THE WASTE LAND BOARD.

Southland Times, Issue 1731, 22 April 1873, Page 3

THE WASTE LAND BOARD.

(to the editob of the times ) SlB, — In your weekly issue of 12th instant you record such extraordinary proceedings on the part of the locil Land Board, that 1 am anxious to draw public attention to it very prominently, so that some action may be taken by the public in a matter which, if paused unnoticed, or allowed to become a precedent for the future action of Land Boards, may have a most damaging effect upon the proper disposal of the waste lands, and more particularly of the reserved waste lands of the Crown. 1 allude to the granting of the application of Messrs Gibbs and Webster of 2000 acres on run No. 148, .Hokanui district, within two miles of the | proposed Winton-Kingston line of railway, said | land being part and parcel of a reserve made a short time ago. From your report it seems that some legal quibble made it appear that the original reserve was not legally made, and by the casting vote of the Commissioner of Crown Landa the beginning of the violation of what the public were led to believe was a legal reservation was made, in the face of all common sense, and in utter contempt of the reservation maHe by the Provincial gubernatorial head. If such a course ac this is allowed to pass unchecked, the people of this province may at once make up their | minds to place the whole reserves of the country at the absolute mercy of unscrupulous land jobbers, who have no idea of doing anything for the permanent settlement or improvement of the country, but are ever on the look-out to spot all land to the exclusive advantage of their own sweet selves, heedless of the damage done to their neighbors or the interests of the country generally. It was quite refreshing to see our head surveyor make a good stand against the act of spoliation I call your attention to, and if such things are to be repeated, I fancy the days of office of our present local Land Board officials are numbered. A deeply feeling of disgust among the body of the people prevails at what they believe to have been land jobbing in high places in the good old days gone by, and whether the Land Board or the present provincial chef d'affaires be to blame in this matter, the public are at least entitled to know. It may be the public may be satisfied with a dish of flummery from headquarters, but at any rate let them have the flummery if they lose the land. — Yours, &c, Eeadkb. Invercargill, April 14th, 1873.