C.—l

10

Senior Appointments, Promotions, and Transfers —continued.

The following officers were transferred to other Departments : — W. S. Hardy. Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Nelson, appointed Chief Clerk, State Forest Service. E. Pearce, Accountant, Invercargill, appointed Stores Auditor, Dunedin. Head Office. The correspondence during the year showed no signs of slackness, but rather the reverse, caused largely by the work of tho Dominion Revaluation Board, entailing an extra amount of correspondence. Every effort was made to keep the work up to date, and extra hours had to bo worked in nearly all branches so as to cope with the abnormal correspondence. Although the staff was fully taxed, yet the opportunity was taken of inaugurating a system of coloured tags for the various files, so as to ensure that correspondence was not being put away in the wrong place, and also to lessen the work of searching for files in the office. The method has been to allot a distinctive coloured tag to each series, of which there are now about thirty : as, for instance, Series 3 (personal files) has a blue tag ; Series 26 (soldiers' files) a red tag; and so on. The scheme has been extended to the district offices ; and, in fact, the system of using coloured tags originated in tho North Auckland Office, but was only used for five or six series of files, not for the whole series, as is now the case. The work of transferring files from the old numbers to the modern series system has also been continued, with tho result that the index of correspondence is now more complete as time goes on. As usual, the printing of land-sale plans, departmental forms, &c, and the gazetting of various Proclamations, Orders in Council, notices, and documents, occupied a considerable part of the time of the Sales Branch, but with the cordial co-operation of the Government Printing Office all this class of work has been kept up to date. The quarterly issues of the Crown Lands Guide and tho publication of the monthly posters were attended to. The advertising of Crown lands in this way is very convenient, both to the district officers and to the general public, who are thus, by the exhibition every month at all post-offices in the Dominion, kept fully informed of forthcoming sales and ballots. As all suitable Crown land is prepared for settlement at earliest opportunity, it is always tho endeavour to fix the, dates of sales as soon as possible after particulars are supplied. There are also occasional sales of timber, flax, &c, whilst leases of educational and public reserves are offered periodically. The scrutiny of recommendations for allotment of lands without competition under the various provisions of the Land Acts, and also of applications to transfer, sublease, &c, before laying them before the Minister, is carefully attended to. Inquiries from abroad relative to land available for general selection, inquiries concerning early land claims, naval and military grants, &c, were quite as numerous as in previous years. The work of the Titles and Reserves Branch has been very heavy during the past year. Several cases of overlapping titles involving considerable, search and investigation were dealt with, together with many problems arising out of river-bed lands and riparian rights. This branch also deals with matters relating to Native reserves, landless Natives' claims, &c, while the administration of the various classes of public reserves, and, in particular, public domains, entails careful attention and a thorough appreciation of the basic principles underlying the various statutes. Consequent upon the passing of the War Disabilities Removal Act, 1922, there has been a falling-off in the applications for licenses to acquire land under section 5 of the War Legislation and

Officer appointed. Previous Position. Position to which appointed. Date. D. M. Wilson .. E. H. Farnie Chief Draughtsman, New Plymouth Draughtsman and Computer, Gisborne Chief Draughtsman, Auckland .. Chief Draughtsman, Gisborne .. 1/12/23 1/4/23 W. Stewart J. 11. Treseder . . Surveyor, Wellington Land Drainage Engineer, WhakaChief Draughtsman, Christchurch Chief Draughtsman, Dunedin 1/5/23 24/5/23 T. Cagnoy W. D. Armit .. P. R. Wilkinson A. F. Waters .. P. W. G. Barlow tane Chief Draughtsman, Hokitika .. Chief Draughtsman, Now Plymouth Chief Draughtsman, Blenheim .. Chief Draughtsman, Nelson Chiel Draughtsman and Land Transfer Draughtsman, Napier Chief Draughtsman, Wellington.. Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Nelson Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Wellington Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Gisborne Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Napier Surveyor, Gisborne Surveyor, Auckland Surveyor, Auckland Surveyor, New Plymouth Surveyor, Auckland F. H. Waters .. J. H. W. Wardrop Surveyor, Christchurch Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Gisborne Accountant, Auckland 12/12/23 H. W. C. Mackintosh R. W. Cumming 16/8/23 Senior Clerk, North Auckland .. T. Tudhope Senior Clerk, Napier