THE ESTIMATES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 268, 13 November 1909, Page 3

THE ESTIMATES.

VOTES;?OR THE YEAR

ITEMS OF INTEREST

* w£SI76W expended last year, against £d»1/b7Vli* Hansard staff the men* alone are reduced J™™^ 111'^ expended last year to £70,322, pionosed to be voted this year. P Inthe Post and Telegraph Department the secretary gets an increase of £100 per year in his salary, the superintendent of electric hues £00, and the assistant secretary and inspector S». Gratuities to t*> San Francisco service, are missing this year. •■ A sum of £3500 is provided for further restoration of the old Parliament In ?h?'Police Department ;a compassionate allowance of £274 is jrovided for the widow of Detective A. Henderson,: and £200 for expenses connected with, the recovery and burying of bodies of persons drowned in the wreck of the Penguin. . . An item of ■ £870 appears in the charges of the Department ot Internal Affairs for six watchmen. _, _ There is a cew charge ot £oOU tor payment to- Post Office for services of postmasters /as registrars ot birtns, The charges made in respect.of the Hi^h Commissioner's Department show that the Trade and Immigration, Representative gets a salary pt i/iw for use of Government departments cost £1382 last This year only £750 is ; , provided. ■ In the charges against'the ruoiic Health Department, there is a newitem of £750 for A'Oonsultmg^medical officer in London," and of £210 for cost of entertaining visitors to/the Dominion and of official functions.. Locomotion , expenses ot the Governor arid staff travelling between Palmerstbn North and Wellington last year cost £122. ■ ! j . The travelling allowances ancT expenses of officers travelling to London are responsible for a vote ot £505. ' . .'.:■■ For the cost of sending a rifle team to New South Wales £350 is provided. In the Customs Department, the recent activity against smuggling Uv accentuated by a new vote of £190 as salary for a. searcher. There is also an item of £300 ror a drapery expert at Wellington. The old charge for a drapery expert at Dunedin disappears. The upkeep of Government steamers (Hinemoa and Tutanekai) last year cost £16,349, and the Amokura £6962. Engine-room repairs to the Hinemoa cost £1036 last year. A sum. of £1500 is voted for salaries of Conciliation Commissioners , and £1200 for fees payable to members of industrial councils. Then there is an item of £400 for legal expenses re slaughtermen's strike. Subsidies to doctors in outlying districts last year amounted to £1078. This year £1100 is voted. In most cases the departmental charges show big reductions, and the number of officers, in consequence of the retrenchment scheme, is correspondingly reduced. For instance, the number of officers in the Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Tourists is reduced from 632 to 560. In thik department advertising, distribution of pamphlets, etc., last year cost £3446. The Canadian steam service subsidy is reduced from £10,000 to £4800. There is a vote of £3000 _ for the Imperial International Exhibition, London, nad £3500 for a- steam service for .New Zealand to Tahiti.

The votes in connection with the State nurseries are all reduced.

A sum of £50,000 is;. provided for the development of State coal mines. Last year £452 was spent. s Commission paid in respect of Government insurance last year amounted to £15,719. This year £16,000 is voted.

A sum of £8000 appears to meet expenses of the Timber Commission. £3000 is provided to meet expenses at the forthcoming Imperial International Exhibition in London.

• The usual £14,000 grant for Easter Volunteer manoeuvres is proposed. Mail subsidies include £11,000 for the new Wellingtori-Tahiti-Rarotonga route.

Printing th/i Consolidated Statutes

Salvation Army prison brigade work is to be subsidised to the extent of £450.

. Expenses of witnesses last year totalled £8045, ■ fees to Crown prosecutors £3172, and payment of itirors £2832, a total of £14,049. This year's allocation is £13,500. . A subsidy t of£l for £1 up to £700 is provided for purchase of land for recreation purposes at Feilding, and £100 for similar purposes at Otaki. A further £2000 is voted for Wanganfii River improvements . In addition to its usual statutory grant, Victoria College receives £1500 for specialisation. <.

The estimated annual cost of-'the new institution for training" of backward.children at Otekaike is £1870;* % The Public Trust Officß,Welliiigi.' ton, on ; which £20,094 was expend**} la st year,, requ ifes another allocation of £30,000, while £10.000 is provided for new! 'offices'* at Chnstehurch.p; >~; ■: Beyond a few minor items, • there are no increases in salaries this year. The Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals is down for a £25 increase, but his duties now include scientific oversjght of the prisons of the Dominion. Aniong the savings efiEecfced through retirements of higher-paid officials is £100 on the salary of the Secretary and Inspector for Customs, £175 on the secretaryship of the Agricultural Department, while the new general manager of; the State Fire Insurance Department receives £75 less than his predecessor. The vote of £ 440Q0 jor Ministers' travelling expenses and allowances is £1331 less than'the^eX^jaditure lastyear. :; ' '•' '■ '■■'■'!- - '-■' ■ .

Prisons head office expenses formerly totalled £1066j but now amount to £376 owing to the merg^ ing with tlio'iTustice Department. Over £ 4200Ti per annum is saved to the Custonis J>epartment in salaries of retired officers. ,

The collection of agricultural and pastoral.-I;statistics cost £4185 last year, but tfte current vote is £1000. Quarantine, stations expenditure was £1433, but is now expected to be £300.

Reductions are noticeable in nearly all the votes for experimental farms, the total being £18,904 less than, last year.' T!rt>' Valuer-Genenil formerly received £700 per annum, but tlie1 amount now allocated for this work, is£4oo. the, same official performing; other duties at a'total salary of, £850. ' Nine clerks have been retired' from the. Advances to" Settlers Department.

The expenditure on salaries for the Government Printing Office is to be reduced by about £6000.

! The payings anticipated .by the Tourist Department's leasing of several tourist houses are indicated by the annual votes compared with the last year's expenditure, which fis shown in brackets: Waikaremoanai Lake House, £300 (£864); Pukaki Accommodation House, £400 (£1230); Glade House, £1275 (£1303); Te Anau Accommodation House. £1000 (£1665).

Fifteen officers have been retired from the Tourist Division, this numbar including the general manager at £350 a year", .the secretary at £350, trade representatives at £450, and resident medical officer at Te Aroha at £60.

The. Public Health Department's staff has been reduced from 128 to 92 persons. The retrenched officers include the-'head of the department, whose salary was £900 per annum; chief clerk at £305; accountant at £245; five clerks, two typists, messenger, two district health officers, seven sanitary officers^'five cadets and three analysts., ' Tlie^yote ,of £2610 less than last year's "expenditure.