D.—No. 13,

4

REPORT ON THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING DEPARTMENT.

may be regarded as highly satisfactory. Till within the last two years, the annual receipts from this source did not amount to more than £10 or £15 ; but during the year 1867-8 they amounted to £133 ss. 9d., and during the financial year just closed to £184 4s. Id. Judging from the enormous increase in the number of private advertisements received lately, I consider the receipts from this source may safely be estimated at from £450 to £500 for the present year—an amount which will repay all expenses incurred in its publication, and leave a considerable balance to its credit. With regard to the sale of Hansard, I cannot speak so favourably. The proceeds from this source during the year amounted to £80 os. lid. —being £1 18s. less than was received during the previous year. The appointment of Agents in the several Provinces —to whom copies are regularly sent for sale —affords greater facilities to the public for procuring them, and will doubtless be the means of largely increasing their sale during the present year. The very liberal free issue of the publication by the Government, as I had cause to remark last year, interferes in some degree with their sale. The work of printing the Hansard is about the heaviest the Department is called upon to perform, and from its peculiar character, and the promptitude with which it is required to be published, is about the most expensive. Returns lately prepared by order of the House, give all the details of expenditure incurred in its publication during the past two years. In these Returns the expenses are shown under the following heads, which, omitting details, I give below:—

The increase in the expenses last year are attributable to three causes —Firstly, the difficulty of procuring an efficient Reporting Staff, which resulted in Members' corrections being much heavier than would otherwise have been necessary ; secondly, the exceptionally heavy character of the debates ; and thirdly, the extension of the Session to nearly a fortnight longer than during the previous year. The time occupied in making corrections in Members'' speeches last year was 2,719 hours, representing in value £226 lis. Bd. This expense will, however, be somewhat reduced this Session, the corrections being lighter than in previous years —a fact which is due in a great measure to the improvement which has taken place in the composition of the Reporting Staff. Among the works proposed to be issued during the present year, is a second edition of Judge Johnston's " Justice of the Peace," the legislation of the last few years having rendered it necessary to make extensive alterations, both in the text of the work and in the formulary. It is proposed to divide its publication into two parts, the first of which, it is thought, will be ready for issue by the beginning of next year. The Return showing the amount of work performed during the year for the several Departments of the Public Service requires perhaps a few words of explanation in order to its being correctly understood. With reference to the " number of copies printed " it is necessary to observe that while a single page is called one copy, a large Parliamentary Paper or Bill, containing a number of pages, is also called one copy. In like manner the amount placed opposite each Department, as the charge for the printing of that particular Department during the year, shows the approximate cost only, and it is arrived at in this way : —For such works as Gazettes, Journals, Appendices, Statutes, and Statistics, a uniform charge is made, whether the page be intricate tabular work, or a heavy small-type page of solid matter. A similar rule is applied in charging for all departmental forms according to size, without regard to the type in which they may be set, or the amount of work they may contain. The Return shows the number of pages " set up" during the year to be 10,652 ; the "number of copies printed " —including every distinct publication, from a single page to the most voluminous Return presented to Parliament —as 2,956,917 ; the value of the work, estimated on the basis above given, £10,503 2s. lid. The monthly average value of work performed during the year was £875 ss. 3d., while the monthly average of salaries paid during the same period was £607 10s. The number of men and boys, by whom this work has been performed, averaged thirty-eight throughout the year. It may be interesting to show the several branches or departments into which the staff is divided. I have therefore prepared Table C, appended to this Report, showing

Table B.

Table C.

1867-8. 1868-9. Reporting Staff Printing Paper Binding £ s. d. 940 11 7 1,008 2 4 233 3 4 343 6 8 £ s. d. 1,291 12 9 1,070 19 11 279 15 9 440 0 0 Less receipts £2,525 3 11 81 18 11 £3,082 8 5 80 0 11 Totals £2,443 5 0 £3,002 7 G