BALLOTING FOR LAND.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 9028, 16 December 1907, Page 2

BALLOTING FOR LAND.

THE NEW REGULATIONS. I By a notice in tiiis week's Gazette all previous regulations governing tho system of balloting for Crown lands are revoked, and tiie following regulations are substituted in lieu thereof:—On the day appointed for rccoiving applications"for laud, each application as it is received shall be numbered in consecutive order, and, in addition, with a, rotation number Paving reference only to tho applications made for the particular section or allotment applied for. Examination of Applicants : Before taking a ballot or otherwise disposing of applications for land the Board may, in such manner as it thinks fit, inquire into all matters affecting an applicant's suitability or his right of preference under the Acts, and may reject any applicant who refuses or fails to answer any inquiries as to such matters to the satisfaction, of the Board. Tho decision of the Board as to tho rejection or preference of any applicant shall be final and conclusive.

Landless Applicauts with Families : The Board may , with '.ho approval of the. Minister, on the opening of any laud for public selection, set apart not more than one-third of such land as allotments in respect of which preference at any ballot shall bo given to applicants who are landless within the meaning of Regulation (i, and who belong to any of the following classes:—(a) Married men with children; (b) widowers with children; (c) Widows with children; (cl) Marricu women with children and judicially separated from their husbands. All such applicants shall rank equally with eacli other. Landless Applicants Unsuccessful in Previous Ballots: The Board may also, with the approval of the Minister, on the opening of any land for public selection, sot apart certain allotments in respect of which preference at any ballot shall bo given to applicants who are landless within the meaning of Regulation 6, and have within'the previous two years competed at least twice unsuccessfully at any other land-ballot under any" of the "above-mentioned Acts. To Landless Applicants : In cases whore a ballot, is required, those applicants who are landless shall have preference over those who are not, and the decision of tho Board as to which of the applicants aro landless shall be final and conclusive. An applicant is landless within the meaning of tiie regulation if he does not hold under any tenure such area of land, whether Crown laud or not, as is in the opinion of the Board sufficient for the maintenance of himself and his family. In the case of a husband and wife (except when they are- judicially separated), if either of them is not landless neither of them shall be deemed to be landless.

Successful Applicants Debarred for Five Years : Every person who hereafter is successful in any land ballot under the aforesaid Acts, and who makes any disposition of his allotment or any part thereof, whether by way of assignment or sublease, shall bo disqualified for the period of five years after the date of such land-ballot under any of the aforesaid Acts. METHOD OF CONDUCTING BALLOT. The Commissioner shall provide sufficient balls, all of ono size and colour, equal to the total number of apxilications for tho section applied for, and on each of such bails he shall cause to bo legibly printed or written one of the rotation numbers aforesaid, but so that no two halls shall bear the same rotation number. The figures on ttie balls shall have a line drawn horizontally under them to show which is the right side up. At the time fixed for the ballot the Commissioner of Crown Lands, or officer appointed by him, shall read over each name on the list aforesaid with its rotation number, and, Jas each name and number is read over, the ball bearing tho corresponding rotation number shall be deposited in the ballot-box. The person whose rotation number appears on the ball first drawn from the ballot-box shall be declared by the Commissioner or other officer to he tho successful applicant. If tho Commissioner thinks fit he may draw a second ball from the ballot-box, and the applicant whose rotation number appears thereon shall be declared the successful applicant in all cases where the applicant whose rotation number is first drawn is ineligible or disqualified from selecting or holding the section ballotted for, and such disqualification is announced by the Commissioner or Land Board within a space of thirty days from the date of ballot.

Immediately upon the successful applicant being declared he shall pay to the Receiver of Land Revenue the deposit, purchase-money, rent, or other moneys required by law iu respect of the land applied for, should such moneys not have already been deposited. Should such applicant or his representative not make the said payments as required by law, then a fresh ballot shall be taken between the other applicants without delay, unless a second number has already been drawn, in which caso the applicant whose rotation number it is shall be declared tho successful applicant, and called upon to pay the necessary deposit, etc. Or, should there be only one remaining applicant, he shall be declared successful, subject to the said payments being made as aforosaid.