1.—5 a..

" (2.) On any such agreement being entered into it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, when so required by the Minister, to carry it into effect by executing a lease or license in accordance with the terms thereof." The Hon. Mr. McNab proposed, That the following new clause 65a be inserted in the Bill: — "65a. Before any land acquired under the principal Act is opened for public selection the Board may, with the approval of the Minister, grant a renewable lease of any allotment thereof without competition to any person who has been employed on such land by the late owner thereof for at least five years immediately preceding its acquisition at a rental to be determined by the Board, being not less than five pounds per centum per annum of the capital value of the land as fixed by the Minister in accordance with section fifty-one of the principal Act: "Provided that such person shall make the necessary declaration and otherwise comply with the conditions required to be performed by an applicant for Crown lands." It was proposed by Mr. Hall and the question was put, That the word " five " on the fifth line be struck out, with a. view of inserting the word " ten." The Committee divided, and the names were taken down as follow : — Ayes, I.—Mr. Hall. Noes, B.—Hon. Mr. Duncan, Hon. Mr. McNab, Messrs. Ell, W. Fraser, Hogan, Lewis, Macpherson, and Symes. So it passed in the negative, and the word not struck out. Resolved, That clause 65a stand part of the Bill. :..;■. Resolved, on the motion of the Hon. Mr. McNab, That the following new clause 74, Part 111, be inserted in the Bill: — "PART 111. "General. " 74. Paragraph (1) of section fourteen of the Cheviot Estate Disposition Act, 1893, is hereby repealed, and the following substituted in lieu thereof : — " ' (1.) Not sooner than two years and at least twelve months before the expiration of the lease by effluxion of time (unless the Governor decides that the whole or part of the land included therein is suitable for close settlement or subdivision), a new lease shall be offered to the existing lessee at a rental not less than five per centum on the total capital value of the land, less the value of improvements effected thereon, to be ascertained as provided in section one hundred and eighty-two of the Land Act, 1892. " ' (lα.) Such new lease shall be for the same term and. shall contain the same conditions as the expiring lease, but shall not be further renewed. " ' (Iβ.) If the land comprised in the lease shall be deemed suitable for close settlement or subdivision as aforesaid, or if the lessee does not elect to accept a renewal as above mentioned, or fails to execute a lease within thirty days after the same is tendered to him for that purpose, or in case of the expiry or determination of the lease by surrender ' . or forfeiture, the lessee shall not have any right of renewal, but shall be entitled to full valuation for improvements of a substantial character effected on the land as hereinafter provided, and the land shall revert to the Crown and be available for disposal as provided by this Act.' " Resolved, On the motion of the Hon. Mr. McNab that the following new clause 75 be inserted in the Bill :— - " 75. (1.) In the case of any lease of any education reserve or endowment or of any part thereof granted either before or after the passing of this Act by the School Commissioners in whom such reserve or endowment is vested by virtue of the Education Reserves Act, 1877, no transfer, sublease, or mortgage of any such lease shall be valid until and unless the written consent thereto of the said Commissioners has been obtained. "(2.) Nothing in this section shall apply to any transfer, sublease, or mortgage made or granted, or agreed to be made or granted, before the passing of this Act, or to any transfer executed by a mortgagee by virtue of a mortgage granted or agreed to be granted before the passing of this Act." The Hon. Mr. Duncan proposed, and the question was put, that the following new clause be inserted in the Bill: — " A. (1.) The Board may from time to time, subject to the approval of the Minister, set apart areas of rural land and declare the same available for selection and occupation without payment, but subject to the conditions as to cultivation and residence hereinafter set forth. " (2.) The Board shall give public notice of all areas of land so set apart. " (3.) With respect to all such areas of land the following conditions shall apply : — " (a.) The area allowed to be selected by each person of the age of eighteen years and upwards shall not exceed two hundred acres, and for persons under eighteen years of age fifty acres: Provided that the total quantity to be selected by any one family or number of persons forming one household shall not exceed five hundred acres. " (b.) Residence on the land selected shall be compulsory, and shall commence in the case of bush lands within one year and in the case of open lands within six months after the application has been approved by the Board, and thereafter such residence shall be continuous for a period of seven years. ■" (c.) Within eighteen months after such approval by the Board the selector shall erect on his selection a permanent dwellinghouse of wood or other materials in conformity with any regulations made under this Act. " (d.) In each year there shall be brought under cultivation one-fourteenth of the area of each selection if open land and one-twenty-eighth if bush land, so that at the end of the term of seven years one half of the selection if open land and one-fourth if bush land shall be under cultivation.

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