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Overtime warrants were issued to 17 employers, to work 119 women and boys 2,037 hours. Certificates of fitness were issued to 12 boys and 16 girls. Twelve accidents were reported, two of a very serious nature, but uone fatal. There was one prosecution under the Factories Act against a Chinaman, for being the occupier of an unregistered factory, a nonsuit being entered against the Department. The Factories Act works well in the district, and it is my pleasant duty to report that friction between employers and workers is almost unknown. Machinery is well guarded, and all the conditions of the Act complied with. Shopcs and Offices Act. This Act works smoothly in Wanganui, and has made very little difference to either shopkeepers or assistants. Very little overtime is worked, as employers strain a point to do as much stocktaking as possible during the day in preference to paying the overtime rate. During the year 10 shopkeepers employed 40 assistants to work 621 hours. There was one prosecution under this Act for refusing to allow assistants the weekly half-holiday. A conviction was recorded and penalty inflicted. Servants' Registry Offices Act. Eight licenses have been issued during the period under review. The offices are all conducted in a satisfactory manner. Shearers' Accommodation Act. In this district most of the shearing is done by local hands, who return to their homes in the evening. No complaints have reached me, and I have every reason to believe that everything is satisfactory. Labour. During the summer months work in all branches was plentiful, but in the autumn between harvest and bushfelling seasons very little was doing. Men willing to go to bushfelling found steady employment right through the winter. The building trade was very quiet during the winter months, but improved considerably in the spring. Everything considered, the workers of this district have had a fairly successful year. I have, &c, W. McQuarters, Inspector. E. Tregear, Esq., Chief Inspector of Factories, Wellington.

PALMERSTON NORTH. Sir, — Department of Labour, Palmerston North, sth April, 1905. I have the honour to submit my annual report for the year ending the 31st March. Factories. I have registered 206 factories during the year, as against 165 for the previous year, an increase of 41, showing a steady growth in the business of the town. 1,052 males and 223 females were employed. Certificates of fitness to work in factories have been granted to 4 boys and 10 girls under sixteen years of age. Overtime warrants were granted to 172 persons, who worked 1,944 hours. There were two prosecutions under the Factories Act during the year —one for failing to keep an overtime-book, and a record of employees under twenty years of age; the other for not observing the half-holiday. In both cases (ines, with costs, were inflicted. Servants' Registry Offices Act. Two new offices were registered during the year, while four were cancelled. There are now six offices doing business, &nd all are conducted in a satisfactory manner. No complaints Have been received. Accidents. There were eight accidents reported during the year, none of the cases being of a very serious nature. Shearers' Accommodation. Of the forty sheds visited by me last year all but two employ less than the number of shearers requiring inspection, and, as these small sheds are worked by small farmers who live near by on their own holdings, little accommodation is required. The two larger sheds have ample accommodation. Shops and Shop-assistants Act. Thirty-seven females worked 241 hours' overtime, and 11 males worked 110 hours. The Act is working smoothly, and no difficulty has been experienced in carrying out its provisions. There have been no prosecutions for infringement of any of the provisions of the Act, while employers and employees alike appreciate the half-holiday. I have, &c, H. H. Knowles, Inspector of Factories. E. Tregear, Esq., Chief Inspector of Factories, Wellington.

visions.

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