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RETIREMENTS The retirement of Mr. R. Gr. Macmorran (Under-Secretary for Lands) became •effective as from 21st July, 1946. Mr. Macmorran joined the Lands and Survey Department as a survey cadet on the 28th March, 1904. In 1908 he passed the Surveyors' Board examination with credit, and in the same year was appointed as an Assistant Surveyor and transferred to Auckland. In 1911 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Land Drainage Engineer, and was placed in charge of drainage work on the Hauraki Plains, where he remained until his enlistment in 1916 with the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. On returning from overseas in 1919 he resumed duties with the Land Drainage Branch, and had his headquarters in Auckland. In 1927 he was appointed Chief Drainage Engineer, and five years later assumed as well the position of Chief Surveyor for the combined North and South Auckland districts. There followed some particularly busy years, during which he took an active part in land-development work and small-farm-settlement activities. He was always a firm believer in the potentialities of the pumice lands of the North Island, and the steady progress Of land-settlement in that region owes a great deal to his practical methods and untiring energy. In 1938 he was appointed Assistant Under-Secretary for Lands, and in the following year succeeded the late Mr. W. Robertson as Permanent Head of the Department. As UnderSecretary and Land Purchase Controller he has been responsible for the purchase and •development of extensive areas dealt with by the Crown for the settlement of ex-service-men. Mr. T. Pound (Assistant Under-Secretary) also retired during the year. Joining the Department in 1902, Mr. Pound held the position of Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue in the district office, Invercargill, prior to his appointment as departmental Inspector in 1932. In 1937 he was appointed Second Assistant Under-Secretary, and his appointment as Assistant Under-Secretary followed in April, 1939. In addition to the above named, a number of other officers who have given excellent .service retired during the year. These included Mr. A. F. Waters, Commissioner of Crown Lands, New Plymouth (forty-three years' service); Mr. J. P. Lane, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Gisborne (forty-two years' service); Mr. R. C. Airey, Inspecting Draughtsman, Head Office (forty-seven years' service); Mr. H. C. Hulme, Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, New Plymouth (forty-nine years' service) ; Mr. J. A. Chesney, Chief Clerk and Receiver of Land Revenue, Hokitika (forty-one years' service) ; Miss F. E. Woodhouse, Staff Clerk, Head Office (forty-five years' service); and Miss W. L. J. Mellsop, Clerk, Auckland (forty-two years' service). STAFF It is to the credit of all members of the Staff that the large increase in the work of the Department has been so efficiently performed. In submitting this report I would like to express my appreciation for their loyalty and co-operation during the period under review.

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