G.—sd

1875. NEW ZEALAND.

NATIVE RESERVES, NELSON AND GREYMOUTH. (REPORTS FROM MR. A. MACKAY, WITH STATEMENTS OF RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURE.)

Presented to loth Souses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Mr. A. Mackat to the Under-Secretary, Native Department, Wellington. Sie, — Native Reserves Office, Nelson, 26th July, 1875. I have the honor to forward herewith the annual returns of the receipts and expenditure of the Nelson and Greymouth Native Reserve Funds, for the financial year ended 30th June, 1875 ; also detailed return for the purposes of audit. The total sum received on account of the Nelson fund during th6 past year, added to the balance on hand on the Ist July, 1874, amounts to £2,620 17s. Id.; and the expenditure for the same period was £2,446 os. 4d., leaving a balance of £174 16s. 9d. to the credit of the fund. Of the sum expended, £1,610 16s. Id. has been spent for the behalf of the Natives, £335 4s. 3d. for various purposes in connection with the administration of the estate, and £500 for salaries. Out of the sum expended on account of the Natives, a school has been built at Wakapuaka for the Native children at a cost of £163, and a master employed at a salary of £100 per annum; a further sum of £16 4s. 3d. was expended for furniture and other requisites for the master's house, and £3 6s. 6d. has been spent on providing the school with books and slates. The school was opened on the 2nd September, with 14 children. Since then two have left for the Motueka school, one has returned home, and one is absent at present through illness. This has reduced the number in regular attendance to 10, and the maximum number at any time will probably not exceed 15. No aid has been received from the Government; it is submitted, however, that as the conditions of clause 14 of " The Native Schools Act, 1867," have been complied with, a proportion of the master's salary should be defrayed out of the vote for Native schools. The Wairau Native school has cost the fund during the past year £236 15s. 9d. for additions and improvements. The formation of the road through the Native land at Wakapuaka, sanctioned in October 1872, has been completed during the current year, at a total cost to the fund of £477 19s. Id. The formation of a special settlement at the Karamea will probably lead to the occupation of the reserves in that locality ; at present, however, there is no demand for the reserves situated on the west coast of the Nelson Province, owing to the absence of population in the districts in which these lands are situated. The income collected on account of the Greymouth fund during the period comprised in this report amounts to £3,294 15s. 5d.; this added to £3,410 9s. sd. balance to the credit of the fund from last year, and £235 realized from land sold at Totara Flat, amounts to £6,940 4s. lOd. Of the sum of £1,200 advanced to the County Government of Westland in 1870 to cover the cost of surveying the Native reserves on the West Coast, £1,138 16s. has now been recovered from the sale of the 2,000-acre block, formerly set apart to be sold for the purpose of defraying the cost of these surveys. This leaves a balance of £61 4s. yet to be met, and 1,395 acres of the land unsold. The whole of this will yet be needed for sale, to cover the cost incurred for subdividing the reserves into allotments for occupation, the total expense of which amounts to £1,254 Is. 6d. The expenditure during the past year amounts to £4,277 Bs. 10d., leaving a balance of £2,662 16s. to the credit of the fund. Out of the expenditure, £2,845 ss. Id. has been spent for the benefit of the Natives; £1,075 18s. 9d., inclusive of the sum of £707 paid to the Borough Council in aid of rates, for purposes in connection with the estate; and £356 ss. for salaries. During the year the school premises at Arahura have been enlarged at a cost of £82 10s., and a master has been appointed at a salary of £150 per annum, £75 of which is paid by the Government.