C.—9.

GENERAL REVIEW. Discharged Soldiers Settlement Account. Loans authorized during the year number 719, involving a total amount of £66,517, as follows :—•

Cash receipts for the year have risen by £144,987. The comparative figures of cash receipts on Capital and Revenue Accounts for the last five years are : — 1931-32. 1932-33. 1933-34. 1934-35. 1935-36. £ £ £ £ £ Capital .. .. 668,396 625,316 788,757 877,113 1,034,895 Revenue .. .. 527,436 488,048 525,578 560,104 547,309 1,195,832 1,113,364 1,314,335 1,437,217 1,582,204 Lands proclaimed. The lands set apart for selection by discharged soldiers during the year totalled 304 acres, making a grand total of 1,452,829 acres proclaimed since the inception of the scheme. This large area is made up as follows : — Class of Land. Area. Acres. Ordinary Crown lands .. .. .. .. .. 613,397 Land-for-settlements land .. . . . . . . 402,544 National-endowment land .. .. .. .. 433,532 Cheviot Estate land .. .. .. .. .. 3,356 1,452,829 Proclamations have been issued revoking the setting-apart of 238,359 acres of Crown and nationalendowment land and 105,046 acres of land-for-settlements land. Applications for Land. Applications for land under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act, 1915, to the number of twelve were received during the year. The following table gives the number of applications and the area allotted for each year from the inception of the soldier-settlement scheme :—

2

New Loans. Additional Loans. Number. Amount. Number. Amount. £ £ Advances on current account .. .. .. 12 3,971 294 40,459 Advances on farms .. .. .. .. 3 2,475 22 2,384 Advances on dwellings .. .. .. .. 5 2,880 383 14,348 20 9,326 699 57,191

* Allotments made. Year ending Applications leceive . Number. Area (Acres). 31st March, 1916 .. .. .. ,. 272 2 629 1917 .. .. .. .. 522 319 143,524 1918 .. .. .. .. 513 313 103,362 1919 .. .. .. .. 1,379 348 117,018 1920 5,041 932 403,891 1921 .. .. .. .. 5,396 1,087 414,867 1922 .. .. .. .. 878 403 97,972 1923 .. .. .. .. 284 146 25,113 1924 .. .. .. .. 216 79 16,910 1925 .. .. .. .. 123 47 9,014 1926 .. .. .. .. 109 86 20,500 1927 .. .. .. .. 78 66 17,412 1928 .. .. .. .. 96 60 15,695 1929 .. .. .. .. 90 77 13,275 1930 .. .. .. .. 63 53 16,665 1931 .. .. .. .. 41 31 8,495 1932 .. .. .. .. 22 16 4,215 ,, 1933 .. .. .. 12 6 4,133 1934 .. 10 8 1,536 1935 .. .. .. 8 7 2,954 1936 .. .. .. .. 12 7 3,638 Totals for twenty-one years .. 15,165 4,093 1,440,818 i