INSTITUTE OF SURVEYORS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1654, 22 January 1906, Page 2

INSTITUTE OF SURVEYORS.

At the annual meeting of the New Zealand Inet'tute of Surveyors, held ia Auckland last week, Mr J. Mouatt, of Gisborne, acted as Beoretary in the absence of Mr Morpeth. Mr E. A. Pavitt, of Gisborne, was eleoted a member of the Institute. UNLICENSED SURVEYOKS. Mr J. Mouatt, on behalf of the Gisborne branob, moved as fellows That the Institute shall take suoh steps as to either amend the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and Board of Examiners Act so that unauthorised persons shall not be allowed to do any survey for gain or reward, or shall insert in the Act a clause giving a recognised status to unauthorised persons doing work as surveyors.” Mr Mouatt said that this was a matter that was particularly important to Poverty Bay and similar districts. Thero was a class of men who undertook bush surveys ! at 6d an acre, where the licensed surveyor with, an office and a reputation could not do it under Is. It was the practice of these men to overstate their areas by as the much bb from two to five per cent., and unfortunate thing wes that these areas were accepted for general purposes and their inaccuracy was not discovered till the land had to be cut up. It affected the employer because it meant that he had to pay for a lirger area than was actually to be dealt with in all his transactions with

the land There was only one way of overcoming the difficulty, and that was by giving the men of this class a definite stilus and preventing the incompetent men from touohing any sort of professional work. Mr Kelly seconded the motion.

i Mr Cheat pointed out that the SurveyorQenerai had slid there was no power to p event surveyors from putting their a sietants on to the work and then them- ( selves certifying to if. The Government institutions also followed the same practice of employing assistants to do the work of competent men. Mr Davis said he was authorised to say that in the ease of the Auckland office it was not an authorised oustom, and that in. no case under the Commissioner’s notice had an assistant done the work of a competent surveyor except under proper supervision, with two unimportant except'one. Mr Dobson said that if the Institute tried to interfere with the minor works of surveying such as affected the rough measurement of lands for ploughing and bushfelling it would bring a hornet’s nest about its ears. Anything that affected title should of course be jealously guarded. After further dißOuesion the motion was carried.