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Kirns Nos. 204 and 204 a ; 2,000 acres in Block VIII., Tautuku District; 8,500 acres in Blocks V., VI., and VII., Catlin's District; 3,300 acres in Blocks 11. and VIII., Woodland District. The whole of these lands are fairly good, the Tautuku, Catlin's, and Woodland Blocks being bush lands. (2.) Under the village-homestead allotment system of Part IV. of the Act, 100 acres in Block XI,, Maniototo District; 26 acres in Block X., Glenkenich District; and 200 acres on Bun 140 a, Glenkenich. (3.) Under the small grazing-run system of Part V. of the Act, 13,200 acres in Bock and Pillar and Upper Taieri Districts, being subdivisions of Buns 204, 204 a, and 205; 20,000 acres in Blackstone and Gimmerburn Districts, being Bun Subdivisions 224, 224 a, 224b, 224 d, and 225b ; Sections 25, Block 111., and 21, Block VII., Maniototo District, and 13, Block X., Naseby District; all fairly good pastoral and agricultural land. (4.) For pastoral license under Part VI. of the Act, 15,520 acres, being subdivisions of Buns 204, 204 a, and 205, before referred to ; Bun 134 a, containing 22,580 acres. Of runs the licenses of which expire on the 28th February, 1897, there will probably be from 40,000 to 50,000 acres reoffered for pastoral license before the end of the current financial year. There will also be a considerable area of forfeited and surrendered lands under each heading reoffered, the particulars of which cannot now be given, nor would it be necessary or advisable to do so in this report were the details available. Administration and Clerical Work. —lt may seem somewhat paradoxical that, with a smaller amount of land disposed of than formerly, and a more than proportionately smaller revenue, the work of administration, and the clerical work in connection therewith, should have very largely increased; nevertheless, such is the case, and not only so, but the work is of a more irksome and complicated character, owing to the many systems of tenure, and the large number of holdings that are still current under former systems, Acts, and regulations, each system having to be worked, accounted for, and returned on its own particular lines. It would be of immense advantage in the administration if the old systems could be made to merge into the new, a suggestion which I have already made in the case of village homestead special settlements. Of course, in a few years the deferred-payment systems will run out by effluxion of time, but the perpetual-lease systems, both ordinary and village-settlement, are continuous, having the right of renewal at the end of existing terms. The following summary may afford some approximate idea of the extent of the clerical work of this branch of the department, although it does not necessarily embrace everything: A large amount of time is taken up with giving information to the public as to the various systems, regulations, and Orders in Council affecting land-tenures, and the procedure required thereunder for applications, transfers, &c.; meetings of Land Board, 54 ; entries in minutes of Board, including 223 applications dealt with, 1,357; defaulters dealt with, 400; surrenders and forfeitures, 84; exchanges from other tenures to lease in perpetuity, 52; holdings made freehold, 52 ; transfers, 96 ; applications received, 1,011 ; correspondence, letters, and telegrams received, 3,920 ; letters and telegrams despatched, 4,294 ; notices of various kinds sent out, 3,605 ; sale-plans distributed, 7,500; returns of various kinds made out, 350 ; schedules sent to local bodies in connection with thirds and fourths, 100; titles scheduled, 129; leases and licenses completed and sent out—in triplicate, 292, equal to 876 sheets; in duplicate, 103, equal to 206 sheets : total, 395, equal to 1,082 sheets; audit cards made out and. forwarded to Auditor of Land Bevenue, 500 ; sheets of schedules of land for notification, 66; notices of applications for advances under the Government Advances to Settlers' Act, 128 received, 100 reported ; weekly copies of cash-books, &c. It may be mentioned that exchanges and transfers demand a considerable amount of time and attention in the various entries necessary, in ledgers and other records, and in the preparation of new leases. I may add that the officers of this branch of the service, one and all, have devoted themselves throughout the year with commendable diligence and painstaking exactness to the several duties devolving upon them. J. P. Maitland, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

SOUTHLAND. Although the demand for land has been less than for several years past, yet there has been a net increase of 137 tenants, the total number, including selectors of improved farms, now on the books being 1,636 under all systems. This falling-off in the demand is no doubt largely due to the low prices of the staple productions of the district, and this again has resulted not only in less new business being done, but of inducing a considerable number of selectors to attempt in various ways to evade or repudiate their contracts as Crown tenants. Persons thus seeking to evade their responsibilities invariably allege reasons such as rent being too high, prices too low, bad roads, remote markets, in fact, anything but their own management, or want of management, but I have no hesitation in affirming that, since the Eevaluation Act became law, there are very few rents indeed which are too high, if settlers will only pursue their occupations in a business-like manner, and display more judgment and resource in their operations. Such cases as I refer to would not be remedied by any adjustment or readjustment of rent which could possibly be made, because the average rent paid by each tenant is only £12 10s., or scarcely as much as the rent of a workman's cottage in any of the towns; therefore, assuming that he obtained a reduction of 50 per cent., the few pounds he would save would not make all the difference between success and failure. These failures and partial failures are greatly due to a craving to occupy larger areas than the occupant's means would warrant, and, if this conclusion is correct, it follows that the undertaking would not succeed even if they paid no rent at all. In such cases what usually happens is this: the selector pleads inability to pay rent and live on his farm, and applies to be put on Government works, and from the sett'ement point of view this only intensifies the evil, because his place is neglected, and, even if it is not forfeited for breach of conditions, there is no chance of his becoming a producer. Having said this much in criticism, I may fairly be asked to suggest a remedy. It is not easy to do this in a few words, but I would say to the settler, "Take up only so much land as