Land Act 1877
Land Act 1877
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Land Act 1877
Land Act 1877
Public Act |
1877 No 29 |
|
Date of assent |
10 December 1877 |
|
Contents
An Act to regulate the Sale or other Disposal of the Lands of the Crown in New Zealand.
BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Short Title.
The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Land Act, 1877,”
and it shall come into operation on the first day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
2 Division into parts.
This Act is divided into eight Parts, relating to the several subject-matters following:—
General Administration.
Part I.—Land Boards.
Part II.—Sales and Auctions.
Part III.—Land on Deferred Payments.
Part IV.—Timber and other Licenses.
Part V.—Forests.
Part VI.—Lands held for Pastoral Purposes.
Part VII.—Reserves, &c.
Part VIII.—Miscellaneous,
Appendices,
3 Repeals.
From and after the commencement of this Act the several Land Regulations, Ordinances, and Acts mentioned in the Schedule to this Act annexed are, saving as therein is excepted, hereby repealed.
But this repeal shall not affect,—
The past operation of the said Acts, Ordinances, or Land Regulations;
Nor any matter or thing lawfully done;
Nor any right, title, liability, penalty, or forfeiture accrued or incurred:
And, notwithstanding the said repeal, all Orders in Council, Proclamations, appointments, awards, orders, and rules or regulations made under the said Acts, and in force at the time of the commencement of this Act, shall continue and be in force for the purpose of continuing and perfecting any matter or thing commenced or in progress thereunder as if this Act had not been passed.
And, notwithstanding the said repeal, every application in respect of land that shall be undetermined at the time of the coming into operation of this Act shall be dealt with in all respects as if this Act had not been passed.
4 Interpretation.
In the construction of this Act the terms following within inverted commas shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them respectively, unless there is something in the context or subject-matter repugnant thereto, that is to say,—
“Alienate” and “alienation”
shall respectively include a limited disposal by lease or license, as well as an absolute disposal by sale or otherwise.
“Allotment” shall mean a section of town, suburban, or rural land, surveyed in conformity with the provisions of this Act.
“Appraiser” or “Valuer”
shall mean any person appointed to value any land, or improvements or other matter under this Act.
“Cultivation” shall mean the clearing of land for cropping, or clearing and laying down with artificial grasses.
“District” shall mean a land district as constituted under this Act.
“Gazette” shall mean the New Zealand Gazette; and shall include any supplement thereof which may be published from time to time by authority of the Governor.
“Hundred” shall mean a hundred of land, as established under this Act, within Otago and Southland respectively.
“Land Board” or “Board”
shall respectively mean the Land Board of the district to which the particular matter in the context shall refer.
“Land Officer” shall mean an officer or person appointed within any local district, as herein defined, to receive applications for land.
“License” shall include lease.
“Local district” shall mean a local land district as established under this Act.
“Minister” shall mean the Minister of Lands.
“Original holder” shall mean the person to whom any lease or license was first issued.
“Pastoral lands” shall include all Crown lands occupied as runs as herein defined.
“Principal Land Office” shall mean the office appointed by the Governor at which the Land Board of the district holds its sittings.
“Public notification” or “public notice”
shall mean a notice published in one or more newspapers circulating in the land district to which the act, matter, or thing required to be publicly notified shall relate or refer; and also a further publication of such matter, in addition, in the New Zealand Gazette, where the Board shall think it necessary.
“Receiver of Land Revenue” or “Receiver”
shall mean the Receiver of Land Revenue for the land district wherein is situate the particular land that is the subject of any transaction·.
“Run” shall mean any portion of Crown lands occupied by virtue of a lease or license for depasturing purposes.
“Selector” shall mean a person making application for, or having a license to occupy, land under the deferred-payment system prescribed by this Act.
“Substantial improvements of a permanent character” shall mean and include planting with trees or live hedges, or fencing, or draining, or making roads, or sinking wells, water-tanks and water-races, or erecting substantial farm or other buildings.
5 Definition of demesne lands and Crown lands.
The demesne lands of the Crowns in New Zealand shall be deemed and taken to be all lands vested in Her Majesty wherein the title of the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand has been extinguished.
Crown lands shall be deemed to be all demesne lands of the Crown which have not been dedicated to any public purpose, or which have not been granted to any person in fee-simple, and shall include all lands heretofore designated waste lands, Crown lands, and confiscated lands respectively.
General Administration
6 Minister of Lands.
There shall be a Minister of Lands, to be appointed from time to time by the Governor, and such Minister, or the Minister for the time being acting for him, shall have charge of the administration of this Act.
The Minister holding the office of Secretary of Crown Lands at the time of the coming into operation of this Act shall be the Minister of Lands, and shall be deemed to have been appointed under this Act.
7 To perform functions of Secretary of Crown Lands.
All powers, duties, and functions, of whatever nature, heretofore legally possessed and performed and exercised by the Secretary of Crown Lands, shall, on and after the coming into operation of this Act, be possessed and performed and exercised by the Minister of Lands. In every enactment, order, rule, regulation, or official document, of whatever nature, wherein the words “Secretary of Crown Lands”
occur, the same shall henceforth be read and construed as if the words “Minister of Lands”
had been originally inserted therein in the place of the aforesaid words “Secretary of Crown Lands.”
8 Land districts constituted.
The following ten land districts are hereby established in New Zealand, and shall be land districts under this Act, that is to say,—
| The Auckland Land District, | The Marlborough Land District, |
| The Taranaki Land District, | The Canterbury Land District, |
| The Hawke’s Bay Land District, | The Otago Land District, |
| The Wellington Land District, | The Southland Land District, |
| The Nelson Land District, | The Westland Land District, |
as the same are delineated on the record map of the Land Districts of New Zealand deposited in the office of the Surveyor-General at Wellington.
9 Commissioners of Crown Lands and Receivers of Land Revenue.
For each land district there shall be a Commissioner of Crown Lands, and one or more Receivers of Land Revenue, to be appointed from time to time by the Governor.
All persons holding the office of Commissioner of Crown Lands or of Receiver of Land Revenue at the time of the coming into operation of this Act shall be deemed to have been appointed under this Act to the districts for which such persons respectively have heretofore been acting, as the said districts are established under this Act.
10 Member and Chairman of Land Board.
The Commissioner of Crown Lands appointed under this Act shall, ex officio, be a member and Chairman of the Land Board of the district for which such Commissioner has been appointed.
11 Powers and duties of Commissioners.
The powers and duties of a Commissioner of Crown Lands, in respect of all Crown lands within his district without any exception, shall be as follow, viz.,—
For and on behalf of the Crown,—
(a.)
To prevent unlawful trespassing or intrusion upon or occupation of Crown lands.
(b.)
To remove and expel all trespassers and intruders on and persons unlawfully occupying Crown lands, and to remove or cause to be removed therefrom all cattle, stock, goods, chattels, and effects whatsoever of such persons, and such cattle, stock, goods, chattels, and effects to impound in some public pound, and sell by public auction if the same be not replevied or redeemed within twenty-one days after being so impounded by payment of all expenses incurred by the removal and impounding thereof and incidental thereto, and also of all penalties which may have been incurred in consequence of the trespass or intrusion by such cattle, stock, goods, chattels, and effects; and the proceeds of any sale, after payment of the costs thereof, of the removal and impounding of such cattle and incidental thereto, and of all penalties aforesaid, shall be paid to the party entitled thereto on application to the Commissioner.
(c.)
To ascertain the limits and define according to the laws in force relating thereto the boundaries of all Crown lands held under or effected by any lease or license.
(d.)
To enter on any Drown lands in order to take possession thereof in the name of the Crown.
(e.)
To distrain, sue for, and recover money due to the Crown for rent or for use and occupation in respect of any Crown lands.
(f.)
To enforce contracts respecting sales, leases, licenses, or other disposition of Crown lands, and to compel payment of money due to the Crown in respect thereof.
(g.)
To determine any determinable contracts respecting Crown lands.
(h.)
To resume possession of Crown lands on non-performance of contracts.
(i.)
To recover and receive rents, purchase-moneys, and other moneys due to the Crown in respect of any sales, licenses, leases, or other dispositions of Crown lands.
12 May prosecute or defend Crown suits, &c.
All actions, suits, and proceedings by or on behalf of Her Majesty respecting Crown lands within any district, or respecting any contract relating thereto, or any breach of any such contract, or any trespass on such land, or any damages accruing by reason of such trespass, or for the recovery of any rents, purchase-moneys, or other moneys in respect of such land, or in respect of any damages or wrongs whatsoever in any way suffered by the Crown in respect of Crown lands, may be commenced, prosecuted, and carried on by and in the name of the Commissioner on behalf of Her Majesty, and the Commissioner may be plaintiff or defendant, as the case may require, in any such action, suit, or proceedings.
13 In Crown suits, burden of proof on defendant.
In any action, suit, or proceeding against any person for or in respect of any alleged unlawful occupation, use of, or trespass upon any Crown lands, the proof that the occupation or use in question was authorized by the provisions of this Act, or of any order or regulation made in pursuance thereof, shall lie on the defendant. And the averment that any lands in question are Crown lands shall be sufficient without proof of such fact, unless the defendant prove the contrary, and all maps, plans, licenses, certificates, and office copies certified as true under the hand of the District Inspector of Surveys or of any Commissioner of Crown lands shall, in all matters relating to the said respective offices, be sufficient evidence of their contents without production of original records, and without the personal attendance of such officers or proof of their signature.
14 Decrees therein shall bind Crown.
All decrees, orders, and judgments in any such last-mentioned proceedings shall be binding on Her Majesty, her heirs and successors.
15 Costs may be recovered.
The Commissioner in any such action shall recover and be liable to costs and damages as any plaintiff or defendant in ordinary course of law, and the Commissioner may be indemnified in respect of such costs and damages by the Governor.
16 In questions of boundary, Court may refer to surveyors.
If in any action, suit, or proceeding touching or concerning any Crown lands, or any grant, lease, or license relating thereto, any question shall arise as to the limits or extent of, or as to the boundary of any land comprised in, any grant, lease, or license, it shall be competent for the Court before which such action, suit, or proceeding may be pending to order and direct that such question shall be referred to any person or persons whom the Court shall think fit, subject to such terms and conditions as the Court shall think fit; and the award, order, and determination of such person or persons shall be conclusive in such action, suit, or proceeding as to the matter so referred, and shall be binding on the parties, and may be enforced as a rule of the Court, and the Court may make such rule or order as it shall deem fit touching such reference or the costs thereof.
17 Bangers of Crown lands.
The Governor may from time to time, as he shall think fit, appoint one or more persons within each district to be · Rangers of Crown lands, whose duties shall be to observe and take care that the provisions of this Act are complied with within the district for which they shall be appointed, and to lay informations against such persons as may offend against the same, and otherwise to discharge such duties as the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall appoint.
Any Ranger so appointed as aforesaid may be appointed a constable, and required to take the oath prescribed in such cases.
Part I
Land Boards, Their Powers and Functions
18 Land Boards established.
For each land district there shall be a Board of Commissioners, to be called “The Land Board of [Name of land district]”
; and the said Board shall consist of the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the district (hereinafter called “the Chief Commissioner”
), and of not less than two nor more than five other Commissioners, all of whom shall be appointed and be removable from time to time by warrant under the hand of the Governor.
19 Existing Boards constituted the first Boards under Act.
The several Boards existing in the respective land districts on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, are hereby constituted the Land Boards for the same districts respectively under this Act, and the members of such Boards, who shall be in office on the aforesaid first day of January, are hereby appointed members of the said Board under this Act: Provided that where any existing Board shall consist of fewer members than five, exclusive of the Chief Commissioner, the Governor may appoint members to such Board so as to bring up the number of such members to the aforesaid number. Every member of a Land Board shall, subject to the provisions herein contained, remain and continue in office for the term of two years from the date of appointment, but no longer.
Any member may be reappointed as a member of any Land Board.
Oath.
Every Commissioner shall take the following oath of office before a Judge of the Supreme Court:—
I, A.B., do swear that I will faithfully execute the office of a Commissioner of the Land Board of [Name of district] to the best of my ability, and according to the true intent and meaning of “The Land Act, 1877.”
So help me God.
20 Vacancies in Board.
If any Commissioner shall, by writing addressed to the Chief Commissioner resign his office, or die, or become of unsound mind, or be adjudicated a bankrupt or insolvent, or take the benefit of or be brought under the operation of any Act relating to bankruptcy or insolvent debtors, or be convicted of felony or any infamous crime, or be absent without sufficient cause from three successive ordinary sittings of the Board without the leave of the Board, or otherwise become incapacitated to act as Commissioner, his seat at the Board shall be thereby vacated.
The Chief Commissioner shall forthwith notify every vacancy to the Governor as it occurs, who shall appoint such duly qualified person as he shall think fit to supply such vacancy.
21 Every Board to have same powers.
Every Land Board constituted under the provisions of this Act shall have all the duties, powers, and authorities in every respect which are conferred upon Land Boards by this Act.
Every Land Board shall be deemed to be duly constituted, and may enter into office and proceed to the despatch of business when a sufficient number of Commissioners to form a quorum have been appointed.
22 Commissioner not personally liable.
No Chief Commissioner or Commissioner of any Land Board shall be personally liable in any action, suit, or other proceeding, except for his own act and deed, nor shall be be liable for anything done by him in the execution of his office, except in cases where he shall be guilty of wilful neglect or default.
23 Payment of Commissioners.
Out of any moneys that may from time to time be appropriated to that purpose by the General Assembly, there shall be paid to every Commissioner of any Land Board (other than the Chief Commissioner), for his attendance at the meetings of the Board, a sum not exceeding one pound sterling for every such attendance, and also a sum for travelling expenses actually incurred.
No disqualification.
Provided that any Commissioner who shall receive any payment or travelling expenses shall not be disqualified from a seat in the General Assembly, nor become liable to any penalty under any Disqualification Act for the time being in force.
24 Governor may establish local districts and Land Offices.
The Governor, by Proclamation in the Gazette, may from time to time establish and define, abolish, alter, or reconstitute local districts for the sale or disposal of land, and in like manner from time to time may appoint Land Officers or other persons for conducting sales of land in such local districts, and for receiving applications for the sale, letting, disposal, or occupation of Crown lands, and for generally carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.
Any local district may overlap the boundaries of any land district, and embrace within its limits portions of different land districts.
25 Conduct of business.
In the conduct of business by each Land Board the following provisions shall have effect:—
Meetings of Board.
Adjournments.
(1.)
The Board shall sit at such Land Office within the district as the Governor shall appoint (which shall be called “the Principal Land Office”
), at certain times to be determined by the Board and approved of by the Governor, and published in the Gazette. And the Board may adjourn from time to time.
Special meetings.
Special meetings of the Board may be held, of which not less than twenty-four hours’ notice in writing shall have been given to each member of the Board by the Chief Commissioner or by any two Commissioners.
Chairman of Board ex officio.
(2.)
The Commissioner of Crown Lands, when present, shall preside at every meeting of the Board as Chairman of the Board ex officio, and shall have an original as well as a casting vote in all questions coming before the Board.
Absence of Chairman.
In the absence of the Chief Commissioner, then some member selected by those present at any meeting shall preside thereat, and the person so presiding shall at such meeting have all the powers of the Chief Commissioner.
Questions decided by majority.
(3.)
All questions coming before the Board shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the Commissioners present thereat.
Quorum.
(4.)
At all meetings of the Board three Commissioners shall form a quorum; and such meetings shall be open to the public, except the Board deems it necessary for the purpose of deliberation to require strangers to withdraw.
Land business by Board.
(5.)
All business connected with the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of Crown lands shall be transacted by the Board.
Ordinary business by Chief Commissioner.
(6.)
All the routine business relating to the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of Crown lands shall be transacted by the Chief Commissioner, subject to such instructions as may be given by the Board.
Disputes settled by Board.
(7.)
Every dispute and difference relating or incident to the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of Crown lands, or to the interpretation or meaning of any enactment relating to or in connection with Crown lands, or to any matter or thing done under any such enactment, shall be heard and determined by the Board. And for the purposes of any such hearing every Land Board shall have all the powers of a Board or Commissioners appointed by the Governor in Council under “The Commissioners Powers Act, 1867.”
Appeals.
(8.)
The decision of the Board on all matters to be by it heard and determined shall, subject to the provisions of this Act relating to Land Board appeals, be final and conclusive.
Minutes to be kept.
(9.)
The Board shall keep a record of all its proceedings, in which shall be entered a full and particular account of all business transacted by it, and a minute of the opinion of the members of the said Board in cases where they differ and in which any member wishes his opinion to be recorded, which record shall be open to the inspection of any person at all reasonable hours, on payment of a fee of two shillings and sixpence for each inspection.
And other record.
(10.)
There shall be kept in the Principal Land Office, in a convenient form for reference, every letter, application, report, and communication received at the office, and copies of those written therefrom, also every order made by the Board and by the Chief Commissioner, and a convenient index shall be made thereto, all of which shall be open to inspection by any person at all reasonable times, on payment of a fee of two shillings and sixpence for each inspection.
Bents, &c., paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue.
(11.)
All rents, fees, assessments, purchase moneys, and moneys paid by way of deposit, and other sums of money payable under the provisions of this Act shall be paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue for the time being, unless herein otherwise provided.
Board may charge fees for decision of disputed questions.
(12.)
It shall be lawful for every Board at its discretion to charge and receive, for the decision of any disputed question which it is authorized to determine, a fee not exceeding five pounds, to be paid by the party against whom its decision shall be made, to be recovered in a summary way, and the Board may require such fee to be deposited by each party before entering on the question; and the fee deposited by the party in whose favour the decision shall be made shall be forthwith returned to him.
Forms of leases, &c., to be approved by Board, and signed by Chief Commissioner.
(13.)
Whenever the Board is authorized to grant a license or lease, the same may be in such form as the Board shall in each case approve, subject to the provisions of this Act, and shall, after such approval, be signed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands by and on behalf of the Board, and shall be as valid and effectual if so signed as if signed by all the members of the Board.
Fees on leases, &c. Deposits thereof.
(14.)
There shall be paid in respect of any particular lease, license, or other instrument, or of any transfer thereof respectively, such fee as the Board with the assent of the Governor may appoint; and the Board may require a deposit to be made of the amount of such fee at the time application is made for any of such instruments as aforesaid, or at any time thereafter, and the Board may at any time refuse to proceed in any transaction if such deposit, when required, is not made.
Renewals may be made by endorsement.
(15.)
Any renewal of a lease or license may be effected by writing on the lease or license a memorandum of the terms, conditions, and covenants to which such new lease or license is subject, and signing the said memorandum in the manner herein required in the case of an original lease or license.
26 No application receivable outside Land Office.
No application whatsoever for the sale, letting, disposal, or other occupation of Crown lands shall be a valid and legal application unless such application shall have been made at a duly established Land Office within the land district, during the hours when such office is open to the public for the transaction of business.
27 Form of application.
All applications for land shall be in writing, or partly in writing or partly in print, and may be made at any Land Office within the land district, or within any local district which comprises the whole or part of the land applied for.
Any application may, at the option of the applicant, where no special provision exists to the contrary, be enclosed in a sealed cover, which shall not be opened till after the office hours on the day it is made.
Where any application for land is made at a Land Office within any local district, the officer receiving such application shall note the day and hour at which such application is made, and shall without delay transmit such application, together with a note of the time when the same was received by him, to the Board of the land district wherein the land applied for is situate, and the said Board shall deal with such application as an application made to the Board itself at the time at which it was made at the office in the local district.
28 Applications to purchase lands upon runs to be advertised.
The Board shall not entertain any application for the purchase of Crown lands situate within gold fields, alienated under license or lease for pastoral purposes, although such application is accompanied by the written consent of the pastoral licensee or lessee, unless evidence is first furnished by the applicant that the exact locality, area, and boundaries have been accurately described in an advertisement inserted for three consecutive weeks in any newspaper published or circulating in the district in which the lands so applied for are situate.
