1646
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 66

the matter of such compensation, and shall determine the amount thereof, and make an award of the same in the form in Schedule 11 hereto, which shall be signed by the Warden. In the event of the parties interested not giving their consent to have the amount of compensation determined by the Warden, then they shall proceed to arbitration as provided for in “The Mining Act, 1886.” And, in case no such objection as last mentioned shall be taken, the applicant shall pay or tender to the person so served the amount so specified.

50. In every case where any such compensation as aforesaid is to be paid, the applicant shall, before the issue to him of a license, produce satisfactory evidence to the Warden that the amount of such compensation has been paid to the person entitled thereto, or tendered to and refused by such person, and if so refused, or in case such last-mentioned person cannot be found, lodged to the credit of the deposit account of the Receiver of Gold Revenue of the mining district in which the land held is situated; and until such evidence shall be so produced the Warden shall grant a license, and issue the same to the applicant, who shall then be entitled to enter upon the land so occupied as aforesaid, and be deemed to be in possession thereof.

PART III.—AGRICULTURAL LEASES.

51. Application.—Every application for any agricultural lease of Crown lands shall be in the form of Schedule 12 hereto, or to the like effect, and must, if the land has been already surveyed, be for one or more sections as surveyed, and not for a portion or portions of a section or sections, unless under exceptional circumstances. Every application for any such lease shall be lodged at such Warden’s office as shall be appointed for that purpose, and copies of every application for unsurveyed land must be posted and maintained by the applicant for fourteen days on boards standing not less than 3ft. above the surface of the ground, and erected one at each corner of the land applied for; and every application for unsurveyed land shall be advertised twice, by and at the expense of the applicant, in such newspaper as the Warden may direct, and copies of the newspaper containing such advertisement shall be produced to the Warden at the time of hearing.

52. Application for Unsurveyed Lands.—Any person applying for any unsurveyed land shall pay to the Receiver of Gold Revenue at the time of application the fees for survey, according to the scale in force at the time in the particular locality. But if the applicant withdraws the application before any expense is incurred, he shall be entitled to receive back one half of any money he may have paid for cost of survey.

53. Who may apply.—Every application must be made by the applicant in person, or by an agent authorized in writing by the applicant to make the same; and the Warden shall not entertain any application unless he is satisfied that the same is made by or on behalf of a person resident in the Colony of New Zealand of the full age of twenty-one years, and legally capable of being bound by the contract into which it is thereby proposed to

enter, and who is not, in respect of the land applied for, or in respect of any part thereof, the agent or servant of or a trustee for any other person, or under any disability.

54. Application to be recorded.—Day fixed for Hearing.—The Warden shall cause every application for an agricultural lease to be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose, shall forward a copy of same to the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the district in which the land applied for is situate, and shall appoint a day, being not less than fourteen nor more than thirty days from the date of the receipt of such application, for hearing and deciding the same and any objections that may be made thereto.

55. Objections.—Objections which are authorized by “The Mining Act, 1886,” or the regulations made thereunder, setting forth the grounds of objection must be made in writing to the Warden, and lodged at the office at which the application shall have been lodged twenty-four hours at the least before the time appointed for hearing; and the person objecting must, at the time appointed for hearing, urge the objection personally or by counsel or agent. The Warden may also refuse certificate if the whole or part of the land is auriferous, whether objections are lodged or not.

56. Hearing.—Upon the day appointed as aforesaid for the hearing the Warden shall proceed to hear the application and any such objection as aforesaid, and may examine the parties and their witnesses (if any) on oath; and such hearing may be adjourned from time to time.

57. Appearance.—Upon the day appointed as aforesaid for the hearing the applicants and objectors or their agents shall appear; and any applicant or objector failing so to appear, either personally or by agent, shall, in the discretion of the Warden, be deemed to have withdrawn his application or objection.

58. Proceedings in case of Objections.—If at the hearing of any objection as aforesaid the Warden shall find such objection valid, he shall thereupon reject the application either as to the whole or a part of the land applied for; but if there be no objection, or if the Warden shall not find any objection to be valid, and there be no reason known to the Warden why the land should not be leased, he may decide that a lease should issue, and in such case may issue a certificate for the whole or any part of the land applied for.

59. Survey may be required.—At any time before finally dealing with any application the Warden may require a report or survey to be made by the District Surveyor, or, when there is no such officer, the Chief Surveyor of the Provincial Survey District, who shall make or cause to be made a report and survey, and in such case the cost of such survey or report shall be paid by the applicant to the Receiver of Gold Revenue.

60. Mode of Procedure when more than one Applicant for Land.—If the Warden, on such inquiry as aforesaid, shall find that more than one application has been made for a lease of the same land on the same day, and shall find that no valid objection exists to the issuing of a lease of such land or some portion thereof as he shall decide to issue a certificate for such land to be put up for sale by auction by the Re-