38

In the course of the year the overdraft at the Bank of New
Zealand has been reduced from £6,800 to £4,100.

3. While I cannot congratulate you upon an increasing
   revenue, or upon an advance in the general prosperity of
   the inhabitants of the province, I think I am justified in
   dwelling hopefully upon the improved prospects which have
   lately opened up to us. The discoveries of auriferous quartz-
   reefs at Wangapeka, at Collingwood, and at the Lyell, al-
   though their viability has yet to be practically developed, have
   been sufficiently tested to warrant the anticipation that they
   will afford remunerative employment for capital and labor,
   and will produce a sensible improvement in the condition of
   a large part of the province.

The circumstances attending the discovery of a quartz-reef
in the first-mentioned district, gave rise to much controversy,
and, occurring as they did during the election for the Super-
intendency, to much angry feeling and dissension in the
province.

An whole of the facts have been made the subject of
public enquiry, and a long correspondence upon the subject,
between the Colonial Secretary and myself will be placed
in your hands. I shall only think it necessary to refer to a
few points connected with it, with a view chiefly to draw-
ing your attention to the existing land regulations of the
province, and to some resolutions for their amendment, which
will be submitted for your consideration.

By the 35th section of the Waste Lands Act, 1863, rural
land, whether within or without the limits of surveys may be
purchased by what is commonly called "free selection" at £2
per acre, and the questions which this case bring prominently
forward are, firstly, whether the Commissioner of Crown Lands
has the power to refuse to sell land open for sale as pur-
land on the ground that it is reported to be auriferous, or for
any other reason, or whether the power of withdrawal is
vested solely with the Waste Lands Board. The Secretary
for Crown Lands (Mr. Domett) expressed an opinion that
such a power must be taken to be "implied," but as he
subsequently afterwards quoted a decision of the late Mr. Jus-
tice Stephen, "excluding such an inference in the case of land
withheld by myself" (Mr. Domett), under circumstances
nearly identical, you will probably consider the decision of
the Supreme Court you have to law of be greater
authority than the opinion of Mr. Domett.

Taking this view I propose that a clause conferring the
power of temporary withdrawal upon the Commissioner, shall
be submitted to you in the form of a resolution, with a view
to its insertion, should you approve of it, in an amended
Waste Lands Bill for the consideration of the General As-
sembly.

I may observe, however, that I take this course with some
doubt and hesitation, as discretionary powers of this character
in the hands of an individual are liable to the grave objection
that they may be exercised to the disadvantage, or left un-
exercised to the benefit, of intending purchasers of land
from personal or even corrupt motives. On this ground any
such discretionary power was carefully withheld by the Pro-
vincial Council, when the provisions of the Act of 1863 were
under consideration, and conferred exclusively upon the Waste
Lands Board, while even that body was jealously restricted in
the exercise of the power by the provision that withdrawal
could only be effected by a resolution published in the Provin-
cial Gazette. Undoubtedly, however, if the Provincial Council
had entrusted the discretionary power to the Commissioner
instead of to the Board, the unfortunate difficulty at Wangapeka
would not have arisen, as Mr. Daniell, after the small pur-
chase of 16 acres by the discoverers, would have withdrawn
the adjoining land at once, and the purchase of the addi-
tional 114 acres which took place pending the summonses of
the Board and the issue of the Gazette could and would have
been prevented.

Mr. Domett, I may here observe, further expressed his
opinion that the sales were in themselves illegal, on the
highly technical ground that while the Waste Lands Act
provides by Section 24, that the Board shall classify the lands
of the province under four heads, that is to say, 1st—Town
land, 2nd—Suburban land, 3rd—Mineral land, and 4th—
"Rural land, being all land not comprised in any of the
foregoing classes," the lands lastly described had not been
formally classed as rural lands—in other words, that the un-
classified lands should have been classed as such unclassified

lands, under the term rural. The objection is undoubtedly
ingenious, although I cannot think it would have much force
in a Court of Law. But should it be held that the whole
sales of land, in all parts of the province, made under the
provisions of the 35th section since the Act of 1863 came
into operation during the administration of my predecessors,
as well as of myself, are clearly invalid, and if you should
agree with Mr. Domett, you will, doubtless, think it desi-
rable, for the security of the very numerous purchasers, that a
bill should be introduced into the General Assembly, to vali-
date all purchases of land made under the provisions of
Section 35 of the Waste Lands Act, 1863.

The Attorney-General, as you will observe on perusal of the
correspondence on the subject, has not expressed an opinion
that the disputed sales were illegal upon that or any other
ground; but he has given the opinion that deliberate opinion,
twice repeated, that after (and apparently at any length of
time after) the sales had been made by the Commissioner of
Crown Lands, the purchase money received, and a receipt given
when the land is sold, the Waste Lands Board has the power under
the authority of section 9 of the Waste Lands Act to cancel
the transaction and reserve the land for the purposes specified
in that section. I will only observe upon the opinion of the
Attorney-General that, if it be correct, I am unable to under-
stand how any contract for the sale of Crown land can, under
any circumstances, be binding upon the parties to it.

The vexed question of the boundaries of the South west
Goldfields and the doubt which has been raised as to whether
the land referred to was within or without those goldfields is
one upon which diverse opinions exist. In defining those
boundaries in the proclamation of June, 1868, it was my in-
tention to adhere to the policy pursued for so many years by
my predecessors, by excluding the district of Wangapeka
from the definition of the goldfields Act, and promoting its
permanent settlement by selling and leasing the land in ac-
cordance with that policy, with which when a member of the
Council I concurred and from which, since I had been in office,
I have seen no reason to depart.

So far as the imperfect materials, which, in the absence
of any survey of that part of the province, were at my com-
mand, enabled me to judge, the whole of the Wangapeka
district was outside the goldfields boundary, as set forth in
that proclamation and therefore open to purchase under the
Waste Lands Act, instead of being under the Leasing Act
1867. The evidence given at the enquiry before the Secre-
tary for Crown Lands that a mountain altogether distinct
from that named Mount Owen (after the celebrated paleon-
tologist) by Dr. Haast in the year 1860, had been the
same name at least four or five years previously by some
person unknown, took me and every person with whom I have
conversed on the subject entirely by surprise. The General
Government having, however, expressed their opinion as the
result of a survey under their direction, that the purchased land
was within the South-west Goldfields, and having released
the Commissioner's assent to their request that it should not be
proclaimed a goldfield, I felt justified in acting upon the
that opinion, and in proclaiming the Wangapeka and adjoin-
ing districts under the operation of the Goldfields Acts.
The Commissioner of Crown lands also declined to proceed
with the preparation of the Crown grants and offered, with
my sanction, to return the purchase money of the land.

In reference to the discrepancies in certain of the plans
referred to during the enquiry, I will remark in justice to
the Survey Office, that the accuracy of no plan of any survey
was called in question, but only that sketch maps drawn by
or compiled from the reports of various explorers, supplied
measurements or accurate observations of any kind. In
justice to myself I may add, that no one of the plans or maps
in question was drawn since I have had any control over the
affairs of the province.

It is perhaps desirable that I should remind you that until
a general survey of the province has been made, similar
boundary disputes may arise at any moment. If, for example,
a quartz-reef were to be discovered upon or near to the
imaginary straight lines, drawn from mountain to mountain,
the exact position of which can only be guessed at, which form
the boundary between this province and that of Marlborough,
it would be impossible to tell until a survey had been
executed, whether the land containing such reef was subject