29 Land Boards sole judges of fulfilment of conditions in occupation licenses.
In any case where at any time heretofore a license has been granted to hold land on any system subject to the fulfilment of certain terms or conditions, the Land Board shall be the sole judges whether such conditions have been complied with, and shall have all the powers and authorities conferred upon any body or person by the Act under which any such license was granted, and shall proceed in the manner indicated in that behalf by such Act, notwithstanding its repeal, to enforce the fulfilment of the conditions of any such license, or to obtain possession of any land, improvements, or money forfeited for breach of such conditions.
Appeals From Land Boards
30 Rehearing provided.
Any Land Board may, at any time within thirty days after the making of any decision by it on any matter on which it is empowered to decide, grant, on the application of any person aggrieved by such decision, a rehearing of the case decided by it if it shall think that justice requires it, and on such rehearing may reverse, alter, modify, or confirm the previous decision in the same case.
31 Appeal to Judge of Supreme Court.
If any person consider himself aggrieved by any decision of the said Board, such person may appeal to the Supreme Court, provided that such person shall within thirty days after the giving of such decision give notice of such appeal to the Board, and also to such persons, if any, as shall have appeared before the Board as opponents of the case or claim or application of such person, and also give security to be approved of by the Registrar of the Court for the costs of the appeal; and after hearing the parties the Court shall give its decision, and cause the same to be certified in writing by the Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the Court to the Board, and the Board shall be bound to follow such decision, and shall reverse, alter, modify, or confirm their decision in accordance therewith, and the Court may make such order as to payment of costs to either party as to it shall seem meet. And for following such decision no action or suit or any other proceeding by any process of any Court shall lie against the said Board or any Commissioner.
32 Appeal to be on case stated.
Such appeal shall be in the form of a case agreed on by such Board and the appellant, and if they cannot agree upon the case to be stated then such appeal shall not be in the form of a case, but the Court shall hear such appeal, and may receive evidence either orally or by affidavit, and it shall be lawful for the Court, if to the Court it shall seem fit, instead of deciding any matter of fact in dispute upon affidavits or personal examination by it of witnesses, to order any such question of fact to be found and determined by a jury, and to settle an issue or issues for that purpose.
33 Questions of law may be submitted to fudge.
The Board may, either at the instance of a party or of their own motion, in any case of doubt upon a question of law, submit a case thereon in writing to a Judge or Judges of the Supreme Court, who, after hearing the parties or their counsel, or without, as to such Judge or Judges shall seem fit, shall certify his or their opinion thereon in writing to the Board, and the Board shall be guided by such opinion. And for following such opinion no action or suit or any other proceeding by any process of any Court shall lie against the said Board or any Commissioner.
34 Judges may frame regulations for appeals.
The Judges of the Supreme Court, or any two or more of them, may, from time to time, make general rules for regulating the practice and proceedings on such appeals, and on the hearing and deciding questions stated under the last foregoing section of this Act, which rules shall be as valid as if included in this Act.
35 No appeal connected with title of the Crown.
Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to appeals shall authorize or permit an appeal from the decision of any Land Board upon any question affecting the title of the Crown to any lands.
COMPENSATION AND ARBITRATION
36 Claims for compensation determined by Public Works Act.
All claims for compensation in respect of any matters arising under this Act, or for value of improvements or other matters, shall, unless otherwise specially provided, be settled in the manner provided in Part III. of “The Public Works Act, 1876;”
and for this purpose the said Part III. shall be deemed to be incorporated with this Act.
37 References to arbitration.
Where it is provided or agreed that any matter arising under this Act shall be referred to arbitration, then such reference, unless herein otherwise provided, shall be to one or more arbitrators appointed by the parties on each side respectively and an umpire to be appointed by such arbitrators; and every such arbitration shall be carried on in the manner provided by “The Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Act, 1866,”
and be subject to the said Act in the same manner as if such reference had been a reference made by consent of parties under a deed.
Part II Sales and Auctions.—Classification
38 Classification of Crown lands.
All lands of the Crown shall be divided into three classes as follows, namely,—
(1.)
Town land—being the sites heretofore reserved or which shall be hereafter reserved for towns and villages:
(2.)
Suburban land—being land in the vicinity of any town lands:
(3.)
Rural land—being lands not reserved for towns or villages or other public purposes.
39 Board to classify lands.
It shall be lawful for the Board, subject to the approval of the Governor, at any time and from time to time to declare, by notice in the Gazette, that any land not already classified shall belong to either of the said classes, and also that any land shall cease to belong to either of such classes: Provided that no land which has been declared to be town or suburban land shall cease to belong to such classes respectively without the consent previously obtained of the Governor in Council.
40 Survey and form of allotments.
All sections shall, as far as the features of the country will admit, be of a rectangular form, and when fronting a road, river, lake, or the sea-coast, be of a depth not less than twice the length of the frontage; but, where land is open for selection before survey, no application shall be received for any rural land, unless bounded by other frontage lines or by private lands, of a less depth than forty chains from a frontage line; and all surveys shall be conducted in such manner as the Governor by regulations to be made in that behalf shall direct.
Auctions of Town and Suburban Lands
41 Town and suburban lands to be sold at auction.
All town and suburban lands shall be offered for sale by auction in sections, the size or extent and upset price of which shall be fixed and determined by the Board, subject to the approval of the Governor.
Minimum prices.
Provided always that no town lands shall be sold at a rate less than thirty pounds sterling per acre, and no suburban lands at a rate less than three pounds sterling per acre.
42 Notice of time, place, and upset price to be published.
The Board shall give notice of the time and place at which any auction of such lands is intended to be held, in which notice the allotments of land which shall then be offered for sale or lease and the upset price of the same shall be specified, and such notice shall be published in the Gazette or a newspaper published in the land district, not less than one month before such auction shall take place.
No such lands shall be included in any such notice, unless the same shall have been previously surveyed and have been distinguished by an appropriate mark upon a map, to be exhibited in the Land Office for public inspection during office hours for one month before such sale.
The land shall be offered for sale by auction by some person to be appointed for that purpose by the Board, and such person for the purpose of such sale shall not require to take out an auctioneer’s license.
43 Terms of payment.
Immediate payment of one-fourth part of the purchase money shall be a condition of every such sale by auction, and the remaining three-fourths of the purchase money shall be paid by the purchaser within one calendar month next after the time of such sale, otherwise the part of the purchase money so paid by way of deposit as aforesaid shall be forfeited, and the contract for the sale of the land shall thenceforward be null and void.
44 After auction, lands not necessarily sold by private contract.
After land has been offered for sale by auction and not sold, it shall not be open for sale until after thirty days’ public notice thereof shall have been given. It may then be—
(1.)
Either offered again from time to time, in one or more lots, for sale by public auction; or, if rural or pastoral lands,
(2.)
Declared open for sale on application in such lots, at such price per acre, as the Board shall determine, being a price not less in any case than the minimum price payable for land of the same quality that is open for selection for cash.
45 Foregoing provisions to apply to all auction sales.
The foregoing provisions relating to the sales of town and suburban lands by auction shall equally apply to all sales by auction of any Crown lands whatever, or of leases or licenses thereof.
RURAL LANDS
46 Rural lands sold in manner directed in Appendix.
Subject to the general power of the Land Boards in respect of the disposal of the rural lands within the several land districts constituted under this Act, the said lands within each land district may be disposed of in the manner more particularly provided in the Appendix, relating to such land district, annexed to this Act: Provided always that no smaller quantity than twenty acres and no larger quantity of rural land than three hundred and twenty acres shall be put up for sale by auction in any one lot.
The maximum hereby limited for the sale of rural lands shall not be deemed to apply to land classified as third-class land within the Land District of Auckland, or to lands classified within any other land district as pastoral or pasture land, or as being unsuited for tillage or agricultural purposes.
Certain provisions of former Acts amended and continued in force.
So much of the several Acts, Ordinances, and Land Regulations heretofore in force specially relating to the alienation of rural lands within the several land districts of the colony, as is set forth in the several Appendices to this Act, and amended as therein appearing, is hereby enacted, and shall be in force within the several land districts to which the aforesaid Appendices respectively relate.
47 Payment of purchase money.
In all cases where it is not specially provided otherwise, the applicant for the purchase of rural land which is not sold at auction shall pay, by way of deposit at the time of making his application, one-fourth part of the purchase-money of the land applied for, and shall pay the remaining three-fourths of such purchase-money within one month after a public notification shall have been made or a notice shall have been sent by post addressed to the applicant at his last known place of abode that the applicant has been declared the purchaser.
If such purchase-money is not completely paid at the time fixed, the part of the purchase-money so paid by way of deposit as aforesaid shall be forfeited, and the application shall be deemed withdrawn and cancelled, and shall thereupon become null and be void: Provided that if any application be not granted the deposit money shall be returned.
LANDS WITHDRAWN FROM SALE
48 Board may withdraw lands from sale, subject to reversal by Governor.
It shall be lawful for the Board to withdraw from sale any land the sale of which it may appear to the Board would be prejudicial to the public interest, notwithstanding that application may have been made to purchase the same.
The Board shall forthwith report to the Governor its reasons for such withdrawal, and it shall be lawful for the Governor to affirm or overrule the decision of the Board.
In the event of the Governor overruling the decision of the Board, notice thereof shall be given to the original applicant (if any), who shall thereupon be entitled to all his original rights.
LEASE OR SALE OF LANDS OF SPECIAL VALUE
49 Board may sell or lease lands of special value.
It shall at any time be lawful for any Board to offer for sale by auction, or to dispose of the lease thereof by auction in such manner and at such price as the Board may think fit, not being less than the price at present authorized by law within the land district, any land which may be deemed to possess special value owing to its superior quality for agricultural purposes, or owing to proximity of constructed or projected lines of railways, or on account of minerals or timber, or from improvements or otherwise, or in respect whereof compensation shall have been paid to any person under any Act: Provided that the ground on which the Board shall deem such land to possess special value shall in every case be recorded on the minutes of the proceedings of the Board.
EXTORTION PREVENTION
50 Proposing to take money for abstaining from bidding, misdemeanour.
Every person who shall directly or indirectly offer or propose to accept or receive money or other valuable consideration as an inducement to abstain from bidding or competing as a purchaser or intending purchaser of land belonging to the Crown, or of any lease or license of such land, advertised for sale by public auction, and whether or not the land shall actually be put up for sale, shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanour, and be liable on conviction thereof to be imprisoned for any period not exceeding twelve calendar months, with or without hard labour, or to be fined any sum not exceeding two hundred pounds sterling.
51 Actual receipt of money therefor, misdemeanour.
Every person who shall actually receive money or other valuable consideration for abstaining to bid for or compete for the purchase of any Crown lands which shall have been advertised for sale by public auction, and whether or not the same land shall be put up for sale by public auction, shall be deemed to have been guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall on conviction thereof be liable to be imprisoned with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding two years, or fined any sum not exceeding five hundred pounds.
52 Extorted money recoverable.
Every person from whom money or other valuable consideration shall have been extorted by the means aforesaid may recover the amount or value of the consideration so extorted in an action for money had and received.
Part III Land on Deferred Payments
53 Power to set aside lands to be sold on deferred payment.
The Governor, by Proclamation in the Gazette, may from time to time set apart out of any suburban or rural lands such blocks or allotments of land as he shall think fit, and set the same aside for sale on deferred payments, and in such Proclamation may fix a day on which the land shall be open for application. And he may also in like manner set apart for sale on deferred payments such blocks or allotments as may be recommended by any Land Board, and may also from time to time alter, amend, or revoke any such Proclamation.
54 Form of applications.
All applications for land on deferred payments shall be made in conformity with the provisions of section twenty-seven of this Act.
If several applicants, land to go to auction.
Where more applications than one are made on the same day for the same land, the land applied for shall be put up at public auction, and the bidding at such auction shall be limited to the applicants.
55 Deposits to be made on application.
Every selector shall, at the time of making application for the land, deposit with the Receiver of Land Revenue in the case of suburban land an amount equal to one-tenth of the price of the land; in the case of rural land an amount equal to one-twentieth of the price of the land; and the deposit of every selector shall be absolutely forfeited if he neglect or refuse to take up his license.
Further deposit of proportion of auction price.
In the event of the land applied for being put up at auction, the person who is declared the purchaser of the land shall forthwith pay to the Receiver of Land Revenue, in addition to the sum be has deposited, an amount equal to the one-tenth or one-twentieth, according to the class of the land, of the increased price obtained for the land at auction over the upset price thereof.
56 Alphabetical register of selectors.
In order to prevent the same person obtaining more than one allotment of land on deferred payments, the Board shall keep a register of the names and descriptions of all selectors, showing the extent of the land selected by each person; and such register shall be kept in alphabetical order.
57 Maximum of land to be selected.
No person shall be entitled to select land in more than one class. The maximum area of land to be held hereunder by any one selector shall not exceed in the whole—
(1.)
Of suburban or rural land, one allotment:
(2.)
No allotment of suburban land shall exceed twenty acres, or of rural land three hundred and twenty acres.
58 One-half of price to be added.
In any land district the price per acre to be paid for land taken up by any selector shall be—
Where land is open for selection and sale for cash, then such cash price and one-half thereof added thereto; or,
Where land is required to be put up at auction, then the highest price bid for the land at such auction; and the land in such cases is to be put to auction at the upset price and one-half thereof added thereto.
59 One-third of price of any block of land so disposed of shall be handed over to County Council or Road Board.
One-third of the price of any block of land disposed of under this part of this Act shall be handed over to the County Council or Road Board of the district within which such land is situated, to be expended in the construction of roads within, or to open up, the block for the benefit of the selectors. And the payments made by the selectors shall from time to time, until the amount of such one-third be reached, be paid over to such County Council or Road Board, as the case may be. The plans of proposed roads shall in all cases receive the sanction of the Waste Land Boards of the district.
60 Who may be selectors. No re-selection.
Any person of the age of eighteen years and upwards may become a selector hereunder; but no selector having assigned his interest hereunder, and no person who has forfeited the right to hold the land selected by him by reason of the fraudulent breach of any of the conditions of his license, and no person who shall at any time have acquired a freehold under the deferred-payment system, shall be allowed at any time to make a new selection under this Act.
61 Disqualifications.
No owner of a pre-emptive right, nò person being the owner in fee of six hundred and forty acres of land in all, no married woman not having obtained a decree of judicial separation or a protection order, no person who at the time of making his application has made any arrangement or agreement to permit any other person to acquire by purchase or otherwise the allotment in respect of which his application is made, or which he has bought at auction, or any part thereof, or the applicant’s interest therein, shall become a selector hereunder.
62 Statutory declaration to be made of bond fide application.
Every selector, before making his selection, shall make and produce a statutory declaration to the following effect:—
Declaration.
I, A.B., of [Insert place of abode and occupation], do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am of the age of eighteen years and upwards; that I am making the present selection of land, under the system of deferred payments, bonâ fide for my own exclusive use and benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person whomsoever, and for the purpose of cultivation; that I have not at any time acquired the freehold of any land under the deferred-payment system; and that I am not the holder either in my own name or in the name of any other person of, and that I am not beneficially interested in, any lands of the Crown within the colony under the deferred-payment system, or under any agricultural lease, to any amount which, added to the acreage comprised in this present application, would exceed three hundred and twenty acres in extent; that I am not the owner of a pre-emptive right or of six hundred and forty acres of land in all; nor have I at any time assigned any interest in any land held by me on deferred payments. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand intituled “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866.”
Penalty for false declaration.
In the event of any of the statements contained in the above declaration being false, the selector shall forfeit all right to the land comprised in his selection, and all moneys paid in respect thereof, and all improvements made thereon.
63 Conditions of license, and terms to be observed.
The Board shall, upon production of the declaration and payment of the deposit, issue to such selector a license to hold the land selected upon the following terms and conditions, which shall be indorsed upon every license:—
Term of license.
(1.)
The license shall in the case of suburban land be for a period of five years, and in the case of rural land shall be for a period of ten years, to be reckoned from the next first day of January or July following the date thereof, and shall in addition include the period between the date of the license and such day.
License fees payable half-yearly in advance.
(2.)
The yearly fee in respect of such license shall in the case of suburban land be an amount equal to one-fifth of the price of the land, and in the case of rural land be an amount equal to one-tenth of the price of the land, and shall be payable in equal parts half-yearly in advance, on the first day of January and the first day of July in each year, to the Receiver of Land Revenue.
Deposit to count for half-year’s license fees.
(3.)
The deposit paid at the time of application shall be in discharge of the license fee due on the next first day of January or July following the date of the license, as the case may be.
In cases where land has been submitted to auction, then the aforesaid deposit, together with the proportion of the increased price obtained for the land at auction paid forthwith after the auction, shall be in discharge of the aforesaid license fee.
Personal residence imperative.
(4.)
The selector shall, within six months after the issue of the license, personally reside on the land, and shall continue so to reside in the case of suburban land for a period of four years and in the case of rural land for a period of six years from the issue of the license; but the Board may, if it shall think fit, give permission in writing dispensing with personal residence for the first four years from the date of the license, if the land is rural land wholly or mostly covered with bush.
Exemption.
Personal residence may also be dispensed with in the cases hereinafter mentioned in section sixty-four.
First year one-twentieth land to be cultivated.
(5.)
The selector shall, within one year from the date of his license, bring into cultivation not less than one-twentieth of the land if rural land and one-tenth if suburban land.
Second year another one-twentieth.
(6.)
The selector shall, within two years from the date of his license, bring into cultivation not less than one-tenth of the land if rural land, and one-fifth if suburban land.
One-fifth of land to be cultivated within four years.
(7.)
The selector shall, within four years from the date of his license, bring into cultivation not less than one-fifth of the land if rural land, and in the case of suburban land shall have enclosed the whole of his allotment with a substantial fence, and shall have cultivated at least three-fourths of the land, and shall have made substantial improvements thereon to the value of at least ten pounds for every acre of such land.
Improvements equal to £1 per acre of land to be made within six years.
(8.)
The selector of a rural allotment shall, within six years from the date of his license, in addition to the cultivation of one-fifth of the land, have put substantial improvements of a permanent nature on the land to the value of one pound for every acre of such land.
After six years, if conditions fulfilled, may obtain grant.
(9.)
The selector of a suburban allotment shall at any time after the expiration of five years, and the selector of a rural allotment shall at any time after the expiration of six years, upon having complied with all the conditions of his license during the currency thereof, and upon obtaining a certificate from the Board, as provided in section seventy-three, be entitled to the right to a grant of the land on payment of so much of the price thereof, if any, as shall remain unpaid.
For breach of license, all rights forfeited.
(10.)
For a breach of any of the conditions numbered from two to nine inclusive, the right of the selector to hold and to acquire the land described in his license shall be forfeited.
Rights against trespassers.
(11.)
No selector, whose land adjoins land held under pastoral lease or license, shall be entitled to bring any claim for damages done on any part of the land held by him by trespass of any horses, cattle, or sheep belonging to any pastoral tenant of the Crown, unless the land so trespassed on shall have been enclosed with a good and substantial fence.
64 Where selectors intermarry, occupation of one allotment sufficient.
Whenever any two persons who have obtained licenses to occupy Crown lands set apart for settlement on deferred payments shall have lawfully intermarried at some period not sooner than twelve months from the issue of the last of such licenses, it shall be lawful for the Board to authorize such persons to reside on such one of the allotments so selected as the Board thinks fit.
Occupation of such one allotment in accordance with the permission of the said Board shall be deemed a compliance with the conditions of the fourth subsection of the sixty-third section of this Act, in respect of the several allotments selected by such two persons.
65 Transfer of interest by selector. Fee of one pound on transfer.
If any selector shall desire to assign his interest in the land, he may apply to the Board to accept, instead of himself, some one person. The Chief Commissioner shall, at the expense of the selector, forthwith give public notice of such proposed transfer of interest by the selector, and no transfer shall be effected until after the expiration of thirty days from the day of the first publication of such notice; after which time, if the Board shall think fit to accept the person proposed as transferee, and such person shall have made the declaration required by the sixty-second section of this Act, and shall not be disqualified to hold such land to the extent thereof, the Board shall, on payment of a fee of one pound, indorse the transfer on the license upon production of the same; or if the loss or destruction thereof be proved to its satisfaction, the Board may dispense with the production thereof, and shall issue to the person accepted a new license, to hold the land on the same terms and from the same date as the original license, but with the name of such person substituted; and thereupon such person shall be deemed to have been from the date of the original license the selector of such land.
