GETTING IN EARLY

Evening Star, Issue 14185, 9 October 1909, Page 2

GETTING IN EARLY

DEPARTMENTAL RETORTS. [Fnon Ona Pabmiuiientxev Repoetee.] - WELLINGTON, October 9. A deluge of reports and returns descended on the House yesterday. It had been announced that all the departmental reports wore ready for presentation, and that announcement was justified in a way which staggered ■ the unfortunate Press representatives in the Gallery. Members this year will have no ground for complaint that they have pot been put in possession of departmental information at the earliest possible date. It cannot even be said that B1 has been kept back. It came down in the general shower. dOOK ISLANDS. The Cook Islands report shows that the finances of the Islands’ administration is in a sound condition. The revenue for the year ended March 31, 1909, amounted to £7,l46—an increase of £797 * over the preceding year. Expenditure for the year amounted to £5,718—a reduction of £471. The financial operations resulted in a cash surplus of £5,011. Imports to the Cook Islands show a substantial increase, and the exports were £9,074 above the values of 1908. Since the inauguration of the direct service, between Wellington and Rarotonga tho complaints from fruit dealers have ceased. The Commissioner has not as yet been able to arrive at a solution of the problem of education. He thinks, however, that an improvement could ha made in the training of teachers for the village schools in the Islands. SURVEYS. Tho total cost of surveys for the year is set down in the report of Mr Thos. Humphries, Surveyor-General, at £71,068, This is an increase of £2,800 on the previous year, and is accounted for by the increased demand for settlement surveys. The survey of 374,273 acres into 1,169 sections was completed during the year. Auckland heads the list in. the matter of surveys, with 92,243 acres of Crown land and 34,855 acres of native land. Tho Wellington district returns 53,678 acres of Crown land subdivided and 14,338 acres for Maori land boards. Otago supplies 50,478_ acres, and the remaining districts from 59,374 acres in Nelson to 11,466 in Hawke’s Bay—all Crown lands. No less than 27,550 acres of pastoral runs were surveyed. For the ensuing year the surveys in the hands of tho staff for settlement alone amount to about a million acres, besides 210,000 acres of native land, 338 square _ miles of minor triangulation, and 237 miles of road surveys. Of this, 120,000 acres of settlement survey and 100 miles, of road survey is nearing completion. PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE. The report of the Public Trust Office for the year ended 31st March, 1909, states that the profits amounted to £10,850. Mr J. W. Poynton, Public Trustee, says that the growth of business will necessitate more accommodation in the largo towns of tho Dominion, and that it is desirable to acquire sites for buildings. The office at Greymouth is described as “ a disgrace to the institution.” MARINE DEPARTMENT. The report of the Marine Department states that during the year certificates were granted to 289 steamers, seventythree oil-engine vessels, and eighteen intercolonial sailing vessels. The Minister proposes legislation to make the annual survey of sailing vessels engaged in coastal trade compulsory. Two alleged unseaworthy vessels were detained until the repairs considered necessary bv the surveyors had been effected. “ The ballast regulations have been amended, to ensure that when ballast consists of shingle or sand, tiers of bags are to be stowed on the loose ballast, to prevent it shifting. Seven convictions were obtained in prosecutions for offences which included carrying an excess of passengers, not carrying the prescribed life-saving appliances, and having tho load-line submerged. The department has resisted the proposal to allow scows in the intercolonial trade to cai-ry more deck cargo than has been hitherto allowed. Proceedings have been taken in seven cases against masters for breaches of tho law in regard to seamen. Tho estates of 51 seamen amounting to £365 13s Bd, have been recoived by the department, of which £25 5s lOd has been paid to relatives and claimants. Eighteen wore seamen on tho Loch Lomond, and 21 on the Penguin. Ilie total wrecks were 16, of 6,537 tons register, as compared with 8, of 3.442 tons, the previous year; and 119 lives were lost, as compared with 30. The figures are:-Penguin 75, Loch Lomond 19, Rio Logo 12, Matakana 4, Kia Ora 3. Moonah, Eunice, Jane, Ngatiawa 1 each. The number of casualties to ships was 90, as against 79 the previous year. These include machinery breakdowns, collisions with wharves, damages to spars, minor strandings, etc. For certificates of competency 538 persons passed and 176 failed in their examinations. At the end of 1908 there were 315 sailing vessels, of a gross tonnage of 46,874, on tho New Zealand register, and 320 steamers, with a gross tonnage of 181,525. The report mentions the work done on the training ship Amokura, and states that, there, are a few vacancies u ,V°y e ! whether it will be possible to obtain employment in merchant ships for more than can be trained on her. Tho report recommends _ that ten more incandescent lights be installed in various lighthouses. It cos. £17,164 last year to maintain tho various lighthouses. The Meteorological Office cost £2,115; protection of fish and oysters, £9,209; and the