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statutory duties. The interests of the Government and the people of New Zealand are well conserved, and the Lands Department has a staff of loyal and efficient officers of which any country may be proud.

Report by the Chief Clerk. The Chief Clerk reports that during the past year the work of the Head Office has been performed by the officers with efficiency and despatch. Correspondence. —The greatest portion of the correspondence dealt with in the Head Office is that which takes place between the several district offices ; but there were also 4,500 communications passing through the office upon matters which did not emanate from the Chief Surveyors or Commissioners of Crown Lands. The volume of correspondence may be gauged from the following figures : Letters and memoranda received, 20,950 ; despatched, 15,437. This number relates to land subjects, and to it must be added those relating to immigration questions, which are also dealt with by the same staff, and for the latter there were 11,653 inward and outward communications, making the large total of 48,040 letters received and despatched during the year. Land-sales. —There were 207 Warrants issued in connection with the sales—viz., seventy notifying lands for selection on the optional system, fifty-seven notifying lands for selection on renewable lease. forty-one notifying lands for sale by public auction, and thirty-nine notifying settlement lands for renewable lease. Five Proclamations were issued setting apart lands as small grazing-runs, three Proclamations setting apart village settlements, two withdrawing lands from these conditions, and two Orders in Council fixing the terms and conditions of leases of sections in village settlements were also issued. Consequent upon the sale of pastoral runs during February the office had a very busy period in January and February in the preparation and publication of sale plans, no less than forty-seven plans being issued during these two months. In several instances 2,000 copies of a plan had to be printed. During the year 174 sale plans were issued, the number of copies varying from 500 to 2,000 according to the importance of the plan. Reserves. —During the year ninety-four Warrants of temporary reservation under section 321 of the Land Act, 1908, and ten permanent Warrants under section 322, were prepared, executed by His Excellency the Governor, and duly gazetted. The total number of sections reserved under this Act was 171, of an area of 32,720 acres, as follows : — ~.,.. Number of Area See (ions. (Acres). Auckland .. .. .. .. .. ..40 3,290 Hawke's Bay . . .. .. .. .. 6 17 Taranaki .. .. . . .. .. 37 1,604 Wellington .. .. .. .. .. 15 45 Nelson .. .. .. .. '.. .. 56 2.695 Marlborough .. .. .. .. .. . . 2 10 Westland .. .. ... .. .. .. I 3 Canterbury . . . . . . .. . . . . 4 18 Otago .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 30 Southland .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 25,008 Totals .. .. .. .. .. 171 32,720 In addition to the above, four Proclamations were issued under the State Forests Act, declaring an area of 10,280 acres to be State forests ; and an area of 36,404 acres was withdrawn from the operations of the Act in pursuance of section 28 thereof, three Proclamations being necessary for this purpose. Under the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908, nineteen Proclamations were issued reserving fortythree sections, covering -an area of 54,348 acres, as follows : — District. Number of Area sections. (Acres). Auckland .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 47 Wellington . . . . . . . . . . .. 7 1,286 Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 647 Westland .. .. .. .. .. ..20 51,678 Otago .. .. .. .. .. .. 10 690 Totals .. .. .. .. 43 54,348 The various dealings with reserves under the Public Reserves and Domains Act, 1908, necessitated the preparation and gazetting of the following instruments : Twenty-eight Orders in Council vesting forty-six reserves ; ten notices of intention to change the purpose of reserves ; seventeen Warrants and Orders in Council changing the purpose ; three Warrants exchanging reserves for other land : four Orders in Council authorizing exchange; one notice of intention to define purpose ; one Warrant

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