H.—ll.

XXVIII

a day; boys employed at milking, £1 a week and found; carpenters and stone-masons, 12s. per day; carters, £2 10s. to £3 a week. Harvest is now over, and good crops and fair prices are causing the district to improve—in fact, it is at present in a more flourishing condition than it has been for years. About thirty new houses have been erected in the town for the last year. I have, &c, Thomas O'Geady, E. Tregear, Esq., Secretary for Labour, Wellington. Inspector of Factories.

INVERCARGILL. fc>iß> — Department of Labour, luvercargill, 11th April, 1905. I have the honour to submit my report for the year ending the 31st March, 1905. Gbnebal. It is my pleasing duty to have to report another prosperous year, not only for the workers but for the community generally. In reviewing the past year it is impossible to get away from the fact that very substantial progress has been made in nearly every part of Southland. Trade has been well maintained, and during the greater part of the year employment has been plentiful indeed, during the summer months it was often impossible to get men, although many were constantly arriving from Australia. At no part of the year has it been necessary to put men on io co-operative works —in fact, I have not put a man on Government works for relief purposes for over two years. Private employers have availed themselves of the opportunity of getting men from this office more than in previous years. The building trade has been very brisk, especially in Invercargill, Gore, and Bluff, and there is every appearance of it continuing so for some time to come. At present there is a considerable number of large brick buildings in course of erection, and I understand that contracts have been let for several others. A large brick warehouse is to be pulled down to make room for an entrance to an arcade, which is to run from Esk Street to Tay Street —that means, of course, that a large amount of building is contemplated. Many first-class dwellinghouses have been erected, and there are many others still in course of erection, and yet people looking for a house have considerable difficulty in finding one. The iron trade has been busy, and both the number of hands employed and the amount of overtime worked show an increase on last year's returns. Plumbers and tinsmiths have had a busy year, and there is an increase in the number of hands employed. This, of course, is due to the activity in the building, trade. The boot trade has been very steady ; there has been practically no lost time through slackness of trade, and there has been very little overtime. The clothing trade has been busy, though owing to the late season there was not so much overtime worked by either dressmakers or tailoresses as in the previous year. Still, a good number of them worked the full amount allowed by law. The flax-milling industry has made very rapid progress. The number of mills has increased and the output of dressed fibre has also increased, but I am afraid this state of things cannot continue much longer as the flax is getting scarce, and, as the mills cut out their area of flax, it is becoming very difficult to find another payable site on which to place the mill. The Factories Act. There are 254 factories and workrooms registered here, employing 1,955 persons—viz., 1,572 males and 383 females. All these figures show an increase on last year's returns. Eleven accidents were reported and inquired into. One was fatal. This occurred in a sawmill; a piece of timber fell on the back of the saw, and was hurled back at the benchman with such force that it broke his jaw and fractured his skull. He died a few hours afterwards. Four were serious—one young man lost his hand in a flax-scutcher, two lost a finger each in the pinions of flax-strippers, and one lost an eye in a foundry. The other six were comparatively slight. The fatal accident and three of those classed as serious occurred in mills registered in the country districts, as did also one of the slight ones, though in no case could the machinery be classed as dangerous; however, in order to prevent accidents as far as possible, I now insist on all pinions being guarded. Permits under section 26 were issued to 21 boys and 17 girls. The amount of overtime worked by males was 11,756 J hours, and by females 7,821 \ hours. This Act works very smoothly and there is not much difficulty in enforcing its provisions. I had one prosecution. Two charges were laid for making false entries in wage-book. It was a very bad case, and the full penalty, £20 and costs, was imposed on one charge; on the other the defendant was convicted and discharged. Shops and Offices Act. Up to the present I have had very little trouble in enforcing the main provisions of this Act. Servants' Registry Offices Act. There are seven registry offices here. They are well conducted and give very little trouble.