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Acts Affecting Native Lands, Etc. (In English and Maori), Passed by the General Assembly, Session 1892, 1893, 1897, 1898, 1899.

Schedule

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Schedule.

Valuation for Improvements.Schedule.

33.

Whenever a lease for the occupation of reserves is to be sold or otherwise disposed of, subject to a payment of the valuation of the improvements made on such lands, such valuation shall, in all cases where it is not otherwise provided by this Act, be made one month at least before the expiry of the existing lease, in such manner as the Public Trustee shall direct; and payment of such valuation shall be made page 14on or before the day of the commencement of the term of the new lease to the Public Trustee, by the purchaser of such lease.

Whenever a lease as aforesaid is forfeited for breach of conditions the Public Trustee shall cause such valuation to be made on recovering possession of the land.
34. The amount of the valuation of the improvements, when paid by the purchaser of a new lease, shall be paid by the Public Trustee to the original lessee, less any arrears of rent or other moneys due in respect of such land by the outgoing tenant; and, in case of forfeiture, less also the amount of expenses incurred in recovering possession of the land.
35. In every ease of the forfeiture of a lease for breach of conditions the payment of the amount of the valuation of improvements, or of any part thereof, shall be absolutely at the discretion of the Public Trustee.
36. If payment of any such valuation is not made as aforesaid the Public Trustee may sue for and recover the same in any Court of competent jurisdiction from the person who should make such payment.
37. No outgoing tenant shall have any right or claim against the Crown or the Public Trustee in respect of the value of any improvements made by him on the lands in his occupation in case any person shall fail to pay such value to the Public Trustee.

Compensation and Arbitration.

38.

All claims for compensation in respect of any matters arising under this Act, or for value of improvements or other matters, shall, unless otherwise specially provided, be settled in the manner provided in Part III. of "The Public Works Act, 1882," for which purpose the said Part III. shall be deemed to be incorporated with this Act.

In every such claim the Public Trustee shall be the respondent.
39. Where it is provided or agreed that any matter arising under this Act shall be referred to arbitration, then such reference, unless herein otherwise provided, shall be to one or more arbitrators appointed by the parties on each side respectively, and an umpire to be appointed by such arbitrators.
(1.) If either party shall fail to appoint an arbitrator within twenty-one days after being requested in writing to do so by the other party, then the arbitrator appointed by the other party shall alone conduct the arbitration, and his decision shall be final and binding on both parties.
(2.) If the said arbitrators shall fail to agree upon the matter referred to them within twenty-eight days of the same having been so referred, then the matter so referred shall be decided by an umpire to be appointed by the said arbitrators, whose decision shall be final and binding on both parties.
(3.) Every such arbitration shall be carried on in the manner prescribed by "The Arbitration Act, 1890," and be subject to such last-mentioned Act in the same manner as if the reference to such arbitration had been made by consent of parties under a deed.
(4.) Each party shall pay his or its costs of such reference, and any costs incidental to the appointment of an umpire shall be paid equally by the parties to the arbitration.
(5.) Such arbitrators or umpire shall have all the powers vested in Commissioners by "The Commissioners' Powers Act, 1867," as well as all the powers given to them by "The Arbitration Act, 1890."
40.

Before any appraiser enters into the consideration of any matters referred to him under this Act he shall, in the presence of a Justice, make and subscribe the following declaration; that is to say,—

I, A.B., do declare that I have no interest, either directly or indirectly, in the matter of [Here state], and that I will faithfully and honestly, and to the best of my skill and ability, make the appraisement and valuation required under the provisions of "The West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, 1892."

And I make this declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand intituled "The Justices of the Peace Act, 1882."

Leases.

41. Subject to any special conditions contained in this Act in relation to the leasing or occupation of any particular class of lands, the provisions of this section and of the three next-following sections shall apply to all leases under this Act:—
(1.)

Whenever the Public Trustee is authorised to grant a lease the same may be in such form as the Public Trustee shall in each case approve, subject to the provisions of this Act, and shall, after such approval, be page 15signed by the Public Trustee, and sealed with his official seal as the Public Trustee.

