2-054 (Text)

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His Excellency the Governor directs it to be notified that all Crown Lands will in future be disposed of only according to the Regulations published in the Government Notice of the 1st of last month; and that the following course of proceeding will be observed in carrying the same into effect.
SALE
1. As soon as the necessary arrangements have been completed, with respect to the survey of a parish, notice will be published in the Gazette that a chart thereof will be exhibited in the Surveyor-General's Office for public information, shewing its boundaries, the public reserves, the lands already appropriated, and those remaining for sale; the latter being divided by lines into sections of one square mile, or six hundred and forty acres, as nearly as practicable, and such section distinguished by a numerical mark; together with a schedule pointing out and describing the natural and artificial marks corresponding with the division lines of every such section.
2. Notice will at the same time be given in the Gazette, that such lands, after the expiration of three months, will become disposable. 
3. All offers and transactions of every kind, relative to such disposable lands, must be effected with reference to the before-mentioned public charts and schedules.
4. If any person shall be desirous of purchasing lands, so notified as disposable, it will be necessary to make application through the Surveyor-General, in a printed form, copies of which may be obtained on application at his Office, on payment of a fee of 2s. 6d. for each.
5. If the spot applied for should contain less than six hundred and forty acres, the reasons for the applicant's wishing to obtain it must be fully explained; as it is not intended to dispose of land in smaller quantities, unless upon special grounds.
6. All lands, for the purchase of which application shall be made, will be advertised for one month, and will then be sold by public auction to the highest bidder, in lots of one section, or six hundred and forty acres, as nearly as practicable, provided that the price offered shall at least amount to the sum of five shillings per acre.
7. But before the bidding is accepted, the party will be required to pay down a deposit of 10 per cent, on the amount of the purchase money, and to sign an engagement to pay the balance within one calendar month, under penalty of forfeiting the deposit.
8. If payment be not made within the prescribed period, the deposit will be forfeited accordingly, and the land will again be open to the selection of the public.
13. The Crown will reserve to itself the right of making and constructing such roads and bridges as may be necessary for public purposes in all lands purchased as above; and also to such indigenous timber, stone, or other materials, the produce of the land, as may be required for making and keeping the said roads and bridges in repair, and for any other public purposes. The Crown will further reserve to itself all mines of coals and of precious metals.
15. All free persons will be eligible as purchasers of land without any limitation as to quantity.
RETIRED OFFICERS
16. The same advantages will be extended to Officers of His Majesty's Navy and Marines retiring from the service, or going on half pay, as are held out to Military Officers by the regulations for the disposal of land, published in the Government Notice of the 1st of July last, viz.: - 
17. All Officers desirous of becoming settlers shall, like other individuals, procure land only by purchase at the public sales; but they will he entitled to a remission of the purchase money according to the respective periods of their service, as follows: - Those who have served Twenty years and upwards, £300; Fifteen years and upwards, £250; Ten years and upwards, £200; Seven years and upwards, £150. 
18. Officers who have not served seven years will have no claim to any advantages under this Regulation; nor will any Officer be entitled thereto, unless, if Military, he shall produce the written permission of the General Commander-in-Chief, or the Commander of the Forces in India, to go on half pay, or to retire from the service for the purpose of settling in the Colony; or if of the Navy or Marines, a similar permission from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
19. All Officers desirous of availing themselves of these Regulations must enter into a bond for £500, that either they, or their families, will reside in this Colony for seven years.
DISCHARGED SOLDIERS
23. Non-commissioned Officers and Privates, discharged from the service for the purpose of settling in the Colony, will be allowed Free Grants to the following extent, viz. : - Serjeants, 200 acres; Corporals and Private Soldiers, 100 ditto.
LEASES
24. All Crown Lands within the prescribed limits will, if applied for, be let by Auction, in lots of one square mile, or six hundred and forty acres each, as nearly as practicable.
25. Persons desirous of renting such lands will address themselves to the Surveyor General, taking care to describe accurately the situation of each section applied for.
26. The lands so applied for will be advertised for one month, and the lease of each lot for one year will then be put up to Public Auction.
27. No lot consisting of less than one square mile, or six hundred and forty acres, will be let, except in special cases, which may render expedient a departure from this rule.
28. Each lot will be put up at a rent of twenty shillings a year, and the highest bidding (not less than that sum) will be accepted.
29. It is to be distinctly understood that the lands so let will be open for purchase; and, in the event of their being sold, must be surrendered by the lessee upon one month's notice.
30. At the expiration of the year, the lease of each lot will be again put to Auction for the year ensuing.
By Command of His Excellency the Governor,
ALEXANDER MCLEAY.