C.—la

The amending legislation at present under review will greatly assist in the better administration of newly developing urban areas.

Office Work (Plan Examination) The office work carried out in connection with land survey plans and documents for the year ended 31st March, 1945, is scheduled hereunder:—

Last year's returns shown in parenthesis. The increase on the previous year is approximately 20 per cent. To cope with this increase in the larger districts it has been necessary to employ staff on overtime. Land transactions and land title registrations Xor the Dominion are dependent on this essential service, which must take priority over any other classes of work. Other Office Work The following schedule summarizes the routine miscellaneous office work carried out by the staff during the year, the figures for the previous year being shown in parenthesis :— Record maps (revised or redrawn) .. .. .. .. 47 (32) Cadastral maps (revised or redrawn) .. .. .. .. 17 (Nil) Tracings .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4,842 (3,209) Photostats and prints .. .. .. .. .. 40,333 (53,644) The drop in the number of photostats and prints produced by the Department is due to the fallingoff of the demands of the armed services and the United States Forces. The three photostat machines installed have, however, been working to capacity, though there has been a reduction in the overtime over the period. The slight easing up in the number of drawings required for topographical maps has permitted the employment of a small staff on the drawing of record and cadastral maps. This vital work is approximately ten years in arrears, and will have to be brought up to date. The preparation of maps for census purposes, referred to hereunder, revealed the lack of up-to-date cadastral maps, many of which had to be reprinted without revision. Efficiency in land administration which is a function of many Departments of State is dependent on the availability of complete and up-to-date record and cadastral maps. A large staff will have to be employed in the post-war years to overtake the arrears in this class of work. Census, 1945 In August, 1944, in anticipation of the census which is to be taken in September, 1945, it was necessary to put in hand the preparation of enumerator and sub-enumerator maps for the purpose of the division of the Dominion into population mesh blocks. The first step in this work was the preparation in duplicate of 89 enumerator maps on a scale of 1 .mile to an inch of each of the counties and, oil larger scales, some of the major cities and boroughs showing enumerator, county, borough, town district, and riding boundaries. These maps were prepared by the Head Office staff, the new 1 mile to an inch topographical series being used where available. These enumerator maps were then forwarded to the Government Statistician, whose responsibility it is to subdivide each enumerator district into sub-enumerator districts for the subsequent preparation of sub-enumerator maps by each Chief Surveyor's Office. This involves the preparation of 1,325 sub-enumerator maps and the division of each district into population mesh blocks and the showing of local authority district boundaries, electoral districts, urban areas, &c. This work was put in hand late in March and must be available to the Government Statistician in the first week in August, 1945. Approximately 40 per cent, of the office staff have been diverted from other work to cope with this large undertaking.

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Survey Plans examined and approved. Plans placed ——— District. on Instruments Other T , of Title. Crown. Depart- Maori. T ? ments. lranster. Auckland and North Auckland .. 11,309 130 208 46 602 Gisborne .. .. .. 518 24 .. 6 30 Hawke'sBay .. .. .. 1,045 16 16 6 78 Taranaki ...... 862 13 23 5 58 Wellington .. .. .. 3,725 21 125 7 219 Marlborough .. .. .. 371 7 12 2 34 Nelson .. .. .. .. 1,271 15 16 .. 120 Westland.. .. .. .. 551 15 9 _ 21 Canterbury .. .. .. 3,159 8 39 - .. 200 Otago .. .. .. .. 1,418 19 46 .. 87 Southland .. .. .. 714 4 16 40 Totals .. .. .. 24,943 272 510 72 1,489 (21,359) (246) (393) (75) (1,176)