CURIOUS LAND BALLOT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 52, 19 July 1912, Page 4

CURIOUS LAND BALLOT.

A CASE OF HARDSHIP. A curious position, involving considerable hardship, arose out of a ballot at the new Plymouth office of the Taranaki Land Board yesterday, for a section of 175 acres in the Totoro district. The tenme of the section was a renewable lease, and owing to the applicants not familiarising themselves with the conditions, and thus not depositing rent for the broken period up to the date of theiF application, they were, after being successful in the ballot, all disqualified with', the exception of one of their number; There were nine approved applicants, and the first marble drawn was that of an applicant who had sent a half-year's rent and lease fee. The second was that of a person whose agent had not been eupplied with sufficient cash to pay the required deposit, and after traversing the whole of the remaining applicants, "some of whom had sent a half-year's rent and lease fee, the section fell to the remaining applicant (a married woman) -wh» had sent sufficient money. As a matterof fact, she deposited 2d'in excess of the required sum.

The Board expressed sympathy with' the disappointed applicants, and decided that the attention of the Government should be drawn to the dissatisfaction which exists amongst applicants under renewable lease tenure, and the disability ""<ler which they labor in not knowing the exact amount of broken rent required to be sent in with an application The Board also decided to point out to the Government that it considers that applicants under this tenure should be placed on the same footing as applicants under the "occupation with right of pur chase" tenure, and that it recommends that legislation be introduced to that