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1874. NEW ZEALAND.

REPORT OF THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL OF LAND FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE, 1874.

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by command of Sis ZExcellency.

The Registeab-G-eneeal of Laxd to the Hon. the Ministee op Justice. Sib, — Office, Registrar-General of Land, Christchurch, 13th July, 1874. I have the honor to lay before you the result of the working of the Land Transfer Act for the year ended the 30th June, 1874. The revenue for the year, exclusive of Assurance Fund, has been rather over £9,500; the expenditure about £8,100; so that the department is more than self-supporting. The total revenue for the past year is 33 per cent, in excess of the revenue for the year preceding, while the expenditure has been slightly diminished. I estimate the receipts for the year ending the 30th June, 1875, at £10,500; the expenditure at £8,825. The rapid extension of business will explain and justify the increase of expenditure. I would again respectfully call your attention to the unsatisfactory state of the surveys in many parts of the colony. The first practical step in dealing with this matter would appear to me to be the appointment of one or more highly-qualified and independent professional men to inspect and report on the condition of existing surveys, and the mode in which surveys are conducted throughout the colony. The Government would thus be placed in full possession of the facts, and have detailed information to guide their future action. The want of some responsible officer, to whom questions of survey can be referred, is much felt by the Land Transfer Department. I have occasionally questions of the kind referred to me, which I am obliged to determine with such aid as I may be able to procure. I have also to decide upon the qualifications of persons who apply to be licensed as surveyors under the Land Transfer Act. These are responsibilities which, in the Australian Colonies, devolve upon the Surveyor-G-eneral of the Colony, and which certainly should not be imposed on any non-professional man. The question of the appointment of some such officer, who would also inspect the local Survey Offices, graduallv organize some uniformity of system, and perhaps ultimately carry out the major triangulation of the colony, seems worthy of serious consideration. I append returns —(A) of the business transacted under the Act during the past year ; (B) of the fees received during the same period ; and (C) of the amounts secured by mortgage under the Land Transfer Act during the past year, and remaining secured on the 30th June last. Deeds Registry. The estimated revenue for this department for the past year was £13,500. The actual receipts were £15,103, against an expenditure of about £8,700. I estimate the revenue for the ensuing year at £14,000; the expenditure at £8,490. I have, &c, Joshua Strange "Williams, The Hon. the Minister of Justice, "Wellington. Registrar-General of Land.