C—l,

Rebates of Rent. During the year 642 tenants, holding under the lease-in-perpetaity and occupation-with-right-of-purchase conditions of the Land Act. were granted 10 per cent, rebate on their annual instalments, amoun ting to £777 7s. sd. ; and seventeen land-for-settlements tenants received the sum of £130 12s. 9d. There being only 1,080 tenants who could avail themselves of the concession, those who did so represent a very fair proportion of the total, and I feel confident that many others failed simply through their inability to pay on the due dates. Arrears of Rent. Excluding the current instalment, the number of tenants in arrear was eighty-seven as compared with 181 last year, a very satisfactory decrease, the amount owing being £1,273, or £618 less than the preceding year. Taking the current instalment into consideration, there are 117 less than last y r ear, and the amount owing is £1,370 lower. lam still not satisfied, however, with the position of these arrears, especially in one or two cases which require stringent measuies to be taken, and look to effecting a further material reduction during the year. Forfeitures and Surrenders. There were twenty-eight holdings resumed, ten of which were forfeited for breaches of the Land Act, the remainder being principally given up for want of sufficient capital, or on account of the difficulty of access. Capital and access are, of course, the greatest necessities for successful settlement. Many persons will take up sections without looking at them first, and, upon being asked the reason, state that they would sooner risk a selection being suitable after taking it up than take the chance of obtaining one in a ballot. I always urge upon applicants that they should see the land before selecting it. Reserves, Forests, etc. Out of the total area, 3.351 acres, reserved during the year, 3,315 were for preservation of forest and scenery, the remainder being for public schools, municipal purposes, and primary education. In blocks of land disposed of under the " provisional survey " system, large areas have yet to be gazetted for primary education, forest and scenery, &c. Disposal of the Remaining Crown Lands. During the early part of the coming year, a block of 11,800 acres in the Ohura and Heao Survey Districts, and later on a block of about 10,300 acres in the Mahoe Survey District, will be opened for application on the optional conditions. These comprise all the land that is at present under survey tor settlement purposes, and it is anticipated that most of it will be applied for, there being a good deal of inquiry for land. Other blocks will be in course of preparation for settlement during the y r ear, but I am not sure that they can be offered in time for inclusion in the transactions for the year ending the 31st March, 1907. In my report of last year I furnished detailed areas of Crown lands available for future disposal, and therefore I need not repeat them. By the passing of " The Taranaki Scholarships Act, 1905," an area of 7,922 acres of the University Reserve in the Carlyle and Opaku Survey Districts, producing a revenue of £580 per annum, became vested in the Public Trustee, and the management of those lands was handed over to that officer last December with all rents due paid up. Office-work. The amount of clerical business dealt with shows an increase, on that of the last two years, being made up as follows : —Correspondence inwards and outwards, circulars, applications, parcels, &c, 19,085 ; cheques drawn for wages, &c, 629 ; vouchers dealt with, 771 ; transfers recorded, 131 ; receipts for rent, refunds, &c., 4,768 ; provisional titles issued, 144 ; cards furnished to Auditor, 163 : total, 25,691. In addition to the ordinary work arising out of the transactions for the year, there has been the preparation of titles consequent upon the completion of the surveys of lands disposed of within the last two years under the " provisional area " system, together with the necessary corrections to the books of reference caused by amendment of areas. Frans. Simpson, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

WELLINGTON. A comparison of the following summary of the year's transactions with that of the previous year shows an increase of 20,060 acres in the area selected during the past year under all systems, the number of selectors being, however, thirteen less.

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