C—l

Land Sales Court On 29th April, 1946, Frederick William Ongley, Esquire, was appointed an additional Judge of tlie Land Sales Court. On 21st June, 1946, the Honourable Mr. Justice Finlay tendered his resignation as a Judge of the Land Sales Court. On 26th June, 1946, Kendrick Gee Archer, Esquire, was appointed to be a Judge of the Land Sales Court. The Exercise op Crown Rights under Part II and Part 111 (Section 51) op the Act As the number of sales direct to discharged servicemen is still large, the provisions of section 51 have not been operated to any great extent. As will be observed from the figures given later in this report, Part II of the Act has been used to a greater degree than in previous years, and this has resulted in many voluntary and compulsory acquisitions of both larger and smaller blocks. Excess Consideration paid and received in Contravention op the Act In an attempt further to tighten up the penal clauses of the Act designed to prevent what have colloquially become known as " black market " payments, the principal Act of 1943 was further amended during the year. In consequence, there have been more successful prosecutions of those who have passed " black market " money, and others are pending.

Return of Applications for the Year ended 31st March, 1947

4

Registry. Brought forward from Previous Year. Received. Granted without Hearing. Granted after Hearing. Granted subject to Conditions Refused or Withdrawn. 1 Total 1 finalized. Action incomplete. Farm lands — Auckland 223 1,485 785 86 560 125 1,556 152 Hamilton 172 1,151 776 85 170 133 1,164 159 Gisborne 15 183 137 11 26 15 189 9 Napier 38 343 234 5 74 29 342 39 New Plymouth 67 457 340 14 76 38 468 56 Wellington 24 548 345 • 26 101 44 516 56 Blenheim 9 109 58 4 38 4 104 14 Nelson 35 336 223 2 88 30 343 28 Hokitika 1 49 40 8 1 49 1 Christchurch 80 853 561 30 216 55 862 71 Dunedin 103 500 285 8 155 59 507 96 Invercargill 60 633 403 • 8 132 51 594 99 Totals 827 6,647 4,187 277 1,646 584 6,694 780 Other lands— Auckland 1,003 9,918 6,002 717 3,049 284 10,052 869 Hamilton 407 3,985 2,747 242 798 231 4,018 374 Gisborne 32 778 631 15 131 10 787 23 Napier 232 2,047 1,383 12 586 110 2,091 188 New Plymouth 107 1,643 1,149 18 367 76 1,610 140 Wellington 969 8,227 5,266 144 2,459 426 8,295 901 Blenheim 26 539 269 35 212 15 531 34 Nelson 113 1,140 701 5 380 47 1,133 120 Hokitika 36 454 297 6 137 16 456 34 Christchurch 539 6,262 3,054 105 2,631 175 5,965 836 Dunedin 361 3,600 2,010 20 1,315 235 3,580 381 Invercargill 147 1,755 1,077 16 576 71 1,740 162 Totals Grand totals .. 3,972 40,348 24,586 1,335 12,641 1,696 40,258 4,062 4,799 46,995 28,773 1,612 14,287 2,280 46,952 4,842