2
3
3.
defence of the Colony, the Colony shall provide an equivalent for the lands and buildings so surrendered, towards the
satisfaction of the above mentioned
requirements, and to that end the value of
the lands and buildings surrendered shall
be ascertained and recorded, and any lands
and buildings provided out of that value
shall be held by Her Majesty's Government on
the same tenure as those surrendered.
This proposal is based upon the assumption
that the Colonial military lands in
question constitute a permanent Defensive
Fund of the Colony, the integrity of which
should be preserved, in kind or value, even
though the original lands themselves may be
diverted to civil purposes. Accordingly,
whenever any of such lands which have been
set apart for defensive purposes have, from
change of circumstances, or from any other
reason, ceased to answer the purpose for
which they were set apart, and are in
consequence surrendered by the Military
Authorities, their value should be treated
as forming a capital applicable, either
imediately or from time to time, so far as
it will extend, to providing other lands or
buildings which may be required in the
Colony for such purposes."
It will be recalled that the transfer of the
lands now in question and other military lands was the
subject of lengthy discussion and correspondence between
1921 and 1927. The proposal then was to deal with the
transaction entirely through the Military Lands Account.