C.—l.

Accounts. Mr. H. J. Knowles, Chief Accountant, reports as follows : The number of vouchers authorised for payment, credit, or refund during the year was—- £ a. d. 5,375 charged to Lands and Survey vote, covering gross expenditure of ... 138,157 2 7 816 charged to Lands and Survey Miscellaneous vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... .. ... 11,156 9 2 278 charged to State Forests Account, covering gross expenditure of ... 4,002 9 7 5 charged to Immigration vote, covering gross expenditure 0f... ... ' 384 14 9 7,899 charged to Settlement Roads, Bridges, and other Public Works vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... 238,473 2 11 954 charged to Government Loans to Local Bodies Account, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... ... ... 31,399 12 10 3 charged to Cheviot Estate Account, covering gross expenditure of ... 8,917 5 6 607 charged to Land for Settlements Account, including Land for Settlements Expenses vote, covering gross expenditure of ... ... ... *374,148 6 9 67 charged to Civil Service Act, and General, covering gross expenditure of 2,376 9 4 133 charged to Refunds of Revenue, &c., covering gross refund of ... 12,486 7 9 35 charged to Refunds of Contractors' Deposits, covering gross refund of ... 429 0 3 16,172 £821,931 1 5 Details of the net expenditure will be found in the various tables on other pages. In addition, 198 credit vouchers for work done by the department, 539 applications for imprest advances, and about 1,700 outward letters, memoranda, returns, &c., have been dealt with or prepared. The very large amount of correspondence relative to the appropriations and many other matters has been considered, and the necessary action taken. A system of accounting for stores was started at the beginning of the year and kept up as regards fifteen storekeepers. The number of entries in the ledgers was 1,710. Four hundred and sixty-nine agreements (prepared in triplicate) have been issued, representing grants to local bodies of £77,315 17s. 7d.; and the payments under agreements amounted to £51,014 4s. 7d., including payments under agreements of previous years. The liabilities under all agreements with local bodies amounted to £101,978 12s. 7d. at 31st March, 1900. The following statement shows the liabilities for roads, bridges, &c., at 31st March, 1900

A detailed statement (119 pages) of the expenditure, liabilities, &c., in respect of each of the 1,858 separate appropriations, and a full statement from the commencement of the position of the Government Loans to Local Bodies Account, has been issued within the department quarterly, and the various authority and expenditure registers have been balanced as between themselves, and also with the Treasury books. t A large amount of work has been performed during the year in preparing returns for Parliament, and for departmental information, compilation of reports, statements and tables for the annual report, supplying information daily as to the condition of road and other accounts, preparation of Consolidated Fund, Public Works Fund, and other estimates under the direction of the head of the department, and general supervision of the accounts of the district offices. The comparative statement following shows to some extent how the yearly increase of work in the department affects this branch :

* Includes Laud for Settlements Department charges.

XX

District. Under Agreements. To Local Bodies. " Thirds " and " Fourths" in Deposit Account. Totals. Departmental. Grand Totals. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. a. £ s. d. £ s. d. Auckland 23,645 8 9 3,699 7 10 27,344 16 7 59,688 10 9 87,033 7 4 Hawke's Bay ... 9,344 0 4 4,516 2 2 13,860 2 6 16,507 7 10 30,367 10 4 Taranaki 5,196 18 11 5,356 11 7 10,553 10 6 17,362 18 10 27,916 9 4 Wellington 14,254 2 6 18,127 11 11 32,381 14 5 47,726 16 5 80,108 10 10 Nelson 7,173 8 8 1,291 14 0 8,465 2 8 2,168 18 3 10,634 0 11 Marlborough ... 3,602 2 2 293 16 8 3,895 18 10 10,713 0 1 14,608 18 11 Westland 3,018 8 6 51 2 1 3,069 10 7 7,995 18 5 11,065 9 0 Canterbury 4,750 18 0 . 1,119 0 7 5,869 18 7 6,577 11 7' 12,447 10 2 Otago 14,618 11 11 3,770 2 7 18,388 14 6 10,897 10 3 29,286 4 9 Southland 15,478 12 10 1,511 14 1 16,990 6 11 14,166 10 4 31.156 17 3 General . . 896 0 0 896 0 0 5,932 3 10 6,828 3 10 Totals 101,978 12 7 39,737 3 6 141,715 16 1 199,737 6 7 341,453 2 8