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district offices on all departmental matters ; correspondence with Public, Service Commissioner in connection with staff of the Department; reporting to Minister on important matters, submitting recommendations and obtaining his approval and direction as to action to be taken and expenditure to Ik; incurred. (2.) Supervision of all offices and branches of the Department, which comprise one Head Office, eleven Principal Land Offices, one Local Land Office, one Chief Drainage Engineer's office, two suboffices in connection with land drainage, one Standard Survey sub-office. (B.) Technical Branch. 1. " Commercial " Surveys in Field.- All Crown lands thrown open for settlement, whether under the Land Act or special Acts, such as Land for Settlements, Discharged Soldiers, &c, are subdivided by the. Department's own officers. The subdivision of all Native lands dealt with by the Courts and Native Department is carried out under the. instruction and supervision of this Depart,ment's officers, chiefly by private surveyors who are paid by and through the Department. The subdivision of all privately owned lands for sale, lease, or transfer of any kind, townships, mining, &c, is carried out by private surveyors under private owners' instructions; but the consequent surveys are without exception checked and examined and passed by the Department's officers before the titles can issue. In addition, every scheme for laying out of a " town " subdivision outside boroughs is also examined by the; Department as to its compliance with general principles of town-planning in tin; interests of the community. 2. Scientific Surveys. —The above surveys cover practically all the daily work of the survey profession. All of it, however, is based on certain fundamental scientific surveys as a, skeleton or framework, known as the " triangulation,'' and the " standard " surveys, both made by the more experienced and qualified officers of the Department, and requiring an intensive consideration of accuracy as their primary characteristic. The constant increase of the first-described " commercial survey work- has rendered an extension and revision of the scientific skeleton a pressing need. 3. Topographical Surveys. The progress of the community has accentuated the demand for another class of survey for military, traffic, communication, engineering; and a multitude of other economic purposes, which is so far practically non-existent in New Zealand. This is a topographical survey showing the contour and ether features of the country in their relation to roads and other means of communication and transport, altitudes, slopes, and character, &c. 4. Special Surveys. — Other classes of special survey are also called for, such as soil and agricultural surveys ; the point being that all these special and general surveys require for their foundation the same skeleton of accurate surveys produced by this Department. 5. Mapping. All of these operations are recorded in the form of maps, the, production of which, and the checking, compiling, and building up into general maps of counties, districts, and Dominion occupies a considerable staff, up to the eventual publication of the lithographs sold to tin; public. All maps of New Zealand or parts of New Zealand published, whether in England or elsewhere, in atlases or otherwise, are derived from the surveys and maps of the Department. 6. Magnetic and Tidal Surveys. —ln addition to these surveys the Department carries out two branches of scientific investigation generally called " surveys," but of a different and highly specialized nature—namely, tin; magnetic survey and the tidal survey. The former, of which the Observatory is located at Christchurch and a substation at Amberley, conducts the study of the earth's magnetic forces, of which the principal concrete result is the ascertainment of the variations of tin' compass for the information of mariners and correction of Admiralty charts. The tidal survey likewise' results in the prediction of high and low water throughout New Zealand for tin; use of commerce, and the results from both these branches of survey go all over the world to the authorities concerned in the official publications, without which no vessel, from the great liner down to the small tramp, dares to face the wide waterways of the world. (C.) Land Administration. 1. Preparation of sale posters, schedules, and all particulars relating to the disposal of Crown lands, settlements lands, education reserves, national-endowment and any other public reserves or lands administered by a, Land Board. 2. Sale or lease of above, either for cash, on deferred payment, occupation with right of purchase, renewable lease, small-grazing-run lease, pastoral-run license, regulation license, miscellaneous lease, education reserves, &c. Disposal by ballot, or auction where necessary. 3. Administration of above lands, including collection and apportionment of revenue; recording and dealing with transfers, subleases, mortgage and freehold!ng of lands; enforcement of conditions of lease and statutes relating to lands ; preparation of statistics. &c. 4. Land Board jurisdiction, which includes the. holding of periodical meetings of the Land Board, and consideration of all applications and matters dealt with by the Board under its statutory powers. 5. Local Land Purchase Board jurisdiction, comprising consideration of offers to sell land to the Crown under I he Land for Settlements Act, 1908, and consequent recommendations in regard thereto. (D.) Discharged. Soldier Settlement. 1. Setting apart and disposing of Crown lands and settlement lands under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act. 2. Advancing money on mortgage to enable discharged soldiers to acquire freehold rural lands, and for improving same when purchased.