WASTE LAND BOARD.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 249, 7 November 1872, Page 5

WASTE LAND BOARD.

The usual weekly meeting of the Waste Land Board was held October 30. There were present, the Chief Commissioner, Mr J. T. Thomson in the chair, and Messrs Allan, Duncan, and Hughes. Messrs Gillies and Street, as agents for Mr George Miller, applied to be allowed to withdraw an application for sections 7 and 8, block VIII., Waikaka district, and to purchase 1250 acres covering the area first a/ryplied for as section C. The application was approved of, and it was resolved that one survey should be made of the area now applied for. Messrs Gillies «,nd Street, as agents for Mr Thomas Anderson, 19-Mile Creek, near CromwelL applied to purchase an acre of ground on which his business. premises were erected. The application was adjourned, in order to allow of- further information being

obtained.

Messrs Gillies and Street, for Messrs Jesse Geer and Anthony Farquisson, applied for the approval of the survey of a .coal lease area that had been applied for by them, and that a lease be granted, to them. The application was postponed, pending the Warden's report being received, and other information being octained. Warden Carew reported on the application of Messrs Campbell and Low for a coal lease at M'Naughton's gully, .near Clyde. The lessees of two coal pits in the locality wrote* objecting ; but Mr Begg, who appeared for the applicants, said that they were large consumers, and wished to raise coal solely for themselves. An annual license to work the coal, renewable for seven years, at L 5 per, annum, was granted — applicants, if they sold any, not to charge more than 20s per ton at the pit's mouth.

The application of Mr Thomas Turner, to purchase about 20 acres, being parts of sections 1, -2, and 3, block 111., Blackstone Hill district, and which he had improved, was referred to the Warden.

The application of Mr Robert M'Dougal, to have a coal lease applied for by Mr William M'Kibbin transferred to him, was declined, on the ground that the lease should issue to the original applicant. Warden Carew reported on the application of Mr R. E. Dagg for a coal lease at the Bannockbum :-- " The only tenable objection is, that it might encroach on an inchoate right of the Bridge Company to an agricultural lease of 20 acres. " It was rc^ solved that a lease be granted on the usual terms— the price at the pit's mouth to be 20s per ton. The application of Mr E. • Murphy, lessee of the Clutha Sandspit, that his lease might he extended to fourteen years, and -that the rent he made payable half -yearly, instead of yearly, in advance,' was declined. Jlessrs G. G. Russell and Co., for Messrs

Stuart and Kinross, applied to purchase 80 acres for homestead, and 10 acres for out1 station, on Run 333. The Board had no power to grant such an application, the Bun being a reserve for District Schools. Flans of application for unsurveyed lands were approved of as follow, and the applicants -were declared the purchasers : — Mr J. Mutch, section 5, block X., Tuturau j Mr William Bruntpn, section 5, block V., Toi Tois ; Messrs Miller and Orbell, section 4, block IX., Hawksbury ; and Messrs. J. and A. Crombie, Bection 33, Block V. Tuturau. • The Board declined the application ,of Messrs Cornell and' Moodie, for Mr George Fraser, for an adjustment of the boundaries of an area granted under saw«mill licence at Maongatua

Messrs Gillies and Street, for ]yir \V^i]Jiam Moore, applied for the rc-consideratiqjttipf a resolution granting -a. license to Minolta Nelson for a lime-kiln at Kapiti. It yf^tb/solved that the applicants should bring,their paotest forward in December, when it would be considered when the question -of the renewal of Mr Ntleoa'o license might be ta^to #P. ......

The, correspondence between Mr.J. T. Thomson, Chief Commissioner of the Waste Lands- Board, a:ul Mr W. H. Cutten, Acting Provincial Secretary, relative to the appointment of Mr Henry Connell as surveyorfor the Oamtru district, was brought before the Board. In one communication -Mr Thomson, as > hief Purveyor, on being written to to explain his reason for recommending one candidate in preference to another, .replied, that, the one referred to, whom he had not recommended, was agent for most of the patties applying for the land, and so could not be expected to serve both them and the Government ; and that, under the circumstances, he would have no confidence. He (the candidate appointed) would guard the public interest in reference to' roads and reserves. Mr Cutten now wrote :— " I observe, in tho report of the proceedings of the Waste Lands Board, held on the 16th mat., that the appointinent of Mr Henry Connell, aa surveyor for the Oamaru circuit of districts, was submitted for approval. The Chief Commissioner seems to have forgotten his position with relation to the Government. Appointments made -by the Government do not require to be submitted to or to have the approval of the Waste Laud Board. The further resolution of tho Board, with regard to the appointment of surveyors, that, other qualifications being equal, the preference should be given to candidates who are not land agents, is ultra vires, and should bo expunged from the minutes of tbe Board. It is usual for the Government to ask the opinion <>i its officers, especially where an applicaat for an | appointment requires to possess a technical i education, hence the reference of the appointment of surveyors is made to the Chief >ur> veyor, not to the Chief Commissioner of the Waste Land Board [both of which offices are held by .Mr Thomson], for report, chiefly on the applicant's professional capacity ; though at the same time the Government is obliged for the general opinion of that officer. But where that opinion is s o inconsistent as to object to the appoitnment of an applicant for one district on the ground that he is a land agent, the same person being a surveyor in another district, it would, of course, be disregarded." The' Chief Commissioner, in reply, stated that " the submission of the name of My Connell for the approval of the Board was in due coursa of routine only," and referred him, iv pro.;f of this, to an advertisement in the Provincial Gazette, in which a number of surveyors were gazetted under the hand of the Chief Commissioner, and 111 1 clause 40 ef the Waste Lands Act, ISGG, which says, " surveyor to be approved of in ■writing by the Board." The Chief Commissioner added, "As I cannot undertake to be responsible for the expressions of the majority of the Board as given in a public way, I ask if you desire your letter to be laid before them." The reply to this was, "If the Chief Commissioner supposes that either the Gazette notice of the 17th January, 1872, or the 40th clause of the Waste Land Act, ISO 6, justifies his criticising the appointments made by the Government, he neither understands official etiquette nor the Waste Lands Act." The Chiet Commissioner, iv info:ming the Acting Provincial Secretary that he "would bring the correspondence before the Board, wrote—" The majority of the Board place a different interpretation on clause 40, W. L. Act, 1866, to what you do ; they also view their proceedings in a different manner."

The resolution of the Board on the correspondence was. " That while the Board adheres to*its decision, relative to the approval of the appointment of surveyors for unsurveyed land, it also records its opinion that the constant and continuous neglept of the Acting Provincial Secretary to sit at the Board as representative of the Provincial Government not only does himself injustice, but by perverted, reports reaching him at second hand, he cannot avoid being unfairly influenced towards the members. The Board also recoi ds the injury now being done to applicants for agricultural leases within goldtields, whose business is seriously obstructed from the same course."