CO885-(13-15) — Page 270

3997.

MY LORD,

No. 5. (NEWFOUNDLAND.)

"LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Royal Courts of Justice, We were honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Mr. Bramston's

February 24, 1892. letter of the 30th ultimo, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to transmit, for our consideration, copies of correspondence relating to a petition from the solici- tors to Mr. Baird, the respondent in the appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from the decision of the Supreme Court 'of Newfoundland in the case of Baird v. Sir Baldwin Walker in respect of the closing of a lobster factory on the west coast of that island, in pursuance of the modus vivendi with France.

That a copy of the judgment appealed from would be found at page 156 of North American No. 146.

That

your Lordship would be glad if we would be good enough to take the papers into our consideration, and advise you whether the reply which it was proposed, in

the letter from the Colonial Office to the Foreign Office of the 7th January last, to return to the respondent's solicitors was proper and might be sent.

We have taken the matter into our consideration, and, in obedience to your Lordship's commands, have the honour to-

Report

That, in our opinion, it would be better, without referring to the possible future course of the litigation, simply to state that your Lordship cannot entertain any suggestion of the abandonment of the appeal, but that if Mr. Baird should be advised to discontinue the action his case would be considered in the same way as those of other factories which were closed in 1890, and that no claim would be made upon him for payment of costs; adding that if the action be not discontinued the appeal must proceed, in which case all that could be done would be to arrange for the appeal to be heard at a date convenient to the respondent's counsel from Newfoundland.

The Right Hon. Lord Knutsford,

&c.

&c.

&c.

We have, &c.

(Signed) RICHARD E. WEBSTER.

EDWARD CLARKE.

SIR,

Downing Street, January 7, 1892.

WITH reference to previous correspondence respecting the action of Mr. Jas. Baird against Sir B. Walker for closing his lobster factory under the modus vivendi with France, I am directed by Lord Knutsford to transmit to you, to be laid before

the Marquis of Salisbury, a copy of a despatch from the Governor of Newfoundland, No. 106, enclosing copy of a letter from Mr. Baird's solicitors requesting the assistance of Her 25 Nov. Majesty's Government in defending the appeal from the Supreme Court of Newfound. land to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

1891.

I am at the same time to enclose a copy of a letter from the Registrar of the Privy 24 Dec. Council to whom Sir T. O'Brien's despatch was referred.

Upon the whole, Lord Knutsford is disposed, if Lord Salisbury concurs, to reply to the Governor's despatch, after consulting the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, to the effect that an abandonment of the appeal would not put an end to the litigation, as it would then be a question whether the pleadings should not be amended and the case allowed to go to trial upon the merits, with the possibility of a further appeal to

• 70451.-6.

25.-3/99.

1801.

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Reference :-

.885

14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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the Privy Council upon questions of law arising at the trial; but that if Mr. Baird should be advised to abandon the action, Her Majesty's Government would be disposed to deal with his case in the same way as with those of the other factories which were closed in 1890, and would make no claim for repayment of the defendant's costs.

If this course is not taken they would only be able to arrange for the appeal to be heard in the summer at a date which would admit of counsel from Newfoundland being present at the hearing.

The Under Secretary of State,

Foreign Office.

I am, &c. (Signed)

JOHN BRAMSTON.

4364.

:

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PLEC.O. 885

14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

"

MY LORD,

No. 6.

(FALKLAND ISLANDS.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

We were honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Wingfield's

Royal Courts of Justice, February 27, 1892. letter of the 13th ultimo, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to request that we would favour you with our opinion on certain questions respecting the rights of the Government of the Falkland Islands in relation to certain lessees and purchasers of Crown lands in that Colony.

That it might be assumed, for the purpose of the reference to us, that all the leases in respect of which our opinion was desired had been granted either under the Colonial Ordinance No. 4 of 1871 (amended by Ordinance No. 1 of 1872) or under Ordinance No. 9 of 1882.

That copies of those Ordinances and of Ordinance No. 1 of 1879 were enclosed. That some of the leases were granted, or expressed to be granted, under an Ordinance which was passed in 1870 by the Colonial Legislature, but was disallowed by the Queen. That by Ordinance No. 1 of 1879 it was declared that those leases should (subject to a proviso which was immaterial for the purpose of the reference) have the same force and effect as if they had been granted under and in accordance with the Ordinances 4 of 1871 and 1 of 1872.

That some of the leases were new leases of lands previously held by the lessees under leases granted before the passing of the Ordinance No. 4 of 1871; that some of those new leases were granted before the passing of Ordinance 9 of 1882, and were confirmed by section 5 of that Ordinance; that the others had been granted under section 2 of that Ordinance at the increased rent of 201. for each section.

That the Ordinance 4 of 1871 (s. 11) authorised the grant of leases for 21 years (determinable at the option of the lessee at the end of the seventh or fourteenth year), of "stations" consisting of one or more "sections" (a "section" signifying 6,000 acres) of Crown land, at rents at the rate of 61. a year for each section during the first ten years, and 101. for each section during the remainder of the term. That section 21 provided that" every section and station of land shall be defined with reference to the Nautical Chart of the Colony without requiring any further survey, but the "boundaries will be subsequently made by the Surveyor General or by a competent

sworn surveyor and submitted for approval to the Governor."

66

That in all the leases in question the "station" expressed to be leased was described by bounds with reference to the Nautical Chart of the Colony (referred to in the leases as the official chart of record), and was stated to contain a specified number of acres "more or less," and that the rent reserved was based upon the acreage so stated at the rate prescribed by the Ordinance. That in some of the leases the boundaries were completely defined by reference to points shown on the Nautical Chart; that in the others some of the boundary lines were defined as so many miles in a specified direction from a specified point.

That copies of two leases showing the two methods of defining the boundaries were enclosed.

That the descriptions in the leases were inserted by the Surveyor General of the Colony; that in the new leases of land which had been comprised in leases granted before the Ordinance 4 of 1871, the descriptions were taken from the old leases in which they had been inserted by the Surveyor General. That the boundaries of the "stations" comprised in the leases were marked by the Surveyor General on the copy of the Nautical Chart recorded in his office.

That the "stations" had never been surveyed nor had the boundaries been marked on the ground by the Surveyor General.

That the lands purporting to be contained in the several leases and occupied by the lessees comprised nearly the whole area of the principal islands of the Colony, except

0 70451.-7. 25.-9/92.