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fHE BIVER1NE HERALD, SATURDAY, MARCH IR19.nolil AdrtrtUtnuaUSpecial ▲'IN CHARTERED BANK OFAUSTRALIA wrmted by Royal Charter. Capital, On® Million Sterling.Under thisheading mwiU bt glad 9o insert Adeer tinmenU lt;U a thgH ad—o* •• *ur ordinaryBROWN AND SEW A HI),STOCK AND STATION AGENTS, ANDAUCTIONEERS,HIGH STiEET, ECHUCA,A£«nU lor—J. C. WALKER and CO.. ETTERSHANK. EAGLESTONE and MANN. R. GOLD3BEOUGH and CO. 1010ECHUCA APIARY.5001ha. Viryin Honay, in Comb, for Sale, at la. |»er pound.VIRGIN HONEY, on. account of ita purity, litw bn« no much appreciated at LucuIIu'r Humptuoua suppers, and recommended in modem times as a splendid )iuritier of the human frame by the emiiient Doctor* of Lhe bwt hundred yearn. 1522 C. SUHtERLICH, Proprietor.r-rb*ofanmiallP.AnC\siranIPtenC.eirauP.rudrinPREVENTION FROM 8UNSTROKE.SONWM. HILL and(Lato Hill and Miller;, PJAT MANUFACTURERS ANDMANUFACTURERSPORTERS.IVI.SPECIALITIES FOR 8UMMER WEARTry Our Own Make.PALL MALL, SANDHURST. 1065JOHNATHARTY’8,MULLARKY’S CORNER,TH E entire Stcwk will be offered at Ridlonouily Low Prices for the balance of thk month, to make room forAUTUMN AND WINTER GOODS.J.H. must bare money this month, and it p**itivelyto getNO REASONABLB PRICE WILL BE REFUSED.Till the end of this Month only atJOHN H ARTY’MULLARKY’S CORNER, High aud Heygarth Streets, Kchuca.s,The Cheaiwfst House in Eohuca for Drapery,Millineryape*Meu's. Youths and Boy* Clothes, and Shoes.mery,BootsJ oS,ATH N H A R T Y 1MULLARKY’S CORNER,High and Huygartb Streets, Echuca.'HE entire STOCK will U- offered atRIDICULOUSLY LOW PRICESFor the balance of this mooth to make room forAUTUMN WINTER GOODS.iNOBEJ.H. must have money this Month, and to get it positivelyREASONABLE PRICE WILL REFUSED.Till the end of this Mouth only, atTheOHN HARTY’S,MULLARKY’S CORNER,High and lleygarth Street*, Echuoa, Cheapest House in Echuca fur Drapery,Millinery, Men'* Youths'and Hoys’ Clething, Boots and Sh«*es.ATJOHN H ART Y’ S,MULLAUKY'S CORNER,HIGH A HEYGARTH STREETS, ECilUCA.rjlHK ENTIRE STOCK will be offered atRIDICULOUSLY LOW PRICESFor the balance id the month, to make room for AUTUMN A WINTER GOODS.BEJ.U. must have money this month, and to get it positivelyNO REASONABLE PRICE WILL REFUSED Till the end of thin Month only,AT %JOHN HARTYMULLAUKY’S CORNER,High and Heygarth Street*. Echuca.The t'hea|H-Bt House In Kchuca for Drapery Milliuery, Men'*. Youths’ and Boys’ Clothing, Boots and Shoe*.NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.rflHE RivEmxfL daily. TheHerald is now published quarton* commence on let January, lit April, lit July, and 1st October. Notice of ‘lirtcontiuucuioe can only be reoeived in writing at the clom? of each term. Subscribers not geltiug their papers regularly will pleaao advi*e the publisher promptly.CASH WITH ORDERS.All orders for advertising or printing from persons haring no account with this office, must be accompanied by a remittance. Change will be returned in poatae atainim.MACKAYaud DROUGHTBIUTH.Tuck err.—On the 27th Instant, at Anstruther-strc-t, Eohuca, Mrs. T. Tuckett, of a son. 5911k iiibcrittcEchuca, Moama ajcd Keraxo Advkbtiheb. (PUBLISHED DAILY.)Echuca, Saturday, March 29. 1879.A most important case in connection with the administration of the Victorian Land Act came before the Supreme Court in banco on Thursday. The action was in the form of a summons to the registrar of titles requiring him to substantiate hia reasons for refusing to register the transfer of an allotment of land* leased under the 20th 6oction, and sold by virtue of a writ of fi. fa. The facts of the case are briefly tl'.ese :—William J. Scarlett was a selector in the parish of Maloga, and at the expiration of his licensu applied for and duly obtained his lease, lie became indebted in the amount of L605 to John Ellison, who, being unable to obtain paymeut, took the usual course for the recovery of the amount, and obtained a verdict in the Supreme Court The verdict remaining unsatisfied, a writ of fi. fa. was issued, and on the 18th October the land was sold by the sheriff «t Echuca, Mr. S Ainoss being the purchaser. The estate was duly transferred by the sheriff to Ainess, and application made to the registrar r' -to register the writ and , ol ^ ,I the registrar rtfw- * -r?ir 6P’do.hat the lease from the Crown to Scarlett contained a covenant to the effect that no assignment or trausfer of the lana should oke effect until the sanction of such irons-er or assignment by the Govemor-in-Douncil had been obtained. In the present case, there was no such sauefcibn, and the registrar held that he could not therefore register either the writ or the transfer. The case was argued at length before the judges, and the Court reserved its. decision.Iuto the merits of this particular case we lave no desire to enter. For anything we enow to the contrary, there may have been reasons, though they do not appear, why the sanction of the Governor in-Cow nriI was not obtained. But the question so far as he public interests are concerned is a very widoanda most iinjmrtant one. If the action of the registrar is upheld it amounts to this —that the Oovernur-in-Couucil, which in this instance means the Minister of Lands, can render nugatory the action of the lighest court of law in the colony. A Crown lessee may obtain credit to the extent of his wish or his ability upon the security of his lease, and the Minister may render that security worthless by refusing to sanction the transfer when the sale takes place by process of law. Nor, it appears, would the creditor be in any better position by forcing the defaulting lessee into the Insolvent Coiirt. This very point was pertinently put by the Chief Justice on Thursday, who suggested that if the contention for the Crown were upheld the estate