The Daily News. FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1902. THE LAND BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 89, 18 April 1902, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1902. THE LAND BOARD.

The functions of the Land Boards are eo large and so grawingly important that everything connected with them is of great public interest. To them it committed very largely the administration of the land laws of the colony, and upon their interpretation of the same and their faithful discharge of the important trust placed in their handi very largely depends, no"; only the success of our Land Legislation, hut the prosperity and welfare of the settlers ta&iag up the lands of the colony. The T«ranaki Land Board will, we dare assert, compare very favourably with any other Board in the colony in the painstaking discharge of its responsibilities. We regret to notice the absence from the latt two meetings of the Hon. Thomas Kelly, M.L.0., owing to his re-appeinment not having been gazetted. We trust ' this will be remedied without delay, because Mr Kelly is the oldest and most experienced member of the Board. He possesses the entire confidence of the people, and has done such long and faithful service that his sound judgment ia nuoh missed. The absence of a membtr also increases the responsibilities of the other members. The last meeting of the Board, held on Tuesday, w«s more than usually interesting and important. Daring its sitting, at one time or another, a large sprinkling of the legal profession in the land district appeared before the Board on behalf of clients, namely, Messrs Standish, Weston and Kerr, of New Plymouth, Halliwell, of Hawer.i, ; and Spence, of Stratford, all of whom ! appeared for clients anxious for transfers of holding or on matters connected with the residential clauses of the Land Act, and from what transpired it was very evident that the present mind of the Board is decidedly against allowing of any transfers of lands where there is any doubt at all as to the conditions of the Land Act not having been complied with, particularly with regard to the r«sidential clauses or anything that savours in tbe least degree of speculation. Tbe residential clauses are rightly deemed to be the crux of bona fide settlement. In the case of an application by Mr and Mrs Bayley to transfer certain sections near Ureti to Messrs Joll, tbe Board held that the residential clausns had not been complied with, aod the application could not be entertained. Later in the meeting Mr Standish appeared for Mr and Mrs Biyley and Mr Weston for the Messrs Joll, and it was contended that residence within the meaning of tbe Act had been carried out. With this, however, upon the evidence before it, the Board did not concur; but expressed its willingsess, if notice of appeal was given, to go into the cane at its rest meeting and consider any further evidence that jmight be brought forward, and this course was eventually adopted and the appeil lodged. Another case was an application by Mrs Annie Rawstron to transfer s"ctions in thf Otnona district to Mr McLachlan, Mr Weston appeared in support of the application. Tii this case t!,e transferor held the section by transfer for a short time only, su"ce»diog a g-ttler who had resided, Mrs Rawstron had, however in; continued th« residence, which ws still due. The feeling of the Board was deaidedly agaitst the transfer, bu* aft»r a !onj{ di-cussion, on account of t'>e laud beinv in a hock bhck an<l th» incoming settler »n exceptionally good t»nant, the Board decided to waive five •n.nths .f re -idence and grant, the transf r, the Commissioner of Grown Lands

Vufclug against the transfer on the ground 'hat it was an evasion of the Act. Another case of considei able interest was the application of Mi«a Best for the transfer of a section of specif) 1 value in the upper Waitara Block. This case c.-ime up by way of an appeal from the Borad's previous decision refusing the transfer. Mr

Spenct 1 . of Ssntford, appeared for Miss Best. It appears thus when the land was taken up sjina two yeii'3 ago, 300 applican's ballottsd for the section, and Miss Best (who wish her father and I mother were in the ballot, came out successfully.) She now claims that her > circumstances have altered, and wishes to transfer her section to Mr J. Wilson, of Stratford, who, it is admitted, is an excellent settler. Considerable discussion ensued, during which it was pointed out that on account of the evi dence of speculation, at the time of the ballot Mr Strauchon, the late Oommissioner of Crown Lands,

announced that no transfers would be sanctioned by the Land Board. Eventually the Board sanctioned the transfer, chiefly on the ground that if the section was forfeited, and again offered, the sime scramble would probable follow, and an ucsuitable settler settler might get the land, instead of the transferee oefore the Boird. In this case also, the Commissioner of CrownJLands disagreed with his colleagues on the ground that there was no evidence that Miss Betts cirrumstinc s had materially altered from the time when she took up the section. A no'he' interesting ewe was that of a young man who took up a section in a back block whose ftthcr shortly afterwards died, and the selector was left in charge of his mother and younger members of the family, together with a farm in a settled district. He, however, carried out ill the n- ee-siry improvements on the l back hlozk paction, and a year or two ago obtained the sanction of the Board to a sub-1-.ase to h's brother, the lat'er, however, after

a while got tired of back block

isolation and left. The rider brother

still u'ishit'g to koep his section, but being unable through family ties and

responsibilities to go on tho section himself, asked the Board to sanction a sub-leise to another. This Lad been agreed to when a commission in th« Ninth Contingent proved too strong an attraction and lured the new nominee off to South Africa, The applicant, for] whom Mr Halliwell, of Hawera, ap- j pea*td, now asked the Board to exercise its power to dispense with residence 'or a year till the warrior reumed.J The Board being satisfied of the bona fides of tho applicant at once unanimously grantsd the application. The foregoing shows clearly the many difficulfcie's tho members of the Board have to contend with and tha responsible task set bffore them. Wi'h every desira to help the deserving settlor they have the duty of seeing that Uws pissed for the benefit of ti.o deserving bona fide settler are not mads use of for purely speculative purpose?, and we think it will be agreed that their task is an exceedingly arduous one.