C—lA

' Standard Surveys. —Auckland City survey and Invercargill and Taranaki rural surveys will be continued to a point where they can be satisfactorily terminated temporarily, and the surveyors engaged thereon transferred to Hawke's Bay District to carry out the revision of the standard survey in the towns of Napier and Hastings, and survey rural standard traverses along the main roads as a basis for future surveys. The standard extension in Christchurch will be continued and any necessary work carried out in connection with the maintenance and protection of existing standard marks. Town-section Surveys. —The work in hand under this heading comprises an area of 283J acres, principally in the Otago and North Auckland Districts. Rural Settlement. —Future operations show an area of 138,645 acres, the greater portion of which is in the North Island. Further areas for settlement may be anticipated during the year. Native Land Court Surveys.—Authority for the survey of 19,859 acres of Native land is in hand, a large proportion of which represents surveys of consolidated blocks in the Auckland District. Office-work. —The routine examination and recording of plans, field inspections, photo-lithographic drawings, and the computations of the geodetic, magnetic, and tidal surveys will be continued, as well as the field-work outlined above. The recomputation of the revision triangulation in Hawke's Bay will be put in hand as soon as the observations in the field are sufficiently advanced. The collection of Hawke's Bay survey information, of which the original records have been lost, will be searched out and made available for the re-establishment of that district. General. Map-publications.—ln the Chief Draughtsman's report appended hereto will be found details of the maps published during the year. Town Subdivisional Surveys.—There was a considerable decrease in the number of plans, and also the area subdivided, compared with the previous year. An analysis of the number submitted and of their division into classified areas is given in the Chief Draughtsman's report. Proclamation of Roads, &c. —During the past year a number of applications for the proclamation of road-lines laid out by the Native Land Court under the provisions of the Native Land Act, 1909, and amendments were considered and dealt with. The statutory notices under section 15 of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, were forwarded to the local authorities of the districts concerned, and in the majority of cases no objections were raised to the proclamation of the road-lines as public highways. Under the Land Transfer Act, 238 warrants for the issue of certificates of title were examined and certified to in terms of section 13 of the Act. A number of applications to bring land under the Land Transfer Act were also considered and approved in pursuance of section 19 of the Act. Under section 106 of the Land for Settlements Act, 1925, fifteen Proclamations were issued closing unformed and unused roads intersecting or adjoining land acquired under that Act. Magnetic Observatory. —The three component Galitzin-type seismograph was received from the makers in March, and will be installed after testing. Staff. Retirements. —E. H. Farnie : Mr. Farnie joined the Department as a temporary surveyor in 1893, and after carrying out many important surveys, principally in the Hawke's Bay District, he was in 1919 appointed to the Gisborne office, where he held the positions of Land Transfer Draughtsman and Chief Draughtsman, and finally in 1925 was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor in that district. Both in the field and office Mr. Farnie carried out his duties, in which he took a very keen interest, in a highly creditable and able manner. S. L. Fairhall: Mr. Fairhall joined the Department as a temporary surveyor in and carried out many surveys, principally in the Nelson and Wellington Districts. He was appointed Chief Draughtsman at Invercargill in 1925, and in 1930 was promoted to the position of Chief Surveyor in that district. Mr. Fairhall always took a keen and able interest in the affairs of the Department. Messrs. H. Kensington and F. Martin retired from the Service during the year. I regret to record the death of Mr. W. G. Pratt, a young draughtsman of considerable promise, in the North Auckland office. Appreciation. —In conclusion, I wish to bring under your notice the appreciation of the various Chief Surveyors of the manner in which their officers have carried out their duties during the year, and I desire to add my personal thanks to the whole of the technical staff, both office and field, for the efficient manner in which the work has been performed during the year. H. E. Walshe, Surveyor-General.

Table 1. —Return of Field-work executed by Head Office Staff from 1st April, 1930, to 31st March, 1931.

5

Standard Surveys. Geodetic Triangulation. ~ ; j Other Work. District. Completed. In Progress. Completed. In Progress. Miles. Cost. Miles. Cost. MUra? Co8t " MMes? | Co8t " Oo8t ' j £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. North Auckland .. j 7-7 438 14 3 25 833 13 9 .. .. .. .. 375 8 3 Auckland .. ~) Taranaki .. L. .. .. .. 12,500 5,225 0 0 1,000 Wellington .. J Invercargill .. 86 9,959 12 9 ...