Government steamers cost £24,577. The total ordinary expenditure of the department, was £67,189. ACCIDENT INSURANCE. The report of the accident branch of the Government Insurance Department for 1908 shows that the premium income was £20,898, os against £21,477 in 1907,‘and the claims were £11,926, as against £11,283. The ratio of claims to premiums earned was 57 per cent. The ratio of expenses, etc. (£6,669), to premiums was 31.9 per cent. After making speed al provision t or £I,OOO for an investment fluctuation fund (mortgages on property representing nearly all the total assets of this branch), the net accident funds stand at £9,998, being an increase of £3,093 for tho year. SUPERANNUATION. The first annual report of the Public Service Superannuation Board, covering the year 1908, shows that tho number of public servants who joined the scheme on its coming into operation on January 1, 1908, was 6,551 (6,979 males and 572 females), who were in receipt of salaries aggregating £1,034,522, and whose annual contributions amounted to £77,924. Besides these, 995, who were not eligible at that date, or who joined the Service subsequently, have since joined the scheme, and at the end of the year there were 7,255 contributors, paring in annual contributions of £79,851. The total income for the year was £76,211, of which members contributed £54,833. and the Government £20,000. Pensions for £8,951 were granted as follows:—For age and length of service, £6,676 per annum to 74 members; for medical unfitness for duty, £1,838 per annum to 20 member*; to widows and 'children of deceased members, £234 per annum to 13 widows, and £221 per annum to 17 children. The largest retiring allowance granted was £445 5s 7d, and the smallest £3 13s, the average being £9O 7s Bd. One retiring allowance was discontinued by death. The actual amount of cash paid out during the year was £3,555, this representing payments for portions of the year only. At tho end of the year the accumulated funds amounted to £71,481. The Board conclude their report by drawing attention to the manner in which tho, scheme has been appreciated by public servants, the great bulk of whom have joined it. FIRE BRIGADES. Captain Hugo, Inspector of Fire Brigades, has Compiled a lengthy and interesting report on the working of tho Fire Brigades Act, which was presented to Parliament yesterday. He states that ho inspected many. brigades, in addition to those under the fire boards, and found that almost without exception the officers and mm are smart and-of-'good physique, and

take an active interest in their track. Generally ho .found that a lot of attention had been paid to ordinary ronton® drill, bat a most important subject {that of lifesaving-. and preservation) had been 'almost entirely neglected. The present equipmeat of the majority of the brigades leaves much - to bo detired. In the past local authorities, he says, have not recognised the importance of efficient protection from largo losses in the case of fire. He also states that from a firemen’s point of view there is a serious detect in. the water reticulation of the majority of towns by the small diameter of the pipe mains laid down. Superintendent Hugo suggests various amendments for the smoother working of the Act. The great and quite disproSirtionate fire waste obtaining throughout ew Zealand, compared with other countries, is the subject of a good deal of criticism. He declares that the waste is out of all proportion. to that obtaining elsewhere, and that the average loss in New Zealand for the last five years amounts to £556,640 per annum, or slightly over Us par head of the population; so that property to the value of £2,750,000 has vanished in smoke in the period mentioned. The causes qf the excessive fire waste are attributed mainly by Captain Hugo to faulty building construction and over-insurance of property. He suggests the adoption of a general set of building by-laws by municipalities and a more thorough inspection of risks by insurance companies before inspecting proposals. FISHERIES. The Fisheries Department, which now undertakes the picking and sale of North Island rook oysters, made a profit of £1,233 on the 11,005 sacks they sold, the proceeds amounting to £6,938 and the expenses to £5,705. The Minister reports that some of the beds have not recovered from the depletion that took place under the old system .of licenses for picking, and recommends oysters being planted there. The department advocates a better system, of marketing fish in the chief centres, and better facilities for sending fish inlandThere are 1,246 sea fishingboate licensed, as against 1,175 last year. There has (says the departmental report) beep, an improvement in the fishing industry in Otago and Canterbury. At Moeraki the catches have been below the average of past> years, but there has been continued improvement from Waikouaiti to Gatlins. lhc_ forty-three fish-curing establishments (besides local .supplies) have exported £7,000 worth of fish. At the Bluff the fishing industry was less successful than the previous year’s operations. The report also deals with the introduction of salmon ova and the work of the Portobello Marino Hatchery, concerning which there is a reminder that the five-year period over which an annual grant of £250 was made lias expired. LAND SETTLEMENT. The report of the Lands Department shows that the output of Crown lands for the past