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large extent applies to Wellington also; and more especially in view of the recent special augmentation of the Australian Squadron and permanent stationing of war-vessels in New Zealand waters. MISCELLANEOUS CHAEGES ON LOAN FUNDS. PURCHASE OF NATIVE LANDS. Inclusive of a credit of ,£5,000 from Part 11., the amount voted last year for the purchase of Native lands in the North Island generally, under Part I. of the Public Works Fund, was £10,252, the actual expenditure during that period being £9,011. The result of this expenditure has been to close up the purchase of between 8,000 and 9,000 acres, which are now available for settlement, and to advance towards completion the purchase of various other blocks of land covering an area of about 600,000 acres, special attention having been directed towards closing up negotiations for such lands as are more or less well adapted to the purposes of settlement. The Hon. the Native Minister has also recently completed the purchase of some further lands to the extent of 35,281 acres, at an expenditure of £13,600, in the following districts, namely: Coromandel and Thames, 4,144 acres; Waikato, 22,360 acres ; Waikanae, Wellington, 8,777 acres. That no purchases have been completed during the year under Part 11. within the area described in the Second Schedule to " The North Island Main Trunk Eailway Loan Application Act Amendment Act, 1889," is due to the backward and complicated state of the titles. The purchase of nine blocks, portions of the large Eohe Potae Block, containing in the aggregate about 200,000 acres, has, however, been commenced, and is now being proceeded with as circumstances permit. The total number of owners, many of whom are under disability as minors, in these nine blocks, is 2,129, of whom 148 have, so far, signed the deeds of sale to the Crown. For various reasons the majority of the owners are at present more or less averse to land sales. At the southern end of the railway area the principal block, Awarua, has not been sufficiently advanced in the Native Land Court to admit of negotiations being commenced; but within the past few months the purchase of the adjoining blocks, Te Kapua and Pohonuiatane, have been vigorously pushed on with, and these lands, containing about 55,000 acres, will be available for settlement within a very short period. The expenditure under Part 11. during the year was £13,913, which includes £5,000 transferred to Part 1., as explained above, and survey costs amounting to £3,800. It is the intention of the Government to ask for a further allocation of £14,000 for general land purchases outside the North Island Main Trunk Eailway area, to enable the acquisition of valuable lands for settlement purposes in different parts of the North Island to be undertaken. Immigration. The acceptance of nominations for passages was discontinued on the 16th December, 1890, and notice to that effect w^s published in the Gazette of the 18th of the same month. The number of immigrants introduced under the regulations, during the year 1890-91, was 147, the total cost of their passages being £1,943, of which amount £1,250 was paid by the nominators in the colony and £10 by the immigrants themselves, in London. Since the Ist April last fourteen persons have been provided with passages, and the number of nominations still on the books is forty. Waterworks on Goldfields. The expenditure under this heading out of loan last year was £821 only. We propose to ask for a vote for this year of £6,000, to be applied towards the construction of water-races and reservoirs, and also for granting assistance to private enterprise in constructing works of a similar character.