CO129-557-6 Tenure of lands held by War Department 16-1-1936 - 25-1-1937 — Page 38

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Again, unless the arrangements set out in the

Circulars of 1890 and 1894 represent a sharp break with

previous practice, of which there is no evidence, it

would appear that the waiver of Crown Rent can only have

been granted on a similar understanding to that made

explicit in those Circulars: i.e. that the W. D. enjoyed

in reality only the user of the lands in question.

Any other interpretation can only mean that the W.D.

would be in a position to exact a financial contribution

from the Colony, in the shape of the cash value of the

lands relinquished, quite apart from the Defence Contribu-

tion to which the Colony was already committed by law,

which seems inequitable. The fact that the practice of

capitalising Crown Rents involving a W.D. right to dispose

of its leasehold interests for cash, began after the issue

of the Circulars, to which the War Office refer in paragraph

5 of their letter, appears to have an exactly opposite

significance to that claimed for it. It seems far from

likely that the W.D. would agree to have these capitalised

rents debited to them in the Mic unless they were to

receive some adequate quid pro quo for example, the

right to dispose of the leaseholas for cash. Thus it

may be concluded that this right did not exist prior to

and its concomitant

arrangements; and that in respect of the plots in question

the W.D. have never acquired this right of disposal for

cash. The W.D. thus cannot legitimately claim both the

free use of the land and the right to dispose of it for

cash when they choose to get rid of it. In this connection

the establishment of the M. L. Accom

it