THE ESTIMATES.

Evening Star, Issue 9772, 31 July 1895, Page 2

THE ESTIMATES.

[From Opr Parliamentary Reporter,] WELLINGTON, Jcly 31. The main alterations in the Estimates contrasted with last year's may thus be summarised ; The salary of the Government Printer has been increased by £2O to £6OO. The following new items also appear Colonial Secretary’s Department : New Zealand flora, £300; Imperial Institute expenses, 1893-94, £518; frozen meat kiosk at the Imperial Institute, £250; bonus on starch, £500; expenses of Assessment Courts under the Rating Act, 1894, £500; reprinting statutes, £550; contribution to the Christchurch Industrial Exhibition, £500; General Assembly library catalogue, £l7O,

The only new vote in the Treasurer’s Department is for the salary of a timber expert at £2OO per year.

In the Justice Department the salary paid to the law draughtsman has been raised from £SOO (paid to Mr Curtin) to £650 for Dr Fitchett. The Deputy Begistrar at Wellington has been reduced by £2O to £IOO. The magistrate at Hawera (£150) has been dispensed with, and a magistrate provided for Palmerston North and surrounding districts as a salary of £4OO. For the Validation Court a registrar at £2OO and a clerk at a like salary are being appointed. In the Postal and Telegraph estimates a reduction from £5,000 to £3,603 is shown in the proportion payable on account of the reduction of intercolonial and European rates. The Royal Commission on the Tariff cost the country, according to tile Customs estimates, £l,lOO. For a new tower on Farewell Spit lighthouse £1,450 is required. In the Lunacy Department, the manager at Povirua Asylum (£150) and the assistant medical officer at Wellington (£250) are dispensed with, while a new vote (£300) for a resident medical superintendent at Porirua is provided. The Labor Department furnishes a new vote of £2,500 for State farms, and salary of an additional male Inspector (£160) appears. In the Minos Department a vote for the Thames, Otago, and Keefton Schools of Mines is increased from £I,OOO to £1,300. The new votes arc: Expenses of Waipori mining dispute in Appeal Court, £230; reward for gold discovery at Preservation Inlet, £150; field surveys and expenses, £3OO. The only important item in the Agricultural Department estimates is a new vote of £1,200 for the establishment of dairy schools. The vote for grading dairy produce is reduced by £SOO to £I,OOO, and the salary of the Produce Commissioner in England is cut down from £450 to £3OO.

For public school buildings a vote of £3,030 is asked, and for rearranging the offices in the Departmental Buildings at Wellington £3OO, while for renovating the Government Buildings at Tauranga £SO is needed. Immediately the Defence vote is readied one finds that it is proposed to reduce Colonel Fox’s salary (military adviser) by £IOO to £6OO, and that the Undersecretary for Defence (cur A. Douglas) is to bo paid £4OO per annum. Last year £1,300 was voted for the volunteer encampments, but as this amount was greatly exceeded £2,300 is set down for this year. A vote of £I,OOO is provided in the State Forests Department for the purchase of land for the establishment of an experimental nursery near Clyde. Consequent on the amount of additional work thrown on the Public Trustee in connection with the Advances to Settlers Act and other measures, it has been found absolutely necessary to appoint a deputy trustee, and his salary is to be £SOO per year. An office examiner at £250 per year is to be appointed in connection with the Government Insurance Department. In connection with the Land for Settlements Account a new department has been created. Its preliminary expenses for the ensuing year are £8 jO, and £B6O is asked as salary for the Land Purchase Inspector.

There are now thirty-six officers attached to the Government Advances to Settlers Office, and £7,650 is the amount asked to be sanctioned for the management account this year.