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Acts Affecting Native Lands, Etc. (In English and Maori), Passed by the General Assembly, Session 1907.

Amendments of Maori Land Laws

Amendments of Maori Land Laws.

3.Compensation under Public Works Act. Where by any order, direction, or decision of any Court of law money payable to Maoris under the Public Works Act, 1905, as compensation for land subject to restrictions has been or is hereafter directed to be paid to the Public Trustee, the Court shall have jurisdiction, on the application of any person entitled to any such money, to direct payment of such money to such persons.
4.Restraining orders under section 14 of Native Land Court Act. A restraining order under the provisions of subsection nine of section fourteen of the Native Land Court Act, 1894, may be made by any Judge of the Court, on the application of any person, either ex parte or otherwise, as the Judge deems the urgency of the case requires.
5.Section 62 of the Native Land Court Act amended. Section sixty-two of the Native Land Court Act, 1894, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "Minister" the words "and shall, when directed by the Minister."
6.
(1.)Execution of instruments under Chattels Transfer Act. Any instrument which may be registered under the Chattels Transfer Act, 1889, if executed after the coming into operation of this Act by a grantor who is a Maori residing in the North Island, shall be void as against such grantor unless it is executed in manner hereinafter set forth:—
a. If the grantor has a knowledge of the English language sufficient to enable him to understand the effect of such instrument, his signature thereto shall be attested by a solicitor not concerned in the transaction, or a Justice, who shall at the same time certify in writing on the instrument that the grantor has a knowledge of the English language sufficient to enable him to understand, and that he does understand, the effect of such instrument.
b. If the grantor has not such knowledge of the English language, his signature shall be attested by a solicitor not concerned in the transaction, or a Justice, and by a licensed interpreter of the first grade, who shall previous to the execution of the instrument, certify in writing thereon that the effect of such instrument was explained by him to the grantor and that the grantor understood the effect thereof.
(2.)Repeal. Section one hundred and ten of the Native Land Court Act 1894, and paragraph (h) of section forty-one of the Native Land Claims Adjustment and Laws Amendment Act, 1901, are hereby repealed.
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7.
(1.) The Urewera District Native Reserve, as defined by the Urewera District Native Reserves Act, 1896, and its amendments, shall Urewera Native Reserve to be subject to Mining Act. be deemed to be a Native reserve within the meaning of section twenty-four of the Mining Act, 1905, notwithstanding that such reserve is not situate within a mining district.
(2.)The Governor may, in regulations made under paragraph (b) of section twenty-four of the Mining Act, 1905, give effect to the intention of the memorandum of the late Right Honourable R. J. Seddon, referred to in the Second Schedule of the Urewera District Native Reserve Act, 1896, so far as the said memorandum relates to prospecting and mining for gold.
8.Uninvestigated Native land in the Urewera District to be investigated. Whereas the experts appointed by the minister of Native Affairs under section ten of the Urewera District Native Reserve Act, 1896, to inquire and report upon the appeals of persons feeling aggrieved by the orders made by the Commissioners appointed under the said Act, have reported to the said Minister that the title to certain land within the Urewera District was not investigated by the said Commissioners, and that such land is still Native land as defined by the Native Land Court Act, 1894, and it is expedient that the title to such land should be investigated and ascertained: Be it therefore enacted that, notwithstanding anything in the Urewera District Native Reserve Act, 1896, the said Minister may empower and direct a Judge of the Court, or any fit person and an Assessor of the Court, to investigate the title to any land in the Urewera District hitherto uninvestigated, with all the powers of the Court under subsections one and two of section fourteen of the Native Land Court Act, 1894, subject to appeal to the Appellate Court.
9.Jurisdiction of Native Land Court. Where under any Act Native land is vested in a Board or trustees on behalf of the owners of the land, the Court may exercise with respect to such land the jurisdiction conferred on it by paragraphs (1) to (5) and (10) of section fourteen of the Native Land Court Act, 1894, in the same manner as if such land had not been so vested, save that no partition or exchange shall be made without the consent of the Board or trustees in whom the land is vested.
10.Leases under West Coast Settlements Reserves Act. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the West Coast Settlements Reserves Act, 1892, the Public Trustee is empowered to lease land vested in him under that Act by public sale or public tender, for a term not exceeding twenty-five years, with or without compensation for improvements.
