o.—l.

be included, the relative percentages are—number of tenants, 14 per cent.; amount owing, 9p n cent. It must, I think, be'conceded that under'all the circumstances these percentages are strikingly small. The foll'owinglis a comparative statement of exclusive of current half-year, for the last seven years : — "

Forfeitures and Surrenders. The total of these were three more in number than for the previous year, 20,369 acres less in area, and £169 10s 5d less in respect of annual rental. Of 14 forfeitures, 8 were for non-payment of rent, and 6 for non-residence and abandonment, the latter six being occupation leases under the Mining Districts Land Occupation Act. For the ten surrenders there were various reasons, such as subdivision, grouping with other sections, reduction of capital value, ill health, mining, &c. The number, therefore, of forfeitures and surrenders in proportion to the number of holdings on the books is exceptionally small. The number of these transactions year by year for the last seven years is shown m the following return :—

Transfers. Transactions under this head are still very frequent, as may be gathered from the fact that there were altogether 199 transfers, covering an aggregate area of 275,296 acres, during the last year, the following being the respective numbers and acreages for the several tenures affected : — Number. Acres. Perpetual leases .. .. ■ • ••■ • .. 13 1,814 Cash certificates .. .. •• •• •• ..3 700 Occupation with right of purchase .. .. • • .. 11 1,949 Lease in perpetuity (ordinary Crown lands) .. . . .. 65 13,300 Lease in perpetuity (land for settlements) .. . . . . 45 5,624 Occupation leases (Mining Districts Land Occupation Act) .. 7 157 Small grazing-runs .. .. •• •■ •• ..23 ,^'^J Pastoral runs .. .. ■• •• •■ •• 9 lAit Miscellaneous licenses ... •■•■ ■ • .. 16 23,905 Wardens' leases .. .. ■ • • • • • .. 7 96 Tn 1904-5 the total number was 168, and the area dealt with 452,718 acres.

44

Year. Number Area held by of Tenants in ] Tenants in Arrear. Arrear. Amount of Arrears. Total Number of Tenants on Books. Gross Annual Bent. Ordinary Croivn Lands. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 159 153 120 83 40 48 54 Acres. £ s. d. 50,834 988 0 5 75,160 1,043 17 5 67,398 922 9 3 75,130 993 10 3 22,413 296 13 10 24,515 383 17 3 20,488 310 8 0 2,490 2,582 2,598 2,626 2,745 2,863 2,912 £ s. a. 51,015 9 2 51,283 11 3 51,409 7 1 51,605 16 3 51,091 12 6 50,956 19 10 50,437 11 11 Land for Settlements. 368 389 407 462 470 475 519 14,976 13 4 17,145 9 6 17,460 3 6 20,194 16 8 20,703 15 10 20,974 10 2 25,217 11 4 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 98 104 57 51 19 22 33 15,187 4,077 1 3 16,972 4,076 19 10 9,584 2,358 17 8 10,349 1,654 16 11 4,604 396 9 0 3,418 572 4 5 5,289 813 4 11

Surrenders. Total. Forfeitures. Year. Number. Area. Amount of j Number . ±\6nG. Area. Amount of Bent. Number. Area. Amount of Eent. 1899-1900 1900-1 .. 1901-2 .. 1902-3 .. 1903-4 .. 1904-5 .. 1905-6 .. 61 51 22 34 41 10 14 a. B. p. £ a. a , . 119,392 1 9 918 11 6 160,852 2 11,205 13 2 4,630 0 18i 120 8 2 48,195 3 27 365 17 3 117,005 2 12 248 7 8 5,646 3 20 139 0 41 10,981 2 8 234 0 4j 63 31 23 18 17 11 10 A. B. P. 20,101 1 15 9,602 2 25 '21,775 3 4 26,205 1 25 6,131 0 d 26,711 1 5 1,007 2 2| £ s. a. 790 14 8 336 16 6 210 14 0 301 8 8 201 1 6 351 0 2, 86 9 9 a. b. p. £ s. d. 124 139,493 2 211,709 6 2 82 170,545 0 26 1,542 9 8 45 26,405 3 22 331 2 2 52 74,401 1 12 667 5 11 58 123,136 2 2lj 4d9 9 2 21 32,358 0 25 490 0 6 24 11,989 0 10! 320 10 1