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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4399, 26 April 1875, Page 2

The Canterbury Press has a leading article on the state of the provincial surveys which, taken in conjunction with Major Palmer's report, deserves more than a passing notice. It condemns the survey department on the evidence of the chief surveyor, but it doubts whether Major Palmer had sufficient time, during his short examination, to ascertain for himself the existing state of surveys in Canterbury. There is considerable force in this objection, inasmuch as accuracy does not appear to have, been even aimed, at in the bulk of the surveys in Canter-, bury,; however, the report is' sufficiently explicit to show the absolute necessity there is for an immediate and total change of system. The following extract shows what Major Palmer thinks of the Canterbury surveys :

While in Auckland arid soma other provinces one chief cause of the difficulties which beset the cariy land sales under the principle of ■ selection before section survey was that they often bad absolutely no topographical map with any protension:to accuracy as a*basis to work upon ; in Canterbury, on the other hand, we have the case of, largo :areas having been triangulated and topographically mapped for pnrposes of land selection with a certain show of accuracy, yet so carelessly in reality that but little good was gained ; error and confusion of the usual types wore introduced at the very outset, in spite of a large expenditure of money, and have never ' since, been thoroughly eradicated.

The' surveys in question were begun in 1840. A base near Christchurch, about three miles long, was measured in that year, with a standard chain, and a triangulation was erected on It with a six-inch theodolite, and shortly extended to the Itakaia, a verification base near Oxford, about two miles long, having been measured meanwhile. At different times subsequently, up till 1870, other triangulations, not properly connected with this one or with one another, and each depending on one or more chained bases of its own/ were carried southward to the Rangltita, arid northward, to the- Hurunui. Though these various triangulations were mainly confined to the more level parts of the province between tho mountains and the sea, a tract favorable for trigonometrical work, yet it does not appear that anything like mathematical accuracy was aimed at, or that a thorough and uniform system was pursued. Under a pressing demand for surveys, work of a rough kind was approximated as it best could be, which is tantariibunt to saying that errors were systematically concealed or overlooked! Everything was laid down to compass meridians ; true meridian and geographical positions were altogether disregarded, oxcept those which tho naval officers supplied. No descriptions were kept ot tho trigonometrical stations, several of which have since been removed and their positions on the ground lost; while of many of the observed angles no record whatever exists. Some of the work was done by contract, some by the staff. Though part of it no doubt was pretty good, a great deal was certainly very bad ; the trigonometrical work in Banks Peninsula, for oxample, is notoriously in error to a very serious extent. This la no more than might have boen expected ; for, as there was no proper scrutiny or connection of parts, all depended on tho trustworthiness of the surveyors. ' It is quite clear then that these triangulations, covering about 1,200,000 acres north of the Rangitata, aro as a whole far from being accurate, and there Is no pretence to the contrary. Mr. Howlings, tho present chief surveyor, has entered on the costly and troublesome task of revising them as he best can. Somo parts stand the test well; others fail to do so; and, as it ia Impossible to tell before trial where tho bad parts are, the whole must be gone over again, either to establish its accuracy or correct its errors, before It can bo accepted as final. In the topographical surveys nominally founded on these triangulations, a traverso was required of all natural featuros, such as ridgos, watercourses, terraces, swamps, lakos, bush, &c, which might serve as section boundaries ; main roads also had to be surveyed arid marked out, and the whole mappod on tho scale of eight inchos to a mile, to servo as tho basis for free selection, which might bo made in sections of from twenty acres upwards without limit. A map of this kind, constructed with fair accuracy, should havo boen a sufficient safeguard against future complications. The boundaries and acreages of sections would sensibly bo the same on tho map and on tho ground, and whon the more minute section survoy afterwards came to bo made, any slight discrepancies could bo met by corresponding corrections in the sums previously paid for: license'on application. But the system, though good in theory, was vitiated by the inferior quality of the maps actually produced. Not only was tho triangulation in itself indifferent, but there Is no evidence that the detail was systematically tied upon It. Boaide3 this, tho surveyor, who, It is to be feared, was in many cases but Uttle skilled la his profession, was allowed

