STORES CONTROL BOARD (ANNUAL REPORT OF).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1941 Session I, H-04

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1941. N.E W ZEAL AN D.

STORES CONTROL BOARD (ANNUAL REPORT OF).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Leave.

Stores Control Board, Wellington, 23rd September, 1941. The Hon. H. T. Armstrong, Chairman, Stores Control Board. I have the honour to submit herewith the annual report of the Stores Control Board for the year ended 31st March, 1941. P. Ellerm, Secretary.

REPORT.

Purchases. During the year ended 31st March, 1941, the expenditure on the purchase of stores was as shown hereunder (figures for 1940 are shown for comparative purposes) :— £ £ Year ended Year ended 31st March, 1941. 31st March, 1940. Army .. .. .. .. .. 4,067,400 1,176,500 Public Works .. .. .. .. ..2,710,200 2,748,000 Railways .. .. .. .. ..2,294,800 3,083,700 Air .. .. .. .. .. 2,079,600 953,300 Navy .. .. .. .. .. 793,600 275,400 Post and Telegraph .. .. .. .. 508,300 646,400 Native .. .. .. .. .. 456,600 315,100 Mental Hospitals .. .. .. .. 234,800 224,300 Lands and Survey .. .. .. .. 156,800 171,700 Printing and Stationery .. .. .. 120,500 88,200 Education .. .. .. .. .. 75,800 48,400 Housing Construction .. .. .. .. 69,100 72,600 Health .. .. .. .. .. 57,500 65,700 National Broadcasting Service .. .. .. 54,800 58,800 State Forest Service .. .. .. .. 53,900 87,300 Industries and Commerce, Tourist and Publicity .. 53,600 51,500 Justice and Prisons .. .. .. .. 51,300 45,400 Mines .. .. .. .. .. 47,900 43,000 Agriculture .. .. .. .. .. 38,200 44,100 Marine .. .. .. .. .. 35,100 41,800 External Affairs .. .. .. .. 33,500 21,500 Scientific and Industrial Reserach .. .. 28,400 26,000 Land and Income Tax .. .. .. .. 27,300 16,300 National Commercial Broadcasting Service .. 17,600 17,500 Social Security .. .. .. .. 15,600 24,500 Internal Affairs .. .. .. .. 13,600 14,700 Transport .. .. .. .. .. 12,000 14,400 Police .. .. .. .. .. 10,700 10,900 State Fire .. .. .. .. .. 5,700 8,400 Other Departments .. ... .. .. 26,000 22,700 £14,150,200 £10,418,100

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The above return of stores purchased includes all articles of a consumable or non-consumable nature required in carrying out the services of Government Departments, including books, forms, stationery and office requisites, furniture, fittings, mechanical office appliances, motor-cars and other vehicles, motor spares and accessories, motor-spirit and lubricating oils, implements, plant and machinery, live-stock, and all Government personal property of any description. The total expenditure on stores during the year ended 31st March, 1941, has increased by £3,732,100 when compared with the year ended 31st March, 1940. Whilst the stores expenditure of the Navy, Army, and Air Departments has increased by a sum of £4,535,400, the expenditure of all other Departments has decreased by a sum of £803,300, despite the fact that the figures for several Departments include stores purchased for war work. The following summary shows the total sums expended on stores for Government Departments during each of the past ten years £ £ 1932 .. .. 2,757,200 1937 .. .. .. 5,349,400 1933 .. .. .. 2,109,700 1938 .. .. .. 7,515,100 1934 .. .. .. 2,417.700 1939 .. .. .. 9,847,200 1935 . . .. .. 2,939,600 1940 .. .. .. 10,418,100 1930 .. .. .. 3,251,800 ! 1941 .. .. .. 14,150,200 Contracts. At the 31st March, 1941, contracts arranged by the Board were in operation for the supply of the undermentioned items to all Departments Batteries for motor-vehicles. Bricks, earthenware pipes and fittings. Brushware, painters' and general. Candles, soap and soda. Cement. Chain-mesh netting. Coal, coke and firewood. Cream-separators. Cyclostyle stencils and correcting fluids. Diesel engines for driving milking-plant, &c. Disinfectant. Electric lamps. Explosives, gelignite, blasting-powder, detonators, &e. Fire-extinguishers. Ink, cyclostyle, fountain pen, and writing. Lawn-mowers. Milking-machines. Motor-vehicle lubricating-oils and greases. Motor-spirit and kerosene. Motor-tires. Office diaries. Oil fuels and lubricating-oil for Diesel engines. Oxygen, acetylene, and hydrogen gases. Paper, carbon, toilet, and wrapping. Polish, metal, floor, and boot. Sensitized papers and linens. Spare parts for motor-vehicles. Twine. Typewriters and typewriter ribbons. Uniform clothing. In addition to the above, numerous departmental contracts were also arranged, the principal items concerned being : — Arecoline Hydrobromide tablets for Internal Affairs Department. Artificial limbs. Creosote for Forestry Department. Foodstuffs (sugar, milk, bread, butter, meat, fish, hams and bacon, &c.). Oil fuel for Government ships. Lubricating oil for m.v. " Maui Pomare." Medicines for Native schools. Samoan and Niue Island banana-cases and Rarotongan citrus cases. Skip grease and lubricating-oils for Mines Department. Tobacco for Mental Hospitals Department. Co-ordination of Purchases. The Board has always been fully aware of the advantages to be gained from bulk buying, and the system of purchasing stores under general contracts covering the requirements of all Departments has been followed wherever practicable. These contracts have in the main covered stores purchased direct from manufacturers or merchants in the Dominion, but war conditions have

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emphasized the necessity of co-ordinating requirements which are normally indented from overseas. Overseas supply authorities have also stressed the necessity of placing orders as far ahead as possible so as to enable production to be planned on a long-term basis. During the year orders covering the combined requirements of all Departments have been placed for tool and alloy steels and wire ropes, and a number of other items will be dealt with in the same manner during the forthcoming year. Specifications and Standardization. The advantages which accrue from the use of standards in the purchase of stores for Government requirements is fully recognized by the Board, and the utmost support and co-operation is given to the development and extension of the use of standard specifications. During the year the Board's purchase specifications for various locally-manufactured items in common use by Government departments have been referred to the New Zealand Standards Institute for revision, and considerable progress has been made in this matter as at the 31st March. Several New Zealand standard specifications will be developed as a result of this revision which will react to the advantage of other purchasing authorities, manufacturers, and consumers generally. For some years past the majority of the items of office furniture in use by Government Departments have been purchased to standard designs and specifications, and these standards have also been referred to . the New Zealand Standards Institute for revision and extension. Defence Purchase Division. The amounts shown for the Navy, Army, and Air Departments include stores purchased by the Defence Purchase Division, which for the year ended 31st March, 1941, amounted to £4,190,200. Since the commencement of the war to the 31st March last 42,418 orders of a total value of £4,899,000 have been placed by the Division on behalf of the three Services. This total includes purchases from local manufacturers and merchants' stocks in the Dominion, as well as stores indented through local merchants, but does not include stores indented direct by the Services from overseas sources. Local Manufacture. It is in time of war that the national importance of established local industries is fully appreciated, and the resources of local industry, including Government workshops, have been availed of during the year to manufacture, particularly for defence requirements, a large and varied assortment of items not previously made in the Dominion. These resources could have been used to a much greater extent had it been possible to obtain adequate supplies of the necessary materials. In the manufacture of these items local industry has shown that it is both adaptable and efficient.

Approximate Cost of Paper,—Preparation, not given; printing (405 copies), £4.

Authority: E. Y. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington.—l94l.

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