626
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 31]

tion for any such lease shall be lodged at such
Warden's office as shall be appointed for that pur-
pose, and copies of every application for unsur-
veyed 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 ap-
plied for; and every application for unsurveyed
land shall be advertised twice, by and at the ex-
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 ap-
plied 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 applica-
tion 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 autho-
rized by "The Mining Act, 1886," or the regu-
lations 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 afore-

said 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 ob-
jectors or their agents shall appear; and any ap-
plicant or objector failing so to appear, either per-
sonally or by agent, shall, in the discretion of the
Warden, be deemed to have withdrawn his appli-
cation 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 be-
fore 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 Pro-
vincial 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, he shall
cause the lease of such land or such portion
thereof as he shall decide to issue a certificate
for to be put up for sale by auction by the Re-
ceiver of Gold Revenue, at such time and place
as the said Warden may appoint, the said appli-
cants alone being allowed to bid for the same, and
the highest bidder at such sale shall be entitled
to the lease of the land so offered. If only one
applicant shall be in attendance at the time ap-
pointed for the auction, no auction shall take
place, but such applicant shall be entitled to a
certificate for such land. All applicants not in
attendance in person or by agent as aforesaid at
the time appointed for the auction shall be
deemed to have withdrawn their applications.

61. Granting Certificate.—If no valid objection
as aforesaid be made, and no reason be known to
the Warden why the application should not be
granted, or if on hearing such application he
shall decide that a part only of the land applied
for should be granted, he shall require the appli-