66 Executors same power within twelve months.
In the event of the death of any selector, his executors or administrators shall have the like powers as are given by the last preceding section to a selector in his lifetime, to assign the interest in the land of the deceased selector, provided that such power shall be exercised within and not later than twelve months from the day of the death of the selector.
If such executors or administrators shall fail to avail themselves, within the prescribed time, of the power hereby granted to them, then, and in every such case, the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall forthwith direct the land with all improvements thereon to be sold in the manner herein provided in cases of sales on recovery of possession of land, and shall, if the conditions of the license had not been fulfilled by the deceased, pay the surplus money of the proceeds of such sale in the manner hereinafter provided in such cases, but if the said conditions have been fulfilled then and in such case he shall pay the whole surplus to the representatives of the deceased selector.
67 Interest of selector not liable for his debts.
The interest in land on deferred payments of a selector who has not fulfilled all the conditions of his license shall not, during the currency of such license, be assignable at law or in equity except under the provisions of this Act, and shall not be capable of being charged, incumbered, extended, or taken in execution in any manner whatever.
68 Reports on fulfilment of conditions of license.
At the end of one, two, four, six, and ten years respectively from the date of the license, or as soon as conveniently may be thereafter, and at any such other time or times during the currency of such license as they may think necessary, the Board shall ascertain, by such means as they shall think most fitting, whether or not any selector has during the said one, two, four, six, or ten years fulfilled the conditions of his license; and for this purpose it shall be lawful for the Board, from time to time as they shall see fit, to require any Ranger of Crown Lands to report to them upon any breach of conditions of license, the value of improvements upon the land, and generally for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act.
And for the purpose of making any such report any Ranger of Crown Lands shall, at all reasonable times, have free ingress, egress, and regress in, to, and over any lands and hereditaments in the occupation of any selector; and any person obstructing such Ranger in the performance of his duty, or refusing or wilfully neglecting to answer any question put to him by the said Ranger in connection with his duty, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, which shall be recoverable in a summary manner before any two Justices of the Peace.
69 Procedure for recovery of possession in case of breach of conditions.
If any selector shall fail to fulfil any of the conditions of his license within thirty days after the day on which the same ought to be fulfilled, and shall neglect or refuse to give up possession of the land on being required in writing so to do, the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall apply to the Resident Magistrate of the district for the recovery of the said land in the manner indicated by sections eighty-two to one hundred and two, both inclusive, of “The Resident Magistrates Act, 1867,”
or any other Act that may be in force in that behalf, relating to the recovery of possession of tenements; and the whole of such sections shall apply and have effect as if embodied in this Act; and the Resident Magistrate shall have jurisdiction in such case, notwithstanding that the value of the premises or of the license fees payable in respect thereof shall be of a greater value than fifty pounds by the year; and the jurisdiction of such Magistrate shall not be taken away or deemed to be ousted by any claim of title, question of property, or suggestion of right, whether made bond fide or otherwise, which may be raised at the hearing of any such case.
70 On forfeiture, warrant to issue for obtaining possession.
If the Resident Magistrate shall decide that any of the conditions of the license have not been fulfilled, he shall declare the interest of the selector to be forfeited, and shall forthwith issue his warrant to the bailiff of the Court or to any constable to give possession of the land to the Board.
71 After recovery, land with improvements sold by auction.
On recovering possession the Board shall cause a valuation of the improvements, if any, upon the said land to be made, and thereafter direct the land, with the improvements thereon, to be sold by public auction, the improvements for cash, and the land on deferred payments at such upset price, time,· and place as they shall appoint, but at a price not less than the original upset price, exclusive of the estimated value of the improvements; and the purchaser at such sale shall be bound to fulfil the conditions mentioned in subsections two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven, in section sixty-three, and hold his land under the other terms and conditions in this Part of this Act referring to lands held on deferred payments.
72 Application of proceeds.
Out of the sum received for improvements at such sale there shall be returned to the original selector, after payment of all costs and expenses incident to the recovery of the possession of the land and the sale thereof, such proportion, not exceeding seventy-five per centum, as the Board shall determine.
73 Condition upon issue of grant.
At the expiration of the term of any license, or on payment of the price of the land previous thereto, as provided in subsection nine of section sixty-three of this Act, the Board, upon all the conditions of such license having been fulfilled, shall certify to the Minister that, in their opinion, the selector is entitled to a Crown grant of the land held by him, and a Crown grant accordingly shall in due course be issued to the selector.
74 Holders of agricultural leases may exchange for lease on deferred payments.
Any original holder of an agricultural lease under “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,”
or any Acts relating thereto, who shall prove to the Board that he is the original holder of such lease and that he has held it for a period of three years, and made substantial and permanent improvements thereon as provided by the said Acts, and that he has paid all rents due thereon and in all respects complied with the conditions of such lease, shall, if there be no objection to the alienation of land held under such lease on the ground of being auriferous, or other reasons of a public nature, be entitled to surrender his lease and obtain a license under this Part of this Act: Provided that no such license shall be granted whereby any person shall be entitled to hold more than three hundred and twenty acres at any one time under an exchange license on deferred payments.
Such license shall be called an exchange license, and shall be issued for a period of seven years at a yearly fee of three shillings per acre; and on the expiration of the last-mentioned term the holder of the license shall be entitled to a grant of the land comprised in the exchange license without any further payment.
The holder of any exchange license may at any time acquire the right to a Crown grant of the land on payment of so much of the price thereof as shall remain unpaid at the date of his application to purchase the same.
Pastoral Lands May be Sold on Deferred Payments
75 Lands to be classified as agricultural and pastoral respectively.
In this portion of this Act relating to the sale of pastoral lands on deferred payments, the term “pastoral lands”
shall include only such lands as shall be classified in manner herein provided as lands not being suited for agriculture.
Por the purpose of such classification the Governor may from time to time appoint three Commissioners in any district, of whom the Chief Surveyor of the district shall be one, to report to him upon any rural lands in the district on which the Governor may require such Commissioners to report, and the said Commissioners shall furnish to the Governor accordingly a description of the boundaries of the land within such district on which they may be required to report as aforesaid, classified by them as agricultural and pastoral land respectively, which description shall be published in the Gazette, and for the purposes of this portion of this Act the land described in such publication as pastoral land, or such portions thereof as the Governor may determine, may be dealt with as herein provided for the sale and disposal of pastoral land.
76 Power to set aside lands. Proviso.
The Governor may from time to time set apart blocks of pastoral lands for sale on deferred payments. Such lands, if held under pastoral license or lease and not open for sale, may be sold not more than twelve months before the expiry of the then existing licenses or leases, the sale to be subject to, and occupation to commence at the termination of, the lease or license: Provided always that the sections in this Act referring to the disposal of pastoral land on deferred payments shall not be applied to any land in the Land District of Canterbury held under pastoral license until the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.
77 Public auction: price 20s. per acre.
Such lands shall be sold at public auction at an upset price of not less than twenty shillings per acre. The Board may with the approval of the Governor increase the upset price of any allotment or allotments which may be considered by it to be of special value.
78 Size of allotments.
The land shall be surveyed into suitable allotments before sale; and no allotment shall be less than five hundred (500) nor more than five thousand (5,000) acres.
79 One allotment may be purchased.
No purchaser shall be entitled to purchase more than one allotment.
80 Register to be kept.
The Board shall keep a register of the names and descriptions of all purchasers, showing the extent of land purchased in the name of each person.
81 Who may purchase.
Any person of the age of eighteen years and upwards may become a purchaser hereunder; but no purchaser having assigned his interest, and no person who shall at any time have acquired the freehold of any pastoral land under the deferred-payment system, shall be allowed at any time to make a second purchase hereunder.
82 Disqualifications.
No married woman not having obtained a decree of judicial separation or a protection order, no person who at the time of purchase has made any arrangement or agreement to permit any other person to acquire by purchase or otherwise the allotment be has bought at auction, or any part thereof, or his interest therein, shall be entitled to hold hereunder.
83 Statutory declaration to be made of bonâ fides.
Every purchaser, before making his purchase, shall make and produce a statutory declaration to the following effect:—
Declaration.
I, A.B., of [Insert place of abode and occupation], do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am of the age of eighteen years; that I am making the present purchase of land, under the system of deferred payments, bonâ fide for my own exclusive use and benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person whomsoever; that I have not at any time acquired the freehold of any pastoral land under the deferred-payment system, and that I am not the holder either in my own name or in the name of any other person of, and that I am not beneficially interested in, any allotment of pastoral lands purchased under the deferred-payment system to any amount which added to the acreage comprised in this present application would exceed five thousand acres; nor have I at any time assigned any interest in any pastoral land held by me on deferred payments. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand intituled “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866.”
Penalty for false declaration.
In the event of any of the statements contained in the above declaration being false, the purchaser shall forfeit all right to the land comprised in his purchase, and all moneys paid in respect thereof, and all improvements made thereon.
84 Deposits to be made.
Every purchaser shall, forthwith after the auction, deposit with the Receiver of Land Revenue an amount equal to one-thirtieth of the price of the land; and the deposit of every purchaser shall be absolutely forfeited if he neglect or refuse to take up his license.
85 Conditions of license, and terms to be observed.
The Board shall, upon production of the declaration and payment of the deposit, issue a license to hold the land upon the following terms and conditions, which shall be indorsed upon every license:—
(1.) License to endure for fifteen years.
(1.)
The license shall be for a period of fifteen years, to be reckoned from the next first day of March or September following the date thereof, and shall in addition include the period between the date of the license and such day.
(2.) License fees payable half-yearly in advance.
(2.)
The yearly fee in respect of such license shall be an amount equal to one-fifteenth of the price of the land, and shall be payable in equal parts half-yearly in advance, on the first day of March and the first day of September in each year, to the Receiver of Land Revenue.
(3.) Deposit to count for half-year’s license fees.
(3.)
The deposit paid after the auction shall be in discharge of the license fee due on the next first day of March or September following the date of the license, as the case may be.
(4.) Personal residence imperative, except for a term of three months in any year.
(4.)
The purchaser shall, within twelve months, personally reside on the land, and continue so to reside for a period of five years; but the Board may, if it shall think fit, give permission in writing dispensing with personal residence for any term not exceeding three months in any one year.
(5.) After ten years, if conditions fulfilled, may obtain grant.
(5.)
The purchaser may, at any time after the expiration of ten years, upon having complied with all the conditions of his license during the currency thereof, and upon obtaining a certificate from the Board, as provided in section seventy-three, acquire the right to a Crown grant of the land on payment of so much of the price thereof as shall remain unpaid.
(6.) For breach of license all rights forfeited.
(6.)
For a breach of any of the conditions numbered from two to four inclusive, the right of the purchaser to hold and to acquire the land described in his license shall be forfeited.
Previous sections of Act to apply.
Sections sixty-three to seventy-three inclusive, so far as the same may be applicable, shall apply to pastoral lands sold on deferred payments.
Part IV Licenses for Cutting Timber, Flax, and Other Purposes
86 Occupation licenses may be granted.
It shall be lawful for the Board to issue licenses, in forms to be by the Board prescribed, authorizing the holders to occupy, for any period not exceeding seven years from the granting thereof, so much of the Crown lands as shall be specified therein, for any of the undermentioned purposes, namely,—
Cutting and felling and removing timber;
Cutting and removing flax;
Raising of lignite or coal;
Removal of clay for bricks or pottery;
Removal of sand, gravel, or stone;
Working of quarries;
Digging for and removing kauri gum;
Sites for saw-mills, flour-mills;
Sites for tanneries, fellmongers’ yards;
Sites for slaughter-yards, brick-kilns;
Sites for potteries, ferries, jetties;
Sites in thinly inhabited districts for inns and accommodation - houses:
Provided that the licenses hereby authorized to be granted shall not, in the case of inns and accommodation-houses, authorize the sale of fermented and spirituous liquors. For such purposes, the law in force regulating the sale of fermented or spirituous liquors shall not be affected hereby: Provided farther that a licensee under this section may, if the Board so determine, at a rental and on terms to be fixed by the Board, have a lease of the lands occupied by him under license for any term not exceeding twenty-one years.
87 Board to limit area, and annual fee.
The Board shall determine the extent of land to which such license shall give a right of occupancy, and the annual fee to be charged in respect to the lands held under such license; and may make regulations prescribing the area within which such licenses shall apply, and otherwise appointing the conditions upon which such licenses shall be held: Provided always that no area granted by any license shall exceed eighty acres.
88 Disputes decided by Board.
No such license shall preclude the Board, if it shall so determine, from selling or leasing, or the Governor from including within a hundred, or reserving, or shall in any way affect the rights of the Crown to, the land occupied in virtue of such license, and such license shall cease to have any force over the lands so sold, leased, or reserved. All disputes between holders of such licenses shall be heard and decided by the Board.
89 Penalty on unlicensed persons.
Any unlicensed person occupying or using any Crown lands for any of the before-named purposes shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, to be recovered in a summary way.
90 Occupation licenses may be granted provisionally.
It shall be lawful for the Board at its discretion to issue provisional licenses to occupy any rural land not exceeding two hundred acres for any of the purposes mentioned in the eighty-sixth section of this Act. Such licenses shall be issued for any term not exceeding three years, and the holder of a provisional license may at any time during the currency of the license apply for and, if the Board see no objection thereto, obtain a lease of the lands held under such license, and such lease shall be granted for any term not exceeding twenty-one years, at such annual rental, in such form, and subject to such conditions as the Board may determine.
Part V Forests
91 Governor may declare forests to be forests under Act.
It shall be lawful for the Governor, from time to time as he shall think fit, or on the recommendation of the Board of any land district, to declare any forests belonging to the Crown within such district to be forests subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, and also from time to time to alter, amend, or revoke any such Proclamation.
92 Governor may appoint Conservators.
The Governor may from time to time appoint and remove Conservators and Bangers of Forests and of Crown Lands.
93 By-laws.
The Governor in Council may from time to time make, alter, or repeal regulations and by-laws for any of the following purposes:—
(1.)
For regulating the duties of Conservators and Rangers of Forests and of Crown Lands, and prescribing what acts or omissions by such officers shall be punishable by penalties as breaches of such regulations or by-laws, and for prescribing and regulating the powers of such officers in and for preventing the cutting, removing, and destruction of timber contrary to the regulations or by-laws under this Part of this Act:
(2.)
For prescribing the mode and form of application for leases or licenses of, or the grants of privileges, in such forests, and the terms and conditions of such leases, licenses, and grants:
(3.)
For the management and administration of the affairs of forests under this Part of this Act:
(4.)
For regulating the seasons at and mode in which the lessees, licensees, or grantees of privileges may fell trees in such forests, and cut or remove timber or bark therein or therefrom:
(5.)
For requiring such lessees, licensees, and grantees to take from all trees cut down all the timber fit for use:
(6.)
Por preventing all unnecessary destruction of growing timber in such forests:
(7.)
For regulating the manner in which any such forests may be planted or re-planted, and for the protection of such forests:
(8.)
For preventing the danger and spread of fire in such forests:
(9.)
For prohibiting trespassing on such forests, and for regulating access thereto:
(10.)
For regulating and authorizing the construction, maintenance, protection, and use of tramways, railroads, and other roads and ways in such forests, and for charging rents, tolls, or other dues for the use of tramways, railroads, and other roads and ways over such lands or forests:
(11.)
And generally for facilitating and more effectually carrying into execution the objects of this Part of this Act in relation to such forests.
By-laws may apply to forests generally, or to one or more in particular.
Any such regulations and by-laws may be made applicable to any land district or to forests under this Part of this Act generally, or to one or more of such districts or forests in particular.
Penalties may be imposed.
And the Governor in Council may by any such regulation or bylaw to be made under this Part of this Act impose reasonable penalties, not exceeding fifty pounds for any one offence, and every such regulation or by-law shall be so framed as to allow the Justice before whom any such penalty may be sought to be recovered to order a part only of such penalty to be paid if such Justice shall think fit.
94 Proof of by-law.
Every regulation and by-law made under this Part of this Act shall be published in the Gazette, and upon such publication shall come into operation and have the force of law as if the provisions thereof were contained in this Part of this Act, and the production of a Gazette, printed under the authority of the Government, containing therein printed matter purporting to be a regulation or by-law made under this Part of this Act, shall be sufficient proof thereof.
95 Forfeiture of lease, &c.
Every lease or license or grant of privilege made under this Part of this Act shall be subject to forfeiture for infraction of any one of the conditions to which it is subject; and in such case the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall have the right, without any suit or other proceeding at law or in equity, or compensation to the lessee, licensee, or grantee, to cancel the same, and to make a new lease, license, or disposition of the land, timber, or limits described therein to any other person, at any time during the term of the lease, license, or grant so cancelled: Provided always that the licensee or lessee may appeal to the Governor against the decision of the Commissioner of Crown Lands in cancelling such license or lease, and the Governor may vary, reverse, or affirm such decision.
96 Conservators, &c., may apprehend offenders without warrant.
Any Conservator or other officer appointed under this Part of this Act may, without warrant, apprehend any unauthorized person found cutting or removing any timber or bark on or from any lands forming part of the forests under this Part of this Act; and any person so apprehended as in this section aforesaid shall be taken, as soon as reasonably may be, before some Justice of the Peace, to be dealt with according to law.
97 Persons found on proclaimed land in possession of timber, not accounting for possession, liable to apprehension and penalty.
Any person found within any such forest, or on any road in its vicinity, and having in his possession any tree or part of a tree, who, on being thereunto required by any Conservator of Forests or other officer under this Act, or by any person having a right of property or the right to cut wood on any such land or part thereof, whether leased or not, or by any one acting on behalf of such person, refuses to give a satisfactory account of the manner in which he became possessed of any such tree or part of a tree, may be brought by the party interrogating him before any Justice of the Peace, and, if such person does not satisfy the Justice that he came lawfully by the said tree or part of a tree, be shall, on conviction by such Justice, forfeit and pay, over and above the value of such tree or part of a tree so found, any sum not exceeding five pounds.
Part VI Land Held for Pastoral Pubposes
IN REGARD TO BUNS WITHIN CANTERBUBY
98 Rent of runs assessed on carrying capacity.
From and after the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the rent to be paid by every licensee in respect of a run held under the provisions of any Waste Lands Acts or Regulations heretofore in force within the Land District of Canterbury shall be determined according to the value of the run; such rent shall not be more than two shillings nor less than ninepence for every head of sheep, and not more than ten shillings nor less than four shillings for every head of cattle which such run shall be determined by the Board to be capable of carrying.
99 Carrying capacity to be ascertained and gazetted.
The Board shall, not later than the first day of November, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, determine the grazing capability of each run held under license in the Canterbury Land District, and shall within the maximum and minimum hereinbefore prescribed, according to the value of the run, decide the rate to be paid on the stock depastured thereon, and shall cause to be inserted in the Gazette a notice of the amount of rent to be paid in respect of each run in such district, and unless appealed against, as hereinafter provided, the amount therein mentioned shall be binding and conclusive upon the occupier.
100 Minimum rate at which estimate of capacity to be calculated.
In no case shall a run be determined to be capable of carrying a smaller number of stock than the number which was depastured thereon in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, according to the returns of cattle and sheep respectively furnished in that year for the purpose of striking a rate thereon, under the provisions of the Acts or Ordinances then respectively in force in that behalf, unless the grazing capabilities of such run shall since the date of such return have been diminished in consequence of a portion of such run having been sold or leased, licensed, or reserved, or from some other such cause, and, if so diminished, a proportionate reduction may be made according to the quantity of land by which such run has been diminished.
101 Appeal may be had if either party dissatisfied.
If the Minister shall be dissatisfied with the amount of the rent fixed by the Board as aforesaid, he may, in manner hereinafter provided, appeal against such determination; and, if the occupier of any run shall be dissatisfied with any such determination, he may in like manner appeal therefrom, on making a deposit of fifty pounds to the Receiver of Land Revenue as a security to the said Board for any cost incurred in connection with such appeal.
