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Although the total cost of administration amounted to £117,098, representing under 4 percent, of the year's turnover of £2,985,370, the net cost to the State was only £88,508 after deducting sums of £22,751 (recovered from the Native Trustee and the Maori Land Boards) and £5,839 (fees of the Native Land Courts and the Maori Land Boards collected in stamps and credited to the Consolidated Fund). The sum of £50,000 granted to the Housing Fund was paid to the Native Trustee's Account, where that amount together with a further sum of £50,000 paid out of " Unauthorized Expenditure Account," will form a revolving fund for the erection of houses for Natives in special circumstances. The sum of £7,000 represents a payment to the Lands and Survey Department in reduction of the sum of approximately £45,000 authorized in 1930 to be written off survey liens charged against various blocks of Native land. The object of the write-off was to clear the titles of excessive charges and pave the way to consolidation and development. The annual sum provided is £5,000, but £2,000 additional was paid this year to equalize a short payment made during 1935-36. The total sum paid to date is £35,000. The expenditure on destruction of rabbits and noxious weeds on Native land is actually made by the Agriculture Department and in accordance with a standing arrangement that Department is recouped from vote, " Native." The payment of £5,000 in respect of the Taranaki Lands is made to the Taranaki Maori Trust Board for the benefit of the four leading Taranaki tribes in accordance with section 49 of the Native Purposes Act, 1931, which authorizes the settlement of Native grievances regarding confiscated land. Each annual payment is subject to parliamentary appropriation. In addition to the above, an amount of £7,000 is provided out of the Civil List (Consolidated Fund) for Native purposes, and after contributing £3,600 of this sum to the Health Department for medical and nursing services, the balance is utilized in the main towards small-food and clothing allowances to extremely indigent Maoris. The amount spent during the year was £5,284. DISTRICT REPORTS. Brief extracts from reports, as under, on the departmental operations in each district (exclusive of Native land development and housing) will prove of interest. Each district has its separate problems, all dealing with the general welfare of the Maori people. Tokerau District. Native Land Court. —In the Tokerau District, which comprises the North Auckland Peninsula with its heavy Maori population, the usual Court activities have been maintained during the year. There were eight regular gazetted sittings of the Court for different divisions of the district, and, with the adjournments thereof, the Court held session at twenty-two different settlements extending throughout the length and breadth of the three hundred miles of territory from Auckland in the south to Te Hapua on the Parengarenga Harbour in the far north. Where practicable the Court has followed the policy of going to the settlements where the people reside and where the lands affected are situated, rather than drawing the people into the European centres, and finds the practice has many advantages. The general business of the Court in its ordinary jurisdiction was maintained at approximately the same standard as hitherto, matters arising out of the administration of the lands of the Natives and the usual quota of business arising out of the deaths of Maoris receiving attention, in addition to the many miscellaneous matters that come up at all times. The major part of the Court work in this district, however, is of a more special nature in that practically all the Native lands therein are subject to applications by the Hon. the Minister for consolidation of interests, and in these proceedings much of the ordinary work is absorbed. This activity is referred to more particularly under the heading " Consolidation." Alienations confirmed during the year were still few in number. This reflects the continued policy of retaining the land for the occupation and livelihood of the heavy and steadily increasing Maori population of the northern peninsula. Much of the land is already intensely occupied by the people, and the non-alienation policy referred to lends a bias towards that constructive activity of the Department —Native-land development —reported upon elsewhere. A good deal of necessary exploratory and compass-survey work has been carried out by the Department's survey staff. The services of this staff has been of value to both consolidation and development, and of advantage in other ways. The Court has co-operated where possible in facilitating those other activities of the Department aiming at Native progress and settlement —i.e., Land-development and housing—and has generally endeavoured to act as a guide to the Native people. With the co-operation of the Public Works Department, many useful access roads have also been laid out, and their formation thus facilitated. Consolidation. —The consolidation schemes of the Tokerau District alone provide a huge task. The greater part of the work of the Court might come under this heading, and the extensive unit-development schemes of the district are based thereon. In the stabilizing of occupation brought about by consolidation proceedings and its attendant analyses lies the origin of practically all the developmental activities in this district. Consolidation work has been continued during the year where possible, and some progress has been made, although with the demands of other activities the specialized staff available has been at a minimum and insufficient to cope with the work in the four different scheme areas (Mangonui, Hokianga, Bay of Islands, and Kaipara). The best progress has been made in the Mangonui area, where a Consolidation Officer has been most regularly at work. In other parts little further progress has been possible, particularly in the Hokianga area, where generally no officer has been available.

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