D.—l

3

The debit balance of £8,798, shown under Part I. in the above table, will be extinguished by the transfer of a sum of about' £10,000 from Part 11. of the fund for Native land purchases within the area mentioned in the Schedule to the North Island Main Trunk Railway Loan Application Act Amendment Bill, which have already been defrayed out of Part I. of the fund, but which will be transferred to Part 11. on the Bill becoming law The expenditure on all works and services throughout the colony under the Public Works Fund up to the 31st March last, including the purchase of the provincial and district railways, has amounted to a total sum of £28,379,541, the principal items being as follows, viz Railways, £15,362,110, roads, £3,604,925, immigration, £2,145,967, public buildings, £1,815,577, purchase of Native lands, £1,248,875, lighthouses, harbour works, and harbour defences, £889,165 , defence purposes generally, £429,719 , telegraph extension, £634,421, waterworks on goldfields, £513,358, cost of, and discount on, raising loans, &c, £1,021,472 , and departmental, £359,965. DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION. As mentioned m my Public Works Statement last year, considerable reductions have been made in the departmental staff, and a great saving has thereby been effected. This reduction in the number of the officers necessarily entailed a large amount of additional work on the part of those retained, so much so, indeed, that I have at times had some doubt as to whether, in making the reductions referred to, I had not gone too far I am pleased, however, to say that the officers retained have fully justified the selection made, and the work has been performed in a highly creditable manner, and that no further changes m the staff are necessary at present. On account of the largely increased amount of work now performed by most of the officers, and also on account of the retirement of a number of senior and

Part I. Part II. Total. Cash balances on 31st March, 1892 Credit from surplus revenue and Government Loans to Local Bodies Act Probable recoveries during the year £ 299,578 £ 276,977 £ 576,555 250 000 2 000 250,000 2,000 Amount proposed for actual expenditure during 1892-93 551,578 276,977 828,555 501,621 160,144 661 765 Estimated cash balances on 31st March, 1893, available for expenditure after that date 49,957 116,833 166,790 Part I. Part II. Total. Cash balances on the 31st March, 1892 Credit from surplus revenue and Government Loans to Local Bodies Act Probable recoveries during the year. £ 299,578 £ 276,977 £ 576,555 250,000 2,000 250,000 2,000 Total appropriation proposed for expenditure during 1892-93, and to cover liabilities at end of year 551 578 276,977 828,555 560,376 218,840 779,216 Estimated balance on the 31st March, 1893, available for future appropriation Dr 8,798 58,137 49,339