11. The Last Coast Native Trust Lands Act, 1902 (hereinafter East Coast Native trust land. in this section referred to as the Act), and section twenty-two of the Maori Land Claims Adjustment and Laws Amendment Act, 1906, are hereby amended as follows:—
(a.) Every Commissioner heretofore appointed and hereafter to be appointed pursuant to the said section twenty-two shall be deemed to have held and shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, and during the term of his office shall be deemed to have had and shall have vested in him in fee-simple in possession all lands and property formerly vested in the Board, and shall be registered as proprietor thereof by the name of the East Coast Com-page 4missioner, and may exercise all powers and authorities conferred upon the Board by the Act.
(b.) Notwithstanding the discharge of the debt to the Bank of New Zealand, the Act shall be deemed to have continued and to continue in full force and effect, except only the provisions thereof conferring powers of control and management on the said bank, the words "the Commissioner" being substituted for the words "the Board" throughout the Act.
(c.) The Commissioner shall be deemed to have had and to have power to raise money upon the security of the lands vested in him, and to expend moneys so raised for the purposes defined in the Act or in this section.
(d.) The Commissioner shall be deemed to have had and to have power to farm lands, and to fell and dispose of timber, and to make roads and drains, and generally to manage and improve any lands vested in him.
(e.) The Validation Court, in the exercise of its jurisdiction under the said section twenty-two, is hereby empowered to direct the Commissioner to raise moneys upon the security of any lands collectively, though held by different owners under different titles, and to authorise the application and disposition by the Commissioner of moneys so raised.
(f.) The blocks known as Paremata Nos. 3 and 4, containing together one thousand three hundred and thirteen acres and eighteen perches, are hereby vested in the Commissioner, and the Validation Court is hereby empowered to determine the trusts, terms, and conditions upon which the said lands are to be held and administered by the Commissioner.
(g.) In respect of any lands vested in the Commissioner the Native Land Court may, upon the application of the Commissioner, finally settle the lists of the Native beneficiaries, and may determine their relative interests, and may appoint successors to any deceased beneficiary and trustees for any infant beneficiary.
(h.) The Commissioner, with the approval of the Minister, may set apart any lands vested in him as Native villages, and may lease allotments in such villages upon such terms and conditions as the Validation Court directs.
(i.) Every order made by the Validation Court under this section shall take effect immediately upon the sealing thereof.
(j.) No person lending money upon the security of lands vested in the Commissioner or of which the Commissioner is registered proprietor shall be concerned to inquire as to the necessity for the loan or as to the application by the Commissioner of such money, and every such security executed by the Commissioner shall be as valid and effectual for the protection of the mortgagee and his page 5assigns as if the Commissioner had been entitled in his own right to the lands comprised in such security. In any such security a power of sale may be granted.
(k.) Subsection three of section twenty-two of the Maori Land Claims Adjustment and Laws Amendment Act, 1906, is hereby repealed, and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:—
"(a.) The Validation Court shall prepare a scheme showing the adjustment proposed."
"(b.) Such scheme shall be laid before Parliament not later than the first day of August, nineteen hundred and nine."
"(c.) No proceedings to give effect to such scheme shall be taken until after the expiry of that session of Parliament before which such scheme was so laid."
12.
(1.)Vacancies on Board. Where in any case a member of the Board is unavoidably absent from any meeting of the Board, or is disqualified from acting at any such meeting, or a vacancy exists on the Board, the Minister may temporarily fill the vacancy so caused by appointing some officer of the public service in the case of a European member, or some Assessor of the Court in the case of a Maori member, to act at such meeting in the place of the member whose seat is so vacant.
(2.) During the time for which such person is appointed he shall have and may exercise all the powers which might have been exercised by the member in whose place he is so appointed.
13.
(1.)Amendments of Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905. Section eight of the Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905, is hereby amended as follows:—
(a.) By omitting paragraphs (b), (d), and (e) thereof.
(b.) By omitting the words "for any term or terms not exceeding in the whole fifty years" in paragraph (f), and substituting the words "either with or without a right of renewal; but so that every such lease and renewal shall determine on the expiration of fifty years from the date of the first such lease."
(c.) By omitting the words "proposed to be" in paragraph (h).
(2.) Section thirteen of the same Act is hereby amended by omitting paragraph (a), and substituting in lieu thereof the following:—
"(a.)

