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XVII

Mahoenui,.Nydia Bay, Waitotara-Taumatatahi, Ashburton-Dorie, StillwaterJackson's, Mossburn-Te Anau, Seddon-Molesworth, Manawaru-Gordon, and Pakawau-Maungarakau. The sum asked for this year is £105,000. This includes £75,110 of liabilities, principally for material under order. LIGHTHOUSES, HAEBOUB-WORKS, AND HARBOUR-DEFENCWS. Considerable repairs to Ponui Passage lighthouse-tower have been carried out; and a new flagstaff has been erected at Cape Campbell. The cost of these works has been defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund. For the current year a vote of £2,100 is proposed under the Public Works Fund. This includes provision for a lighthouse on Tuahine Point, near Gisborne, for fog-signals which have been ordered for Godley Head and Cuvier Island, for connection of some of the lighthouses with the telegraph system, and for a new dwellinghouse at Nugget Point. The expenditure last year on harbour-works amounted to £2,963, the following being the principal works undertaken : Wharves—Deep Creek, Orua Bay, Graham's Beach, and Okuru; storage-shed, Waikokopu; protective works, Western Spit, Napier. These works were carried out by the local authorities, to whom grants were made for the purpose. Improvement-works were also carried out at Karamea and Okarito; and an extensive survey made at Point Elizabeth to determine the question of the practicability of constructing a harbour there. A somewhat similar survey was also made at Okarito. For the current year it is proposed to renew several of last year's votes which were unexpended, and to provide for the following in addition : Removal of rocks, Kaipara Harbour and Holyford River (Martin's Bay); wharves at Tangiteroria (Kaipara), Whangamata, Uretara (Bay of Plenty), Matata, Omokoroa, and Okarito; landing-slip, &c, Nugget Bay; deepening channels at Ngunguru and Awhitu ; Okuru and Freshwater River improvements and Waipu River protection. Provision is also made for the acquisition of the Tata Islands as a harbour of refuge, for completing the survey at Point Elizabeth, and for obtaining a suitable sand-pump dredge for use in the smaller harbours. Under the head of Harbour Defences the expenditure was small, having amounted to £1,541 only. A vote of £5,000 is proposed for the current year. GROSS TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS. In addition to the votes already mentioned, the estimates include the following charges : — £ Public Works, departmental ... ... ... ... ... 21,000 Immigration ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10,000 Purchase of Native lands ... ... ... ... ... ... 7,000 Rates on Native lands ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,000 Contingent defence ... ... ... ... ... ... 10,000 Lands-improvement ... ... ... ... ... ... 17,500 Thus bringing the total amount of the proposed appropriations up to £2,106,951, against £2,352,789 last year. I should perhaps mention, as regards the vote for contingent defence, that certain items which were previously charged against Capital Account have been removed from the Public Works Fund, with a view to their being provided for on the supplementary estimates of the Consolidated Fund. DEPARTMENTAL. It was mentioned in last year's Statement that Mr. W. H. Hales had retired from the positions of Engineer-in-Chief and Marine Engineer, and that Mr. Peter Seton Hay, M.A., M.lnst.C.E., had been appointed to succeed him in both positions. It is now my painful duty to record the fact that Mr. Hay passed away on the 19th March last. The late Mr. Hay was a man of very iii—D. 1.