C.—l.

National Endowment. Of the area in the national endowment, 6,524,328 acres were held under lease or license at the 31st March by 4,470 tenants, paying an annual rental of £141,401, while a very large area (partly, however, covered by existing leases) had been set aside as provisional State forests. For further particulars re the national endowment, see parliamentary paper C.-14. Educational Endowment. An area of approximately 813,609 acres of education endowments under the administration of the various Land Boards is leased to some 4,116 tenants, who pay a total annual rental of £133,533. Lands reserved fob vabious Purposes. Under the provisions of section 360 of the Land Act, 1924, and section 71 of the Land for Settlements Act, 1925, various areas of Crown and settlement land were permanently reserved during the year. The reservations made totalled forty-seven, covering an area of 590 acres. A summary of work carried out under this heading is given below : — _ . _ Number of Area. Purpose of Reserve. Reservations made. A. R. P. Addition to site for public hospital .. .. 1 4 1 10 Addition to school-site .. .. .. .. 1 0 1 19 Camping .. .. . . .. . . 1 30 0 0 Cemetery .. .. .. .. .. 3 5 117 Gravel and quarry .. .. .. .. ..4 62 30-3 Ladies' rest-room and a dental-clinic site .. .. .. 1 0 0 19-32 Landing .. .. .. .. .. ..1 10 19-5 Landing-place and site for county buildings .. 1 0 3 20 Mental hospital . . .. . . .. 1 4 0 29 Plantation .. .. .. .. .. ..1 03 9-5 Public buildings of General Government . . .. 1 0 0 32 Public-school sites .. .. .. .. 8 30 1 10 Recreation .. .. .. . . .. 13 313 2 38-12 Eiver-proteotion .. .. .. .. .. 7 182 0 33 Rubbish-dump .. . . .. .. 1 22 29 Sanitary . . .. . . . . . . 1 0 3 5 Water-supply .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 5 3 19-6 47 589 2 23-34 The above does not include areas that have been vested in the Crown as public reserves in town subdivisions pursuant to the provisions of section 16 of the Land Act, 1924. Retirement oe Under-Secretary. Mr. J. B. Thompson, C.8.E., retired from the position of Under-Secretary for Lands on the 30th April, 1931, after completion of forty years' service. He joined the Department in 1891, and in 1893 was appointed as an Assistant Surveyor. In 1910 he was appointed Land Drainage Engineer, and in 1912 Chief Drainage Engineer. From 1910 to 1922 he was in charge of the Land Drainage Branch of the Department, and in 1920-21 visited Canada and the United States to select up-to-date machinery for utilization in the various drainage schemes. In 1922 he succeeded the late Mr. T. N. Brodrick, 0.8. E., 1.5.0., as Under-Secretary for Lands. In addition to the Office of Under-Secretary, he was also Land Purchase Controller, and Chairman of the Dominion Land Purchase Board, Central Revaluation Board, Dominion Revaluation Board, and Tongariro National Park Board, as well as a member of various other Government Boards. In 1929 he received the decoration of a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

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