WHEREAS by “The Taranaki Iron-Smelting Works Lands Act, 1874” (hereinafter referred to as “the said Act”), it is recited that, “by resolutions of the “Provincial Council of the Province of Taranaki, passed on the first day of “April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, it was resolved ‘That this “‘Council approves of the New Zealand Titanic Steel and Iron Company “‘(Limited) being allowed to select three thousand acres of land in the Moa “‘Block, adjoining the two thousand acres already selected in the Tarurutangi “‘Block, after the General and Provincial Governments have made the necessary “‘reserves:’” And whereas by section two of the said Act it is enacted that “Within one month after the passing of the Act (now in recital) it shall be “lawful for the New Zealand Titanic Steel and Iron Company (Limited) “hereinafter called ‘the Company’) to select out of the block of waste land in “the Province of Taranaki, known as ’the Moa Block,’ a parcel of land not “exceeding in the case of the Company an area of three thousand acres, and “such block shall be selected in one parcel and not in several parcels, and shall “be of such shape and with such frontages as shall be approved of by the Superintendent of the said province. The said area of three thousand acres to be “selected by the Company shall be in addition to the area of two thousand acres “already selected by them in the Tarurutangi Block; and such last-mentioned “land shall for all purposes be deemed to have been selected under the Act (now “in recital) and subject to the provisions thereof:” And whereas by section three of the said Act it is enacted that “Such selection as aforesaid may be made “by any person duly authorized on behalf of the Company, and, notwithstanding “anything to the contrary in the law for the time being in force in the said “province for the sale and disposal of waste lands of the Crown, the Company “shall pay to the Provincial Treasurer of the said province for such land at the “rate of five shillings per acre, and such money shall be paid before the Crown “grants for the land selected shall be made, as hereinafter provided. The “moneys so paid to the Provincial Treasurer shall not for any purpose be deemed “to be land revenue of the province, and shall not be subject to or affected by “the provisions of ‘The Public Debt Apportionment Act, 1858:’” And whereas by section six of the said Act it is enacted that, “Upon the completion “of the said furnace or furnaces as aforesaid, and upon the certificate in writing “of the Superintendent that the provisions of this Act have been fully complied “with in respect of the lands hereby authorized to be selected as aforesaid, it shall “be lawful for the Governor, in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty the “Queen, to issue grants of the lands selected by the Company under the provisions of this Act:” And whereas the two thousand acres which by the said Act it is declared had then been selected out of the Tarurutangi Block was a selection made prior to the boundaries of the said block being correctly defined and determined by survey, and it has since been ascertained by survey of the said block that one thousand acres only, being the piece of land described in the First Schedule hereto, is capable of being granted out of the said Tarurutangi Block: And whereas the said Company, by and with the approval of the Superintendent of the late Province of Taranaki, did select three thousand acres in the said Moa Block: And whereas, so soon as it was ascertained by survey that not more than one thousand acres could be selected out of the Tarurutangi Block, the said Superintendent, in order to make up the requisite quantity of five thousand acres intended to be granted to the said Company under the provisions of the said Act, did select out of the said Moa Block a further quantity of one thousand acres, the said three thousand acres and one thousand acres so selected out of the said Moa Block together comprising the piece of land described in the Second Schedule hereto: And whereas the said Company has paid for the said five thousand acres at the rate and in the manner as in the third section of the said Act is provided: And whereas the said Company has obtained the certificate mentioned in the sixth section of the said Act: And whereas, in consequence of the said Tarurutangi Block not containing the two thousand acres to be selected thereout, and thereby rendering it necessary to select four thousand acres out of the Moa Block, doubts have been raised whether the Governor can, under the authority of the said Act, grant to the said Company the land so selected as aforesaid, and it is expedient and necessary, to set such doubts at rest, to authorize the Governor to issue to the said Company a Crown grant for the pieces of land described in the First and Second Schedules hereto: