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STATE FOREST SERVICE. This service has now completed five years as a separate State Department. Below is a table showing the net revenue of the account and the payments under the vote for that period : — Receipts. Payments. £ £ 1920-21 .. .. .. 19,697 79,551 1921-22 .. .. .. 30,836 107,582 1922-23 .. .. .. 66,745 85,410 1923-24 .. .. .. 98,277 96,044 1924-25 .. .. .. 165,196 114,298 A transfer was made in 1924-25 to the National Endowment Account of £12,611, being the amount due to that account to the 31st March, 1924, for revenue derived from national-endowment land comprised in State forests. A transfer of £100,000 was also made to the Land for Settlements Account under section 16, Finance Act, 1924, for the purchase from that account of part of the Selwyn Estate. STATE ADVANCES OFFICE. The capital of the State Advances Office at the 31st March, 1925, amounted to £26,776,899 ; an addition of £4,593,374 last year. This latter sum was to provide the extra funds for advances required for developmental purposes, the acquisition of houses, and particularly to assist those farmers whose mortgages had become due on the expiration of the moratorium. The advances actually paid over numbered 4,533, and amounted to £5,238,880, thus furnishing continued proof of the assistance rendered to settlers and workers throughout the Dominion in respect to their financial requirements. The new business for the year was as follows : — M i Amount. JN umber. Loans granted to settlers .. .. .. 3.321 4,289,875 Loans granted to workers .. .. 1,874 1,363,280 Loans granted to local authorities .. .. 127 227,330 Totals .. .. .. 5,322 £5,880,485 ForTthe purpose of building houses and acquiring homes a large sum has been advanced during the last six years. The following is a table of the loans authorized from the Ist April, 1919, to the 31st March, 1925 : — „ , Amount. r , . . JN umber. For housing purposes — £ To settlers .. .. .. .. 6,145 3,454,093 To workers .. .. .. ..10,911 6,486,224 To release mortgages on house properties — To settlers • .. .. .. .. 2,502 1,346,498 To erect workers' dwellings— To local authorities .. .. .. .. 634,145 Total .. .. .. .. £11,920,960 A considerable sum has been provided during the year for repayment of mortgages, and since the month of October, 1922, when it was decided to grant advances for this purpose, the loans granted number 6,106, and amount in all to £7,345,295.

State forests.

State advances.

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