C—No. 2.

4

REPORT OF THE

2. One Chief Inspector of Surveys, whose work would be an active inspection of the various district surveys. 3. A Director of Trigonometrical Surveys and Astronomical Observer for the Colony, who should be the head of a distinct branch of the service, subordinate to the Surveyor-General. 4. For every Land Registration or other conveniently arranged District, a District Surveyor in local charge of the surveys, working upon an uniform plan directed by the Surveyor-General and supervised by the Chief Inspector of Surveys. 5. A Chief scientific Draftsman, to be responsible for the preparation of all the public survey maps of the Colony; to be in charge of the central Survey Office. 6. In each district a staff of Field Surveyors, with proper Assistants and competent Draftsmen. This staff need not, as a rule, be more numerous or more expensive than the existing Provincial establishments, most of the officers of which would be available for service under the reformed system. 7. Seeing that it is not in any degree good policy to lessen the number of land-selling centres —all the existing Provincial Offices would be required for the use of the new staff. 8. The full expenditure by the General Government need not commence for a period of say six to nine months from the creation of a central staff. 9. Until the working of the whole of the districts was taken over, it would only be necessary to provide for the expenses of a general office. Say— £ s. d. Surveyor-General .. .. .. .. 800 0 0 Chief Inspector of Surveys .. .. .. 650 0 0 Director of Trigonometrical Surveys and Astronomical Observer .. .. .. .. .. 650 0 0 Chief Draftsman .. . . . . .. 450 0 0 Photo-lithographer .. .. .. .. 300 0 0 Office Expenses and Furniture .. . . .. ~) Travelling Expenses .. .. .. .. > 1,500 0 0 Clerical Aid and Contingencies .. . . .. J £4,350 0 0 The ratio of expenditure during the first year would be very much heavier in proportion to field work than in any succeeding year. There is every solid assurance that, under such a perfect discipline as might and doubtless would be exerted by a general establishment, the Colony would derive several great benefits : — Ist, Perfectly accurate work ; 2nd, Very considerably more of it for the money than is accomplished under existing systems ; 3rd, Survey (except in the case of small isolated selections) would almost immediately follow purchase, and so the delay in the issue of Crown Grants, which has been such a notorious evil for many years past, would be obviated. There would be no longer any competition by the various Provincial offices for the services of the best men. All public surveyors would be amenable to one discipline. The appointment of surveyors would cease to be vulgarly referred to political favour, or be the cause of political squabbles and scandal. But every officer would be the scientific servant of the general public, under the direction of a purely scientific and entirely non-political head, responsible himself to the popular Executive. The change advocated in no degree necessitates any serious modification in any of the curiously various plans of Provincial administration of the waste lands of the Crown. As I ventured to suggest in a former paragraph, it appears to me that the general policy of the Colony is to localize the administration of the Crown lands; although it would appear to a disinterested observer, that, while locally administered, the Colony would not lose anything by adopting in all its parts something like uniformity of Land Regulations. This idea has been published long ago with great force by some of the soundest public men in the Colony, and must soon be shared and acted upon by the General Legislature. The Colony is rapidly learning the mutual dependency of all its parts. While carefully avoiding any, even the least participation in active political disputation, I conceive it to be the duty of a Permanent Secretary to exercise an intelligent regard of the obvious and published policy of the Colony. And with a view to advising the political head of my Department on subjects specially connected with my own office, I must not lose sight of its relation to the several other departments of the Commonwealth, nor misapprehend the scope of the popular policy of the country. As I understand the present distinctly accepted policy of the Colony, I take it to be of very material consequence that increased facilities should be given for the reduction of the Native lands to English Crown grant tenure. And believing that immeasurably great indirect advantages would follow, the Administration would appear to be justified in making even considerable immediate sacrifices. When very great prospective profit may be rationally looked for as the natural consequence of an insignificant present loss of revenue, it would be exceedingly improvident to hesitate about incurring the expense. Although the Native landholders have availed themselves of the Native Land Coiirt to a considerable extent, still, the usefulness of that institution as at present administered is very much impaired