E—No. 0

PURCHASE OF NATIVE LANDS.

occupation, and it is therefore expedient that facilities for acquiring the same under proper regulations, should be afforded to persons desirous of settling thereon : Now, therefore, I, the Governor, do hereby proclaim and declare that from and after the day 0 f next, and until this Proclamation shall have been amended or revoked, the following regulations will be acted upon : — 1. Whenever any person shall be desirous to purchase land, over which the Native title has not been extinguished, he may make an application in writing, addressed to the Native Secretary, requesting that a purchase of the same may be made on his behalf. 2. Every such application must state the estimated number of acres of land required, and describe the same as accurately as may be, both as to position and boundaries. 3. The Governor will give or refuse his assent as to the land being purchased, as he may deem most expedient, having regard to all the circumstances of the particular case ; and will also exercise his discretion at any time before the purchase is complete, whether negotiations for the same shall not be discontinued and the purchase abandoned. 4. If the Governor shall accede to the application that the purchase may be made, the applicant will be informed thereof by letter left at his address in Auckland, or put into the Post there, and he must within seven days thereof pay to the Native Secretary the sum of ss. an acre on the estimated quantity of the land required ; authority will then be given to Land Purchase Department to effect the purchase, and negotiations will be commenced with the Native owners, so soon as the convenience of the public service will permit. .... , • iL 5. The purchase will be made, and the release of the rights of the Aborigines taken in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, when the land then comprised will become Waste Lands of the Crown 6." When the purchase is complete, the land will be surveyed by a surveyor appointed by the Government, and the survey being completed, a Crown Grant will be made to applicant on payment cf the sum of an acre, together with the cost of the survey ; the sum previously paid by way of deposit will be deducted from the amount payable. 7. If the Native owners from special circumstances require a larger sum than the price usually given by the Government for Native lands, and the Government deems proper to give, the applicant will, if there be no valid reason against such a course, be permitted to provide the additional funds required for extinguishment of the Native title. 8 If the applicant neglect or refuse to pay the balance of the purchase money and cost ot the survey within one month after a notification shall have appeared in the New Zealand Government Gazette, requiring the payment of the same, the sum deposited will be deemed forfeited, and every claim whatever on the part of the applicant to have ceased and determined. 9. If the Government deem it advisable to extinguish at the same time the Native Title over other land adjacent to that applied for, a fair proportionate part of the cost of the survey will be charged to the applicant, for the land to be granted to him. 10 In every Crown Grant made in pursuance of these Regulations, there will be reserved a right of constructing Roads, Bridges, and other public works, through, and upon the land therein comprised, for which the owner will be entitled to be partly compensated, either in money, or by other land, at the option of the Government; the amount of such compensation to be settled by arbitration in the usual manner. 11. All sums of money under these regulations will be applied, first in payment of the expenses incurred, and next in extinguishing the Native rights over other land in the Province of Auckland; all sums'not required for that purpose will be paid over to the Provincial Treasury to be expended in public improvements. . 12. No negotiations may be commenced by any person wishing to acquire .Native land, with the owners thereof, before application has been made to the Native Secretary, and not afterwards without his written permission ; and the Governor will, in cases where this rule has been contravened, withhold or withdraw his assent to the purchase being undertaken or completed, as the case may be. 13. In the event of the death of any applicant after he shall have paid a deposit, and before the Crown Grant of the land shall have been made, the Governor will, on payment of the balance of the purchase money, and the cost of survey, cause the land to be granted to the heir at law of the applicant, or such other person as the Governor may consider most fairly and equitably entitled to the same, and such grant will be made subject to any trusts or conditions that the Governor may deem just and proper.

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