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and Survey Department £292,386. During the first three quarters of the year the expenditure was about £13,000 per quarter greater than in the previous year, but in the last quarter it was £9,400 less. It is in the Wellington District where the principal decrease in expenditure occurred in the last quarter of the year, and the chief cause of this was the continuous wet weather throughout the spring and well into the summer, so much so that it was not until after the New Year that the roads were in a fit state for traffic and for metalling-work to be done. There was also some scarcity of labour and teams, and higher rates had to be given for most kinds of contract work, local authorities in the same period being in active competition with the departmental officers for the same kind of labour. The Appropriation Act was passed on the 20th October, and the appropriations were printed on the 15th November. It might therefore be said that up to the end of December most of the expenditure was from the appropriations of the previous year, and the liability then incurred had been reduced to £80,129. Fresh liabilities had, however, been incurred in anticipation of votes during those nine months to the extent of £286,498. The requisitions for authorities were prepared, authorised without much delay, and by the beginning of February authorities for nearly all the appropriations were issued. After the date of receiving these authorities, in many cases engineering surveys and plans had to be made, and contracts prepared by the local bodies and the departmental officers to whom they were issued. In the Auckland District, where the expenditure for the year was greatest, amounting in the aggregate to £92,063, or nearly 30 per cent, of the whole, the rate per quarter for the first three quarters of the year was about £23,000, ranging from £23,400 in the first quarter to £21,500 in the second and third, and £25,500 in the fourth. The average for the year is about £4,000 per quarter greater than the previous year. The expenditure on new roads and tracks in each land district is as follows : Auckland, £37,026 ; Hawke's Bay, £13,137; Taranaki, £30,099 ; Wellington, £51,056 ; Nelson, £3,248 ; Marlborough, £6,839; Westland, £5,461; Canterbury, £2,201; Otago, £13,141; Southland, £14,715. The principal works are : — In Auckland in the far north there were over two hundred different roads made and improved, including eleven bridges and the maintenance of most of the main roads. In the southern portion of the district about the same number of roads were similarly dealt with, as well as eleven bridges and five wharves. The largest bridge now in course of erection is that over the Waikato Eiver at Tuakau, which is 704 ft. long in eight spans. Labour has been rather scarce during the year. In Hawke's Bay forty-five separate roads were constructed, or are in course of construction and maintenance, including five large bridges and thirty-four smaller ones. In Taranaki about forty-seven roads were dealt with, and twelve large bridges have been built or are in progress. The road-works were much hindered by the wet season and the scarcity of labour. In Wellington about 350 roads were constructed, improved, or maintained, including thirtyseven bridges, the total length of roads attended to being 1,644 miles. In Nelson there were ninety-one roads constructed and maintained, including eight bridges built or extensively repaired. In Marlborough there were 129 votes, mostly of small sums, which have been or are now being expended in the construction and improvement and maintenance of roads extending from the Sounds to the Conway, and include the construction of three bridges. In Westland there were fifty-seven roads attended to, including the maintenance of the main road to Christchurch. In Canterbury the work done is small, and was distributed over forty-five roads. In Otago formation was done on forty-six roads, with a length of 28J miles, not including seven miles and three-quarters of track-formation ; roads were widened and improved for miles, not including two miles and a half track-repairs ; and 17-f miles of roads were metalled or gravelled. Twelve bridges were built or largely renewed, some of them being of large size. In Southland there were 58-f miles of road-formation on seventy-five different roads, not including seven miles and seven-eighths of track-formation ; 10£ miles of roads were improved and repaired ; 46-J- miles of road were metalled or gravelled. Nine bridges of various sizes were built or renewed. Details are given in the district reports and in Table 45. The Wanganui Eivbb. The operations of the Wanganui Eiver Trust this year have been about equally divided between the Tangarakau and the Wanganui. On the Tangarakau Eiver the sunken timber has been removed, and navigation to Putikituna, a place where a road connects with the inland settlement of Wangamomona, is now possible so far that a light-draught steamer now reaches the landingplace twelve miles from the confluence with the Wanganui, and within six miles of the main settlement. Two lines of steamers now run to Pipiriki, and the competition is beneficial to the settlers on the country inland from that place.

HEAD OFFICE. Mb. P. W. Flanagan, Chief Draughtsman, reports :— As in previous years, the principal object has been to apply the best draughtsmen to the work of map-drawing, but owing to the continued increase and extremely varied nature of the work, outside the regular duties of the department, only moderate progress has been made. The preparation and lithographing of special plans, diagrams, and technical maps for other departments has occu-