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REPORT FROM THE LAND COMMISSION OF 1886-87.
(2.) Or that a Crown Land Board be appointed with special powers to deal with all ques-
tions affecting the land of the Colony.
(3.) Or that the Surveyor General should be furnished with much greater powers than he
at present possesses.
(4.) Or that there should be a duly constituted Land Court.
The authority to be constituted could decide, upon inquiry into the merits of each case, what arrangements should be made with Leaseholders, and other than Leaseholders, subject to the Governor's approval, and the approval of the Secretary of State if considered necessary.
The general opinion is that a Crown Land Board should be constituted.
Considerable differences of opinion, however, seem to exist as to what ought to be the powers and authorities of the Crown Land Board, and also with regard to the persons who ought to compose
it.
The Commissioners think, for obvious reasons, it would be most objectionable to have a large Board, but that a Board consisting of three or at most five members would be sufficient, and there are obvious reasons why they should be Government Officials having no personal interest in the disposi- tion of the Crown Lands."
If the supervision of Crown Lands is to be removed from the Surveyor General, or even if it remains with him, it would be absolutely necessary that the services of one or two Surveyors should be secured in connexion with the survey of Crown Lands who should have no other duties to perform, but these Surveyors should be under the control of the Surveyor General and be responsible to him. Their salaries might be charged to the Crown Land Office. The Commis- sioners in considering their draft Report, and in anticipation of this their Report, have already strongly urged the Government forthwith to obtain the services of at least one Surveyor for this purpose, to be attached to the Surveyor General's Office.
Oppended is a statement in which is collated the information already obtained by Mr. SAMPSON for the Commissioners regarding the numbers of squatters houses and land held by them in the different villages, shewing that large quantities of land are held by these people rent free and tax free or on payment of police rates only. Mr. SAMPSON has, as yet, been able to examine into the holdings in 25 villages, and there still remain 30 more villages for his inquiries, but the Commissioners have every reason to believe that in all the other villages in the Colony the same state of things will be found to exist, and it is absolutely necessary that some steps should be adopted, as speedily as possible, to bring the lands now occupied by squatters and others in the villages under effective control. The Commissioners have suggested that Mr. SAMPSON's services should be continued in obtaining this information until he has completed his enquiry throughout all the villages, and that he should report the result from time to time to the Surveyor General, as they are of opinion that the information collected by him now, will prove of very great value hereafter when the Government has to determine what should be done in respect of the villagers, and with respect to any claims made by them to lands or houses in their occupation.
The Commissioners are of opinion that all parties in possession of land should be dealt with equitably and liberally, and that the necessary powers for this purpose should be given to the Crown Land Board, or other authority created to decide upon these questions.
The Commissioners think the only remedy for the confusion which has been pointed out is to permit the assignee of each separate house to surrender his section or sections and to grant him a new Crown Lease with a separate rent to be fixed on equitable terms, and to be paid direct to the Crown. No difficulty can arise with regard to the collection of the Crown Rent, because each house is of very much greater annual value than the Crown Rent.