102 Application to Judge to allow appeal.
The Minister or the occupier may, at any time within three months after the first publication in the Gazette of such notice, cause a summons to be taken out, returnable before a Judge of the Supreme Court in Chambers, to show cause why, on one or more of the grounds hereinafter mentioned, and which shall be specified in the summons, an appeal should not be allowed against such determination; and if, on the hearing of such summons, it shall appear by affidavit or oral testimony, or both, to the said Judge that the said determination was fraudulent or erroneous or unjust, the Judge shall make an order, without costs, that such determination may be appealed against by the Minister or the occupier.
103 On leave given, matter on appeal referred to arbitrators.
The party in whose favour any such order shall be made may, within one month after the making thereof, give notice to the other party of the intention to appeal against such determination, and in such notice name the person appointed by such party to decide the said appeal; and the other party shall within seven days from the service of such notice appoint another arbitrator, and the two arbitrators shall appoint a third arbitrator; or if they refuse or neglect to do so within fourteen days, or if the party on whom such last-mentioned notice has been served neglect or refuse within the time before mentioned to appoint an arbitrator, a Judge of the Supreme Court may and shall, on the application of the party in whose favour the order has been made, appoint an arbitrator, to act with the arbitrator or arbitrators previously appointed in the matter of the said appeal, and the arbitrators so appointed shall, after having inspected the run, hear and receive evidence, in a place to which the public shall be admitted, and the decision shall be given within two months after the service of such notice.
104 Arbitrators may examine on oath.
Such arbitrators shall have all the powers which by any Act now in force can be exercised by any arbitrator appointed by a rule of Court, including the power of examining witnesses upon oath.
Every such arbitrator shall, previously to entering upon his duties, take and subscribe before a Justice of the Peace an oath that he will well and faithfully discharge his duty as an arbitrator, and do right in the matter of the arbitration submitted to him to all persons without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
105 Arbitrators to fix rent of run.
Subject to the provisions of section ninety-eight, such arbitrators, or a majority of them, shall determine the amount of rent to be paid in respect of the run according to its grazing capabilities, and shall have power to fix the rent at a higher or lower amount than that fixed by the Board; and the amount so determined shall be the rent to be paid in respect thereof.
106 Arbitrators may award costs of appeal.
The arbitrators shall award that the unsuccessful party shall pay to the other party the reasonable costs attending such appeal, and also the costs of the arbitrators; but such last-mentioned costs shall not exceed the sum of three pounds for every day occupied by each arbitrator in going to and returning from the run, and in inspecting the same and examining witnesses; and in no case shall the costs to be paid to the arbitrators exceed thirty pounds.
If the amount of rent determined by the arbitrators shall be less than that determined by the said Board by one-tenth only, the party appealing shall not be entitled to recover any costs from the said Board.
If the rent as fixed by the Board be not reduced, it shall apply the deposit to be paid as aforesaid towards satisfaction of the costs incurred.
107 Substitution of arbitrators in case of death, &c.
If, before the making of such determination as aforesaid, any arbitrator die, or refuse or become incapable to act, the party or Judge by whom such arbitrator was appointed, as the case may be, shall appoint another in his stead; and, if such party fail to do so for the space of fourteen days after notice from the other party in that behalf, such other party may appoint an arbitrator in his stead; and every arbitrator so appointed shall have the same powers and authorities as were vested in the arbitrator in whose stead such’ appointment shall have been made.
108 Board may increase estimate of rent.
If on proper representation the Board shall have reason to believe that the amount originally determined as the rent to be paid in respect of any run or runs was fixed at too low an amount, it shall be lawful for the said Board, at any time within twelve months after such determination, to increase the amount of such rent: Provided always that notice of the fact of such increase having been made shall within one month thereafter be inserted in the Gazette, and that a copy of such notice be posted to the occupier of such run in a letter addressed to him at such run.
109 Similar appeal as in former case.
Such occupier may appeal against the determination of the Board in making such increase; and such appeal shall be decided in the same manner, and such decision shall have the same consequences, in all respects as is hereinbefore provided with regard to an appeal from the original determination of the Board as to the amount of rent to be paid.
110 Present runholders may elect to hold under assessments.
Every holder of a depasturing license whose rent has been determined as hereinbefore provided, who shall on or before the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, pay the first year’s rent in advance, and in other respects comply with the provisions of this Act, shall be entitled from thenceforth to hold his run as from the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, until the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and ninety, subject to the provisions of this Act, and thereafter the depasturing license and all rights (if any) created thereunder shall absolutely cease and determine.
111 Licenses may be forfeited.
If any holder of a depasturing license shall at any time fail or neglect to pay the rent due in respect thereof, or shall fail to pay the rent which may be determined by the Board or by arbitrators as hereinbefore provided, the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall declare such license to be forfeited, and the run shall then be dealt with as provided by this Act in respect to unlicensed or forfeited runs.
112 Pre-emptive rights to cease on 1st May, 1880.
All rights of pre-emption heretofore granted in the Land District of Canterbury shall, on and after the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, absolutely cease and determine.
113 Fencing, buildings, and other improvements may be removed on termination of lease.
If the holder of any depasturing license shall have erected or made, or shall hereafter erect or make, any building, fencing, enclosure, or other improvement on Crown lands included within his license but not included in any pre-emptive right, and such land shall be purchased by any other person than such holder, he shall be entitled to remove such building, fencing, enclosure, or other improvement within three months from the date of his receiving a written notice of such purchase from the Board.
In Regard to Runs Within Otago
114 On expiration of license or lease Board to determine how lands so held shall be dealt with.
Before the expiration of any license or lease for depasturing purposes now in force, the Board shall, with the approval of the Governor, determine whether it is expedient to lease again for depasturing purposes the whole or any part of the lands held under such license or lease; or whether such lands, either as to the whole or as to any part thereof, as the case may be, are required for sale as rural lands under Part II. of this Act, or for sale and settlement on deferred payments under Part III. of this Act.
If it be determined that such lands, either as to the whole or as to any part thereof, as the case may be, are so required, then the Board shall, at any time not later than twelve months before the expiration of the license or lease, cause a notice of such resolution to be served on the licensee or lessee, or to be left at his last or last-known place of abode, or with some person resident upon the lands comprised in such license or lease.
If it be determined that such lands, either as to the whole or part thereof, as the case may be, shall again be let for depasturing purposes, then a new lease of the whole or of such part, as the case may be, shall, subject to the provisions relating to leases of pastoral lands contained herein, be sold by auction at least twelve months before the expiration of the then existing license or lease.
115 Licenses on renewal to be put up to auction.
When it shall have been determined as hereinbefore provided that the whole or portion of any run held under lease shall be again let for depasturing purposes, the Board shall cause such run, or such portion thereof as it may have determined to let, to be exposed to auction at least twelve months before the expiration of the then existing lease, and the sale shall be on the express condition that the purchaser, not being the actual lessee, shall, before being let into possession, pay to the Receiver of Land Revenue valuation for the improvements made on the run, such valuation to be fixed and determined as next hereinafter provided; and such auction shall be conducted in all other respects in the same manner as herein provided for auctions of runs.
116 If present occupant not purchaser, existing improvements to be valued.
In the event of the then lessee not having become the purchaser, the Board shall, at least one month before the expiration of any such lease, appoint an appraiser to value all improvements, consisting of necessary buildings, and of plantations, fences, and ditches for draining made on the lands, the license of which has been sold at auction as last aforesaid: Provided the amount of such valuation to be paid as aforesaid shall in no case exceed three times the amount of the average annual rent paid under the expiring lease during the term thereof.
117 Amount paid therefor to be handed to late occupant. No claim for improvements to be made against Crown.
On the receipt of any sum of money paid on any valuation made as aforesaid, the Receiver of Land Revenue shall, on application being made to him in that behalf, pay over to the person who at the expiration of the old lease was the lessee or transferee and holder of such lease the amount received for such valuation: Provided always that no lessee shall have any claim for valuation or compensation for or on account of any improvements either against the Crown or the Board.
118 Within Otago and Southland, leases terminating after 1st July to be extended to following March.
All pastoral leases or licenses in the Districts of Otago and Southland, terminating between the first day of July in any year and the month of March in the next succeeding year, shall be held to terminate in the last-named month of March, and the lessee or licensee, whose term of occupation has become extended by virtue of this provision, shall be liable for and shall pay in advance a proportionate amount of rent for the period during which his lease or license may be so extended.
General Provisions as to Runs
119 Existing leases on expiry to be sold at auction.
Subject to the provisions hereinbefore contained in respect of runs within the Land Districts of Canterbury and Otago respectively, and to any rights subsisting under any enactment repealed hereby,—
All Crown lands which at the time of the passing of this Act shall be occupied for pastoral purposes by virtue of any lease, license, or other authority may, on the determination or surrender of any such lease or license, if the Governor in Council shall see fit, be exposed to auction in runs of such extent as he shall approve.
Also leases of unoccupied lands.
All unoccupied Crown lands, and all Crown lands the license for which may be forfeited or surrendered, may in like manner be exposed to auction as aforesaid.
Runs limited.
No larger extent of such land than will be sufficient, according to the estimate of the Board, to carry all the year round five thousand sheep or one thousand head of cattle shall be offered at auction in one lot under the provisions of this Act.
120 Rent to be advertised before sale.
Before any run shall be exposed at auction, the Board shall determine the upset amount of rent at which the same will be put up at auction, and notify the same by advertisement, and notice of such auction shall be given in the same manner in all respects as herein enacted with regard to town and suburban lands about to be sold by auction.
121 Term for ten years, subject to twelve months’ notice.
The license shall be for such term not exceeding ten years as the Board shall fix, subject to be determined at any time in manner next hereinafter provided, if the Governor shall be of opinion that the land therein comprised, or any part thereof, is required for sale as agricultural or pastoral land.
It shall be lawful for the Governor at any time and from time to time to cause to be given to the licensee twelve months’ notice in writing that the whole or any part of the land comprised in any such license is so required, and at the expiration of such notice the license in respect of the land then specified shall determine and be void.
If part of the land only comprised in any license is affected by any such notice, it shall be lawful for the licensee at any time, either before or after the expiration of such twelve months’ notice as aforesaid, on giving not less than six months’ notice of his intention to do so, to surrender his license as to the whole or part of the land therein comprised but not affected by such first-mentioned notice.
No licensee shall be entitled to any compensation in consequence of his license being determined as aforesaid as to the whole or any part of the land therein comprised.
Provided always that in the Land District of Otago such licensee shall be entitled to compensation in respect of improvements on land, as mentioned and determined in amount in section one hundred and sixteen of this Act, the license of which shall be so determined, if, having been the occupant of such land before the expiration of the old lease, be has received no compensation for improvements made by him during the currency of the old lease, or if he has paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue valuation for such improvements under the provisions of clause one hundred and fifteen of this Act, or of “The Otago Waste Lands Act, 1872.”
122 First year’s rent to be paid in advance.
The person who shall pay the highest sum by way of annual rent for any such run shall be entitled to receive a license to occupy the same for pastoral purposes, provided he shall pay the first year’s rent in advance at the time of such auction; and in default of such payment the run shall be forthwith again put up to auction.
123 Date of license. Rent for intermediate period between purchase and license.
Every license of a run purchased at auction as aforesaid shall, if the run is held under license at the time of sale, hear date on the next first day of March following the determination of such license, and in respect of lands not held under license shall bear date on the next first day of March following the date of such auction: Provided always that the purchaser of the license shall pay, over and above the first year’s rent required to be paid in advance, and at the same time as such rent is paid, a further sum equal to the amount of rent that shall be payable in respect of the run described in such license for the whole period that may intervene between the date of the auction and the date of the license.
124 If no bidders, rent may be reduced and again offered.
If there be no bidder at such auction, the Board may reduce the amount of the rent; and the run shall be again exposed to auction, after notice of the same shall have been given in manner hereinbefore provided, and so on from time to time until the license of the said run shall be sold.
125 Rights granted by pasturage license.
A pasturage license shall entitle the holder thereof to the exclusive right of pasturage over the lands specified therein, but shall give no right to the soil or timber or minerals, and shall immediately determine over any land which may be proclaimed a hundred, or which may be licensed, leased, purchased, granted, or reserved under this or any other Act. Such roads and rights-of-way as the Governor or the Board may deem necessary may at any time be taken through any run without compensation.
126 License may be transferred.
The interest in a run held under any license which may be issued hereunder to occupy for pastoral purposes shall be deemed to be a chattel interest for all purposes.
Such interest may be transferred in writing attested by a Justice, either indorsed upon the license or on a separate document; and the person to whom such interest shall be transferred shall be entitled, upon payment of a fee of ten pounds, to receive a license to occupy for pastoral purposes: Provided that the person making such transfer shall be liable for the instalment of rent which shall become due next after such transfer.
Every transfer of the interest in a run held under a license to occupy for pastoral purposes shall be registered at the office of the land district; and until such registration has been made as aforesaid the said transfer shall have no effect or operation, and no interest, either at law or in equity, shall be transferred thereby.
127 Conditions to be contained in license.
Every license issued under the authority of this Part of this Act shall contain the following conditions:—
(1.)
A condition for the payment of the rent at the times herein mentioned;
(2.)
A condition that if the licensee, or any person claiming an interest through or under the licensee in the run for which the license has been issued, shall make or cause to be made any agreement or contract, or shall give or cause to be given or taken any negotiable security, for the purpose of defeating or evading the provisions of or shall in any way whatsoever directly or indirectly commit or be privy to a fraud upon this Act, the license shall be liable to be forfeited and revoked in manner hereinafter provided:
And every license shall contain such other conditions and provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as the Board shall approve of and shall direct to be inserted therein.
128 On violation of conditions license may be revoked.
If at any time while any such license is in force it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Board that any condition of such license has been violated, the Board may forfeit and revoke such license, and may dispose of the run to which such license applied as if such license had never been issued; and such licensee, and his executors, administrators, and assigns, shall be taken to have forfeited all right, title, and interest under such license, and to be, as against the the Crown or the Board, or any person claiming under the Crown or the Board, a mere trespasser or mere trespassers; and the production of a copy of the Gazette containing a notice, purporting to be signed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, of the forfeiture and revocation of any such license, shall be evidence that such license has been lawfully forfeited and revoked.
129 Buns may be subdivided.
The licensee of any run may with the sanction of the Board, and upon payment of a fee of ten pounds for every subdivision, divide such run, and the Board shall determine the amount of rent to be paid in respect of each subdivision of the original run, so that the rent to be paid for the whole of such subdivisions shall not be less than the rent paid for the run when undivided.
And the Board shall issue licenses authorizing the occupation for pastoral purposes of each run into which the original run shall have been so divided, at the rent so determined by the Board as last aforesaid: Provided always that no pre-emptive right to purchase or lease shall be exercised after such subdivision.
130 Where runs are diminished by Board, rent to be abated.
If the area of any run shall be diminished by reason of any portion thereof being proclaimed a hundred, licensed, leased, purchased, granted, or reserved, the license of the run shall be revoked to the extent that the same shall thereby be diminished, and the rent to be paid in future in respect of such run shall be reduced to an amount proportionate to the area over which the license has been so revoked.
131 Licensee may purchase land on run for homestead.
It shall be lawful for the Board to permit the original holder of a pastoral license issued under this Act to apply for and purchase in one block, and at such price as the Board may determine (not being less than the upset price of land in the district), an allotment of land not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres on which to erect buildings, yards, or such other improvements as may be necessary for working the run: Provided that any licensee who has at any time heretofore purchased or become the owner of a pre-emptive right in such run shall not be entitled to purchase hereunder.
132 Certain lands may be excluded from application for license.
The Board may refuse to receive any such application for any land supposed to be auriferous, or to contain any mineral or metal, or which in the opinion of the Board may be required for the site of a town or ferry or for any reserve or public purpose; and such application if received shall be surveyed in all respects in conformity with the regulations as to roads and frontages in force in the land district.
133 Board may refuse application, and refund money.
Notwithstanding that the Board may have received such an application, it shall be lawful for the Board after the survey of the land has been made, if to the Board it shall seem fit, to refuse to grant the application either as to the whole or as to part of the land applied for, and to return the moneys (if any) paid on account of purchase-money or surveys, or such part thereof as has been paid on account of the portion of land the application for which shall not be granted.
134 Bent payable half-yearly in advance.
The rent payable in respect of any run shall, except as is hereinbefore provided in respect of the first year’s rent, be paid in equal parts, half-yearly in advance, on the first day of March and the first day of September in each year.
135 Bent recoverable by distress on order of Commissioner.
The rent may be recovered in like manner as any rent is or shall be recoverable by law, and, in case the same shall be levied by distress, an order of the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall be a sufficient warrant and authority to distrain, any law or enactment to the contrary notwithstanding.
136 Penalty on occupier in arrear of rent.
If the occupier of any run shall not pay the rent within fourteen days after it shall become due, he shall be liable to a penalty of one pound for every day that such rent shall be in arrear after the day when it became due, to be added to the amount of the rent due: Provided always that, in case of the death of the lessee before the rent becomes due, the time of payment may be extended by the Board to three months.
137 Run forfeited if rent three months in arrear.
If such rent and penalty be not paid within one month after such rent became due, the said Board shall cause to be inserted in the Gazette a notice to the occupier of such run that the same is liable to forfeiture; and if such rent, together with the full amount of the penalty, be not paid within three months after the date of such insertion, the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall forthwith declare such run forfeited, and after any such declaration the interest of such occupier in such run shall cease and determine.
138 Disputes as to boundaries of adjoining runs settled by arbitration.
When any difference exists or shall arise between the occupiers of adjoining runs as to the common boundary thereof, the Board may, by an order in writing, direct that the same shall be ascertained by some competent person to be appointed in such order, and by two other persons, one to be appointed by each of the said occupiers, and such three arbitrators or any two of them shall make their award in writing of and concerning the premises on or before the day named for that purpose in such order, or on or before such further day as the Board shall by writing indorsed on the same order appoint, and such award shall be transmitted to and deposited in the office of the Board, and shall be binding and conclusive on Her Majesty and the said occupiers respectively, and the cost of such arbitration shall be borne by the said occupiers in such manner or proportions as the said arbitrators shall direct.
139 Arbitrators to mark boundaries on the ground.
It shall be lawful for the arbitrators who may determine the boundary as aforesaid to mark on the ground such boundary, and such boundary so marked shall be held to be the boundary of such runs. And it shall be lawful for the said arbitrators, or any authorized officer chosen by the Board, to certify, by his or their signature duly attached to any plan representing such boundary, the accuracy of such representation, and such plan shall thenceforth become and be legal evidence of such boundary.
140 Board may have runs surveyed to ascertain area.
When the area of any run has not been ascertained with sufficient accuracy, the Board may cause such run to be surveyed for the purpose of ascertaining its area, and in consideration of the expense of such survey may charge to the licensee of such run a sum not exceeding thirty pounds, and the sum so charged shall be taken to form a part of the rent payable during that year in respect of such run, and may be recovered in the same manner as such rent is recoverable.
141 Runholders not entitled to compensation if Act altered or repealed.
No occupier of land for pastoral purposes shall be entitled to any compensation by reason of this Act being hereafter repealed or altered.
RESTING-PLACES FOR TRAVELLING STOCK
142 Travelling stock may four hours on unsold Crown lands.
Notwithstanding anything herein contained, every traveller may, while be is travelling, depasture for any period not exceeding twenty-four hours his cattle and sheep, unless the same be affected with any contagious or infectious disease, upon any unsold Crown lands within one quarter of a mile on either side of any road or track commonly used as a thoroughfare, or, though not previously so used, leading to any Crown lands on which persons are actually engaged in mining for gold or in other industrial pursuits, and to which no road has been proclaimed.
