1712
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 51

THE SAMOAN CROWN ESTATES ORDER, 1920.

LIVERPOOL, Governor-General.

ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House, at Wellington, this nineteenth day of April, 1920.

Present :

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL PRESIDING IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by Article 297 of the Treaty of Peace with Germany, which was signed at Versailles on the twenty-eighth day of June, nineteen hundred and nineteen, it is provided that the Allied and Associated Powers shall be entitled to retain all property belonging to German nationals or companies controlled by them within the colonies, possessions, and protectorates of those Powers, and that the value of such property shall be accounted for to the Government of Germany: And whereas by Article 121 of the said Treaty the foregoing provision is made applicable to the Territory of Western Samoa: And whereas it is necessary accordingly to make provision for the disposition of property situated in Western Samoa and belonging to German nationals or German companies:

Now, therefore, His Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of that Dominion, and in pursuance of the authority to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Territory of Western Samoa conferred upon him by the Western Samoa Order in Council, 1920, made by His Majesty on the eleventh day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty, under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890, and further in pursuance of the authority conferred upon him by the Treaties of Peace Act, 1919, doth hereby order as follows:—

1. This Order may be cited as the Samoan Crown Estates Order, 1920, and shall come into operation on the same day as the Samoa Constitution Order, 1920.

2. All land situated in Samoa which belongs or at any time since the commencement of the late war with Germany has belonged to any company incorporated in Germany or having its head office in Germany is hereby vested absolutely in His Majesty in right of the Government of New Zealand free from all encumbrances affecting the title of the owner.

3. If the Minister of External Affairs is satisfied that any land situated in Samoa belongs or has at any time since the commencement of the late war with Germany belonged to a German, and that the vesting of that land in His Majesty is expedient in the public interest, the Minister may at any time before the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, make an order under his hand and the seal of Samoa vesting such land in His Majesty in right of the Government of New Zealand, and every such order shall have effect according to its tenor, and shall vest the land absolutely in His Majesty free from any encumbrances affecting the title of the previous owner.

4. In this Order the term “land” includes any leasehold interest in land, or any right, title, or interest recognized by the laws heretofore in force in Samoa and corresponding to a leasehold interest as recognized by the laws of New Zealand.

5. In this Order the term “German” means any person who or whose father was born in territory which at the commencement of the late war with Germany was part of the German Empire in Europe.

6. All lands vested in His Majesty by or in pursuance of this Order shall be known as Samoan Crown estates, and shall be administered under this Order for and on behalf of His Majesty in right of the Government of New Zealand.