68

NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.

In the Charleston district two may be needed during such
time as the surveyor can devote to general surveying. I do not
consider any men, or certainly not more than one, will be necessary
to assist in the mining surveys at Charleston. In all other districts
one man will always be sufficient to assist the Surveyor in mining
work. But as a general rule I consider the employment of
laborers in mining surveys should be dispensed with; the
miners in the claims being always ready to assist, and for their own
satisfaction it is well that they should do so.

44. I have estimated £150 for survey labor wages, tents,
    tools, sundries, &c.; and for stationery, instruments, and draw-
    ing materials for the Survey Office, £50. These have been
    ordered from England, and are expected shortly. An order was
    sent, by the authority of the late Commissioner, in September
    last, to England, for a supply of drawing papers and other
    materials.

45. Estimates.—Total estimate for the Survey Department,
    £2,500.

46. Agricultural Leases.—In the District Surveyor's Office
    a register is kept of all lands for which Deeds of Lease have
    been issued under "the Goldfields Act, 1866."

47. I conceive it to be the duty of the District Surveyor to
    see that such lands have been laid out in accordance with the
    regulations.

48. In order that the deeds may be prepared expeditiously,
    I have to suggest that a plan of routine may be decided on, and
    a copy thereof sent to each officer who has to do with the matter.

49. It has happened very lately that applications have been
    made for land and the land actually surveyed and no particulars
    have been reached the District Surrey Office during the space of
    many months; so that no steps were taken towards the grant-
    ing of the lease and the applicants grow weary of the delay.

50. It is provided in the agricultural leases regulations, that
    upon receiving applications after the notices, and
    hearing of objections, the Warden shall direct a Surveyor to
    mark out the ground and report thereon. And the Warden
    shall then forward the application, report, and plan for the
    approval of the Superintendent.

51. I have to suggest that Assistant Surveyors of the different
    districts that they shall at the same time that they report on
    such a survey to the Warden of the district, report also in a
    printed form to the District Surveyor accompanying such
    report with a plan of the ground.

52. This report and plan is to contain all the particulars
    which are necessary to the preparation of the deed of lease,
    and moreover contain a description of the land, which is to be
    filed in the Survey office as upon which the Waste Lands
    Board may at a future time assess the land when it may
    become purchasable under the 52nd section of the Goldfields
    Act.

53. Should the Superintendent signify his approval of any
    application forwarded by the Warden as above, I have the honor
    to suggest that the District Surveyor should receive immediate
    instructions to prepare the deeds, particulars of which he will
    already have received from the Surveyor who laid out the

land, as described in clause 51 above. The District Surveyor
will then prepare the deeds, register them, and forward them
for the signature of his Honor the Superintendent. They will
then be forwarded to the Warden to whose district they apper-
tain, and he will obtain the signature of the lessee. The
District Surveyor marks upon the lease in pencil the fees to be
charged as under regulations.

Since September, 1868, the number of leases issued from the
District Survey Office amounted to 47, comprising a total of
763 acres. Several of these have been applied for since 1866,
and most during 1867. The long delay in the granting of the
leases has been one reason for the diminution in the number of
applications during 1868. Several other sections have been
long applied for, and some actually surveyed in 1866 and 1867,
by private surveyors—chiefly at Brighton, for which I was
unable to prepare the deeds, as the ground was laid out in
opposition to the regulations—and they have stood over till
they can be resurveyed. I did not instruct the Mining Sur-
veyor to re-survey these blocks, as I did not wish that an additional
survey fee to be charged upon them, and I was in hope that a
Staff Surveyor would be appointed to the district, which has
now been done. It will be his first duty to attend to these
re-surveys, in order that the outstanding applications may be
settled.

In the experience I have had amongst the agricultural settlers
on the goldfields, I have been led to the conviction that very
many more applications would be made under the very advan-
tageous system of goldfields leasing, if the ultimate purchasing
price were definitely fixed in the first instance. I would there-
fore venture to suggest for the consideration of the Government—

1st.—That a certain price per acre should be set on the land
at the time of granting the lease—(say £2, or in some
particular cases in the vicinity of townships, £2 10s.
or £3), at which price the lessee would be entitled to
purchase under the 52nd section of the "Goldfields
Act."

2nd.—That rents paid up previously to the date of purchase
be reckoned as part payment of the said fixed price.

Under the present circumstances people imagine the improve-
ments they may make on the land will augment its cost when
they come to buy it, and they are prejudiced against the under-
taking in consequence. In the arrangement I have suggested
every one would know exactly what the land will cost him either
to lease or purchase at any period of the term of lease, and he
would have greater confidence in the arrangement. I have no
encouragement of bona fide settlers and agriculturists will, I
have no doubt, always receive the attention of the Government,
as greatly tending towards the advancement of the country.

I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
J. HENRY LOWE,
District Surveyor.

Cobden, 31st March, 1869.

Printed under the authority of the Provincial Government of the Province of Nelson, by NATION and LUCKIE, Waimea-street,
Nelson, Printers for the time being to the said Government.