143 Persons travelling with stock deviating from road, to give notice to runholder before entering on the run.
Every person intending to drive cattle or sheep across the run of any other person, and not keeping such cattle or sheep entirely upon the road or track laid out or commonly used by the public, shall, before entering upon such run, give or deliver at the residence of the occupier or manager residing on such run twelve hours’ notice of his intention so to drive such cattle or sheep, and shall by such notice state from whence be has brought the same and whither be is driving them, and the point at which he purposes to enter the run; and all cattle shall be driven every day a distance of not less than ten miles, and all sheep shall be driven every day a distance of not less than six miles, in the direction of the place mentioned in the notice as the place to which it is intended to drive such cattle or sheep respectively; and any person who shall offend against any of the provisions of this section, unless prevented by some cause which shall appear satisfactory to the Magistrate, shall, on conviction before any Magistrate, forfeit and pay for every such offence a sum not exceeding twenty pounds.
Part VII Reserves, Etc
144 Governor may make reserves. Temporarily in first instance.
The Governor may from time to time, either by a general or particular description, and whether the same has been surveyed Or not, reserve from sale temporarily, notwithstanding that the same may be then held under pastoral license, any Crown lands which in his opinion are required for any of the following purposes—viz., for docks, quays, improvement of harbours, landing places, tramways, railways, railway stations, roads, bridges, ferries, canals, or other internal communications whether by land or by water, reservoirs, aqueducts, watercourses, water-races, drains, improvement and protection of rivers, irrigation and works connected therewith, embankments, quarries, gravel-pits, sites of markets, abattoirs, public pounds, baths, washhouses, mechanics’ institutes, libraries, museums, or other institutions of instruction, county or municipal buildings, courthouses, gaols, prisons, or other public buildings, sites and grounds for schools, colleges, reformatories, hospitals, asylums, and charitable institutions, or for the purposes of any agricultural or pastoral associations, or for the growth and preservation of timber, gardens, parks or domains, places for the interment of the dead, or for the health, recreation, convenience, or amusement of the people, or for the use, support, or education of aboriginal natives of the colony, or for any purpose of public defence, safety, utility, advantage, or enjoyment; or as endowments for education.
145 After interval, land may be permanently reserved.
When any land has been temporarily reserved, notice of such reservation shall be published in the Gazette.
At the expiration of one month, but not later than six months, after the publication of such notice, the lands described therein (not being reserves for endowments) may be permanently reserved, and notice of such permanent reservation shall be published in the Gazette, and failing such permanent reservation any such temporary reservation shall be void.
146 Reserves may be granted in trust.
Upon such notices being duly published as aforesaid, the lands described in such notices respectively shall become and be dedicated to the purposes for which they were reserved respectively, and may at any time thereafter be granted for such purposes in fee-simple, or disposed of in such other manner as for the public interest may seem best, subject to the condition that they shall be held in trust for the purposes for which they were reserved, unless such purpose be lawfully changed.
147 Endowment reserves to be sanctioned by Parliament.
Before any land is permanently reserved as an endowment as hereinbefore mentioned a description of the land proposed to be reserved, and the purpose for which it is to be reserved, shall be laid upon the table of each House of the General Assembly.
(1.)
The two Houses may, by resolution jointly agreed to, alter, vary, or modify the area of any such reserve as they shall think fit, or they may nullify the same by a resolution disapproving thereof.
(2.)
A copy of every such joint resolution shall forthwith, after the passing thereof, be transmitted by the Clerk of each House to the Colonial Secretary, who shall, without delay, publish the same in the Gazette.
(3.)
In the absence of any resolution of both Houses with respect to any such reserve, the said reserve shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the termination of the session, be proclaimed by the Governor as not having been disapproved.
(4.)
In the event of a resolution of both Houses, altering, varying, or modifying the area of any reserve, the Governor may, if he shall think fit, proclaim the same in its amended form.
(5.)
From and after the date of any Proclamation issued under either of subsections three or four hereof, the land comprised therein shall be deemed to be and shall be reserved for the purposes in such Proclamation mentioned.
148 Governor may change purpose of reserve.
It shall be lawful for the Governor to change the specific purpose for which any land has heretofore been set apart as a reserve, or to make such change in respect of a portion only of such reserve, and also to exchange any land for the time being set apart as such reserve, or any portion of such reserve, for other land of equal value, as he may think fit, and, in case of the exchange of any such land, to make a Crown grant thereof accordingly; but no change shall be made in the specific purpose for which any such reserve shall have been set apart, and no exchange of any such reserve shall be made, until after a public notice of such intended change or exchange respectively has been inserted in the Gazette for four consecutive weeks: Provided always that this section shall not apply to any reserve set aside as an endowment for any corporation or public body; but notice of any change that shall be made in the specific purpose for which any such reserve shall have been set apart, and any exchange of any such reserve, shall be forthwith laid before both Houses of Assembly if Parliament be then sitting, or, if not, within ten days after the beginning of the then ensuing session of Parliament; and if any such notice shall be disapproved by either House of Assembly within one month after the same shall have been so laid before Parliament, such change or exchange shall have no effect or validity.
149 License to occupy reserves.
The Board may cause a license to occupy to be issued of any reserve or part of any reserve vested in Her Majesty either heretofore made or hereafter to be made, if not required for immediate or early use for the purposes for which it may have been reserved: Provided always that every such license shall be surrendered to the Governor upon demand at any time after notice of not less than twelve months, without any right to compensation on any account whatever accruing to the licensee.
150 Survey to be made before license granted.
No such license shall be granted until a survey has been made of the land applied for to the satisfaction of the Board, who may require the applicant to have such survey made at his own expense, the cost of such survey as shall be fixed by the Board to be repaid to the person having it made out of the first rent received for the land so surveyed.
151 Land in license may be taken for roads.
Nothing in any such license contained shall affect the right of the Governor to take any part of the lands therein mentioned for the construction of roads, railways, or tramroads through the said land to an extent not exceeding one-twentieth part of such land, and such right may be exercised by the Governor at any time during the currency of the license, and the licensee shall have no claim for compensation except a reduction in his rent in proportion to the extent of land taken.
152 Errors of description may be amended.
Where there has been any error of description made in the notification of any intended reserve, or where there appears a great discrepancy in the area of any intended reserve after the same shall have been surveyed, the Governor may cancel any notification that may have been made in respect of such reserve, and issue fresh notifications in respect thereof, with amended particulars and descriptions.
153 Land discharged from reservation may be sold after three months’ notice.
Whenever any land which, under or by virtue of any Act of the General Assembly or other law, or any power or authority given by any such Act or law, has been reserved or excluded in any manner from sale shall become released or withdrawn from any such reservation or exclusion, and shall be in any manner opened for sale, public notification thereof shall be made forthwith, and such notification shall be repeated at least once at an interval of not less than a fortnight after the first publication thereof; and no sale whatever of any of such land or of any portion thereof shall be valid if made at any time before the expiration of three months at least after the day of the first publication of such notification.
Part VIII Miscellaneous
Sale of Land Within Mining Districts
154 Sale of land within mining districts.
The Governor, by Proclamation, may from time to time declare any Crown lands within any mining district, not held under license or lease at the date of such Proclamation, or over which the license or lease has been cancelled, to be open for sale or selection in sections of such size and form and on such date as he may determine; and any lands so proclaimed may thereafter be sold at a like price and subject to the like terms and conditions, or as near thereto as may be, as Crown lands of the same class not within a mining district. And the Governor may from time to time alter, amend, or revoke any such Proclamation.
Saving as to right to watercourses.
Before any such Crown land is offered for sale or selection the Board shall determine whether any watercourse running through or bounding the same will, in their opinion, be thereafter probably required for the purpose of discharging therein tailings, mining debris, or waste water; and if in the opinion of the said Board such watercourse will be so required the same shall be duly notified accordingly, and a right shall be reserved to the Governor in the Crown grant to issue to holders of miners’ rights or mining leases licenses to use such watercourse for any such purpose without liability to pay compensation therefor.
Unsold Lands Occupied and Improved
155 In certain cases of unsold lands, value of improvements to be added to upset price.
Whenever improvements have been made on any section the value of which should in the opinion of the Land Board be secured to the occupant of such section, it shall be lawful for the Board, on its recommendation to that effect having been approved in such case by the Governor, to add to the upset price of such section the value of such improvements, to be ascertained in such manner as shall be decided by the Board, with such approval as aforesaid, in which case, should the occupant become the purchaser, it shall not be necessary for him to pay the value so ascertained; but the same shall be allowed to him as if paid, and if any other person become the purchaser the amount of such value shall be paid over to the occupant by the Receiver of Land Revenue.
MINERALS ON LANDS
156 Licenses over mineral lands may be cancelled.
When any mineral, metal, or valuable stone has been or shall be discovered on any Crown lands held under license or lease for pastoral or agricultural purposes, it shall be lawful for the Governor at any time to cancel the license or lease over any such lands, and over such areas adjacent thereto as may from time to time be required for the proper working of the mines or for granting access thereto.
157 Compensation in certain cases.
The lessee or licensee, in case be is entitled to compensation under the provisions of any Act hereby repealed, shall be entitled to have the same assessed in manner provided by Part III. of “The Public Works Act, 1876,”
but such compensation shall not exceed what he is entitled to under any enactment by this Act repealed.
No lessee or licensee, holding a lease or license for pastoral or agricultural purposes granted under this Act, shall be entitled to any compensation in respect of any land whereof the lease or license is cancelled as hereinbefore provided.
LEASES OF MINERAL LANDS
158 Leases of mineral lands outside gold fields may be granted by Board.
All powers of the Governor to grant mineral leases or licenses of land containing or supposed to contain minerals other than gold, under the provisions of any Act relating to mining, may, in respect of Crown lands outside of mining districts, but subject to the conditions contained in such Mining Acts respectively, be exercised by any Land Board.
WATER-RACES, ETC
159 Powers of Governor in respect to water-races may outside of mining districts be exercised by Board.
All powers of the Governor to grant licenses for the construction of water-races, and for the diversion of water, under the provisions of any Act relating to mining, may, subject to the conditions in such Acts contained, be exercised by any Land Board in respect of any lands outside of mining districts.
ROADS, STREETS, ETC
160 Reservations for roads.
The Crown shall have the right to take all necessary roads through any unsurveyed rural or pastoral lands after any sale or other disposal thereof, at any time previous to the survey of the same, without paying compensation for the land taken for any such roads. But after any rural or pastoral lands have been surveyed and sold, the right of taking necessary roads through any such lands may only be exercised within five years after survey of the said lands, and on the payment by the Crown for any land taken for such roads of an amount equal to twice the amount paid by the original purchaser from the Crown for the land so taken.
161 Governor may proclaim town and suburban lands, roads, &c., dedicated.
The Governor, by notice in the Gazette, may from time to time proclaim as a street or road, or as town or suburban lands, any portion or portions of Crown lands, and such town or suburban lands shall be sold by auction in the manner herein provided for the sale of town and suburban lands, and the lands upon which such street or road shall have been proclaimed shall be and be deemed to be thenceforward dedicated to the public.
162 Governor may exchange lands for roads.
When the course of any road has been or is hereafter altered or is about to be altered, if the owner of the land over which the road in its altered state passes or is intended to pass he willing to exchange such land or any part of it for the land traversed by such road in its former or its then present state, or for any part thereof, the Governor may, upon such terms as are mutually agreed on, accept such exchange, and may execute the proper grants or conveyances accordingly: And the Governor may do all things necessary in or towards the completion of any arrangement at any time heretofore made by competent authority in respect of the deviation of the course of any such road.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS
163 Appraisers to make declaration in all cases.
Before any appraiser enters into the consideration of any matters referred to him under this Act, he shall in the presence of a Justice make and subscribe the following declaration, that is to say,—
I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely declare that I have no interest either directly or indirectly in the matter of [Here state], and that I will faithfully and honestly and to the best of my skill and ability make the appraisement and valuation required under the provisions of “The Land Act, 1877,”
and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand intituled “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866.”
164 Outlying pieces of land may be sold to adjacent owners at valuation.
In cases in which there may be no convenient way of access to any portion of the Crown land, or in which any portion of Crown lands may be insufficient in area for public sale, or in which a portion of Crown land may lie between land already granted and a street or road which forms or should form the way of approach to such granted land, or in any other cases of a like kind, the Board may sell such lands to the holder or holders of adjacent lands without competition, and at a price to be determined by an appraiser to be appointed by the Board: Provided always that no such land shall be sold at a less price than two pounds an acre.
165 Penalty for unlawful occupation of Crown lands.
If any person be found in unauthorized occupation of any Crown lands, or shall knowingly and wilfully depasture, without authority in that behalf, any cattle or sheep on any such land, he shall be liable on conviction thereof to the penalties following, that is to say, for the first offence, a sum not exceeding five pounds; for the second offence after an interval of fourteen days from the date of the previous conviction, a sum not exceeding twenty pounds; and for any subsequent offence after a like interval, a sum not exceeding fifty pounds. But no proceedings to recover any such penalty may be taken except by some person authorized in that behalf by the Governor or the Board.
166 Removing boundary mark, misdemeanour.
If any person shall wilfully obliterate, remove, or deface any boundary mark which may have been made or erected by or under the direction of any authorized surveyor, or by any officer of any Land Board, or of any arbitrator as to boundaries, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
167 Governor may withdraw any land from sale or lease.
Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, the Governor, if he shall think fit, may withdraw from sale, leasing, or licensing any land or allotment.
168 Governor may make regulations for management of reserves, domains, &c.
The Governor shall have power from time to time to make and alter or rescind rules and regulations for the care, protection, and management of all reserves and public domains not vested in or under the control of any local authority, and for the preservation of good order and decency therein, and all such rules and regulations shall be published in the Gazette, and shall be posted in some conspicuous place in every such domain and reserve; and every person offending against any such rule or regulation shall, on conviction before any Magistrate, forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding five pounds for each offence; and every person who shall knowingly and wilfully offend against any such rule or regulation, and who shall not, after he shall have been warned by any Ranger of Crown Lands or any constable, desist from so offending, may be forthwith apprehended by such Ranger or constable and taken before some Magistrate, and shall on conviction forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.
169 Governor may make general regulations as to surveys, boundaries, forms of leases, &c.
The Governor shall have power from time to time to make rules, regulations, and orders for the purposes hereinbefore mentioned, to alter or rescind such rules, regulations, and orders, to provide for the mode by which any land or allotment shall be surveyed and boundaries adjusted, for prescribing the form of and the conditions and mode of applying for licenses and leases to be issued under this Act, and the conditions upon which the same shall be issued, for imposing any reasonable charge for surveys or fee for any document issued under the authority of this Act, for providing for all proceedings, forms of leases, licenses, and other instruments, and for the execution of all other matters and things arising under and consistent with this Act and not herein expressly provided for, and for the more fully carrying out the objects and purposes and guarding against evasions and violations of this Act; and all such regulations shall be signed by the Minister, and upon being published in the Gazette shall be valid in law, as if the same were enacted in this Act, and shall be judicially noticed; and all such rules, regulations, and orders shall be laid before both Houses of the Assembly within fourteen days after the making thereof, if Parliament be then sitting, and, if Parliament be not then sitting, within fourteen days after the commencement of the next sitting of Parliament.
170 Powers of Governor may be delegated. Exceptions.
It shall be lawful for the Governor, under his hand and the Public Seal of the Colony, from time to time to delegate to such person or persons as the Governor may deem fit all or any of the powers vested in the Governor by this Act, except the powers conferred by sections twenty-four, forty-one, forty-eight, fifty-three, one hundred and twenty-one, one hundred and forty-four, one hundred and forty-eight, one hundred and fifty-four, one hundred and fifty-six, one hundred and sixty, one hundred and sixty-one, one hundred and sixty-two, one hundred and sixty-eight, one hundred and sixty-nine, and one hundred and seventy, subject or not to any limitations or restrictions as he may think fit, and in like manner to alter or revoke any such delegation.
171 Convictions not to be quashed for want of form. No certiorari.
No order or other proceeding made touching or concerning the matters contained in this Act, or touching or concerning the conviction of any offender or offenders against this Act, shall be quashed or vacated for want of form only, or be removed or removable by certiorari or any writ or process whatsoever into the Supreme Court.
172 Respondent to be Minister of Lands.
Whenever in this Act any claim to compensation is directed to be determined under the provisions of Part III. of “The Public Works Act, 1876,”
the respondent in any claim shall be the Minister of Lands.
Schedule Schedule of. Enactments Repealed
Schedule of Acts, Ordinances, and Land Regulations repealed
1858. No. 75—”The Waste Lands Act, 1858,” together with all the several Acts, Ordinances, and Land Regulations specified in the Schedule annexed thereto.
1860. No. 26—”The Land for Compensation (Nelson and Marlborough) Act, 1860.”
1860. No. 35—”The Naval and Military Settlers Act, 1860.”
1860. No. 37—”The Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, and Taranaki Land Regulations Act, 1860,”
1861. No. 6—”The Naval and Military Settlers (Marlborough) Act, 1861.”
1861. No. 21—”The Auckland Immigration Certificate Act, 1861.”
1861. No. 32—“The Auckland Immigration Certificate Act 1858 Amendment Act, 1861.”
1862. No. 23—”The Crown Lands Act, 1862.”
1863. No. 29—”The Wellington and Hawke’s Bay Naval and Military Settlers Act, 1863.”
1864. No. 17—”The Canterbury Waste Lands Act, 1864.”
1865. No. 33—”The Hawke’s Bay Military and Colonial Defence Corps Settlement Act, 1865.”
1865. No. 49—”The Canterbury Waste Lands Act, 1865.”
1865. No. 59—”The Southland Waste Lands Act, 1865.”
1865. No. 60—”The Taranaki Naval and Military Settlers Act, 1865.”
1865. No. 72—”The Wellington Waste Lands Amendment Act, 1865.”
1866. No. 21—”The Crown Lands Sales Extortion Prevention Act, 1866.”
1866. No.’ 24—”The Canterbury Waste Lands Act, 1866.”
1866. No. 25—”The Land Regulations Extension (Hawke’s Bay) Act, 1866.”
1867. No. 52—”The Canterbury Waste Lands Act, 1867.”
1867. No. 55—”The Taranaki Naval and Military Settlers Act, 1867.”
1867. No. 63—”The Marlborough Waste Lands Act, 1867.”
1867. No. 64—”The Southland Waste Lands Amendment Act, 1867.”
1867. No. 67—”The Waste Lands Boards Appeal Act, 1867.”
1868. No. 38—”The Hawke’s Bay Land Regulations Extension Act Amendment Act, 1868.”
1869. No. 13—”The Canterbury Waste Lands Act, 1869.”
1869. No. 14—”The Naval and Military Settlers Act, 1869.”
1869. No. 27—”The Canterbury Temporary Mining Reserves Act, 1869.”
1869. No. 33—“The Commissioners of Crown Lands Act, 1869.”
1870. No. 53—The Wellington Waste Lands Act, 1870.”
1870. No. 56—”The Westland Waste Lands Act, 1870.”
1870. No. 59—”The Hawke’s Bay Renewal of Licenses Act, 1870.”
1871. No. 18—”The Wellington Waste Land Regulations Amendment Act, 1871.”
1871. No. 77—”The Wellington Special Settlements Act, 1871.”
1872. No. 39—”The Otago Waste Lands Act, 1872.”
1872. No. 42—”The Nelson Special Settlements Act, 1872.”
1872. No. 43—”The Hawke’s Bay Special Settlements Act, 1872.”
1872. No. 46—”The Southland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1872.”
1873. No. 33—”The Canterbury Waste Lands Act, 1873.”
1873. No. 34—”The Westland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1873.”
1873. No. 45—“The Commissioners of Crown Lands Act Amendment Act, 1873.”
1873. No. 65—”The Southland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1873.”
1873. No. 66—“The Otago Hundreds Proclamation Validation Act, 1873.”
1874. No. 16—”The Auckland Waste Lands Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 17—”The Hawke’s Bay Waste Lands Regulations Amendment Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 18—”The Marlborough Waste Lands Act 1867 Amendment Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 19—”The Nelson Waste Lands Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 20—”The Otago Waste Lands Administration Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 21—”The Taranaki Waste Lands Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 22—”The Westland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 23—“The Wellington Special Settlements Act Amendment Act, 1874.”
