C—l

Crown Grants and other Deeds. The following is a return of Crown grants, warrants, certificates of title, leases, &c., received and issued from the 1st April, 1896, to the 31st March, 1897.

Accounts. Mr. H. J. Knowles, the Chief Accountant, reports : —■ The number of vouchers authorised for payment, credit, or refund during the year 1896-97 was— £ s. d. 5,234 charged to Lands and Survey vote, covering gross expenditure of ... 125,598 19 9 289 charged to Lands and Survey, Miscellaneous vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... ... ... 3,485 1 6 187 charged to State Forests vote, cohering gross expenditure of .... ... 2,472 710 1 charged to Cheviot Estate expenses vote, covering gross expenditure of ... 7 4 0 121 charged to Land for Settlements expenses vote, covering gross expenditure of *2,099 5 9 13 charged to Immigration vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... 701 6 3 102 charged to Main Eoads vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... 4,288 16 11 316 charged to Miscellaneous Eoads and Bridges vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 11,195 811 4 charged to Local Bodies vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... 152 2 3 750 charged to Development of Thermal Springs, &c, vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... ... ... 16,026 3 3 4,263 charged to Lands Improvement Account, covering gross expenditure of ... 108,430 0 0 1,244 charged to Native Land Purchase Account, covering gross expenditure of 38,949 19 9 1,006 charged to Government Loans to Local Bodies Account, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... ... ... 27,64114 0 35 charged to Cheviot Estate Account, covering gross expenditure of ... 12,336 12 11 769 charged to Land for Settlements Account, covering gross expenditure of *311,472 13 9 2 charged to Unauthorised Account, covering gross expenditure of ... 216 13 4 49 charged to Civil Service Act and general, covering gross expenditure of ... 4,680 2 5 1,210 charged to Eeceivers'Deposit Accounts, covering gross refund of ... 37,601 8 4 82 charged to Eefunds of revenue, covering gross refund of ... ... 4,171 8 2 12 charged to Eefunds of contractors' deposits, covering gross refund of ... 133 0 0 15,689 * Includes Land for Settlements Department charges. £711,660 9 1 Details of the net expenditure will be found in the various tables on other pages. In addition, 221 credit vouchers for work done by the department, 505 applications for imprest advances, and about 1,200 letters, memoranda, returns, &c, have been dealt with or prepared. Two hundred and forty-eight agreements (prepared in triplicate) have been issued, representing grants to local bodies of £60,562 13s. lid.; and the payments under grants amounted to £32,741 16s. 4d., including payments under grants of previous years. A seventy-page statement of the expenditure, liabilities, &c, in respect of the 932 separate appropriations, and a full statement from the commencement of the position of the Government Loans to Local Bodies Account, has been issued within the department during seven months out of the twelve, but in consequence of its large increase in volume (from twenty-four pages in 1892-93 to seventy in 1896-97) time would not permit of it being issued monthly. The authority and expenditure registers have been balanced as between themselves, and the latter have also been balanced with the Treasury. A complete set of the rules and regulations relating to accounts has been compiled in pamphlet form, and distributed among the officers of the department. A large amount of work has been performed during the year in preparing returns for departmental information, compilation of reports, statements, and tables for the last annual report,

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Provincial District. μ-i 0 *■ O) - S S So Area in Grants. "8 :» r; as a J Area in Warrant. Total Area in Grants and Warrants. I ii . r f a ,. o § g i ° d included m -» foregoing «.= c -g g granted to B33 t S g^ Natives. t3 »3 2 <z Area in Leases. a> °o a b o g o<5 <x> 6 1 . 'Qia O5 Auckland Hawke's Bay Taranaki Wellington Nelson Maryborough Canterbury Westland Otago ... Southland 6 1 1 4 Acres. ! 279i 16,761! 53 234i 37 10 14 31 14 2 15 1 12 3 Acres. 1153,717 29,068 30,376 78,997 89,495 7,630 I 62,347 1,567 14,543 837 Acres. , 153,996 i 45,829 ! 30,429 S 79,231 i 89,495 7,630 62,349 1,567 14,983 I 859 Acres. 134,499 18,916 1,293 47 162 136 153 392 237 15 86 20 106 60 8 3 14 16 48 3 3 83 9 1 Acres. 645 67 26 492 28,450 840 193 5,865 38,673 5,360 4 5 2 4 1 1 2 2 4 1 440i 22 1 Total 18 17,791 139 468,577 486,368 ! 154,755 1,367 188 80,611 14 5 I