G.—9

1938. NEW ZEALAND.

NATIVE DEPARTMENT. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNDER-SECRETARY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1938.

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by leave.

The Under-Secretary, Native Department, to the Right Hon. the Minister op Native Appairs. g IR Native Department, Wellington, 11th July, 1938. I have the honour to present herewith the annual report upon the activities of this Department, excluding Native-land development and Native housing, which is the subject of a separate report submitted by the Board of Native Affairs. The report covers the financial year ended 31st March, 1938. I have, &c., 0. N. CAMPBELL, Under-Secretary and Native Trustee. The Right Hon. M. J. Savage, Minister of Native Affairs.

GENERAL REPORT. The many activities of the Department, a general resume of which was presented in last year s report, have been vigorously prosecuted during the year, and expansion has been evident in all directions, necessitating the appointment of an additional fifty-six permanent and temporary officers to the staff and the establishment of six new sub-offices at Kohukohu, Hamilton, Tauranga, Paeroa, Hastings, and Levin. The staff of the Department at 31st March, 1938, totalled 322 officers, comprising office staff (175 permanents and 98 temporaries) and field staff (8 permanents and 41 temporaries), and, in addition, the sheep stations and the larger development schemes are under the control of managers or foremen who are not included in the above totals. BOARD OF NATIVE AFFAIRS. The Board held eight sittings during the year and passed resolutions involving authorizations totalling £1,212,665. ... r > , , Since its first meeting in April, 1935, to 31st March, 1938, the sittings of the Board have numbered twenty-four and its authorizations have totalled £2,152,725, which sum includes approvals for landdevelopment, Native housing, and expenditure on farming operations undertaken by the Native Trustee and the Maori Land Boards, together with the investments of trust funds by these bodies. With regard to Native lands it should be mentioned that the practice of the Board is to approve a programme of work planned with the object of completely developing a property and which may be spread over several years ; consequently the amount of authorizations passed do not necessarily refer to one particular financial year. Once the Board has agreed to proposals submitted for the settlement of a block of land the necessary financial approvals are granted annually by the Department. A special report by the Board is published in parliamentary paper G.-10, covering the following departmental operations over which it exercises control • Native-land development and assistance to Maori farmers ; Promotion of employment amongst Maoris ; Farming activities and investments of the Native Trustee and the Maori Land Boards ; Native housing. To save repetition no further particulars of these activities will be given in this report.

I—Gr.1 —Gr. 9.