The Public Trustee may vary any form of lease or statutory declaration required under this Act to suit the circumstances of any particular case which may arise.
(2.) There shall be paid in respect of any particular lease or other instrument, or of any transfer thereof respectively, a fee of sixty-three shillings, in addition to the stamp duty; and the Public Trustee may require a deposit to be made of the amount of such fee and stamp duty at the time application is made for any of such instruments as aforesaid, or at any time thereafter; and the Public Trustee may at any time refuse to proceed in any transaction if such deposit, when required, is not made.
(3.) Any renewal of a lease may be effected by writing on the lease a memorandum of the terms, conditions, and covenants to which such new lease is subject, and signing the said memorandum in the manner herein required in the case of an original lease.
42. Every lease shall be prepared by the Public Trustee, and shall be in such form, and shall contain such covenants, conditions, and agreements, not being inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, or regulations made by the Governor, as the Public Trustee may prescribe by regulations which he is hereby authorised and empowered from time to time to make and from time to time to alter, amend, or revoke, and which may either be general or applicable to any particular case or class of cases, and shall be subject to the stipulations following:—
(1.) No lessee shall transfer the possession or occupation of the land leased to or occupied by him, or any part thereof, by sale, under-lease, or other disposition, except the Public Trustee shall sanction the proposed transfer.
(2.) When a statutory declaration is required from any lessee, no transferee, and no purchaser of any lease under any power of sale vested in any mortgagee or assignee or trustee in bankruptcy, shall be admitted into possession or occupation of the land comprised in such lease until he has deposited with the Public Trustee a statutory declaration in the same form or to the same effect.
(3.) Every lawful transferee of any lease, or purchaser as aforesaid of any lease, shall have all the rights and privileges, and be subject to the same obligations, as the original lessee: Provided that the transferor shall be liable for the instalment of rent which shall become due next after such transfer.
(4.) No transfer of any lease shall be valid unless all the conditions upon which the lease was granted have been complied with as to payment of rent or otherwise.
(5.)

If any lessee or licensee shall fail to fulfil any of the conditions of his lease within sixty days after the day on which the same ought to be fulfilled his lease shall be liable to be forfeited, and he shall be deemed, upon such forfeiture, to be in illegal occupation of the land comprised in the lease, and the Public Trustee may proceed for recovery of possession thereof.

The foregoing conditions as regards leases shall operate and shall be deemed to bind the Public Trustee and the lessee as fully and effectually as if they were set forth in every lease.
43. The lessee shall be liable for all rates, taxes, or assessments of every nature or kind whatsoever imposed upon the occupier of the lands included in his lease during the term for which he is lessee.
44. The Public Trustee, upon being satisfied that any lease has been lost or accidentally destroyed, may grant a new lease in lieu thereof, upon such terms and conditions, and upon payment of such fee, in each ease as he shall think fit. When any indorsement is required to be made on any lease, and the same is lost or destroyed as aforesaid, the Public Trustee may grant a new lease in lieu thereof, and make the required indorsements thereon, or, if he shall so think fit, may incorporate the substance of the indorsements with the terms of the original lease and insert them together in the new lease.
45. The Public Trustee and the lessee shall each execute the lease in triplicate.
46.

Every lease, after execution thereof as aforesaid, shall be registered by the Public Trustee under "The Land Transfer Act, 1885," or any Act now or here-after-passed in lieu thereof, in like manner, as nearly as may be, mutatis mutandis, as a Crown grant is registered, and the lease which is retained in the office of the District Land Registrar shall form a folium of the register-book in such office, and on it all page 16dealings therewith shall be registered; but no fee shall be payable by way of contribution to the assurance fund on the registration of any such lease.

All dealings with or transmissions of land comprised in such lease shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the last-mentioned Acts, and be in all respects subject thereto.
47. All dealings with or under leases in contravention of the provisions of section forty-two of this Act as to transfers of leases shall be absolutely void, and the District Land Registrar shall refuse to register any dealing with or under a lease until he is satisfied that the said provisions have been complied with.
48.

Every lease shall be for a term fixed so as to expire twenty-one years from the date of the commencement of the term, and shall be renewable from time to time as hereinafter appears.

The lessee shall pay the rent reserved by his lease to the Public Trustee by equal half-yearly instalments in advance, and the half-year's rent, which must be paid at the time of tendering, shall be in discharge of the half-year's rent due on the commencement of the term.
49. Any person of the age of seventeen years and upwards may become a lessee hereunder, and if under full age shall be as capable of executing a lease, and shall be bound by the terms thereof, and of this Act, as if such person was of full age.
50. Every lease of land shall be put up to public competition by tender, at an upset rental equivalent to five pounds per centum on the capital value, as determined by the Public Trustee, of the land proposed to be leased.
(1.)

All tenders shall be opened simultaneously by the Public Trustee on a day appointed for the purpose.