1874. No. 59—”The Gold Fields Act Amendment Act, 1874.”
1875. No. 12—”The Southland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1875.”
1875. No. 48—”The Taranaki Waste Lands Act 1874 Amendment Act, 1875.”
1875. No. 67—“The Otago Waste Lands Act 1872 Amendment Act, 1875.”
1875. No. 68—”The Auckland Waste Lands Act 1874 Amendment Act, 1875.”
1876. No. 51—”The Waste Lands Administration Act, 1876,” except the provisions contained in sections numbered respectively two, three, eleven, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-nine, seventy, seventy-one, and seventy-two.
APPENDIX A ALIENATION OF RURAL LANDS
The Land District Of Auckland
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Auckland—
1 Classification of rural lands.
All rural lands shall be divided according to quality into classes as follows:—
(1.)
First-class land.
(2.)
Second-class land.
(3.)
Third-class land.
And such classification shall be made by such persons, and according to such regulations and conditions, as the Board shall direct and appoint: Provided that no land which has been declared to be first or second class land shall cease to belong to such classes respectively without the consent previously obtained of the Governor in Council.
2 Land set apart for homestead without payment.
It shall be lawful for the Board, with the assent of the Governor, to set apart blocks of land to be opened for occupation without payment, but subject to the conditions as to cultivation and residence hereinafter set forth, herein called the “homestead system.”
3 Conditione of occupation.
The Board shall give public notification of all blocks of land that from time to time may be declared open for selection on the homestead system, and shall also publicly notify the following conditions, which shall apply to all selections under the aforesaid homestead system:—
(1.)
The area allowed to be selected by each person of the age of eighteen years or upward shall be of first-class lands fifty acres, or of second-class lands seventy-five acres; and for persons under eighteen years of age, of first-class lands twenty acres, or of second-class lands thirty acres: Provided that the total quantity to be selected by any one family or number of persons occupying the one household shall not exceed two hundred acres of first-class or three hundred acres of second-class lands.
(2.)
Within three months after the selection has been approved by the Board, the selector shall commence to reside on his selection, and shall continue to reside continuously thereon for five years from the date of such approval as aforesaid.
(3.)
Within eighteen months after such approval, the selector shall erect on his selection a permanent dwelling-house of wood or other materials, which shall be specified in regulations to be issued in reference to homestead-system selections.
(4.)
In each year there shall be brought under cultivation one-fifteenth of the area of such selection if open land, and one twenty-fifth if bush land, so that at the end of the term of five years one-third of the selection of open land, or one-fifth if bush land, shall be under cultivation.
(5.)
Non-performance of any of the foregoing stipulations shall render the selection void, and the right of the selector therein and to all improvements thereon shall be forfeited.
(6.)
At the end of the said period of five years, a grant or grants shall issue for the land selected: Provided the selector shall not have forfeited his right thereto in manner aforesaid.
4 First and second class lands to be sold by auction.
Subject to the two last foregoing provisions all rural lands of the first and second class within any block declared open (exclusive of reserves) shall be set apart for sale for cash at auction, and the minimum prices per acre for first and second class lands shall be fifteen shillings and ten shillings respectively.
5 Third-class lands may be sold or leased by auction, subject to conditions.
Third-class rural lands shall be offered for sale or lease by auction in such areas as shall from time to time be approved by the Board, subject to the following conditions:—
(1.)
The minimum price not being less than five shillings per acre in case of sale, and the minimum rental per acre in case of lease shall be such as shall from time to time be fixed for each such area by the Board.
(2.)
In the case of leases, there shall be reserved to Her Majesty all minerals and mineral rights within every such area, and full and complete powers to enable such rights to be exercised and enjoyed.
(3.)
Reserves may be made of all or any portion of the timber or forest land within such area,· but liberty may be given to the purchaser or lessee to cut down and remove such portions of timber or forest as may be required for improvements or domestic use upon the area so sold or leased.
(4.)
No lease shall be for a longer term than twenty-one years: Provided that every such lease shall contain a proviso authorizing the Board to resume any portion of the lands comprised therein which may be required for the purposes of occupation or settlement: Provided also that no one lease of land shall comprise an area of more than ten thousand acres.
6 Resident occupiers in highway districts may graze cattle on Crown lands.
The ratepayers and resident occupiers of land within any highway district shall be entitled to depasture on the Crown lands within such district such number and description of great cattle in proportion to their several holdings as the Trustees for such district shall prescribe, on payment to the Trustees of such annual fee, not less than two shillings and sixpence per head of such cattle over six months old, as the Trustees shall fix,· and all fees received under this section shall be applied to local improvements within the district.
7 Non-residents and others running cattle liable for trespass.
Any person, not being a ratepayer or an occupier of land, who shall depasture or permit to depasture any cattle upon Crown lands within any highway district, or who, being a ratepayer or an occupier, shall depasture or permit to depasture any cattle prohibited by the Trustees, or a greater number than prescribed, or without payment of the fees fixed, shall be liable to have such cattle impounded as for a trespass.
8 Special land orders validation.
Notwithstanding anything in the provisions of this Act contained, it shall be lawful for the bonâ fide holders of any land orders or land scrip issued by Harry Warner Farnall in the United Kingdom during the time be held the appointment of Emigration Agent in the said Kingdom for the Province of Auckland, to tender any such land orders or land scrip in payment for Crown lands in the land district of Auckland, purchased under the provisions of this Act, and such land orders or land scrip shall be accepted at the rate of ten shillings for each acre which they purport to entitle the holders thereof to select.
9 Lands formerly purchased by Superintendent to be Crown lands.
All lands heretofore acquired or held by the Superintendent for the use of the provincial district under an absolute conveyance, shall be deemed and taken to be Crown lands, and shall be dealt with in manner provided by this Act.
APPENDIX B The Land District of Taranaki
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Taranaki—
1 Land to be surveyed before sale.
No land shall be offered for sale unless the same shall have been previously surveyed, and a map thereof showing the allotments offered for sale, and the reserves for roads and other purposes of public utility marked thereon, such map being open for inspection by the public at the Principal Land Office during usual office hours.
2 Rural lande for sale by auction.
All rural lands not set apart for sale by selection for cash shall be sold by public auction.
3 Upset price.
The upset price for rural land offered for sale by auction shall be fixed by the Board according to its quality and position, not being less than twenty shillings per acre for bush land, nor less than forty shillings per acre for open land.
4 Lands open for selection for cash.
It shall be lawful for the Board from time to time, by public notification, to set apart allotments of land, which shall be open for sale by selection for cash, and from time to time to revoke such notification with respect to such lands as shall remain unsold at the time of such revocation.
5 Price per acre.
The price at which rural lands shall be offered for sale by selection for cash shall be twenty shillings per acre for bush land, and forty shillings per acre for open land. And in the event of two or more applications for the same land being made on the same day, the upset price at which such land shall be put up at auction shall be twenty shillings per acre for bush land, and forty shillings per acre for open land.
6 Applications, how made.
Any person desirous of purchasing rural land by selection for cash shall make an application in writing for the purchase thereof at the local Land Office of the district in which the land applied for is situate, and in a form to be prescribed by the Board; and every such application shall be forthwith forwarded to the Principal Land Office, and the decision of the Board on such application shall be given within two days after such application has been received at the Principal Land Office, if there be no more than one applicant for the same land on the same day.
7 Simultaneous applications.
In the event of two or more persons making application to purchase the same land on the same day, the said land shall be offered for sale by public auction, open to all bidders, at such time and place as the Board shall appoint.
8 Special lands may be set apart for sale or lease by auction.
It shall be lawful for the Board from time to time to set apart Crown lands having any special value from the growth of timber, or from having an available water-power thereon, and to dispose of such Crown lands by lease, with or without a pre-emptive right to purchase, to any person or company who will undertake to establish a saw-mill or other special industry, or apply the waterpower to any manufacturing purpose, upon such terms as the Board may think fit, subject, however, to the following conditions:—
(1.)
The land so disposed of for any such purpose to any person or company shall not exceed five hundred acres in each case.
(2.)
No lease shall be given for a period exceeding seven years, and the rent shall not be less than two shillings per acre: Provided that it shall be in the discretion of the Board to charge a royalty of not less than sixpence per hundred superficial feet of sawn timber in lieu of rent.
(3.)
No land shall be sold or agreed to be sold under this section at a less price than twenty shillings per acre.
(4.)
It shall be a condition in every lease or agreement to sell, that if the saw-mill or other special industry or manufactory to be established is not so established within the period of one year, or such less period as the Board shall determine, the lease and the agreement to sell shall become void, and the land shall then revert to the Board, and shall then be subject to be dealt with as Crown lands under this Act.
(5.)
Such lease or agreement shall be sold by public auction.
(6.)
No greater quantity than one thousand acres shall be set aside in any one year under this clause.
9 Price per acre of special-value land.
It shall be lawful for the Board to reserve any land of special value and offer the same for sale by public auction at a minimum price of not less than forty shillings per acre.
10 Maximum of allotments selected on deferred payments.
Notwithstanding anything contained in sections fifty-six and fifty-seven it shall be lawful for the Board to allow any selector of land on deferred payments to select more than one allotment of land, provided that no more than three hundred and twenty acres in the whole be so selected, and that no allotment be selected in part.
11 Board may add to upset price value of improvements.
Whenever improvements have heretofore been made on any section of rural land, the value of which should in the opinion of the Land Board be secured to the occupant of such section, it shall be lawful for the Board, on its recommendation to that effect having been approved in such case by the Governor, to add to the upset price of such section the value of such improvements, to be ascertained in such manner as shall be decided by the Board with such approval as aforesaid; in which case, should the occupant become the purchaser, it shall not be necessary for him to pay the value so ascertained, but the same shall be allowed to him as if paid, and if any other person become the purchaser the amount of such value shall be paid over to the occupant by the Receiver of Land Revenue: Provided always that this power shall only be exercised by the Board within twelve months from the passing of this Act.
APPENDIX C The Land District of Hawke’s Bay
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Hawke’s Bay—
1 Land to be surveyed before sale.
No lands, whether town, suburban, or rural, shall be offered for sale by auction unless the same shall have been previously surveyed, and distinguished by a sufficient mark or number upon a plan to be deposited and exhibited in the Principal Land Office.
2 Lands open for selection at twenty shillings an acre.
All such rural lands as have already been proclaimed as open for selection and purchase under the Land Regulations heretofore in force and known as the General Land Regulations of the Province of Wellington, and dated the fourth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and the additional Regulations of the said province, dated the sixteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, shall remain open for sale at the fixed price of twenty shillings per acre.
3 Applications.
An intending purchaser of such last-mentioned lands shall make an application in writing to the Board for the purchase of the land which he may desire to purchase.
4 Applications to be signed.
Such application must contain the name and description of the intending purchaser, and must be signed by him or his agent, and contain as accurate a description of the land applied for as may be reasonably possible.
5 Time for lodging applications.
All such applications for the purchase of land shall be lodged at the office of the Board between the hours of ten a.m. and three p.m. on all week-days other than Saturday; and on Saturday between the hours of ten a.m. and one p.m. All applications shall have priority according to the time at which they are received, and it shall be the duty of the Chief Commissioner, at the time of receiving any application, to mark thereon the hour and minute at which the same was received.
6 Priority of applications.
In case the Chief Commissioner shall be personally absent from his office at the time when any application shall be tendered, such application shall be provisionally received by the Clerk in the Land Office, who shall issue a provisional order or authority to the Receiver of Land Revenue to receive the purchase-money, and such application, followed by payment, shall give the applicant priority; but if the Board, on subsequent examination, shall discover that the said application, for some lawful reason, should not have been received, it shall be the duty of the said Board to reject the said application, and give the applicant notice thereof; and thereupon the purchase-money paid by the applicant shall be returned.
7 Registry of applications.
All applications for the purchase of land shall be forthwith entered in a book to be kept in the Principal Land Office, and to be called the “General Register of Applications for Land;”
and such book shall be open to the inspection of the public during the regular office hours, and any person may take a copy of or extract from such register.
8 Other rural lands to be sold by auction.
All lands not being lands reserved from sale, or lands referred to in section two of this Appendix, shall be sold and disposed of by public auction at an upset price of not less than twenty shillings per acre, at such times, in such allotments, as the Board shall from time to time publicly notify.
APPENDIX D The Land District of Wellington
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Wellington—
1 Districts to be notified.
The Board shall from time to time, by public notification, notify all new districts which shall be open to general purchase, with the boundaries and contents thereof, as nearly as the same can be ascertained.
2 Register of applications.
The general register of applications for land shall be open to the inspection of the public daily during office hours, and any one may take a copy of any application from such register, or of any other entry therein.
3 Simultaneous applications.
All applications made upon the same day shall, for the purpose of the following rule, be deemed simultaneous applications.
4 Land sold at auction between applicants.
In cases where simultaneous applications shall be made for a piece of land, an auction shall be held as between the applicants, the land named in the applications being put up at the upset price of twenty shillings per acre, and the application shall be registered in the name of the person who shall bid and pay the highest price: Provided that either or all of the conflicting applications may be withdrawn.
5 Payment of purchase money.
In districts which may be proclaimed or notified as open for sale, the intending purchaser must pay in cash or scrip the price of any section or sections of land which he may desire to select: the price for all lands so selected being at the rate of twenty shillings per acre.
6 Sale of pastoral lands.
With regard to all lands over which the Native title has been or shall be extinguished, the Board shall as soon as possible determine, upon such evidence as it may think fit, what portion of such land is, from its hilly or broken character or otherwise, unavailable for agricultural purposes, and such land shall be considered to be and shall be called pastoral land, and shall be surveyed in blocks of not exceeding six hundred and forty acres each, in such form as may be determined by the Board, and may be sold by auction, the upset price being such as the Board may determine, not being less than ten shillings per acre.
APPENDIX E The Land District of Nelson
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Nelson—
1 Area of sections of rural lands may be changed.
Notwithstanding anything contained in section one hundred and twenty-one of this Act, all rural lands whether within or without mining districts shall be open for sale or lease by application to the Board, to be made in manner to be from time to time determined by the Board, and such lands shall be divided into sections, subject to the provisions of this Act, and be of such size as the Board may from time to time determine, and any section may at any time previous to advertising for sale be altered or subdivided by the Board; but no alteration shall take place between the time of advertising the same for sale and the time of its being offered for sale by auction.
2 Rural lande to be sold by auction.
All sales of rural land, except as is otherwise hereinafter provided, shall be by auction.
3 Upset price.
The upset price of rural land shall be from ten shillings to forty shillings per acre, as may be fixed by the Board.
4 Land to be surveyed before sale.
No land shall be sold unless the same shall have been previously surveyed and distinguished by appropriate numbers upon a plan to be deposited and exhibited in the Principal Land Office.
5 Applicant may survey land at his own cost.
It shall be lawful for the Board to allow any applicant for the purchase of unsurveyed land to have such land surveyed at his own expense by a surveyor authorized by the Surveyor-General in that behalf. The land may then, unless reserved or withdrawn from sale, be put up to auction, and an allowance made to the purchaser for the expense of the survey at the rate of five acres for every hundred acres. Should the land be reserved or withdrawn from sale, the applicant shall be paid the cost of the survey, such cost to be ascertained and limited as provided in the section next hereinafter contained.
6 Cost to be refunded if applicant not purchaser.
If the land so surveyed be purchased by any other person than the original applicant, the purchaser shall, in addition to the amount bid for the same at the sale, pay to the Receiver of Land Revenue, to be paid by him to the original applicant as the cost of the survey, such sum not exceeding one shilling and sixpence per acre as may be assessed by the Board; and, if the land so surveyed be not sold at auction, the Board shall add a sum limited and assessed as aforesaid to the upset price of the land, and such sum shall be paid to the original applicant if and when such land is sold.
7 Land open for selection on application.
Rural land not open for sale under any of the preceding provisions may be purchased in such sections as the applicants may describe and point out, subject to the provisions of this Act, at the maximum price of two pounds per acre: Provided that whenever land so purchased is beyond the limits of the surveys already executed or about to be immediately executed, the expense of the survey thereof shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall deposit the estimated cost with the purchase-money.
8
Any applicant for a lease of Crown land may in his application request the Board to assess the land at its value to sell, in accordance with such regulations as may at the time be in force for the sale of Crown lands in the provincial district, and, in the event of such application for a lease being acceded to, shall be entitled to a lease thereof for a term of fourteen years at an annual rental of ten pounds per centum on such assessed value for sale, payable in advance; and on the due and punctual payment of such rent for the term of fourteen years, and upon the due performance and observance of the covenants contained or implied in such lease, he shall be entitled to a Crown grant of such land: Provided always that no greater quantity of land than three hundred and twenty acres shall be so leased to any one person: Provided also that the minimum price of such land shall not be less than ten shillings per acre.
9
It shall be lawful for the lessee of any lands assessed under the last preceding section, and at the rental therein mentioned, to purchase the fee-simple of the land comprised in such lease at any time before the expiration thereof, upon paying in one sum the balance of the total amount of the fourteen years’ rental reserved in and by such lease.
10
It shall be lawful for the Board to grant to any person an occupation license for pastoral purposes of any Crown lands, of such area and subject to such payment by the licensee and upon such other terms as may be agreed upon by and between the Board and the licensee: Provided that any such license shall cease and be determined at any time, in respect of the whole or any portion of the land over which it may have been granted, in the event of the whole or such portion of the said land being reserved, leased, or sold by the Board, and that without any notice to that effect being necessary to be given to any such licensee.
11
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, whenever any lands shall be reserved for a town or village and be open for sale as town lands, if any of such lands so reserved shall have been within a proclaimed gold field, and at the time of the withdrawal of the same from such gold field such reservation or opening of such land for sale shall have, for a period of two years preceding, been occupied under business license or other lawful authority as a residence or business site, or shall have been so occupied for any less period than two years, and a building of the value of fifty pounds at least have been erected on such land by the occupier or some person through whom be claims, then the Board may, if they shall think fit, sell such land to such occupier, without putting up the same to auction, at such price as shall be fixed by the Board, not being less than at the rate of ten pounds for forty perches of land.
Miners’ Prospecting Licenses and Mining Leases
12 Prospecting license may be issued.
When it shall be reported to the Board that minerals of value exist in any unsurveyed land, whether within or without mining districts, they may at their discretion grant to the informant or to any other person applying for the same a prospecting license, giving to such applicant for a term not exceeding twelve months the exclusive right to search for any or all minerals other than gold over such land, not exceeding in quantity six contiguous square miles, on the following terms:—
(1.)
The description of the land over which the license is sought, and a sketch of the boundaries thereof, must be lodged with the application.
(2.)
A fee of one penny per acre on all the land applied for must be paid on application being made for the license: Provided that, in the event of a license being granted in respect of part only of the land applied for, a proportionate part of the fee paid shall be returned to the applicant in respect of the area over which the license shall not be granted.
13 Mining lease may be granted.
The holder of any prospecting license may, upon application at any time during its currency, and on payment of the deposits and fees hereinafter provided, obtain a mining lease of such portion, not exceeding two square miles, of the land comprised within the license as the Board may determine, on the terms and subject to the exceptions hereinafter provided; and no mining lease of any land under license shall be granted to any other person than the licensee or his assigns during the currency of such license.
14 Transfer of license invalid unless registered.
No transfer of a prospecting license shall be valid unless registered at the Land Office, and a memorandum thereof indorsed on the license by the authority of the Board.
15 Deposit on application for lease.
Any person applying for a lease of any Crown lands not already included in any reserve, lease, or prospecting license, for the purpose of mining for any or all minerals other than gold, shall at the time of application deposit one shilling for every acre over which the application extends, which deposit shall be deducted from any future fees, royalty, or rent to be paid for or under the lease to be granted in respect of such application, and a further payment of one shilling for every acre shall at the same time be made for the survey of the land applied for.
16 Survey to be made.
The survey thereof shall be made with as little delay as may be by the Government; but, in case it shall not be practicable to make such survey without great delay, the Board may if it thinks fit allow the applicant to employ at his own expense some surveyor approved by the Surveyor-General to make such survey, and in such case the applicant shall be entitled to a refund of the payment on account of survey so soon as the plan is accepted by the Board.
