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6. Rehabilitation of Ex-servicemen. —Since the inception of the Rehabilitation Scheme the Corporation has been responsible for the administration of loan finance provided for ex-servicemen eligible for such assistance, and in this work the Corporation acts as agent for the Rehabilitation Board. The Rehabilitation Board as recently reconstituted was given a comprehensive authority by the Government to administer the scheme within the general limits of the Act, and the Board, in its turn, has appointed Committees to perform specified duties allotted to them. The Corporation is represented on the following Committees: — (a) Farms Advisory Committee : (b) Lands Settlement Committee : (c) Rehabilitation Loans Committee. Although we are indirectly interested in the work of the (a) and (b) Committees, the Corporation will be mainly concerned with (c) — i.e., the Rehabilitation Loans Committee. On this Committee members of the Corporation's Mortgage Loans Committee have associated with them two members of the Rehabilitation Board. With a view to assisting with the provision of funds for the making of advances under the Rehabilitation Scheme for the erection of houses or for the purchase of houses or farms, the Board of Management of the Corporation lias during recent years restricted its new loan business to the purchase or improvement of urban or rural properties and the erection of new houses, and by this means has accumulated funds aggregating approximately £5,500,000. The policy of conserving surplus funds for rehabilitation purposes will be continued, but if the future demand is proportionately as great as •that experienced to date it will apparently be necessary at some not far distant date to provide further long-term loan capital. 7. The total number and amount of rehabilitation loans granted, as agent for the Rehabilitation Board, up to 31st March, 1944, is as follows: — For Year 1943-44. Total to Date. Number. Amount. Number. Amount. £ £ Farm .. •• 202 633,514 255 761,574 House .. .. •• 676 708,035 868 893,935 Business .. .. 306 117,511 348 131,121 Furniture .. • • 1,446 133,054 2,023 181,848 Tools of trade .. .. 115 3,355 151 4,179 Miscellaneous .... 2 83 2 83 Total .. .. 2,747 1,595,552 3,647 1,972,740 8. Preservation and Protection of Timber. —The administration ol the Termites Act, 1940, and its regulations is the responsibility of the State Advances Corporation, and its technical staff has continued to give advice and assistance to those engaged on the practical work of tracing and destroying the termites. Although some local authorities which are engaged on this work are, owing to man-power difficulties, unable to continue their inspectional work to the fullest extent desired, it can be said that, having in mind the unusual conditions experienced, the requirements of the legislation are being met satisfactorily. To date, 11,356 investigations have been carried out by local authorities in those districts known to be infested by termites, and the following table shows the number of cases where active colonies of termites have been discovered: — Auckland City Council .. .. ■ • • • • • 219 Onehunga Borough Council .. .. . • • ■ • • 106 Mount Roskill Road Board .. .. • ■ ■ • 21 Mount Eden Borough Council . . . . . ■ • • • • 4 Mount Albert Borough Council .. .. .. • • ■ • 4 One Tree Hill Borough Council .. .. • • • • • ■ 2 New Plymouth Borough Council .. .. .. • • 17 Waikohu County Council .. .. . • • • • • 1? Total 390 , The treatment of infested properties is still proceeding satisfactorily, and it is encouraging to record that the latest infestation namely, that in the Poverty Bay District—appears to be a purely local occurrence, and the measures taken in this district have been particularly effective. 9. Balance-sheet and Revenue Accounts.—The Balance-sheet discloses no substantial change in the Corporation's liabilities, but, as indicated in a previous paragraph, the Board, as a result of its policy of restricting its new business programme, has continued to accumulate funds for rehabilitation

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