year comprised 2,654,086 acres. Of 593,846 acres of ordinary Crown lands opened nnder the renewable tenure, 306,113 acres were national endowment lands, while 8,300 ocrce were opened under renewable lease 'because they wore within proclaimed mining districts, and the respective wardens would not agree to their being opened under the optional system. The number of selectors who took up land during the year was 2,603, an increase of 378 on the previous year, and the area selected 916,521 acres. The selectors who paid cash numbered 350, and the total area concerned was 42,129 acres. Of this area, 7,672 acres are held under conditional purchase tenure, the condition being that improvemeilts must be completed within seven years. In the area of 42.129 acres is also included an area of 31,800 acres of Crown lands which was transferred to the Otekaiko Estate, and was dealt with as part of that estate under lands r or settlement conditions. Occupation with tire right of purchase selectors numbered 352, and the area selected was 125,116 acres. Lands for settlement selectors numbered 288, and the area concerned was 95,698 acres. There are now 595 selectors holding 73,126 acres of improved fa.rm settlements under the Lands Improvement and Native Lands Acquisition Act. These settlers have received advances amounting to £64,299, but. their improvements are valued at £186,2*7. AN ACTUARY'S FINDINGS. Tiie actuary’s ropffrt on the Government Insurance Department, compiled by Mr Morris Pox, shows that at the end of 1908 there were 447,033 policies whose holders were assured for £10,955,749, and paid £331,830 annually in premiums. The new business secured in the three-year period under review (1905-08) comprised 9.739 policies for a total assurance of £2,261,767, the annual premiums thereon being £72,603. Compared with the previous trienniutn, the actuary considers that there has been a satisfactory increase all round. During the triennium the death claims were £392,458, matured claims £273,988, annuities paid £43,440, surrenders £176,659, and bonuses surrendered for cash £16,668. The expenses amounted to £116,919. At the end of the period the funds totalled £4,264.685, or an increase of £442.108. During the three years the rate of mortality experienced has been very favorable. Surrenders were abnormally increased because of many Oivil servants joining the Public Service Superannuation Fund. The ratio of commission and expenses to the total income has dropped from 14.4 per cent, in 1890 to 10.6 per cent, in 1908. The present ratio of expenses to the premium income is 16,6 per cent. The results of the actuary’s valuation show the total liability to be £7,105,661, against which the value of the future net premiums is £3,090,172, leaving an immediate liability of £4,015,489, ana as the accumulated funds (after taking provision for £2,000 towards the investment reserve fund) are £4,264,685, the assets exceed the liability by £249,196. The actuary finds that there is a net surplus of £192,450 to be divided among participating policy-holders. Mr Fox concludes: “1 would remark on the satisfactory and steady results of the department’s business during the past three years. Not only has the new business steadily increased, but the ratio of expenditure to income has remained practically stationary. The yield from interest has improved in a marked manner, and the mortality experienced has been exceptionally favorable. As the result, the department is now in a position to allot increased bonuses all round, and also to make such substantial reserves os will enable it to commence another triennial period of activity with every confidence.’’ MACHINERY INSPECTION. The Inspection of Machinery Deport, ment reports having done more inspecting last year than in any previous year, which was notable for the number of new producer gas plants and electric lifts installed. The inspection of boilers has been carried out without friction, but owing to the groat increase in the number this work was somewhat in arrears. At the end of the year some 6,073 were inspected, and of the 1,399 defects discovered 62 were very dangerous. Some 411 now boilers have been added to the department’s books, their total house-power being 6,447, Of these, 255 were made in the Dominion and 175 were imported. There was no boiler explosion during the year. There were seven fatal accidents, of which four were in the saw-milling industry and two in the mining. In the engine-drivers’ examinations 533 candidates passed and 312 failed; in the marine engineers’ examination* 204 candidates passed and 43 failed. The report states that some of the papers, particularly in the first daas marine engineers’ examination, were of a' very high standard. The third class examination is still very popular with the young engineer just out of his apprenticeship. AFFORESTATION. The report of the State nurseries and plantations states that though every poo* sible economy is practised there is no diminution of the output of trees. As a source of income for reafforestation, the revenue derived from the sale ef katori on the State forest preserves is drawing rapidly to a close, and the necessary moneys wul soon be a charge on the Consolidated Fuad. It Is pointed out that to encourage ferae planting by free distribution of trees to settlers would necessitate doubling the staffs in the nurseries, and the present income would insufficient.