17 Terms of lease.
A lease of land surveyed as aforesaid may be granted by the Board to such licensee or applicant as aforesaid, his executors, administrators, or assigns, for the purpose of mining for any or all minerals other than gold, on the following terms and conditions:—
(1.)
The contents shall not exceed two square miles.
(2.)
The term shall be twenty-one years.
(3.)
There shall be paid a rent of not less than sixpence per acre for each of the two first years of the lease, and not less than one shilling per acre for every subsequent year.
(4.)
There shall be reserved such royalty as the Board may determine, being not less than a fiftieth nor more than one twenty-fifth of the minerals raised, and the value of royalty on any sums paid in lieu of royalty for any one year shall be deducted from the rent for such year, and when the amount of royalty for one year shall equal or exceed the rent for such year no rent shall be paid for such year.
(5.)
The right to mine for gold shall be expressly reserved in the lease. (6.) The lease shall include only so much of the surface of the land to which it refers as may be agreed between the Board and the lessee.
(7.)
The lease shall contain clauses for protecting the interests of the Crown, for enabling the lessee to surrender the lease, for granting free access, where necessary, over the Crown lands to the lands or mines demised, and for reserving full right of way over and through such lands or mines.
18 Further provisions may be inserted in lease.
Provided that in every lease there shall be inserted such conditions for securing the efficient working of the mines, and for the payment of such rents and royalties in addition to the amounts above specified, as the Board may think fit.
19 Lease may be renewed.
No land comprised in any prospecting license or mining lease shall be sold during the currency thereof; and in every case where the conditions of the mining lease have been fulfilled the lessee shall be entitled to a renewal thereof for the same term at double the rents and royalties reserved in the original lease.
20 Disputes to be settled by Board.
All objections to applications for mining leases, and all disputes arising with respect to the boundaries of lands under such leases, shall be decided by the Board.
21 Auriferous land may not be leased.
Auriferous lands may not be leased under the foregoing provisions, and the decision of the Board whether land is auriferous or not shall be conclusive.
APPENDIX F The Land District of Marlborough
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Marlborough—
1 Area of sections may be changed.
Sections of rural lands may, subject to the provisions of this Act, be of such size as the Board may from time to time determine; and any section may at any time previous to sale be altered or subdivided by the Board; but no alteration shall take place between the time of advertising the same for sale and the time of its being offered for sale by auction.
2 Classification of rural lands.
For the purposes of sale all rural lands shall be classed by the Board under two heads, that is to say,—
(1.)
Rural land, being land neither from the unevenness of its surface nor the quality of its soil unsuited for tillage;
(2.)
Pasture land, being such as from its hilly and broken character or inferior quality appears unsuitable for agricultural purposes.
In determining within which class any rural and pasture lands are to be included, their fitness or unfitness for the purpose of tillage rather than their position shall be considered.
3 Lands sold by auction.
All rural and pasture lands, except as is otherwise herein provided, shall be sold by auction.
4 Upset price.
The upset price of rural lands shall not be less than twenty shillings per acre, and of pasture land not less than ten shillings per acre, as may be fixed by the Board.
5 Land to be surveyed before sale.
No section or block of sections of land shall be sold unless the same shall have been previously surveyed, and set out upon the ground, and distinguished by an appropriate mark on the plan comprising the district in which it is situated.
6 Applicant may survey land at his own cost.
It shall be lawful for the Board to allow any applicant for rural land to have such land surveyed at his own expense by a surveyor authorized by the Surveyor-General. Should the land be withdrawn from sale, or any other person than the applicant aforesaid become the purchaser, then the original applicant will be paid for the expenses incurred in the survey thereof.
APPENDIX G The Land District of Canterbury
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Canterbury—
1 Uniform price of rural lands.
Notwithstanding anything contained in section one hundred and twenty-one of this Act, and notwithstanding that the land is held under license, all rural lands shall be open for sale at a uniform price of forty shillings per acre.
2 Priority of applications.
All applications for the purchase of rural lands shall be made and determined in the following manner, that is to say,—When the applicant, or any person authorized in writing, or by telegram, on his behalf, shall apply at the Survey Office, either at Christchurch or Timaru, for the purpose of purchasing any portion of rural land, the Chief Commissioner, or such person as he may appoint, shall prepare a form of application for the said applicant, or any person authorized in writing on his behalf, to sign, containing a description of the portion of land which the applicant desires to purchase, and shall initial the said form, and note thereon the precise time at which the application shall have been made; and the Board shall consider and determine all such applications in the order in which they shall have been received at the above-mentioned Survey Offices, up to such day and hour as may from time to time be fixed by the Board: Provided that if two or more persons shall apply at the same time for the same piece of land, or any portion thereof, the Board shall determine the priority of right to be heard by lot. Applications for the purchase of rural lands shall have priority of hearing before any other applications.
3 Application Book.
For all other purposes, a book to be called the “Application Book”
shall be kept open during office hours at the Principal Land Office, in which the name of every person desiring to make any application to the Board shall be written in order by himself or any person duly authorized in writing on his behalf, and the Board shall consider and determine all applications made by such persons in the order in which their names shall appear in the Application Book, except where otherwise provided: Provided that if any person shall not appear himself, or by some person duly authorized on his behalf, before the Board when called in his turn, his application shall be dismissed until his name shall appear again in the book in order: Provided also that, if two or more persons shall apply at the same time to write their names in the Application Book, the Chief Commissioner, or in his absence any other Commissioner, or the Chief Clerk of the Board, shall bracket their names, and shall initial the bracket; and when they shall appear before the Board, the Board shall determine the priority of right to be heard by lot,· and it shall not be lawful for the Board to hear any application except such as shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
4 Occupation license pending grant. Surveys may be made at cost of applicant.
It shall not be necessary to pay any part of the purchase-money at the time of making an application for the purchase of rural land, but the whole of the purchase-money shall be paid immediately upon the Board deciding to grant the application, and the purchaser shall thereupon receive a license to occupy; and, as soon thereafter as conveniently may be, the land shall be laid off by a surveyor as nearly in accordance with the description given by the purchaser in his application as this Act will admit: Provided that, whenever the lands selected lie without the surveyed districts, the expense of the survey, and of connecting such survey with the existing surveys, shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall at the time of purchase deposit the amount of the estimated cost of such surveys with the Receiver of Land Revenue, which shall be made as soon as practicable: Provided always that, should any section when surveyed prove to differ in any respect from that intended by the purchaser, the Board will not be responsible for any loss or inconvenience which the purchaser may experience, nor will the purchase-money be returned: Provided also that, if the surveyor shall find that the whole extent of land in the selected locality falls short of the quantity paid for by the purchaser, the aforesaid Receiver shall repay so much of the purchase-money as exceeds the price of the land to be conveyed. The license to occupy shall, in any case, be amended by the Board in accordance with the report of the surveyor, and the Crown grant shall be made out in accordance therewith; and the license shall be returned to the Board when the Crown grant shall be issued.
5 Discrepancies between estimated and actual areas of sections.
Wherever the descriptions of the boundaries given by purchasers of the land intended to be purchased by them have on survey proved to contain a larger area than that estimated to be contained within such boundaries and stated in the license to occupy, and where Crown grants have been prepared in accordance with such descriptions, then and in every such case the purchaser shall on the demand of the Commissioner of Crown Lands forthwith pay the difference between the price of the land contained within the boundaries described and of the land for which payment has already been made, whether the Crown grant shall have been prepared or not: Provided always that, if the said purchaser shall not pay such sum on demand, the section shall if necessary be re-surveyed, and the Crown grant if prepared shall be corrected, and such purchaser shall forthwith pay the cost of such re-survey of the section containing the excess of acreage; and if the Crown grant has been prepared he shall also pay in like manner the expenses incidental to such preparation.
6 Timber on rural lands to be preserved.
The Board shall not be empowered to issue any license or lease under section eighty-six, to cut timber on any rural lands.
7 When license transferred, Board to grant a fresh license to successor.
Whenever the holder of any pasturage license shall have sold or transferred his right to depasture stock upon any portion of the land comprised in any such license to any other person, it shall be lawful for the Board to grant to such other person a separate license, conferring the right to depasture stock upon the portion of the land comprised in the original license to which such other person shall be entitled, and a fresh license shall be issued by the Board to the person entitled to the residue of the run under the original license.
8 Land comprised in two or more licenses may be included in one license.
Whenever the holder of two or more pasturage licenses entitling such holder to depasture stock upon adjoining Crown lands shall apply to the Board to have the land comprised in such licenses included in one license, it shall be lawful for the Board to issue to such holder a fresh license accordingly, including the land comprised in such two or more licenses.
9 Proviso.
Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to give to the person or persons to whom such new licenses as aforesaid shall be issued power to take up any additional pre-emptive rights, beyond such as the holder or holders of the original license or licenses would have been entitled to take up under such license or licenses.
10 Fee for license.
There shall be paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue for each license issued under the authority of paragraphs seven and eight of this Appendix a fee of ten pounds.
APPENDIX H The Land District of Otago
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Otago—
1 Sales of rural land·.
All rural lands shall hereafter be open for sale or disposal, except such as at the time application is made for the purchase of the same are leased or reserved for leasing, or for occupation on deferred payments, or included or comprised within any license to depasture stock, or reserved from sale by virtue of any power or authority in that behalf given by any Act for the time being in force.
2 Sale of rural lands within hundreds.
All lands which may at any time hereafter be constituted into a hundred shall not be open for sale or lease until the expiration of thirty days from and after the first publication of the Proclamation constituting the hundred: Provided always that it shall be lawful for the Board, by public notification from time to time, to fix a date after the said period of thirty days as the date on and after which the lands comprised in such hundred shall be open for sale or lease as aforesaid, and in such case such lands shall not be open until the date mentioned in such last-mentioned notification, or the last of such notifications, as the case may be.
3 Price of rural lande.
The price at which rural lands shall be offered for sale shall be twenty shillings per acre; and, in the event of two or more applications for the same land being made on the same day, the upset price at which such land shall be put up at auction shall be twenty shillings per acre.
4 Applications.
Any person desirous of purchasing rural land shall make an application in writing for the purchase thereof, in a form to be prescribed by the Board, either at the local Land Office of the district in which the land applied for is situate, or at the Principal Land Office. Any application made at a local office shall be forthwith forwarded to the Principal Land Office.
5 Decision thereon.
The decision of the Board upon every application for the purchase of rural land shall, if such land shall have been previously surveyed, be given within twenty-one days after the receipt of the application at the Principal Land Office; and, if such land shall not have been previously surveyed, then such decision shall be given on such day as the Board shall appoint, not being more than six months from the receipt of the application.
6 Occupation license pending grant. Survey may be made at cost of applicant.
Immediately on the payment, in the manner directed by this Act, of the whole purchase-money for unsurveyed land, the purchaser shall receive a license to occupy, and, as soon thereafter as conveniently may be, the land shall be laid off as nearly in accordance with the description given by the purchaser in his application as this Act will admit. The expense of the survey and of connecting such survey shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall at the time of purchase deposit the amount of the estimated cost of such survey with the Receiver of Land Revenue, and such survey shall be made as soon as practicable: Provided always that, should any section when surveyed prove to differ in any respect from that intended by the purchaser, the Board will not be responsible for any loss or inconvenience which the purchaser may experience, nor will the purchase-money be returned: Provided also that, if the surveyor shall find that the whole extent of land in the selected locality fails short of the quantity paid for by the purchaser, the Receiver of Land Revenue shall repay so much of the purchase-money as exceeds the price of the land to be granted, and the license to occupy shall in any such case be amended in accordance with the report of the surveyor, and the Crown grant shall be made out in accordance therewith, and such license shall be returned to the Board when the Crown grant shall be issued.
7 Board may refuse application.
Notwithstanding that the Board may have received an application for land, it shall be lawful for the Board, if it shall by the Board be deemed prejudicial to the public interest to grant the application, either as to the whole or to any part of the land applied for, to refuse to grant the application, either as to the whole or as to part of the land, and to return the moneys deposited on account of purchasemoney, or such part thereof as has been deposited on account of the portion of land applied for and the application for which shall not be granted.
8 Simultaneous applications.
In the event of two or more persons making application to purchase the same land on the same day, the said land shall be offered for sale by public auction.
9 Portions of land simultaneously applied for.
If two or more applications are made on the same day for the same land, and any such application shall refer only to part of the land applied for in another application, then the auction to be held shall take place in respect of such part only of the land as shall be included in two or more applications so made on the same day.
10 Timber land may be sold.
It shall be lawful for the Board, with the assent of the Governor, to receive and grant applications for the purchase of any rural land upon which timber may be standing, in such quantities as’ the Board shall see fit, and subject in all respects to the provisions herein contained relating to ordinary rural land.
11 Cost of survey repaid when applicant not purchaser.
If any land, surveyed at the expense of any applicant for the purchase or lease thereof, be afterwards put up for sale by auction, and be sold to some other person than the original applicant, the purchaser shall, in addition to the amount bid for the same at the sale, pay to the Board, for the purpose of being paid over to the original applicant as the cost of the survey, such sum as the Board may determine, and before the auction shall commence such sum shall be publicly declared, and shall be paid forthwith upon the lot being knocked down to such purchaser; otherwise the purchase shall be void, and the land may be again offered for sale or lease under similar conditions.
Proclamation of Hundreds, and Compensation
12 Existing hundreds reconstituted.
All hundreds existing within the Land District of Otago, at the time of the coming into operation of this Act, are hereby re-constituted with the same names, areas, and boundaries respectively, and are hereby established as hundreds of land for the purposes of this Act, wherein certain provisions of this Act relating to the sale and disposal of land within hundreds shall take effect.
13 New hundreds may be proclaimed.
It shall be lawful for the Governor, from time to time, by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Gazette, to constitute into a hundred any portion of the Crown lands not forming part of any hundred previously proclaimed, notwithstanding that such lands or any part thereof shall be comprised within any pastoral lease or license heretofore or hereafter to be granted by the Crown under any law regulating the occupation or disposal of Crown lands, and whether or not the same shall have been included within the boundaries of any proclaimed gold field: Provided always that during the currency of any pastoral lease now in force no hundreds shall be constituted comprising land within such lease, except in accordance with the provisions of section 97a, “Otago Waste Lands Act, 1872.”
14 Lessee entitled to compensation for determination of lease.
Every person holding a lease of any pastoral lands comprised within any district proclaimed a hundred or block of land shall be entitled to compensation for the determination of his lease, and for the then value of all fences then existing upon the said lands: Provided that in no case shall the total amount of such compensation for such determination of such lease over such portion of the run so to be proclaimed a hundred or block as aforesaid exceed two shillings and sixpence per acre: Provided also that the holder of such lease shall be entitled to such compensation only in respect of fences erected and at the time of the determination of the lease standing on the land so proclaimed a hundred or block of land as aforesaid, the amount of such compensation, if not settled by agreement, to be determined in the manner provided in Part III. of “The Public Works Act, 1876:”
Provided always that no compensation whatever shall be payable for the determination of any pastoral lease or license granted under this Act where the provisions of section one hundred and twenty-one of this Act as to twelve months’ notice have been complied with.
15 Lessee may agree to give up run.
If the holder of a pastoral lease can agree with the Board to give up part of the run held under such lease for purposes of settlement without claiming any compensation for the determination of such lease, it shall be lawful for the Board to enter into an agreement with such holder, upon such terms and conditions, not being repugnant to the general provisions of this Act regulating the disposal of rural land, and with such provisions for granting pasturage rights (if any) to settlers occupying the land comprised in such agreement, as the Board may think best suited to promote the settlement of people on the land.
Management of Crown Lands within Hundreds and Blocks
16 Regulations for hundreds.
The Crown lands within hundreds already proclaimed, or which may hereafter be proclaimed, shall be managed and regulated solely under and in accordance with the provisions herein contained,· and, subject to such provisions, the rights of pasturage on Crown lands in any such hundred, and the apportionment of the same, shall be exercised and enjoyed exclusively by the persons who shall take out a depasturing license as hereinafter provided, being owners or occupiers of land within the hundred.
17 Depasturing licensee.
A depasturing license shall be granted to every such owner or occupier who shall apply for the same to the Board on or before the first day of December in each year, provided that he shall furnish to the Board a return showing the description and area of land owned or occupied by him, and the number of acres (if any) unenclosed or available for pasture, and the number, description, and brands of all cattle depastured or intended to be depastured by him within the hundred; and any person depasturing cattle upon a hundred failing to make such return as aforesaid, or making a false return, shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds.
18 Licensee to depasture some cattle free.
Each license-holder shall be at liberty to depasture, free of assessment, one head of great cattle, or five sheep, for every ten acres of unenclosed land owned or occupied by him within the boundaries within which cattle may be depastured in the hundred, provided that such license-holder shall prove to the satisfaction of the Board that such freehold land is within such boundaries, and is open to all cattle depastured on the hundred.
19 Holders of miners’ rights, &c., may run two head of great cattle free.
Each license-holder who is the holder of a miner’s right, having a claim within a hundred or block, or who is the holder of a business license issued under any Acts relating to gold fields or gold mining, occupying land by virtue of license within a hundred or block, shall be entitled to run two head of great cattle within such hundred or block free of charge.
20 Depasturing diseased cattle prohibited.
No diseased cattle shall be depastured upon, nor shall any pigs or goats be allowed at large within, any hundred; and any person or persons who shall turn out or depasture any diseased cattle or suffer any pig or goat to be at large within any hundred shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds.
21 Steps to be taken to check scab.
In the event of scab breaking out in any flock of sheep which is being depastured within a hundred, the Board, in conjunction with the Inspector of Stock of the district, shall take such steps as they may deem necessary to eradicate and prevent the spread of the disease, and for this purpose may appoint boundaries within which diseased sheep may be depastured.
22 Commencement of license.
Every license shall commence and take effect on the first day of January, and shall continue in force one year, and for such license there shall be paid to the Board, on the issue thereof, the sum of two shillings and sixpence.
23 Election of Wardens.
As soon as conveniently may be after the first day of December in each year, the Board shall publicly notify a list of the persons to whom and the names of the hundreds in respect of which such licenses have been granted, and at the same time and in like manner the Board shall call a meeting of such persons in each hundred for the purpose of electing from amongst themselves, by a majority of votes, any number of persons to act as Wardens, not being less than three, as the said Board shall in such notice direct and appoint; and such persons shall continue in office until the election of their successors, and shall have the regulation and apportionment of the right of pasturage within the hundred for the then current year, or until some other regulation and apportionment thereof shall be lawfully made in that behalf: Provided that every occupier of twenty acres and not exceeding one hundred shall have one vote, and an additional vote for every one hundred additional acres.
24 Licensees paying assessment, exclusive rights.
The persons whose names shall be comprised in such lists, or to whom licenses for part of a year shall be issued, as hereinafter provided, and who shall have paid the yearly assessment fees on cattle, hereinafter referred to, shall have the exclusive right of pasturage on the Crown lands within the hundred in respect of which they shall hold such license.
25 President of meeting.
At every meeting to be held for the election of Wardens, a person appointed by the Board shall preside; and, in case of an equality of votes at any such election, such person shall have a casting vote.
26 Vacancies, how filled up.
In the event of the death, resignation, or refusal to act of any of the persons so elected as aforesaid, the vacancy shall be filled up by an election to be conducted, as nearly as may be, in the manner hereinbefore provided.
27 Wardens to make regulations.
It shall be lawful for the Wardens, at any time within one calendar month after their election, in or by any regulations to be made by them, to compute the quantity of cattle capable of being depastured on the Crown lands within the hundred, to apportion the number of great cattle and small cattle which may be depastured for the then current year by each person holding such license as aforesaid, and to determine the boundaries within which great cattle and small cattle respectively may be depastured; and the persons entitled to vote in the election of Wardens shall, if they think fit, at any general meeting called by the Board, on a requisition by any three license-holders for the purpose, determine the description of cattle to be depastured within the hundreds during the current year, and such decision shall be made by the majority of votes of the persons entitled to the pasturage: Provided that every occupier of twenty acres, and not exceeding one hundred, shall have one vote, and an additional vote for every one hundred additional acres.
