ADMINISTRATION OF LANDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 123, 2 September 1910, Page 3

ADMINISTRATION OF LANDS.

To the Editor. Sir, —Through the rnedium of the Press I should like to expose what I consider most unfair treatment by the Government administration of lands. I had arranged for the purchase of a lease of a farm in the Whangamomona district of 053 acres, through the agency of Mr. Newton King, and, in the usual course, applied to the Taranaki Land Board on the 17th June for a transfer, and attended on the Board with the transfer prepared, to support the application, but the Board granted the transfer without asking any questions. On the strength of | this, with the consent of the vendor, I stocked the farm with breeding ewes. .We were quite aware that the Minister's consent had to be obtained, but this has only been considered a matter of form, for up to the present time, I am given to understand, that after the Land Board (who are supposed to be conversant with the facts) have granted a transfer, there has never been a case of the Minister refusing. The reply received from the Commissioner of Crown Lands by the solicitor of the vendor reads: "In reply to your letter of the 17th June last, I have to inform you that the transfer of Mr. Fargie's interest in. lease 5736, 6409, 500& and 7900 to Mr. A. €oxhead has been refused." This without any reason being given. To make my case clear, I would like to state my position to show that my application is eligible. I have held a lease'of 322 acres of second-class land for eleven years. Of this, I have felled and grassed 200 acres, built a cottage, and erected a large amount of fencing, yet on the face of this the section' is such a poor one that on my applying to the Government Advances to Settlers Office last year for an advance of £SOO they would only advance me £350, thus showing that I am not the possessor of a valuable property. As a matter of fact, it is impossible for a man to make a living off the section, a.n.l of this the members of the Board are quite aware. As the law allows me to Jiold 2000 acres of second-class land and these two properties aggregate less than 10W> acres, I consider the Minister has gone out of his way to block me from making a living. —I am, etc., A! COXHKAD, Junr. Whangamomona, August 29, 1010.