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MILITARY SETTLERS CROWN GRANTS.

JOHN STEPHENSON SMITH,
Crown Lands Commissioner.
Crown Lands Office.
New Plymouth, March 9, 1868.

[From the New Zealand Gazette]

Nelson, 29th January, 1868.

THE subjoined Orders of the House of Representatives are published for the information of persons who may wish to approach the House by way of Petition.

D. MONRO,
Speaker, House of Representatives.

251. Every Petition is to be fairly written, without interlineation or erasure; and no printed or lithographed Petition will be received.

252. Every Petition is required to contain a prayer.

253. Every Petition is required to be signed by at least one person, on the skin or sheet on which the Petition is written.

254. Every petition is to be written in the English or Maori language; and if any member requires a translation, it is to be done by an authorized translator, under the direction of the Clerk of the House.

255. Every Petition is required to be signed by the parties whose names are appended thereto by their names or marks, and by no one else, except in case of incapacity by sickness.

256. The signatures are required to be written upon the Petition itself, and not pasted upon, or otherwise transferred thereto.

257. Petitions of corporations aggregate are required to be under their common seal.

258. No letters, affidavits, or other documents, may be attached to any Petition.

259. No reference may be made in a Petition to any debate in Parliament, nor to any intended motion, unless notice of such motion shall have been duly given and printed in the Order Paper.

260. No application may be made by a Petition for any grant of public money or for compounding any debts due to the Crown, or for the remission of duties payable by any persons unless it be recommended by the Crown.

261. This House will not receive any Petition for compounding any sum of money owing to the Crown upon any branch of the revenues without a certificate from the proper officer or officers annexed to the said Petition, stating the debt, what prosecutions have been made for the recovery of such debt, and setting forth how much the petitioner and his security are able to satisfy thereof.

262. It is highly unwarranted and a breach of the privileges of this House, for any person to set the name of any other person to the Petition to be presented to this House.

263. Every Petition is to be respectful, decorous, and temperate in its language.

264. Petitions from persons of the Native race may be received without regard to the foregoing forms.

Wellington, 31st January, 1868.

NOTICE to all persons having dealings with Natives in Native Land.—Purchasers, lessees, and others having dealings with aboriginal natives in respect of lands, the titles to which have passed through the Native Land Court, are hereby warned that all transfers of estates and interests so derived are invalid until the duty payable under the fifty-fifth section of “The Native Lands Act, 1865,” has been paid, and the Colonial Treasurer’s receipt endorsed on the deed.

With as little delay as possible after execution of the deed of assurance, it should be presented for assessment at the Registry of Deeds for the Province in which the lands are situate accompanied by an affidavit of the transferee, his solicitor, or some other person competent to speak to the facts, stating that the full consideration money directly or indirectly paid on the transaction is expressed in the deed. Any deception or concealment in this respect will subject the parties to severe penalties.

On being satisfied that the true consideration is expressed, the Registrar will certify the amount of duty payable on the transaction. The deed together with the Registrar’s certificate should then be presented at the Treasury, and the amount of the assessment paid. The Treasurer will endorse his receipt upon the deed after which it may be registered upon payment of the usual fees.

It should be particularly borne in mind that if the duty is not paid within six months from the date of the execution of the deed, the party liable to pay the same will be subject to a penalty of three times the amount of duty payable. And that the Treasury will not accept payment of duty, except on production of the Registrar’s certificate.

It should also be particularly observed that under the provisions of “The Native Lands Act, 1867,” in any case where a notification has been made by the Chief Judge of the Native Lands Court, to the Secretary of Crown Lands, that any fees are due and unpaid for the survey of the land comprised in a certificate issued by