REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR OE SURVEYS.

D.—No. 11,

5

the well-being of the whole country, and for the effective carrying out of the laws enacted in Parliament, the Government has them performed where required, and charges each Province within which the work lies with its share of the cost of them. But the triangulations are so well performed in many parts of the Province of Wellington, that it is quite unnecessary that the General Government should interfere with the conduct of them, provided that they are extended over the portions of the Province which remain in possession of the Natives as well as those held by the Provincial Government, and that all the elements of the work are promptly and fully imparted to the officers of the General Government, and are made available to its use. If lam right in supposing that all payments for such services are to be provincially charged, then any question of contribution is idle, since, if paid, it would be practically out of provincial funds; but if the cost of a general triangulation is to be paid out of general revenue, on the consideration of its being a colonial work, then, undoubtedly, the Province of Wellington would be entitled to a contribution towards that portion of it which has been executed at its expense. Such a question is beyond my province, and I am unwilling to enter upon it without specific instructions; but the collated maps before referred to are of immediate necessity, and if the Survey Office at Wellington cannot furnish them, I trust that I may be authorized toincur the expense of getting them made without delay. In addition to my regular duties in connection with the Native Lands Court, I have, during the past year, been occasionally occupied in superintending other surveys in which the Government of New Zealand has been concerned, as in Waikato and Tauranga; and in clearing up difficulties arising out of surveys not originally under my supervision, as at Poverty Bay, Wairoa, and elsewhere. My experience in these troublesome matters, which have involved a large expenditure, has but added to my conviction of the wastefulness of allowing detached surveys to go on without reference to one general system. Since the Native land claims may be in any part, it follows that the geodetic surveys required to control them must, ultimately at all events, become co-extensive with the North Island, and that all surveys ought to be brought into connection with the geodetic points so established, and to appear on the general maps; but this cannot be done without great difficulty and discrepancy, unless the surveys are originally conducted on the same system, and the maps and field work are referred to one department; far therefore from deprecating any labour being thrown on my department because it may not be connected with the Native Lands Court, I would most earnestly recommend, for the sake of economy as well as accuracy, and the avoidance of future trouble, that all survey work in which the General Government is concerned, should be united into one system under one head. I am satisfied that, irrespective altogether of the individuals employed, the mere uniformity of practice and co-ordination of work which such a system would bring about, would enable the Government to have any work it might from time to time require, done more rapidly and efficiently j and all the work so performed would then form part of a connected whole, and would inure to the benefit of the country as a part of its established topography, instead of being overlooked and lost, as has happened with many expensive surveys, or, as has still oftener been the case, proving so discrepant that the attempt to co-ordinate them has utterly failed. I have, &c, Theophs. Heale, The Hon. the Native Minister, &c. Inspector of Surveys.

RETURN showing the Number and Gross Area of Maps of Native Land Claims received at this office from each Province in the North Island ; also, those from the Middle Island.

Return. No. OE Maps. Aeea. Retuen. No. op Maps. Aeea. :869. Auckland .870. Do. 1,056 336 A. E. P. 1,441,074 0 0 422,349 0 0 1869. Middle Island 1870. Do. 41 15 19,600 0 0 2,115 0 0 .869. Hawke's Bay .870. Do. ... 1,392 1,863,423 0 0 56 21,715 0 0 126 20 358,272 0 0 * 150,861 0 0 Total. Auckland ... Hawke's Bay Wellington ... Middle Island 1,392 146 250 56 1,863,423 0 0 509,133 0 0 161,158 0 0 21,715 0 0 146 509,133 0 0 .869. Wellington ... .870. Do. 195 55 104,603 o o 56,555 0 0 Grand Total 1,844 2,555,429 0 0 250 161,158 0 0 * Natii •e Lands Courts claims, 85,538 acres ; Confiscated Land, 66,3.' !3 acres. Inspector of Survey': Auckland, 9tl 3 Office, E. , i June, 1870. r. Alee: Chief! r, 'raucrhtsman.