28 Regulations gazetted.
The regulations so to be made by the Wardens as aforesaid shall be agreed to by a majority of the Wardens, and a copy of the same under their hands shall, on or before the first day of February in each year, be furnished to the Board for public notification. In case the Wardens shall neglect to make such regulations within the period aforesaid, all the powers hereinbefore given to such Wardens shall be held and exercised by the Board.
29 Wardens may make by-laws.
For the purpose of providing for the safety of the cattle to be depastured within any hundred, for improving the common lands, for preventing the intrusion and the depasturing thereon of cattle belonging to or under the charge of any unlicensed person, it shall be lawful for the Wardens, or a majority of them, from time to time to make such by-laws (not being repugnant hereto) as to them may seem meet, and by such by-laws to impose any fine not exceeding five pounds, to be recovered in a summary way, upon any person offending against the same; and such by-laws shall extend and be applicable not only to persons to whom such licenses as aforesaid may have been issued, but to persons to whom no such licenses shall have been issued, and to all unenclosed lands situated within the limits of the hundred, except as regards unenclosed lands the owners whereof have not agreed to leave their unenclosed lands open to all stock depasturing within the hundred, as hereinbefore provided: Provided always that no such by-laws shall come into operation until they shall have received the assent of the Board, and have been publicly notified.
30 Transfer of license.
It shall be lawful for the Wardens of any hundred, or the majority of them, to authorize the transfer of any such license as aforesaid from the person to whom the same may have been issued to any other person, being an occupant of land as aforesaid situated within the limits of the hundred in respect of which such license may have been originally issued: Provided also that notice of such transfer shall have been given to the Board.
31 License for part of year.
It shall also be lawful for the Board, after a return of land and cattle has been made as hereinbefore provided, to issue such depasturing licenses as aforesaid, on payment of a fee of two shillings and sixpence, at any time, for the remaining portion of the then current year.
32 Assessment to be paid to Road Boards or to Wardens, where no Road Boards.
The Wardens of the hundred shall levy and raise yearly for and in respect of all cattle depastured upon the Crown lands within such hundred (except such as may be allowed to be depastured free) an assessment as follows:—
For every head of great cattle, a sum of three shillings and sixpence;
For every head of small cattle, a sum of one shilling;
to be paid by the person depasturing such cattle, at a time and place and in manner to be appointed by notice under the hand of the Wardens; and the amount received for every such assessment in such hundred or such part thereof as may be situated in any road district shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Road Board of the district in which such hundred or part thereof is situated, and if there be no such Road Board then to the Wardens of the hundred wherein such assessment accrued, to be by them expended in the construction and repair of roads and bridges in such road district or hundred, as the case may be: Provided that when three-fourths of the land within the hundred are sold or occupied the assessment shall cease.
33 Wardens to keep accounts.
Within one calendar month after the election of the Wardens for any hundred, the Board shall pay over, to any person such Wardens may appoint for that purpose, all moneys that it shall have received for licenses in such hundred, which sums shall be applicable, under the direction of the Wardens, to all or any of such purposes as may be necessary to give effect to this Act. The Wardens shall, in a book to be kept by them for that purpose, enter true accounts of all sums of money by them received and paid under the authority of this Act; and at the close of the year for which they shall have been elected the said Wardens shall furnish a copy of such book to the Board for public notification, and shall pay over to the Wardens for the ensuing year the balance of such moneys (if any) remaining in their hands, and shall conform to and observe all such rules and regulations as may from time to time be made by the Board for securing the due application of the moneys received by them under the authority hereof.
34 Arrears of assessment.
In case any person liable for the payment of any such assessment shall neglect or refuse to pay within thirty days after notice the amount due in respect thereof, it shall be lawful for the Wardens of any hundred, or, on their failing so to do, for the Commissioner of Crown Lands, without prejudice to any other remedy they or he may have at law, to issue a warrant under their or his hand directed to some constable to levy the amount so due by distress and sale of a sufficient part of the cattle and other goods and chattels of the party liable, in like manner as in the case of rent in arrear between landlord and tenant.
35 Limits appointed for sheep.
Any license-holder depasturing sheep upon hundreds shall do so within such limits as the Wardens may appoint; and in the event of such sheep being allowed to trespass beyond the boundaries so appointed, they may be impounded in any public pound, and shall be dealt with according to law, as if they had been found trespassing on fenced lands the private property of the Wardens: Provided always that nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to authorize the impounding of any sheep or cattle which are being depastured on any land, whether fenced or not, which is the property of or is lawfully occupied by the owner of such sheep or cattle.
36 Cattle not to be removed without authority.
No person shall remove cattle from beyond the boundary of any hundred other than those belonging to him, or for the removal of which he shall have authority from the Chairman of the Wardens or the Board, under a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds.
37 Penalty for shooting cattle.
Any person shooting cattle on any hundred, without the consent in writing of the Chairman of the Board of Wardens previously obtained, shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds.
38 Penalty for setting fire to herbage.
Any person who shall set fire to any herbage or grass upon the Crown lands within any hundred, without the consent in writing of the Chairman of the Board of Wardens previously obtained, shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds; but such consent will not protect any person from the consequences of any loss or damage which may be sustained by any person by reason of the carelessness with which such burning of the hundred may be performed.
39 Rangers appointed.
The Board may appoint one or more Rangers for each hundred, whose duty shall be to see that the provisions of this Act are carried into effect, and to report any neglect or breach thereof to the Board.
40 Licensee to make returns.
Any license-holder may be required by the Wardens or Ranger of the hundred at any time to make a return of the cattle being depastured by him within the hundred, with the same particulars as is hereinbefore required in the case of applicants for a depasturing license; and any person who shall fail to make such return for a period of forty-eight hours after being required so to do, or who shall make a false return, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.
41 Penalty for unauthorized depasturing.
If any person, not being licensed as aforesaid, shall depasture any cattle on the common lands of the Crown within any hundred, or, being so licensed, shall depasture on such lands as aforesaid a greater number of cattle than shall have been apportioned to him, every such person shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding fifty pounds.
42 Where no Wardens, Board may act.
Every act hereinbefore authorized to be done by the Wardens of any hundred may, in any case where no Warden shall be elected, or where the persons elected as Wardens, or the majority of them, shall refuse or decline or neglect to act, be done, executed, or performed by the Board, or by such person resident in the hundred as it may appoint to act in that behalf. And when any person shall feel aggrieved with any act or decision of the Wardens, or of any general meeting of license-holders as hereinbefore provided, it shall be lawful for him to appeal to the Board, and the Board shall hear and determine such appeal in such manner as the Board shall think fit, and their decision shall be final.
43 Board to make regulations after proclamation of hundreds.
As soon as conveniently may be after the proclamation of any hundred, the Board shall compute the quantity of cattle capable of being depastured on the Crown lands within such hundred, and, by regulations to be issued by the Board, apportion the number of great cattle and small cattle which may be depastured for the then current year by each person holding such license as aforesaid, and fix and determine the boundaries within which great cattle and small cattle may be respectively depastured: Provided always that all regulations made by the Board shall be approved by the Governor: Provided further that, should the Board fail to make such regulations, it shall be lawful for the Board, and it is hereby required, to call a meeting of the license-holders in such newly-proclaimed hundred, in order that the license-holders may appoint Wardens in manner hereinbefore provided.
44 Pasturage to belong to lessee till regulations made.
The right of pasturage over all lands proclaimed, or to be proclaimed after the passing of this Act, which at the time of such Proclamation were or shall be held under lease or license for depasturing purposes, shall remain with the leaseholder or license-holder until regulations affecting such lands shall be made under the provisions of this Act, and no longer.
APPENDIX K The Land District of Southland
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Southland—
1 Sales of rural lands.
Notwithstanding anything contained in section one hundred and twenty-one of this Act, all rural lands in Southland shall be open for sale.
2 Application Book.
A book to be called the “Application Book”
shall be kept open during office hours at the Principal Land Office, in which the name of every person desiring to make any application to the Board shall be written in order by himself or any person duly authorized on his behalf; and the Board shall consider and determine all applications in the order in which they shall appear in the Application Book: Provided that if any person shall not appear himself, or by some person duly authorized on his behalf, before the Board when called in his turn, his application shall be dismissed until his name shall appear again in the book in order.
3 Price of rural land.
All rural lands not included within any hundred now existing or hereafter to be constituted are or shall be divided into agricultural and pastoral lands; and the price of agricultural land shall be forty shillings per acre, and the price of pastoral land shall be twenty shillings per acre, and the price of land within the hundreds now existing within the district shall be twenty shillings per acre: Provided always that the price of land set aside for deferred payments shall be the same as that in the Land District of Otago.
4 Occupation license pending grant. Surveys may be made at cost of applicant.
Immediately on the payment, in the manner directed by this Act, of the whole purchase-money, the purchaser shall receive from the Board a license to occupy, and as soon thereafter as conveniently may be the land shall be laid off as nearly in accordance with the description given by the purchaser in his application as this Act will admit: Provided that, whenever the land selected lies without the surveyed districts, the expense of the survey and of connecting such survey with the existing surveys shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall at the time of purchase deposit the amount of the estimated cost of such surveys with the Receiver of Land Revenue; and such surveys shall be made as soon as practicable: Provided always that, should any section when surveyed prove to differ in any respect from that intended by the purchaser, the Board will not be responsible for any loss or inconvenience which the purchaser may experience, nor will the purchase-money be returned: Provided also that, if the surveyor shall find that the whole extent of land in the selected locality falls short of the quantity paid for by the purchaser, the Receiver of Land Revenue shall repay so much of the purchase-money as exceeds the price of the land to be granted. The license to occupy shall in any such case be amended by the Board in accordance with the report of the surveyor, and the Crown grant shall be made out in accordance therewith, and such license shall be returned to the Board when the Crown grant shall be issued.
5 Board may refuse to present application.
Whenever the Board shall hereafter receive an application for the purchase of any land, it shall be lawful for the Board, at any time within thirty days in the case of unsurveyed lands after a survey of the lands has been made, and in the case of surveyed lands within thirty days after application, to grant the application either as to the whole or to any part of the land applied for, or to refuse to grant the application either as to the whole or as to part of such land, and to return the moneys deposited on account of purchase-money, or such part thereof as has been deposited on account of the portion of the land applied for and the application for which shall not be granted: Provided always that no such land shall, after such refusal, be open for sale or application until thirty days’ public notice thereof shall have been given.
Proclamation of Hundreds
6 Existing hundreds reconstituted.
All hundreds existing within the Land District of Southland at the time of the coming into operation of this Act are hereby reconstituted with the same names, areas, and boundaries respectively, and are hereby established as hundreds of land for the purposes of this Act, wherein certain provisions of this Act relating to the sale and disposal of land within hundreds shall take effect.
7 New hundreds may be proclaimed.
It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, at any time after the expiration of the existing leases or licenses, from time to time, by Proclamation in the Gazette, to declare any land comprised within a depasturing license to be either a new hundred, or to be added to a hundred already proclaimed; and from and after the date of such Proclamation such land so proclaimed shall be subject to the provisions of this Act affecting hundreds already then existing.
8 .
An extension of license for one year shall be granted to the pastoral licensees holding under “The Southland Waste Lands Act, 1865,”
and the Acts amending the same ·, such extension to date from the expiry of the present licenses, and to be at a rent of threepence per acre: Provided always that a licensee desiring such extension shall, within six months after the passing of this Act, give a notice in writing to the Land Board of Southland, intimating his desire to have such extension.
9 .
Sections sixteen to forty-four, both inclusive, in Appendix H, shall apply to the management of Crown lands in hundreds in Southland.
APPENDIX L The Land District of Westland
Be it enacted that within the Land District of Westland—
1 Uniform price for rural lands.
All rural land shall be open for sale at a fixed uniform price of one pound per acre.
2 Blocks open for sale to be advertised.
Public notice shall be given by the Board of all blocks of rural land when declared open for sale, and the boundaries and position of such blocks shall be defined in such notice.
3 Application Book.
A book, to be called the “Application Book,”
shall be kept open during office hours at the Principal Land Office, in which the name of every person desiring to make any application to the Board shall be written in order by himself, or his agent authorized by any writing signed by such person; and such person or his agent shall at the same time give to an officer to be appointed by the Board for that purpose particulars of his intended application, which particulars shall be in writing, and in the case of any application for the purchase or leasing of any land shall give sufficient information to identify the land applied for.
4 Fee on application.
At the time of entering his name in the Application Book every applicant for the purchase or leasing of Crown lands shall pay to the officer to be appointed by the Board as mentioned in the preceding section a fee of two shillings and sixpence.
5 Priority of application.
The Board shall consider and determine all applications in the order in which the names of the applicants shall appear in the Application Book: Provided that if any person shall not appear either personally or by some agent duly authorized in writing on his behalf before the Board, when called in his turn, his application shall be dismissed until his name shall appear again in the book in order.
6 Lands sold by auction where several applicante.
If two or more persons apply on the same day for the same rural land, such land shall be put up for sale by auction at the upset price of one pound per acre.
7 Occupation licenses pending grant.
Immediately on the payment in the manner directed by this Act of the whole purchase-money for any rural land, the purchaser shall receive from the Board a license to occupy, and as soon thereafter as conveniently may be the land shall be laid off, as nearly in accordance with the description given by the purchaser in his application as the provisions of this Act will admit.
8 Discrepancies between estimated and actual area.
Should any section, when surveyed, prove to differ in any respect from that intended by the purchaser, the Board will not be responsible for any loss or inconvenience which the purchaser may experience, nor will the purchase-money be returned: Provided that, when the land is found to be in excess, such excess may either be retained by the Board or paid for by the purchaser, at the discretion of the Board: Provided further that, if the surveyor shall find that the whole extent of land in the selected locality falls short of the quantity paid for by the purchaser, so much of the purchase-money as exceeds the price of land to be conveyed shall be returned to him by the Receiver of Land Revenue, upon a voucher certified to by the Chairman of the Board. The license to occupy shall in any case be amended by the Board in accordance with the report of the surveyor, and the Crown grant shall be made out in accordance therewith, and the license shall be delivered up to the Board when the Crown grant shall be issued.
9 Holders of business license in Township of Boss may acquire lease.
It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, under regulations to be made in that behalf, notwithstanding anything contained in any Act relating to mining, from time to time to grant to any occupant of land under business license in the Township of Ross, in the County of Westland, who has improved such land to the satisfaction of the Warden of the district, a lease for any term not exceeding twenty-one years of the surface of such land, at such rates of payment for rent, and under such restrictions as to the use thereof, as he may think necessary, and such lease shall entitle the holder thereof to all the rights and privileges now enjoyed by holders of business licenses issued under any Act relating to mining.
Subject to sale if land proved not auriferous.
If at any time during the currency or at the termination of any lease heretofore granted or hereafter to be granted the land leased is proved to the satisfaction of the Governor in Council to be not auriferous, the land shall be sold by public auction subject to valuation for improvements, as provided for in sections forty-three and forty-seven of “The Mines Act, 1877.”
If at the end of the lease the land is not proved to be not auriferous the lessee shall be entitled to a renewal of the lease for a further period of twenty-one years, on such terms and under such restrictions as the Governor in Council may prescribe.
The repeal of “The Gold Fields Act Amendment Act, 1874,”
shall in no way affect leases prepared thereunder and still awaiting completion.
10 Land set apart for homesteads without payment.
It shall be lawful for the Board, with the assent of the Governor, to set apart blocks of land to be opened for occupation without payment, but subject to the conditions as to cultivation and residence hereinafter set forth, herein called the “homestead system.”
11 Conditions of occupation.
The Board shall give public notification of all blocks of land that from time to time may be declared open for selection on the homestead system, and shall also publicly notify the following conditions, which shall apply to all selections under the aforesaid homestead system:—
(1.)
The area allowed to be selected by each person of the age of eighteen years or upwards shall be fifty acres, and for persons under eighteen years of age twenty acres: Provided that the total quantity to be selected by any one family or number of persons occupying the one household shall not exceed two hundred acres of land.
(2.)
Within three months after the selection has been approved by the Board the selector shall commence to reside on his selection, and shall continue to reside continuously thereon for five years from the date of such approval as aforesaid.
(3.)
Within eighteen months after such approval the selector shall erect on his selection a permanent dwelling-house of wood or other materials, which shall be specified in regulations to be issued in reference to homestead-system selections.
(4.)
In each year there shall be brought under cultivation one-fifteenth of the area of such selection if open land, and one twenty-fifth if bush land, so that at the end of the term of five years one-third of the selection of open land, or one-fifth if bush land, shall be under cultivation.
(5.)
Non-performance of any of the foregoing stipulations shall render the selection void, and the right of the selector therein and to all improvements thereon shall be forfeited.
(6.)
At the end of the said period of five years, a grant or grants shall issue for the land selected: Provided the selector shall not have forfeited his right thereto in manner aforesaid.
Leases of Mineral Lands
12 Mineral leases maybe granted.
Notwithstanding anything contained in any Act relating to mining and to mining districts, it shall be lawful for the Board, with the assent of the Governor, to grant to any person applying for the same a lease of land containing or supposed to contain minerals other than gold, or possessing or supposed to possess any special value, upon the following terms and conditions, and upon such other terms and conditions as the Board shall deem necessary:—
Conditions.
(1.)
That the lease shall comprise so much land as shall in the opinion of the Board be necessary for the efficient working of the minerals or the beneficial use of the land supposed to possess special value.
(2.)
The term to be granted shall be any number of years not to exceed twenty-one, at the option of the lessee.
(3.)
That a money rent be reserved.
(4.)
That the lease may contain any or all of the following clauses:—
(1)
For securing payment of the rent:
(2)
For enabling some person on behalf of the lessor to enter and examine the mine:
(3)
For securing that a plan of the mine shall be made and kept on the works for inspection, on payment of a fee of five shillings for each inspection:
(4)
For securing the regular, proper, and efficient mining and working of the minerals:
(5)
For making void the lease on breach by the lessee of the covenants therein contained:
(6)
For delivering up the property at the termination of the lease in good tenantable repair:
(7)
For enabling the lessee to abandon the working of the minerals whenever he shall find the same unprofitable to work, and to surrender the lease:
(8)
For securing payment by succeeding tenant of valuation of buildings and machinery necessary to the proper working of the mine.
13 Compensation for improvements.
It shall be lawful for the Board, on the expiration of any mineral lease, to cause all buildings and machinery necessary for the proper working of the mine then on the land held under such lease to be assessed, and the amount of valuation shall be paid by the incoming tenant to the Board before such incoming tenant shall be let into possession of the land to be comprised in the lease; and the Board shall pay over to the person who at the expiration of the old lease was the lessee or transferee and holder of such lease the amount received for such valuation: Provided always that no lessee shall have any claim for valuation or compensation for or on account of any improvements, either against the Crown or the Board; but when and as soon as any sum of money shall be received by the Board from any new lessee in payment of improvements, such sum shall be paid over by the Board to the person who at the expiration of the old lease was holder thereof.
14 Application dealt with.
Every application for a lease shall be sent in by the applicant to the Land Office in Hokitika, in a form to be prescribed by the Board,· and it shall be lawful for the Board either to grant or refuse the lease, or to put the lease of the land up to auction at a rent to be fixed by the Board.
15 Leased land may be submitted to auction.
The land comprised in any lease may, at the request of the lessee, at any time after an occupation of three years, be put up to sale by auction, subject to the lease thereof already granted, at an upset price to be fixed by the Board, subject to the approval of the Governor.
16 Applicants to furnish plans before lease granted.
Every applicant for any such lease shall furnish to the Board, within a time to be fixed by the Board after the application shall have been agreed to, and before a lease shall be granted, a description of the land to be leased, with a plan, which shall be made and prepared by a surveyor to be approved of by the Board, at the expense of the applicant.
"Related Legislation
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Versions
Land Act 1877
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