THE LAND TEANSFEB ACT.

Southland Times, Issue 1350, 20 December 1870, Page 2

THE LAND TEANSFEB ACT.

: A special meeting of the. Chamber, of Commerce was held yesterday at noon. Present— I Mr H. ~J. G-ibbs (chairman) -, Messrs Calder, Hare, M'Pherson, Macdonald, Harvey, Russell, and the secretary (Mr Nutter). The minutes and a point of constitution were disposed o f, after which the chairman "said" that since last meeting further communications had. been received in reference to the Land Transfer question. The one. was -a telegram from ! Mr Macandrew, stating that he would be prepared to urge the suggestion of the I Chamber on the attention of , the General Government,, full of which were published in Friday's issue. The other was a communication from Mr Yogel, , received on Saturday afternoon, and which was read as follows;: — - ' I have conferred with the Superintendent, and will be prepared to recommend to the Colonial Secretary the establishment of a Land Title Register Office in Invereargill concurrently with the one about to he established in Dunedin. lam. not, however, in a position-to assure you that the Colonial Secretary will comply. ' ■ ; The chairman added that he -had forwarded an answer to the telegram, simply thanking Mr Yogel for bis 1 prompt attention to their represen- : tations.. The further steps to be taken, with the view of strengthening the claim, was next discussed; A statement J to the- Colonial Secretary of the facts of the i ca?e was at once decided upon, but a question arose as to whether it should be : despatched by telegram or letter. -On '■ behalf; of. the first mode of transmission, it was urged that the Dunedin office was. to be established on the Ist proximo, con- ] sequently the post would arrive too,, late ■ to further . the proposal 1 of getting an; office established concurrently with that ; of Dunedin. .On the other hand, it was i that the 1 district being widely re- ■ moved 1 from the political influences cdn- j necfed with : the present office of ; Colonial Secretary, an abrupt, cominuni. I

cation by telegram would be more likely to damage the project than otherwise. The report, moreover, that the Dunedin district was to be formed on the Ist Jan was founded simply upon vague rumors, which could not be .traced to any reliable source. Mr Calder added in support of that view that so far as the matter had gone, the Chamber had reason to congratulate itself as to the probable result, and -he was apprehensive that undue haste on their part would be the means of defeating the -object just at the moment when success was likely to result. The discussion was brought to a unanimous vote of the Chamber — That the Colonial Secretary be written to; urging him to establish an office at Invercargill concurrently with one in Duneiin in terms of the recommendation of the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer and his Honor the Superintendent.