C.—l.

Audit. Mr. W. G. Euncie, Auditor of Land Revenue, reports : The receipts for the year have been as follows: £ s. d. Territorial revenue ... ... ... ... ... 262,228 13 8 Lands for settlement ... ... ... ... ... 46,354 14 4 Cheviot Estate ... ... ... ... ... ... 14,822 15 5 State forests ... ... ... ... ... ... 8,845 18 10 North Island Main Trunk Railway ... ... ... 8,572 13 3 Thermal springs ... ... ... ... ... 1,075 12 11 Hanmer Sanatorium ... ... ... ... ... 875 18 5 - Lakes Ellesmere and Forsyth ... ... ... ... 1,693 18 5 Mount Cook Hermitage ... ... ... ... ... 534 6 4 Crown-grant fees ... ... ... ... ... 1,046 5 7 Survey vote ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,344 13 6 Native townships ... ... ... ... ... 238 1 9 Miscellaneous receipts ... ... ... ... ... 2,818 17 0 Government loans to local bodies ... ... ... ... 15,157 15 10 Endowments ... ... ... ... ... ... 16,333 3 6 £382,943 8 fl The decrease in cash land-sales and pastoral rents, and the gradual extinction of deferredpayment holdings, account for the falling-off in territorial revenue. In the Cheviot Estate the receipts diminish because payments due under the cash conditional purchase system are now completed. Rents are greater by £1,013 9s. 4d. The income under the Land for Settlements Act shows an increase of £7,550 4s. 2d. Upon the whole there is a decrease in the gross revenue of £2,201 12s. The following tables give comparative statements of the territorial and gross revenue for 1898-99 and 1899-1900.

Table No. 1.—Comparative Statement of Territorial Revenue.

iv—C. 1.

xxi

Year. Number of Vouchers. Gross Amount authorised for Payment, Credit, &c. Number of Appropriations. Number of Agreements with Local Bodies prepared. Amount granted to Local Bodies. Payments to Local Bodies under Agreements. - £ £ £ 1890-91 9,810 152,775 210 80 17,782 1891-92 (9 months) 8,355 177,903 219 87 23,391 13,448 1892-93 10,676 260,498 252 108 21,568 20,388 1893-94 13,071 353,772 440 181 42,847 22,704 1894-95 14,367 420,531 592 215 52,892 45,302 1895-96 15,422 578,778 682 203 33,761 42,813 1896-97 15,689 711,660 932 248 59,712 32,419 1897-98 17,719 587,422 1,112 228 53,950 55,586 1898-99 18,620 990,063 1,498 382 74,799 47,977 1899-00 16,172 821,931 1,858 469 77,316 51,014

Land District. 1898-99. 1899-1900. Increase. Decrease. i .' 1 ' ■ S £ s. a. £ s. a. £ s. a. £ s. a. Auckland 29,182 2 0 32,289 5 8 3,107 3 8 Taranaki 26,066 14 10 22,559 18 1 3,506 16 9 Hawke's Bay 17,765 18 2 23,154 16 6 5,388 18 4 Wellington ... 48,751 3 10 40,402 7 11 8,348 15 11 Marlborough 9,903 18 11 8,355 10 6 1,548 8 5 Nelson 15,553 16 2 8,864 9 4 6,689 6 10 Westland ... 1,313 4 10 1,259 1 0 54 3 10 Canterbury ... 54,518 13 4 54,255 19 11 262 13 5 Otago 56,525 6 3 55,187 10 2 1,337 16 1 Southland ... 14,218 9 0 15,899 14 7 1,681 5 7 273,799 7 4 262,228 13 8 10,177 7 7 21,748 1 3 262,228 13 8 10,177 7 7 Decrease 11.570 13 8 11,570 13 8