Every tender shall be deemed to be informal and incapable of being accepted where the rental tendered is less than the upset rental fixed as aforesaid. And no tender shall be accepted unless the same is closed up and accompanied by a statutory declaration in the form or to the effect set forth in form following, together with six months' rent at the rate tendered, and the sum of sixty-three shillings to pay for the lease and registration thereof, paid either in cash or by a marked cheque:—

I, A.B., of [Insert place of abode and occupation], do solemnly and sincerely declare—

1. That I am of the age of seventeen years and upwards.
2. That I am the person who, subject to the provisions of "The West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, 1892," am tendering for the purchase [or is desirous of becoming the transferee or sublessee] of a lease [Here specify land].
3. That I am purchasing such lease solely for my own use and benefit, and for the purposes of cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person whomsoever.
4.

That, including the said lands, I am not the owner, tenant, or occupier, directly or indirectly, either by myself or jointly with any other person or persons, of any lands being portions of reserves within the meaning of "The West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, 1892," exceeding in the whole six hundred and forty acres.

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act; of the General Assembly of New Zealand, intituled "The Justices of the Peace Act, 1882."

A.B.

Declared at, this day of 18, before me, Justice of the Peace.
(2.) The highest tenderer, if his tender shall equal or exceed the upset rental, shall be declared the lessee, and be entitled to possession of the lands so soon as he has duly executed a lease thereof, and has complied with all other conditions lawfully prescribed in that behalf.
(3.) If the rent offered by two or more persons is the same amount, and is higher than that offered by any other tenderers, then the Public Trustee shall, after opening all the tenders, decide by lot, in such mainner as he shall think fit, which of such two or more persons shall be declared the lessee.
(4.) The deposits and fees paid by the unsuccessful tenderers for any lease shall be returned to them by the Public Trustee immediately after any tender for such lease has been accepted.
51.

If any person who has been declared a lessee shall fail to execute his lease within thirty days after being required by notice so to do, then his deposit and the above-mentioned sum of sixty-three shillings shall be absolutely forfeited to the Public Trustee, and the right of such person to obtain such lease shall absolutely cease and determine.

page 17

Where any lessee shall forfeit his right to a lease as aforesaid, and as often as such a ease shall occur from time to time until the land be leased, or until there be a failure at tenderers whose tenders are formal, the Public Trustee may, at any time within seven days from such forfeiture, declare the next highest tenderer for the same lease whose tender is not informal to be the lessee; or, if the rent offered by two or more persons is the same amount, and is higher than the rent offered by any other tenderer save the one who has so forfeited his right to a lease as aforesaid, may decide by lot which of such other persons shall be the lessee. Every person declared a lessee under this section shall, upon his paying the deposit and fees as aforesaid, be declared to have become the lessee on the day of the opening of the tenders as if he had been so declared on such day.
52. If no tender shall be received prior to the time fixed for opening the tenders for any of the leases advertised for sale any person may at any time thereafter apply for any one of auch leases, unless the same shall have been withdrawn from sale by the Public Trustee, and be declared the lessee thereof at the upset rental fixed, upon complying with the other conditions prescribed as to tenders. If, in any such case, two or more applicants shall lodge their tenders on the same day the right to the lease shall be decided by lot.
53. The Public Trustee may at any time, subject to section fifty, reduce the upset value of land which he has failed to lease for one year, and may again call far tenders for the same at such reduced value.

Occupation and Improvements.

54.

Every lessee shall, within six months of the commencement of his term, and thereafter for a period of six consecutive years, reside on some portion of the lands leased by him.

This condition shall not apply to any person who has acquired an interest in any lease under an intestacy or by virtue of a will.

The Public Trustee may dispense with the necessity of such residence, in the case of bush-lands, until two years after the commencement of the term; and altogether as to all lands, if the lessee resides on lands contiguous to the lands leased. Lands shall be deemed to be contiguous to each other if only separated by a road or stream.

In cases of youths who may become lessees, and who are living within the provincial district, and are residing with their parents or near relatives, the Public Trustee shall dispense with residence until three years after the commencement of the term.

When any two lessees shall lawfully intermarry the Public Trustee may dispense with residence by either of such lessees on the lands comprised in one of the leases.
55. Every lessee shall bring into cultivation—
(1.) Within one year from the date of his lease, not less than one-twentieth of the land leased by him;
(2.) Within two years from the date of his lease, not less than one-tenth of the land leased by him;
(3.) Within four years from the date of his lease, not less than one-fifth of the land leased by him.

