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44 W. H. WARREN. 
tion than dealing with the surface waters. Great waste 
of water has occurred in the past group of bores. 
The most arid area lies west of the Darling, is under 
the jurisdiction of the Western Land Board, and consists 
almost entirely of Crown lands. The Western Land Board 
consider that the long tenure of lease and security of 
tenure provided under the Western Lands Act will be 
sufficient inducement for pastoralists to sink bores them- 
selves; but there is still scope for a large expenditure by 
the Government in the provision of water on travelling 
stock routes, and in defining the boundaries of the artesian 
area by experimental boring. As has been pointed out, 
it is to the interests of the whole State that the whole of 
the lands should be under occupation, and it is by this 
means that the occupation of the western lands can be 
made profitable. The necessity for additional water on 
some of the stock routes was strongly pointed out in evi- 
dence before the Royal Commission of the Western Lands, 
and the exploration of the artesian boundaries cannot be 
undertaken by private individuals, and is within the 
functions of the State. The Western Land Act provides 
for the re-appraisement of lease where an increment in 
value has accrued from the construction of a public work, 
so that where such bores are successful a return is always 
obtainable. 
Harbour Works, N. S. Wales.—Mr. T. Keele, . inst. o.z., 
Engineer for Harbours, has supplied the following inform- 
ation:—The Coastal Division, owing to its favourable 
conditions as to soil and climate, admits of much closer 
settlement than other portions of New South Wales, and 
even at the present time about izths of the total number | 
of persons employed in rural occupations are to be found 
in the coastal area. The rivers are the natural highways 
of the districts through which they pass, and as there can 
