CO129-557-6 Tenure of lands held by War Department 16-1-1936 - 25-1-1937 — Page 30

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With regard to paragraph 3 of your letter, it is a fact,

I think, that since the publication of the circulars there has been no re-opening of past transactions in the sense of a valuation of land already in occupation and a credit of that value to the Colony in the Colonial Military Lands Account. This seems to us to be in accordance with paragraph 10 of the 1894 Circular and with the word "hereafter"

We have never, so which appears in paragraph 8 of the same Circular. far as I am aware, interpreted paragraph 10 as limited to surrenders. The expression "any transaction" is clearly intended to apply to past transfers to the War Department as well as to the past surrenders by the Department. The past practice of both Departments with regard to the Colonies generally appears to show that this has been the accepted view.

It will, of course, be realised that if the value of these lands were credited to the Colony at this stage it would reduce the balance standing to the Department's credit and so would put the Department in a correspondingly worse position in any future cases where it wished to acquire further Colonial military lands from the And Government against the usual entry to the Department's debit. we see no reason why these particular lands should be valued while others in our occupation prior to the circulars are (quite properly, as we hold) left out. The circulars did not provide for a valuation of all lands then in military occupation but only for a valuation of those surrendered or acquired after the date of issue. On that view we see no argument in favour of the Colony's proposal.

The situation seems less obscure to us than the Colonial Government appear to find it, and I believe that this Office would readily acquiesce in leaving things as they are so far as these particular properties are concerned. That course would do no harm,

and might save both parties a good deal of paper discussion at a time when we are rather pressed with other and more urgent defence questions.

I/

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