And shall, within six years from the date of his-lease, in addition to the cultivation of one-fifth of the land, have put substantial improvements of a permanent character on the land to the value of one pound for every acre of such land.

Renewals.

56. Not sooner than three years and six months and not later than one year before the end of the term for which the lease is granted a valuation shall be made by arbitration of the then value of the fee-simple of the lands then included in the lease, and also a valuation of all substantial improvements of a permanent character made by the lessee during the term and then in existence on the land then comprised in the lease.

In the case of a lease granted under section eight of this Act, then, for the purposes of this and the four next following sections, improvements paid for under the provisions of the said section 8, and which are in existence at the time of the valuation required by this section, shall be deemed to have been made by the lessee during the term.

After the making and publishing of the above-mentioned awards, which shall be effected by serving a copy of the same on the lessee and another copy on the Public Trustee, but not later than three months before the expiry of the term for which the lessee then holds the lands, the lessee shall elect, by notice in writing delivered to page 18the Public Trustee, whether he will accept a fresh lease of the said lands for a further term of twenty-one years from the expiration of the then term, at a rental equal to five pounds per centum on the gross value of the lands after deducting therefrom the value of the substantial improvement of a permanent character as fixed respectively by the arbitration.

57. If the lessee shall not elect to accept a renewal as above mentioned, or shall refuse or neglect to execute a lease within seven days after the same is tendered to him for the purpose, then a new valuation of the substantial improvements of a permanent character then on the said land shall be at once made by arbitration, in like manner and subject to the same provisions in all respects as the arbitration before referred to, and a lease of the said lands shall, not later than one month before the end of the term for which the terminating lease was granted, be put up to public competition by public tender for such term of twenty-one years, on the following terms and conditions:—
(1.) The upset rent shall be such rent as shall be fixed by the Public Trustee, not being a greater sum than that at which the lease was offered to the outgoing lessee under the last-preceding section.
(2.) The amount of such upset rent shall be stated in the advertisements calling for tenders.
(3.) If any person other than the outgoing lessee be declared the purchaser he shall, within seven days after the day fixed for opening the tenders, pay over to the Public Trustee the amount of the value of the substantial improvements of a permanent character as fixed by the arbitration referred to in this section.
(4.) When the day has arrived on which the terminating lease expires, or there-after, if the Public Trustee shall have satisfied himself that the outgoing lessee has let the new lessee into quiet possession of the lands to be leased, and that none of the improvements on the lands which were thereon when the valuation mentioned in this section was made have been destroyed or appreciably damaged, the Public Trustee shall pay over to the outgoing lessee the amount received by him from the incoming lessee as aforesaid.
(5.) If any of the improvements as mentioned in the preceding subsection have been destroyed or appreciably damaged as in the said subsection referred to, then the value of the improvements so destroyed, or the cost of repairing such damage, shall be decided by the Public Trustee or some person appointed by him, and the amount so fixed, with the costs attending such decision, shall be deducted from the amount payable as aforesaid to the outgoing lessee, and, save the amount deducted for costs, shall be returned to the incoming lessee.
58. If such lease shall not be sold as above mentioned to some person other than the lessee, or if such person fails to execute the lease in triplicate within fourteen days, or to pay the sum offered by him as aforesaid within fourteen days from the day on which the tenders were opened, then the lessee may again, within fourteen days after the day fixed for the opening of the tenders, elect in manner aforesaid whether he will accept a fresh lease as aforesaid; and, if he does not elect to accept the same, or refuses or neglects to execute such lease for fourteen days as aforesaid, then he may continue as lessee of the said lands from year to year, so long as he shall pay the rent reserved by his lease and observe and perform the covenants and conditions contained in the same or in this Act, or until the Public Trustee shall succeed in finding a purchaser of the new lease, unless, prior to the finding of such purchaser by the Public Trustee, he shall elect to accept a new lease for the said further period of twenty-one years as aforesaid.
59. The Public Trustee, in selling a renewed lease to a purchaser, may make provision that the right to take possession under such new lease shall always commence on the first day of January or of July in any year, and no such sale shall be made without giving to the then actual lessee one month's notice of the intention to sell, and allowing him during such month to elect to accept such new lease as aforesaid.
60. All the provisions of this Act (except the provisions as to cultivation) as regards the tenders for sale, form, and conditions of first leases made under this Act, and otherwise howsoever as regards such leases, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the sale, form, and conditions of the new or renewal leases above mentioned, and to the lessees thereunder, and otherwise howsoever, and except as herein is otherwise expressly provided.

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