In defraying half the cost of the administration of such land by the Board:"

"Provided that such cost shall be apportioned fairly according to the expenses properly incurred in respect to each block."

(3.) Section sixteen of the same Act is hereby amended by adding at the end of subsection two the following paragraph:—
"(e.) By statutory declaration of the proposed lessee that he is legally qualified to become the lessee of the land, and that he is acquiring the land solely for his own use and benefit and not directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person."
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(4.) The said section sixteen is hereby also amended by omitting all words of subsection three thereof after the word "years."
(5.) Section twenty of the same Act is hereby amended by omitting the words "or from a majority in value of such owners if more than ten," and also by repealing subsection two thereof.
14.
(1.)Registrar to issue certificate of title to Maori Land Board in certain cases. Whenever any land is vested in the Board by virtue of the Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905, the District Land Registrar of the district in which such land is situated shall, on the deposit of a copy of the said Order in Council certified under the hand of the Native Minister, register the Board in which the said land is vested as the registered proprietor thereof under the Land Transfer Act, 1885, and shall issue a certificate of title to the said Board accordingly.
(2.) There shall be written on such certificate of title a statement that it is issued under the authority of this Act and is subject to the provisions thereof.
(3.) The said District Land Registrar shall at the same time cancel any other certificate of title already issued in respect of the said land, and shall transfer to the certificate so issued to the Board all entries which are contained in any certificate so cancelled and which affect the title of the Board.
(4.) No contribution to the Assurance Fund shall be made by any Board when land vested in it by virtue of this Act is so brought under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, 1885.
(5.) No person who is deprived of any right, title, or interest in any such land by reason of any sale or lease made by the Board in pursuance of this Act shall have any claim against the said Assurance Fund.
(6.) All dealings with any land vested in the Board by virtue of any such Order in Council, and all rights, titles, and interests acquired in any such land, shall be subject to the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, 1885, so far as those provisions are consistent with the provisions of this Act.
15.
(1.)Land vested in Board to be surveyed and subdivided. A Board shall cause all land vested in it by virtue of the Maori Lands Administration Act, 1900, or the Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905, to be surveyed and subdivided into allotments of such areas as the Board, with the approval of the Native Minister, thinks suitable for the purposes of settlement.
(2.) In making any such subdivision the Board may lay off and dedicate all roads upon the said lands which in the opinion of the Board are required for the opening-up and settlement thereof
16.Land to be classified. Every Board shall classify all land vested in it by virtue of the Maori Lands Administration Act, 1900, or the Maori Land Settlement Act. 1905, as being either first-class land, second-class land, or third-class land, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Act, 1892, and its amendments.
17.
(1.)Maximum area of land that may be held by any one person. No person shall be capable of acquiring, whether by way of lease, sublease, or contract of purchase, or by way of assignment of any such lease, sublease, or contract, any land owned by Maoris whether vested in a Board or not, which, together with all land of any description (whether owned by Maoris or not) owned page 7held, or occupied under any tenure, either severally or jointly or in common with any other person, exceeds a total area of five thousand acres, calculated in manner hereinafter provided.
(2.) For the purposes of this section the interest of a Maori in any land that has not been partitioned shall not be deemed to be land owned, held, or occupied by such Maori.
(3.) Nothing in this section shall prevent the acquisition of any land by any executor, administrator, trustee, or beneficiary under any will or intestacy.
(4.) Nothing in this section shall prevent an assignment to any person by way of mortgage.
(5.) In estimating for the purposes of this section the area of land already owned, held, or occupied by any person no account shall be taken of land vested in such person as a trustee, mortgagee, executor, or administrator only.
(6.) For the purpose of computing the total area mentioned in this section every acre of first-class land shall be reckoned as seven and a half acres, and every acre of second-class land shall be reckoned as two and a half acres.
(7.) For the purposes of this section the class to which any land belongs shall be determined as follows:—
(a.) In the case of Crown land which is classified by a Land Board in accordance with the Land Act, 1892, and its amendments, then in accordance with such classification:
(b.) In the case of Maori land which is classified by a Maori Land Board in pursuance of this Act, then in accordance with such classification.
(c.) All other land, if of an unimproved value of not less than four pounds per acre, shall be deemed to be first-class land, and if of an unimproved value of less than four pounds but not less than two pounds per acre shall be deemed to be second-class land, and if of an unimproved value of less than two pounds per acre shall be deemed to be third-class land.
(8.) Land held under lease the term of which expires within nine months shall not be deemed to be land held or occupied within the meaning of this section, unless the lessee has a right to a renewal of such lease.
(9.) Nothing in this section shall prevent the acquisition by any person of any land which in the opinion of the Board is broken or suitable for pastoral purposes only or of such poor quality that it cannot be profitably worked in areas of less than five thousand acres, and which may therefore be acquired in areas exceeding that extent.
18.Purchaser or lessee to make statutory declaration. Every purchaser or lessee of land owned by Maoris shall, before executing the contract of purchase or the lease, make a statutory declaration in the prescribed form that he is legally qualified to become the purchaser or lessee of the said land, and that he is acquiring the said land solely for his own use and benefit and not directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person.page 8
19.Except in case of lands formerly owned by Europeans or by the Crown. Nothing in the two last preceding sections shall be construed to prevent the acquisition or to require a statutory declaration on the acquisition of any land owned by a Maori if such land has been acquired by a Maori by way of purchase, lease, gift, or testamentary disposition from any European, or by purchase for valuable monetary consideration, or by lease from the Crown.
20.
(1.) Where on or before the passing of this Act any applicant for approval of a lease has made and deposited with the Board a declaration in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-six of the Maori Lands Administration Act. 1900, but of subsequent date to the execution of the lease, he may, upon making a declaration as required by the law in force at the date of the execution of the lease, apply to the Board for approval of his lease within two months of the passing of this Act, and the Board may deal with such application.
(2.)Extension of time for making declaration under section 26 of Maori Lands Administration Act, 1900. Such lease, if approved of by the Board, shall be postponed and subject to all estates, rights, or interests in or to the lands comprised in such lease (whether the same are complete or may thereafter be completed under the provisions of this or any Act passed during this or any prior session of Parliament) which, or the right to apply to complete which, may prior to the approval of such lease by the Board have been acquired by the Crown or any person.
21.Repeals.Section twenty-six of the Maori Lands Administration Act, 1900, paragraphs (8), (9), and (10) of section eight of the Maori Lands Administration Amendment Act, 1901, and section fifteen of the Maori Land Laws Amendment Act, 1903, are hereby repealed.
22.
(1.)Power to road blocks vested in Board. Where land is vested in a Board under the Maori Land Administration Act, 1900, or the Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905, then for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of such Act the Board, subject to the regulations for the time being of the Survey Department, may subdivide any blocks, and lay off and make any roads or streets.
(2.) Any road or street so laid off shall, upon publication in the Gazette and Kahiti of a notice under the hand of the Native Minister stating that the same has been laid off as a road or street, be deemed to be a public highway, and shall vest in His Majesty.
(3.) Out of any moneys standing to the credit of the Board's account the Board may at any time advance or pay, without the necessity of any authority other than is hereby conferred, such sums of money as may be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to and carrying out the provisions of this section.
(4.)

