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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
19
Reference :-
C.O.885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
78
STATEMENT of Lands Surveyed and Plans Passed during Financial year 1906-1907.
79
Mr. Clark finished a reconnaissance of 550 square miles of country, near the coast, a work called for by Secretary of State's cable.
G. E. SMITH, Major, Royal Engineers,
Director of Surveys..
Month.
Plans Passed.
•
Enclosure 3 in No. 48.
Land Commissioner's Office, Nairobi,
May 2, 1907.
I FORWARD the report of the Director of Surveys on the work of his Depart- ment for the year 1906-7.
A telegram lately received directed that all work done up to the 1st May should be shown, and the Director has sent a separate note of the work of the month of April, 1907.
April,
1906
13
48,713
4
May,
14
30,762
21
June,
9
56,374
14
July,
3
4,272
12
91
August,
71
287,656
20
11
September,
24
73,144
8
"
October,
14
31,030
6
1
November,
December,
January,
February,
10
154,293
4
11
7
54,080
6
"
1907
9
2,623
6
13
21,901
7
"
March,
20
105,419
1
➢ ྂ གླ ུ ཛ ལྷ རྒྱ ་ འཋ མ བ
Farms.
Building Plots, Plans Passed.
Total
Plans Passed.
Acreage.
May 1, 1907.
(No. 616.)
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
11
***
Total
207
870,267
109
316
April 18, 1907.
E. L. WARING, Deputy Director of Surveys (Cadastral Branch).
Comparative Annual Statement of Surveys effected for the Conveyancing of Property.
Agricultural
Grazing
Year.
Lands.
Lands,
Forest
Lands,
Fibre and Cotton Lande.
Total.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
1904-1905
49,740
526,802
10,000
32,000
1905-1906
23,277
399,413
220,869
101,974
1906-1907
9,667
519,914
61,320
276,366
Acres. 618,542
745,533
870,267
April 18, 1907.
COMMISSIONER OF LANDS,
E. L. WARING,
Deputy Director of Surveys (Cadastral Branch).
Enclosure 2 in No. 48.
THE Commissioner's telegram mentions May 1st as the date for reports to be made up to. It does not appear advisable to alter the report herewith. The additional work is as follows:-
Trigonometrical Branch.-The field work of about 1,100 square miles of country This work was completed in April, but the computations are still incomplete. completes the connection in the region of the Athi Plains and Nairobi with the Anglo-German Boundary.
Cadastral Branch. During April, 1907, 16 farm surveys for 37,200 acres were finished and passed.
It is presumed that the statistics are needed up to 1st May, 1907, not 1906, for at the latter date there was no separate Survey Department.
Major Hills has lately reported to the Colonial Office on the surveys of this Protectorate, and I take this opportunity of noting on both reports.
2. I wish to emphasise, in the first place, Major Hills's opinion that the land settlement is the paramount question in this country, and that anything that retards or renders unpopular the occupation and development of land should be carefully avoided. I also agree that "primarily the object of carrying out a precise survey of the land is to facilitate the sale, lease, and transfer of estates, farms, and building plots," and that topographical maps are required in the second place for military and administrative purposes..
It is quite essential, of course, to have a good trigonometrical survey as the basis for cadastral maps.
3. Your Excellency is aware to what extent the occupation of land has every- where preceded its survey. This was so undesirable that I determined without delay to select a tract which could be surveyed before it was colonised. Such a course was possible only in a closed district, where we could have a clean sheet to work upon.
After duc consideration, and with the full consent of Your Excellency, we chose the Sotik country for our operations. Major Smith had not then arrived in the country, and Captain Knox assured me that the trigonometrical work could be begun near the lake without any difficulty.
These remarks are made because Major Hills has expressed an opinion that it was an error of judgment to begin triangulation in the Sotik country.
I believe, on the contrary, that we did right; for we have now ready mapped out a large tract of good land, for which we have received, and are receiving, numerous applications.
4. For the rest, I am sure that all Major Hills's proposals regarding the work of the trigonometrical and topographical branches are sound, and should be adopted; though I should be sorry if the establishment of the latter were to in any way retard the cadastral work. I may mention that the topographical map of the Sotik country has been found very useful to the administrative officers and myself in laying down the limits of the native reserves, and deciding what land should be marked off into farms.
5. also agree that the system of rapid survey recommended by Major Hills should be accepted. Anything will be an advantage which will give the settler his deed quickly. It is unfortunately true that the survey of lands already allotted is still lamentably in arrears, nor can we hope to bring the work up to date until we have a large cadastral staff. Till then licensed surveyors must do nearly all the cadastral work, as they are, in fact, doing now.
There are many cases of settlers who have been in occupation of their farms for two years without their deeds, merely because the land has not been surveyed; a state of things which necessarily causes much dissatisfaction in the country. I have continued to impress on the Director the great importance of disposing of all old cases without delay. Next year I shall ask him to send with his report a statement showing how far the old arrears have been dealt with.
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