Land Court.

• 5. The constitution of the Land Court by which the certificate is to be given is a point of vital importance; for it is provided in section 14 that the certificate shall be conclusive as to the Native proprietors of the land for which it is issued. The Court should then be so constituted as to give the utmost attainable security for the correctness and trustworthiness of the certificate. It is essential that the Government shall be able to entertain a well-grounded assurance that it will be safe and right to act on the certificate.

  The constitution and procedure of the Court should be such as to exclude, as far as possible, all deception or collusion. If the Court consists of too few members, the certificate may be simply a snare to the Government. The safest mode appears to be, to form a panel of the leading men of the district, and out of them to select not fewer than six as a jury, either by ballot, subject to challenge, or by a process similar to that of striking a special jury. They should receive a payment for their work, so much a day; the regulation of the sittings, both as to their length and frequency, resting with the President of the Court. The utmost care should be taken to secure the due circulation of notice of the sitting of the Land Court, and ample time for attendance should be allowed. Applicants for certificates should be required to have the boundaries of the land surveyed, and actually marked out upon the ground, before the application is made.