G. 8

1910. NEW ZEALAND.

EAST COAST NATIVE TRUST LANDS (REPORT, BALANCE-SHEET, AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS IN RESPECT OF).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly in pursuance of Section 13 of the East < 'oast Native Trust Lands Act, 1902.

Report by the East Coast Commissioner. Sir,— Gisbome, N.Z., 21st September, 1910. I liave the honour to hand you herewith my report on the transactions of the Trust Lands. together with the accounts and statements relating thereto. I have, &c, T. A. Coleman, The Hon. the Minister of Native Affairs, Wellington. Mast Coast Commissioner.

I have the honour to siilmtit the following report of the transactions of the Trust, together with the balance-sheet, statement of receipts and expenditure, and statements of accounts of the several blocks as at the 31st March, 1910 :— Rents. —The amount received for rents during the past year was £5,578 4s. 9d. The amount paid out to the beneficiaries was £2,064 11s. sd. There is, in addition, the sum of £860 11s. Bd. a 1 credit ot the beneficiaries for unclaimed rents which it has not been possible to pay over, chiefly because of successors to a number of deceased owners not having been appointed, those entitled to succeed having neglected to apply for succession orders. I therefore applied to the Native Land Court to have successors appointed in all the rent-paying blocks. The Court has dealt with nearly the whole of the applications, thus bringing the lists of owners in these blocks up to date. Purchase-moneys. —The sum of £312 15s. has been paid to the beneficiaries in the Mangapoike No. 2f Block in part satisfaction of their claims in respect of their land which was sold in 1900 by the Trustees under an order of the Validation Court for the purpose of paying for surveys and other liabilities incurred on behalf of several of the Mangapoike blocks. There is a further sum of £1,217 Bs. Id. standing at the credit of the beneficiaries. I have made arrangements, satisfactory to the beneficiaries, to pay this amount by instalments. Lists of Owners. —Good progress in finally settling the lists of owners in several of the blocks has been made by the Native Land Court during the year. The appeal againsi the finding of that Court in regard to the Paremata lists mentioned in my last report was heard at a sitting of the Appellate Couri held at Gisborne, and the appeal was dismissed. Farms. —In January last, at the nearly unanimous request of the owners in Mangapoike No. 2b, I undertook to farm for them about 2,750 acres in the block, about 260 acres being set aside for their common occupation. At that time part of the block, about 500 acres, was in the occupation of Natives who depastured sheep on it. These sheep were removed by the owners, and I replaced them with a flock of 500 ewes. This season lam having a further area of 480 acres of bush cleared, and am having the block fenced. Everything in connection with the management of the farm is going on well, and, I believe, to the satisfaction of the owners. Work in connection with the improvements on the farms for the past year has consisted chiefly in the erection of fencing and yards, bushfelling and scrub-cutting having been confined to small areas.

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