, excepting 77*— were admirably adapted for the encouragement of settlement, occupation, and cultivation of the lauds in this district, as is evidenced by the large number of applications for leases by bona fide settlers for hmd hitherto unsaleable aud unproductive/'" " To the New Land Bill ut attached appendices with reference to the alienation of lands in the various Provincial districts. Appeudix E. which has to do with Nelsou is as follows: — (1.) Sections of rural land may, subject to the provisions of this Act, be of such size as the Board may from time to time determine,

and any section may afc any time previous fco advertising for Sale be altered or subdivided by the Board; but no alteration shall take place between the time of advertising the same for sale and the time of its being offered for sale by auction. (2.) All sales of rural, land, except as is otherwise hereinafter provided, shall be by auction. (3.) The upset price of rural land shall be from five shillings to forty shillings per acre, as may be fixed by the Board. (4.) No land shall be sold unless the same shall have beea previously surveyed and distinguished by appropriate numbers upon apian to be deposited and exhibited in the principal land office. (5.) It shall be lawful for the Board to allow any applicant for the purchase of unsurveyed land, to have such land surveyed at his own expense by a surveyor authorised by the Surveyor-General in that behalf. The land may then, unless reserved or withdrawn from sale, be put up to auction, and an allowance made to the purchaser for the expense of the survey afc fche rate of five acres for every hundred acres. Should the land be reserved or withdrawn from sale, the applicant shall be paid the cost of the survey, such cost to be ascertained and limited as provided in the section next hereinafter contained. (6.) If the land so surveyed be purchased by any other person than the original applicant, tho purchaser shall, in addition to the amount bid for the same at the sale, pay to the receiver of land revenue, to be paid by him to the original applicant as the cost of the survey, such sum not exceeding one shilling and sixpence per acre as may be- assessed by the Board; and if the land so surveyed be not sold at auction, the Board shall add a. sum limited and assessed as aforesaid to the upset price of the land, and such sum shall be paid fco the original applicant if and when such land is sold. (7.) Rural land not open for sale- under any of the preceding pro-* visions may be purchased in such sections as the applicants may describe and point out, subject to the provisions of this Act, at fche maximum price of two pounds per acreProvided that whenever land so 'purchased is beyond the limits of the surveys already executed or about to be immediately executed, the expense of the survey thereof shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall deposit the estimated cost with the purchase money. With reference to the foregoing the Board passed the following resolution :— "* T u at faiHn S the continuance of the whole of tho sections mentioned in resolution No 2 the Board strongly recommend that sections 75 and 76 of the " Nelson Waste Lands Act, 1874, be added to appendix E, aud substituted as far as this district is concerned for Part 111. of the proposed Land Bill, the maximum acreage to be leased in any one year in section 75 being struck out, and the maximum acreage to be leased to one person to be increased to 320 acres, and the minimum price per acre increaaad to ten shillings " The purport of these sections, 75 and 76 we may state, is that land may be obtained on the deferred payment system by the payment for fourteen years of ten per cent per annum on the assessed value, not more than 200 acres to be leased by one person, and nofc more than 10,000 acrea in the aggregate in one year, the minimum price to be 7s per acre. These sections have been fonnd to work so well that the Board is desirous of seeing their provisions maintained with the few alterations suggested in their resolution. Other suggestions are made by the Board to the effect, that Clause 95 of the Nelson Act, which gives power to the Board to grant occupation licenses of a temporary character, be added to Appendix E, as by it the Board can obtain revenue from lands in outlYing districts nofc immediately required for more permanent settlement; that Section 107 be also added to fche Appendix. This authorises the Board to sell to occupiers of town allotments on goldflelds who have erected buildings thereon, or held the allotment for two years under a business license, at a price to be fixed by the Board, being not less than afc the rate of £40 per acre ; that the power to grant prospecting licenses', and mineral leases throughout this district should be vested in the Board as heretofore This seems to be rendered necessary by Section 156 of the new Bill, which provides for the Board granting mineral leases outside the goldflelds only ; that rights of road should not lapse if not exercised within five years, as provided by Section 158 of the new Bill, but compensation should be paid for any damage done by exercising the right after that period. Provision should also be made in Section 160 for land to be given in exchange for roads taken through sections where no road previously existed. If the Government will accept the suggestions made by the Board, the Bill may be put into workable shape so far as tbis district is concerned, but if they elect to adhere to their original proposals they will inflict upon this province an injury, the extent of which it is difficult to foresee.