THE SOUTHLAND WASTE LANDS ACT, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 45, 19 February 1864, Page 7

THE SOUTHLAND WASTE LANDS ACT, 1863.

An Act to amend the Laws npw in force • for the Sale, Letting, Occupation, ;j v.*- and Disposal of the Waste Lands. of the Crown within the Province of Southland, a •fIsaEBYED rem nm majesty's assent, 14'xh mecEMBEn, 1653. ; Whereas it is expedient to amend the acts, .ordinances, and regulations now in force within the Province of Southland, for tlie sale, letting, occupation, and disposal >of the waste lands t of the" Crown, ; and 'to make furtherprovision thereto : Be ;it therefore; enacted by the G-eneral Assembly of New, Zealand, in Parliament assembled, arid by the authority of the same as follows :— Short Title. I, The short, title of this act shall be the " Southland Waste Lands Act, 1863" Application and Commencement of Act. 11. This act shall apply to the Province and to the waste land within the Province of Southland only, and shall not come into operation until Her Majesty's. -pleasure' shall have been taken thereon, andithe same shall have been confirmed by Her Majesty, with the advice of the Privy Council, and a proclamation of such confirmation naving been given, shall have been made Dy the G-overnor. Partial Repeal cf Laios. 111., As to any sale or other disposition of land hereafter to be made, the order made by the Governor in Council on the 19th day of September, 1860, and the 6th, 7th, Sth, 9th, 10th, llth and 18th clauses of the Waste Lands Regulations ofthe Province of Otago, proclaimed by the Governor on the I2fch day oi' Eebruary, ISSB, are hereby repealed: Provided always that the said Order in Council and clauses shall, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, remain in force as to all engagements, contracts ancl obligations . heretofore entered into thereunder, and as yet uncompleted. 1. — Htjeali Land. Section 26 Partially Repealed. IV. So far as concerns rural land, Section 26 of the said Waste Lands Begulations is hereby repealed. All Rural Land Open for Sale, V. All rural land shali hereafter be open for skle or disposal, except such as, at the time application is made for the purchase of the same, is leased, or reserved for leasing, or is included or comprised within any license to depasture stock, or is reserved from sale by virtue of any power or authority in that behalf, given by any act, ordinance or regulation for the time being in force; but it shall be lawful for the v .Superintendent with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, to reserve or withdraw from sale any land, the sale of which may appear to him to be prejudicial to the public interests. Purchasers must make Application. VI. Any persons desirous of purchasing land shall make an application in writing for the purchase thereof to the Waste Land Board, in a form to be by the Board prescribed, and the decision of the Board on such application shall be given on such day as it shall appoint not being more than twelve days from the date of application. Li the event of two or more persons having made application for the same land on the same clay, such land shall be put up for sale by public j auction, open to all bidders. Price of Land. VIL The price at which land shall be oflered for sale shall be forty shillings per acre ! and in the event of two or more applications for the purchase of the same land beiug made on . tlie same day, the upset price at which such land shall be put at the auction shall be forty shillings ]ier acre. Price of Lind may be raised VIII. Provided always that it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council from time to time if he shall see fit, on the receipt of a recommendation to this effect from the Superintendent and Provincial Council, to order that an augmentation shall be made in the price at which the waste lands shall be offered for sale, either by selection or auction, to such an amount as shall be expressed in the said recommendation, and from and after a date to be fixed in the order in Council the price shall be raised accordingly. Land, hoio to be Sold. IX. Where no more than one apphcation shall have been made for the same land on the same day, and the Waste Land Board shall have decided that the land shall be sold, and shall have declared such applicant to be the purchaser thereof, then such applicant shall forthwith pay to the treasiu'er of the Waste Land Board the purchasemoney thereof ; and where land shall have been put up to public auction, as hereinbefore provided, the highest bidder shall be declared the purchaser thereof, and the person who is declared the purchaser shall, immediately after such sale, pay to the auctioneer or other person authorised by the said treasurer to receive the samej the purchasemoneyofthelandpurchasedbyhim Grant to be issued. K. Upon payment of the purchase- . money the purchaser shall be entitled '^to a grant from the Crown, in fee simple of the land of which he shall have been declared the purchaser. , Any former Purchaser may either — XL Any person who at any time (it* "before the passing of this, Act shall have applied for the purchase of land under the Land 'Begulations then in force, and shall have obtained from the Waste Land Board a certificate entitling him to take possession of the ; land specified in 1 his application, but •who shall not have expended on such land forty shillings per acre in im-; provements, so as to entitle -him to a Crown grant thereof under the said Itegolations (hereinafter styled a "for-: mer purchaser'?) may elect to do

gither of the fallowing things : — 1. To pay this Receiver of Land . -Revenue at his office a: sura of money equal to ten shillings per acre* on- the quantity of land comprised in his certifi- : cate, and beentitled forthwith t : .to a Crown grant in fee simple, free feom conditions, \ 2, To take a Crown grant in fee simple without- conditions for two-thirds .in yalue of the land comprised in such certificate. y. To be ascertained to the satis- ; - : ; potion -of the Commissioner ot Ciwvn lands. , _ Otherwise to abandon their rights. XII. Any such former jfiircliaser who shall not within six months after the coming into operation of this Act elect to do either of the aforementioned things, and signify the same?in writing to the Waste Land Board, shall be deemed to have decided to stand upon his rights, and to remain subject to his liabilities as though this Act had not been passed. II. — MISOEILA2fEOTJS PROVISIONS. Right of Pasturage. XIII. On the proclamation of new hundreds over country held under pastoral licenses, the right of pasturage j shall remain with the holders of such licenses until the appointment of wardens for such hundreds. Land in Goldfield subject to Waste Land Laws. XIV. It shall be lawful for the Governor, by proclamation, from time to time, to declare that any district of country to be therein described, which may- be or have been proclaimed a goldfield under the provisions of the " G-olclfields Act, 1862," or any Goldfields Act for the time being in force, the pastoral licenses over which shall have been suspended or cancelled, shall, from a date to be therein stated, be subject to the provisions of the " Waste Lands Act, 1858," and to the provisions of the several Acts, Ordinances and Begulations for the time being in force within the said Province for the sale, letting, occupation or disposal of the Waste Lands anything in such G-oldfields Act to the contrary notwithstanding.