Any sum or sums so advanced or paid shall be a charge upon the land upon which such roads or streets are situate, and shall be repayable, together with interest thereon not exceeding five pounds per centum per annum, out of the rents received or accruing due from the lessees of such land:

Provided that it shall be optional with the Board to make such repayments out of the first seven years' rents received in respect of the said land, or to extend the same over a period not exceeding forty two years.

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23.
(1.)Land for Maori settlement may be dealt with under Part II of the Native Land Settlement Act, 1907. Maori land suitable for Maori settlement which is vested in a Board by virtue of section four of the Maori Land Settlement Act Amendment Act, 1906, may be dealt with by the Board in the same manner, mutatis mutandis, as if such land was land available for leasing to Maoris under Part II of the Native Land Settlement Act, 1907.
(2.) Section sixty of the last-mentioned Act shall apply to any lessee of such land.
24.Sites for dairy factories, &c. Any portion of any block of Maori land, not exceeding in any one case an area of five acres, which in the opinion of the Native Minister is suitable as a site for a fruit-preserving factory, dairy factory, cheese-factory, or creamery, or for any building required for any religious, charitable, educational, or public purpose, may be dealt with subject to the provisions following:—
(a.) The Governor may by Oraer in Council declare that such portion as aforesaid is vested in the Board for an estate in fee-simple in possession, subject to all valid incumbrances, hens, and interests affecting the same, to be held and administered by the Board for the benefit of the Maori owners, and the said land shall vest in the Board accordingly.
(b.) For the purposes of this section the Registrar, whenever requested by the Native Minister so to do, is empowered and directed to do all things necessary in order to duly record the title of the Board in such manner as is prescribed.
(c.) The Board may dispose of such land by way of sale in fee-simple or lease the same at a nominal rental without public competition, or by competitive public tender at an upset rental to be determined by the Board, for any term not exceeding twenty-one years, with such provision for right of renewal for one term of twenty-one years, at such rental as shall be deemed adequate, and upon such conditions as to erection of buildings and expenditure of capital as the Board deems expedient to insure that the said portion shall be utilised for the purpose contemplated.
25.
(1.)
Leases by trustees. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section five of the Maori Real Estate Management Act, 1888, trustees may, without the formalities required therein, in cases where the trust estate consists of an undivided interest in land, lease or let such trust estate or any part or parts thereof for any term not exceeding fifty years:

Provided that such leases shall not be valid unless there is indorsed thereon the approval of the Board of the terms thereof, as provided by section sixteen of the Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905.

