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IV.-LAND SURVEY BRANCH.

32. Mr. MALSCH having returned from leave on 14th December, 1889, was placed in charge of this branch of the Department with Mr. PROSSER, as Assistant Land Surveyor.

33. There has been very little demand for land during the year owing doubtless to the reaction from the over-speculation of 1888-89.

34. During the year lease plans have been prepared for one Marine Lot and 22 Inland Lots Victoria, 4 Rural Building Lots, 32 Inland Lots Kowloon, 1 Marine and 2 Inland Lots Quarry Bay, 3 Inland Lots Aberdeen, making a total of 64 lease plans prepared. Besides this special surveys have been made of the village of Wong-nei-chong for the purposes of the Land Commission and much has been done to fill in the blanks on the map of Victoria by a survey of the lots above the Robinson and Bonham Road levels.

35. The want of a complete survey of the Colony is one of our greatest needs, and it is greatly to be desired that the new survey which has been sanctioned by Government may be commenced forthwith and pushed on as rapidly as practicable.

V.-SQUATTERS,

36. The issue of squatters' licences devolves on the Surveyor General. During the

year 2,966 licences have been issued the fees on which amount to $9,801. I have on various occasions called attention to the unsatisfactory state of the so-called "Squatters" question and a "Squatters Commis- sion" has been appointed to investigate titles to land and grant leases where a good claim can be established. The term "Squatter" is somewhat loosely applied and is frequently used as including all the Chinese inhabitants of the villages who do not hold land under Crown lease. Now a con- siderable proportion of the inhabitants in the older villages are entered on the "Rent Roll" thus showing that the holdings of which they are in possession were held by them or their predecessors at the time of the British occupation. These people cannot therefore be called "Squatters" in any true sense of the word. After those entered on the Rent Roll come persons holding land under squatters' licence. The squatters' licence is nothing more or less than an annual tenancy with power of removal on a month's notice. It is in my opinion desirable that an inquiry should be made as to what extent it is desirable to continue the system of squatters' licence and whether in certain cases a more certain tenure with security for improvements might not be granted with advantage.

VI.-INSPECTION OF BUILDINGS.

37. The following is a list of the number of buildings for which plans have been deposited and which have been completed during the year 1890:-

Plans Buildings deposited. completed.

European Houses,

Chinese Houses,

Factories, Godowns, and Miscellaneous Structures,

Total,

34

42

188

204

47

29

269

275

During the year 1,165 notices and permits have been issued through the Inspector of Buildings.

VII-STAFF.

38. At the commencement of the year the water and drainage works were detached from the Surveyor General and converted into a separate department. Mr. COOPER, however, continued to assist in the work of the Surveyor General's Office until the arrival of Mr. H. P. TOOKER, Executive Engineer, in April last. Mr. W. CHATHAM, Executive Engineer, arrived on 22nd May, and Mr. L. GIBBS, Assistant Engineer, and Mr. C. H. GALE, Chief Draughtsman, on 10th November. These reinforcements have enabled me to commence several of the new works referred to in the earlier portion of this Report, and to prepare for the early commencement of others. I beg to record my satisfaction with the manner in which both the old and new Members of the Staff generally have performed their duties.

39. The general health of the Officials of the Department has been good until the latter part of the year when an unusual amount of sickness occurred which has somewhat retarded the operations of the Department.

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