to plot his own work; and though parts were occasionally inspected, it does not appear to have been regularly subjected to field examination or' other, check. Thus large errors often crept into the maps, and it. is easy to form an idea of the sort of trouble and confusion ; that might arise in consequence. -If tbe map, for example, should make it appear, that there is more land within certain limits than jeally' exists, licenses might fae issued for too many sections; and, on the section survey being af towards made, the latest applicant would find himself mulcted of a good deal of the land he had counted on and paid for—if not altogether dispossessed—by the prior rights of those who had applied before him. Instances of this kind have actually happened in the Canterbury surveys. ' ™ v But this is not the whole case. The same hurry, inaccuracy; and want of system' and scrutiny which had affected the preliminary maps extended also to the later section surveys. Many of these surveys, moreover, wero allowed to spread beyond the limits of the triangulation, and have never yet been properly connected with it, though the lands included by them have been sold and granted. "Worst of all, the fatal system was introduced in the early days, apparently under official sanction, .of. allowing a liberal percent- • age to the purchaser in the survey of his section, in order, as it was imagined, to avoid risk of future litigation. Under this, system, more land was marked off on the ground than the purchaser was entitled to, though the excess was not allowed to appear in the manuscript survey, nor yet in the record or Crown grant. The documents, for example, might give a purchaser-a section of 100 acres only, whilst the pegs on the ground gave him 101 acres. To add to the confusion, different surveyors interpreted this license in different ways. Serious complications of course arose from these direct contradictions between the surveys and grants. Plainly, there could never, be space on the ground for all the land sold from the map, and erroneous descriptions of boundaries and acreages would creep into the grants, affecting their accuracy, and certain to be found out, if not at once, as soon as ever the property came to he brought under the operations of the Land Transfer Act. _ We thus have the condition of the Canterbury surveys very graphically sketched, and we confess it does not tend to prejudice us in favor of provincial administration of the Crown lands. Nothing could well be .worse than the state of things revealed, in Major Palmer's report respecting the bulk of the provincial surveys. Those of Auckland, however, are worse than anywhere else in the colony. Major Paimer reports that "the " history of Auckland surveys is one of " lamentable confusion and neglect, and " want of system and accuracy. ' At pre- " sent," he writes, " but little is being "done, and there is no chief surveyor "or regular salaried staff." Yet it is under such circumstances as these that Auckland newspapers clamor for the control of the lands recently purchased from the natives. These blocks will be brought within the triangulated area under Mr. Heale's superintendence, and therefore will be free from the errors common to all provincial surveys in Auckland. Major Palmer points out-how the demand for settlement land under the "forty-acre " immigrant system," and the want of money to pay for proper surveys, induced the Provincial Government to adopt the " evil system of paper surveys, which " was resorted to as a cheap expedient. ". . . These traverses having been " plotted on the surveyor's plan, by him- " self, sections were schemed out on the. "plan, in the office, of sizes suited to " the wants of intending settlers, and " sold and granted accordingly by their " theoretical dimensions. But owing to "the generally loose style of the work, " When these paper sections came to be " laid out on the ground, the theoretical "lines would seldom chain truly, and " more or less adjustment became neces- " sary. In this way direct and sometimes " serious discrepancies between plan and " ground must have been systematically "introduced. All or nearly all of these " surveys were made by contract, often " with compass and chain only; and any " field inspection on behalf of Govem- " ment was of the ■ most cursory kind, " more pains apparently having been " given to determining that work for .'' which payment was claimed had really " been done, than to seeing, also that it "had been accurately done. Thus the " work, badly begun and never really im- " proved upon, has drifted on from year " to year, error being piled upon error " as each new survey came to be en- " grafted on previous ones, and the evil " consequences, 1 as might be expected, " becoming more embarrassing every day. " Matters have now reached a stage which " Mr. Tole. (Waste Lands Commissioner) "considers to be beyond redemption by " professional skill, except at considerable " cost. No doubt there have been certain " extenuating causes; such as want of " funds, hurry, caused by pressure for " settlement, native difficulties, and " physical obstacles to survey. But as a " matter of fact, 1 whatever the causes may " have been, I find that in system, and "to some extent in execution, the sur- " veys frqm beginning to end have been (l radically bad, and that consequently " many of the record maps are next to " useless for public purposes." As might be expected from such a deplora,ble state of the surveys of Aucklandj litigation and disputes have been of frequent occurrence, and one claim for £IO,OOO against the Provincial Government, arising out >of an inaccurate survey, is pending. And this case will be by no means solitary. How the errors are to be rectified is not an easy matter to determine, .but that it will involve a very ! heavy expenditure :is past doubt. With this white elephant to manage, Sir George Grey will have his hands pretty full for some time to come we doubt not; meanwhile, we have stated sufficient to show the wisdom of the course pursued by. the Colonial Government, in not handing, over the newly acquired territory in the North .to such systematic misrule as Major Palmer has exposed in his report.-. -.- ; .