C—No. 4a,

6

REPORTS ON THE

It will be impossible for him to carry out my instructions relative to such surveys as might be undertaken at once for some time. The settlement of the following more important matters will therefore be still further delayed : — 1. General triangulation of the district. 2. Railway Reserve sections. Authorized to be let when surveyed under present Regulations. Tenders accepted in 1868 ignored, except so far as protecting improvements by valuation being added to rent. 3. University Reserve. 10,000 acres laid off on map between the Whenuakura and Patea Rivers, two miles north of the Railway Reserve, being a rectangular block of which the boundary line between the Provinces of Wellington and Taranaki forms one side. 4. New Zealand Cross Endowment Reserve. The Hon. Mr. McLean verbally instructed mo to have 2,500 acres laid off for this purpose, leaving me to fix the site, and stated in the House that the reserve had been made. 5. Land for Hawke's Bay Defence Force. The Government instructed me to have 5,000 acres of land reserved for men of the Hawke's Bay Defence Force who could not select their land in Hawke's Bay. I recommended that the land should be taken on the Taranaki side of the Waingongoro River, which was, I believe, approved. (Since decided against, and selection on Whenuakura Block proposed.) 6. Oika Ferry Reserve. Mr. Carrington instructed to survey. 7. Sites for church purposes at Carlyle. Described on plan of Carlyle by the Secretary for Crown Lands and myself. Six sections, of one-quarter acre each. 8. Site on Railway Reserve for Town Hall at Wairoa. To be let to trustees, at a nominal rent, for ten years, and granted under amended Regulations. Matters Involving Surveys that have heen Settled. 1. The 10-acre sections at Hawera and Manutahi. Railway line surveyed through these sections by Messrs. Wray and Williams, by contract. New Regulations framed, which, if passed, will enable settlers to buy these lots within one year at £2 per acre. Middlemas and Winchcombe informed accordingly. 2. Ferry Reserve at Carlyle. Surveyed by Messrs. Wray and Williams, and gazetted. 3. Bush Reserve for use of Settlers, in 10-acre sections, at Hawera. Laid off on plan, and gazetted. It is at the end of the Railway Reserve, and forms part of it. Miscellaneous. New Flax Regulations have been prepared. All applicants for flax leases have been told that they will have them so far as approved under amended Regulations (copy attached), and subject to Native claims. Numerous applications for land have been received, applicants generally wanting to lease with a purchasing clause. I have referred them to the Regulations, and explained the difficulty there is in having the land surveyed and brought into the market, owing to the existence of Native claims. Mr. J. Hirst, of Carlyle, applied for a lease of part of the Government reserve on the bank of the river, for the purpose of erecting a wharf, &c. I recommended an alteration of the Regulations affecting reserves (clause 27) to meet what was required; but, after much consideration, the Government decided that no change should be made. lam still of opinion that the Government should have more discretionary power in such matters, as the present state of the law tends to prevent improvements being made which would add much to public convenience. Monopoly might be prevented by the Government having the right to purchase on valuation. I received a letter on the 10th instant, dated 10th October, in the form of a petition from Mr. Felix McGuiro and fifty-seven Roman Catholics and others, complaining that the site set apart for a Roman Catholic Church at Carlyle is at an inconvenient distance, and praying for a part of the educational reserve to be granted for church and school purposes. As the site objected to is only a quarter of a mile from the centre of Carlyle, and as no particular sect has any claim to an educational reserve, I was unable to recommend that the prayer of the petitioners should be granted. The Secretary for Crown Lands, through whose office everything is referred which I cannot dispose of alone, is now at Auckland, so that it will be some time before I can reply to what the Government will probably agree in considering a very unreasonable demand. Tenders for the Survey Office and Court House at Carlyle were referred to Mr. Woodward and myself to report upon. The lowest was £1,060, and as this was so much in excess of Mr. Clayton's rough estimate (£600), and of the amount the Government were prepared to spend in erecting the buildings, we referred the plan back to Mr. Clayton, who has not yet had time to attend to the matter. Probably the lowest tender is not greatly in excess of what the contract price ought to be, and if the Government do not intend to have much surveying done, it would be better to put up a cheaper building rather than to devote more money to this object. Crown grant forms will shortly be forwarded to Messrs. Wray and Williams, who have contracted to prepare them for the lands sold at Carlyle. ROEEBT PhAEAZTN, Commissioner of Confiscated Lands. Confiscated Lands Office, Wellington, 14th November, 1870.