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1899 NEW ZEALAND.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Seceetaey for Cbown Lands and Subveyob-Geneeab to the Hon. the Minister of Lands. Sic, — Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, 21st June, 1899. I have the honour to submit herewith the annual reports on the operations of the Department of Lands and Survey for the twelve months ending the 31st March, 1899. I have, &c., S. Pebcy Smith, Secretary for Crown Lands and Survey or-General. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Acting Minister of Lands.

LANDS. Dueing the year an alteration has been made in the boundaries of three of the land districts, by which about 1,300,000 acres of the southern part of Nelson has been transferred to Canterbury, and about 478,000 acres in the south-west corner of Canterbury has been added to Otago. These alterations were deemed advisable in the interests of administration, and for convenience of the settlers residing in those parts. The alteration took place on the 18th January, but for purposes of record the transactions within those areas have been included within the old districts up to the 31st March. The registration districts are also to be altered to accord with the new boundaries of the land districts. The following table summarises the total transactions in ordinary Crown lands, Cheviot Estate, estates acquired under the Land for Settlements Acts, &c, but excludes the endowments administered by this department. The items are divided into the numerous classes there shown, to accord with special clauses of the Acts or regulations under which they are dealt with, but in many cases the differences in tenure are but slight, and the whole can be shown under a few headings, as is done in Table B. Table A shows the gross transactions; the deductions due to forfeitures, surrenders, &c, being shown later on, i—C. 1.

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND SURVEY (ANNUAL REPORT ON).