C—l

15

Flax Industry. The year has boon a busy one for all engaged in the flax-milling industry. All the mills in the district have been working at their full capacity, and employ a large number of men who otherwise might have difficulty in obtaining work, especially in the winter months. Mining Industry. The mining industry has not made any headway during the year, with the exception of the Dominion Consolidated Claim, in the Wakamarina Valley. This company employs about 100 men, and the returns of gold and scheelite are excellent. Lease in Perpetuity made Freehold under the Provisions of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912. Seven lessees have converted their leases, embracing an area of 1,944 acres, into freehold during the year at a cost of £1,701. So far none of the lessees have availed themselves of the deferred-payment system. Rebates of Rent. For prompt payment of rent, rebates amounting to £2,185 were granted to 703 tenants, made up of £1,789 on land-for-settlements holdings and £396 to tenants on ordinaly Crown land and national-endowment lands. Noxious Weeds. The Crown Lands Ranger for South Marlborough lias called attention to the danger from which South Marlborough, particularly the Kaikoura County, is. threatened by noxious weeds, and suggests that strong measures should be at once taken to eradicate briars, blackberries, and foxgloves, which are now making their appearance for the first time in the river-beds and roadsides, and which could be dealt with at small cost if taken in hand at once. Land Board. The Land Board held twelve ordinary meetings and three special meetings during the year, one of the latter being held at Kaikoura in connection with the examination of applicants and the ballot of Lynton Downs Settlement. Three tours of inspection were also made to different parts of the district. Departmental. There has been a heavy all-round increase of work on last year's transactions, in a great measure due to the opening up of the Hillersden and Lynton Downs Settlements, but, thanks to the loyalty and energy displayed by the staff, this increase has been dealt with in a satisfactory manner. H. G. Price, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

WESTLAND. I am pleased to be able to report a very considerable step forward in the matter of landsettlement during the past year. The amendment of the Regulations for the Occupation of Pastoral Lands in Westland, which came into force in March, 1913, under which leases are granted for twenty-one years, with perpetual right of renewal and compensation for surface damage caused by mining, has enabled the Board to convert a large number of temporary titles held under section 130 of the Land Act into the more permanent tenure, and has thus given the tenants some heart to proceed with substantial improvements on their holdings. The policy of the Board in dealing with leases of this class, where a person has while holding a temporary title shown his bona fides as a settler, is when opportunity offers to give the temporary tenant preference for the land he occupies, and to try to arrange matters so that he will have a sufficient area to enable him to make a comfortable living. Each case is, however, dealt with wholly on its merits after careful inspection and inquiry. Fifty-two leases of this description, comprising an area of 5,422 acres, chiefly in the Rutherglen and Barrytown districts, have already been converted, and the surveys are now being proceeded with. In dealing with this phase of the land question, there is, however, still one factor in which the tenants are handicapped, inasmuch as they are unable to obtain advances from the State-guaranteed Advances Department on account of these leases not being an authorized security under the statute. In the interests of settlement in this district, I would strongly urge the removal of this disability. The extension of the provisions of the Land Act relating to bush and swamp lands so as to include licenses under these regulations would further popularize this tenure and offer an additional inducement to intending settlers. As the whole of Westland is within the mining district, the tenures available are considerably restricted, and the tendency should be to offer additional concessions rather than to deprive settlers of benefits allowed to those in other districts. The number of outside inquiries that are being received for land in this district indicate that in the near future there will be an influx of settlers from other parts of the Dominion. Subdivisional surveys of upwards of 15,000 acres of land to be offered for settlement have now been completed, and it is anticipated that the wdiole of this area will be placed on the market during the year. In the early spring it is my intention to put in hand the subdivisional survey of some 7,000 acres of land adjacent to Bruce Bay, and this will probably be available for selection about the end of the year. In order that this survey may be completed as early as possible, I propose to employ two surveyors on it, and for this purpose it will be necessary to obtain the services of at least one