would not pass to the olficial assignee, in the event of the lessee becoming Insolveut, without the assent of the Governor-in-Council ; and the learned couusel who appeared for the Crown at once accepted the suggestion, and admitted that his argument went that length. On tho other side, it was argued that the covenant could only refer to voluntary assignments, and could not possibly apply to transfers which were rendered compulsory by the action of a court of law. This certainly appears to be the common sense view. If it should be decided that it is not the legal one, another very serious blow will have been struck at the credit of selectors. Under such conditions, no one will care to incur tho risk o making advances on the security of Crown biases, unless at exorbitant rates of interest. And it will have an injurious effect in another way. Purchasers at sheriffs sales will become scarce and shy. No one will care to give anything like the real value of a selection, with the knowledge that after ho has obtained the sheriffs transfer ho may be unable to obtain the Minister's, and thus fail to secure a title. The decision of the court will therefore be looked for with more than usual interest.The dilliculty has arisen entirely from tho usurpation by the Minister of Lands of powers which belong solely to the Legisla ture. There is no authority whatever in die Lund Act for the insertion of such a condition iu selectors’ leases. The Act clearly contemplates that when a selector has passed his probationary j iod of three years under license he shall be entitled to demand and obtain a title with which the Board of Land and Works shall have no power to interfere. Tliistitle may be in the form of a Crown grant, or, if more convenient to tlm selector, in tho form of a lease, but iu either case its effect as against the Crown is intended to be the same. If the grant is obtained the bulauceof tho piirclia-e-money must bo paid at once. If the lease is preferred payment of the balance is extended over seven years, but in this latter case the only covenant authorised by the Act is tho usual one “ for the payment of rent* and a condition for re-entry on non payment thereof.” It U true that the 110th section gives power to the Governor to make rules, regulations, and orders for. infer alia, •* prescribing the forms of and the conditions1 and modo of applying for licenses aud leases to be issued under the Act, and the conditions upon which the same .diall be issued ” and it is under cover of this general and vague provision that the condition restricting the right of transfer ring leaseholds has been imposed. But it -surely cannot be seriously contended that a clause which was clearly intended to provide machinery for the proper administration of the Act should bo made use of to vary tho policy of the Act itself. Li the course of the argument before th? judges on Thursday, counsel for the Grown admitted that,l it might be that the condition in the lease was ultra vires of the Governor-in-Council to impose; but he argued that inasmuch as the lessee had accepted it ho was bound byjit. “ If he did not liko that condition, he should have refused to take the lease, and compelled the Crown to issue a proper one.” From a purely legal point of view, this argument may be a good one ; but it is not to be assumed that selectors are as a rule well versed in the intricate technicalities of the law ; nor is it right that those having dealings with the Crown should be compelled to scrutinise every transaction for fear of being imposed upon. Only a few months ago, Mr. Longmore issued a batch of leases containing another condition, which was quite as much beyond the power of the Governor-in-Council to impose as that which has been brought under the notice of the Supremo Court. It was to the effect that in the event of the land leased being required for railway purpose tho leasees should bo entitled to demand not more than XI |er acre by way oi compensa ion. Some oft he selectors having no suspicion that they were being imposed upon, executed their leases as a matter of form. But attention having been drawn to the illegality, a large number positively refused to accept the now conditiou, and the result wa3 that Mr. Longmore was compelled to give way. Wo presume when those who relied upon the good faith of the Government have occasion to demand tforn-[►ensation for land takeu for railway purposes, they will be told that having accented the illegal condition, they are bound by it, aui that if they did not like it at the time it was their business to have refused to execute the leasos and compelled the Crown to issue proper ones. We submit that selectors have a right to be protected against snares of this kind, the more especially as wo believe it is a fact that the must eminent counsel in the colony have advised that although the Act specially provides that a selector who has complied with thec« nditions of hia license shall be entitled “ to demand and obtain ’’his lease, there are no legal means by which he can enforce his demand. The protection required is simply that the law shall be complied with, and that the Minister whose duty it is to anminister the Act shall uot usurp the functions of the Legislature, and impose conditions for which there i** -shadow of legal warrant. - not a1oo tho groundPoSTPO-n * ^ m°. requeited to-uryth .t the *.|« „f «■lt;*, d*., *• Oak Farm, Mill***, which war to Uk-n place yosterd*y,_U poatpuQ-d till Friday nextApril 4. This uoUoe should have appoared yeeterday. * * 5 Try™*™
Newspaper Details
Echuca Riverine Herald
Echuca, Victoria, AU
Sat, Mar 29, 1879
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
GB 06 Apr 2023
Other Publications Near Echuca, Victoria
Echuca Riverine Herald
Echuca and Moama Advertiser and Farmers Gazette
