Murdoch and Rogers to Merivale (Permanent Under-Secretary)

We have to acknowledge your letter of 14th instant,
enclosing a Despatch from the Governor of British Columbia with
a Proclamation issued by him, to prescribe the conditions on
which unsurveyed Agricultural Lands may be occupied in that
Colony on a system of preemption.

2. In a Despatch dated 4th July last, and again in
a Despatch

of 18th October, Governor Douglas explained
the difficulty which he experienced in providing surveyed
Country Lands for Agricultural Settlers, and proposed as a means
of escape the establishment of a system of occupation of
unsurveyed Land with a future right of preemption. The
Duke of Newcastle having sanctioned that proposal the
Proclamation now transmitted has been issued to carry it into effect.

3. The Proclamation announces that in future any British

subject or alien who shall take the oath of allegiance may
acquire unsurveyed Crown Land, not being a Town site, Indian
reserve or Auriferous—by entering into possession and recording
his claim to not more than 160 acres with the nearest Magistrate,
paying a fee of 8s/- for such record, and giving the best
description of the land in his power with a rough plan of it—the
Land so claimed to be rectangular in form and not more
than half as long again as it is wide, and posts to be placed
at its corners—that no such Land shall be

transferable by Sale
unless the Vendor shall have obtained a certificate from the
nearest Magistrate that he has made permanent improvements on
it to the extent of 10s/- an Acre—that whenever the survey
shall come up to Land so claimed the claimant or his heirs or (where
an improvement certificate has been granted) his assigns,
if they have been in continuous occupation, shall be entitled
to purchase the Land and obtain a conveyance (with a reservation,
however, of the precious Minerals) at the

established rate of the
day not exceeding 10s/- an Acre—that the first occupant who shall
record his claim as above prescribed shall have priority of
Title—that any person authorized to acquire preempted land may also
purchase in addition any quantity of unoccupied Land, at a price
not exceeding 10s/- an Acre to be fixed by the Government at the
time of survey—5s/- to be paid down and the balance at the time
of Survey—that whenever any person shall "permanently" cease to
occupy preempted Land the nearest

Magistrate may summarily cancel
his claim but with appeal to the Supreme Court, and record the
claim of another person in his place—that occupants of preempted
or purchased Land may bring Actions of ejectment or trespass
against intruders—that Government shall be entitled to take Land
required for roads and public purposes—and that Miners shall
have water privileges over such Lands for Mining purposes paying
compensation for damage—and that disputes may, before an

Action
of ejectment or trespass is commenced, be summarily heard and
determined by the nearest Magistrate.

4. Upon this Proclamation we have to submit the following
observations.

5. In regard to preempted lots though their shape and size
is fixed nothing is said about the direction of their boundaries.
It would be necessary that these should run all in the same
directions, otherwise they would be quite unmanageable in the
future Survey. It would probably be best to require that

the
parallel sides should run in the direction of the Cardinal
points of the compass. And as errors will occur in taking such
points provision should be made for the rectification of the lines
on survey. The Land to be purchased under the 7th clause
should likewise be taken in rectangular parallelograms with the
side lines running in the same directions as the lines of
preempted land—and the posts to be placed at the Angles should
if possible be in sight from each other.

6. No provision is made for

the case of an occupant dying
after a considerable expenditure on his Land, but without having
obtained an improvement Certificate, and leaving no heirs in
the colony—or only heirs not capable of occupying the Land—this
might operate with hardship in the case of a Settler leaving
only a Wife and young Children.

7. By Clause 9 the nearest Magistrate is authorized to
cancel the claim of any person who shall "permanently" cease to
occupy preempted land. Their term is very indefinite. It
leaves the Magistrate a

latitude which might be, and would
certainly be said to be, used with partiality. The period which
should operate as an abandonment of the Land should be fixed
by Proclamation.

8. Except in these respects we conceive that the Proclamation
may be approved.