(2.) This section shall be deemed to have had effect as from the coming into operation of the Maori Land Settlement Act. 1906.
(3.) Section two of the Maori Land Settlement Act Amendment Act, 1906, is hereby repealed as from the date of the passing thereof.
26.Limited alienation of timoer, flax, and other usufructs. Whereas it is desirable to permit the limited alienation of timber, flax, and other such indigenous usufructs upon Native lands, it is hereby enacted that where prior to the passing of this Act any page 10instrument of alienation or partial alienation of such said usufructs has been executed, any party thereto may apply to the Board within two months from the passing of this Act for its approval of such alienation; and thereupon, after due inquiry, the said Board shall report to the Minister whether such alienation, having regard to the date or dates of the execution of the same, should be permitted, or permitted with such modifications of the terms and conditions thereof as in such report suggested; and upon the receipt of such report the Minister (if he thinks proper so to do) may refer such report to the Governor in Council, who may authorise the Board to approve, by minute indorsed thereon, of the instrument evidencing such alienation modified as appeared in the report of the Board, or otherwise as by order the Governor in Council directs; and any approval so made by the Board pursuant to this Act shall render the said transaction and the instrument evidencing the same valid as from the date of such instrument, and the said instrument may be registered in the Land Transfer Office, or in the Deeds Registry Office, as the case may be; and if the said approval shall be subject to modifications of the terms and conditions of the said instrument, then and in such case such instrument shall thenceforth be read and construed and take effect as if such modifications were contained in the said instrument, without the necessity of the parties re-executing the same.
27.Alienation by way of mortgage. Section six of the Native Land Laws Amendment Act, 1895, is hereby amended by omitting the words "mortgage, charge"; and inserting, after the word "howsoever," the words "(other than by way of mortgage)."
28.
(1.)Native Minister may apply that land be incorporated. The Native Minister may, if in his opinion it is desirable that any Maori land as defined by the Maori Land Administration Act, 1900, should be administered, managed, farmed, and improved by a committee of the owners, apply to the Court for an order of incorporation under section one hundred and twenty-two of the Native Land Court Act, 1894.
(2.) Such application shall be deemed to be an application duly made with the consent of a majority of the owners, and may he dealt with by the Court accordingly.
(3.) The provisions of sections one hundred and twenty-three, one hundred and twenty-four, and one hundred and twenty-five of the Native Land Court Act, 1894, shall apply to the nomination and appointment of the committee.
(4.) The committee shall have the powers conferred upon the committee of an incorporated block by section twenty-three of the Maori Land Claims Adjustment and Laws Amendment Act, 1906.
29.Reserves may be acquired for scenic purposes. Where any land set apart by a Maori Land Board as a reserve, other than as a papakainga reserve, is in the opinion of the Scenery Preservation Board suitable for scenic purposes the Maori Land Board may, with the consent of the Native Minister, having due regard to the interests of the beneficiaries, transfer such reserve by way of sale to the Crown for such purposes.page 11
30.
(1.)Board may provide sinking fund. For the purpose of providing a fund for paying off any charges for surveys, roading, and opening up for settlement any land vested in it, or for paying the amount of the valuation of the improvements on any land leased by the Board with right to compensation for improvements, the Board may from time to time during the currency of the lease set aside, out of the revenues received from the said land, such sum as the Native Minister directs.
(2.) Moneys so set aside shall from time to time be invested, together with any interest arising from such investment, in such manner as may be prescribed, and shall at the expiration of the lease be applied in payment of such charges.
(3.) If on the expiration of the lease the amount so set aside, together with the accumulations of interest thereon, exceeds the amount of the valuation of improvements or the amount of such charges, the amount of such excess shall be paid by the Board to the persons entitled to the revenues of the land.
31.Cost of roading, &c., may be subsidised. The amount expended by a Board in making surveys, laying off and forming roads, and constructing bridges may be subsidised out of moneys from time to time to be appropriated by Parliament.