3

¥.— 9

The total claims lodged since the Act came into operation now number 39,316. Of these, 30,034 have'jbeen granted, and 51 .per cent, of the latter are still in force. It may be noted that, whereas the number of claims lodged during the'year totalled 2,892. the. European population who became eligible by age and residence during the year, being those who were sixty-one years of age and resident twenty-one years in' April, r *1906, as shown by the Registrar-General's report the census of that year already quoted, only numbered 2,886. It is not intended that this should indicate that the whole of tlio latter have found it necessary to apply for the pension, for the new applicants in each year must, and do always, include a considerable number of people who were eligiblejby age and residence in previous years ; but it will, however, serve to show the tendency there is (already referred to) to make early application for participation in the scheme. The usual assistance has been rendered to applicants in securing the necessary evidence of age. Of the total number of applicants during the year — i.e., 2,892 —no less than 874 were unable to prove their ages ; and, as a result of the inquiries made by Head Office in these cases, 517 were enabled to get their pensions, while 142 were found to be short of the pension-age. In 146 cases no evidence could be traced, and in the remaining 69 replies from outside the Dominion are still awaited. The new pensioners include 90 members of the Native race. Of the remainder, 2,109 are of British extraction, including 66 whites born in New Zealand. Further particulars regarding the claims made and the new pensions granted appear in the appendix (Tables 4, 5, and 6). Annual Payments. The «ross payments made on account of pensions during the year totalled £362,495 11s., being £25,735 14s. 10d. in excess of the payments of the previous year. After making allowance for payments not passed through the accounts on account of some informality, and also for refunds of pensions overpaid, the net charge against the Consolidated Fund was £362,195 165., to which has been applied a credit of £20,142 12s. 7d., being revenue from the endowment lands. The net increase in the cost for the year accordingly stands at £5,521 Is. 10d. The total now paid since the Act came into operation has reached the sum of £2,767,011. The distribution of the year's payments in the various parts of the Dominion is indicated by the following table : — Postal District. Number. Amount. I 8. cl. Auckland .. .. .. .. .. 36,982 75,116 2 2 Thames .. .. .. .. .. 6,503 13,565 LO L 0 Giebome .. .. .. .. .. 1,369 2.587 2 I Napier .. .. .. .. .. (i,4 71 13,038 1 6 New Plymouth .. .. .. .. 3,091 6,260 11 7 Wanganui .. .. .. .. .. 5,324 11,091 1 2 Wellington .. .. .. .. 17,831 36,107 8 I Nelson .. .. .. .. .. 3,636 7,359 7 1 Blenheim .. .. .. .. .. 2,007 1,126 1 0 ChristchuTch .. .. .. .. 29,468 00,183 13 7 Timaru .. .. .. .. .. 6,783 13,574 Oil Greyniouth .. .. .. .. 6,290 1:..2115 H) 0 Hokitika .. .. .. .. .. 6,432 13,591 9 1(1 Westport .. .. .. .. .. 3,439 7.267 2 X Oamaru .. .. .. .. .. 3,747 7,640 18 8 Dunedin .. .. .. .. .. 27,304 54,653 :S 7 FnvercarKill .. .. .. .. 11,162 23,038 5 9 177,839 362,495 11 (I The following table shows the gross amount paid since the Ad came into force, together with bhe coxi per head of the population (exclusive of Maoris) in eaoh year : Gross Payments Population Cost per on Account of at End of Head of Pensions. Year. Population. £ s. d. Three months ended 31st March, 1899 (at £18) 3,124 746,676 0 1 Year ended 31st March, 1900 (at £18) ... 157,342 758,617 I I 1901 „ ... 197,292 772,719 5 I 1902 „ ... 207,468 789,994 5 3 1903 „ ... 210,140 814,842 -j -j 1904 „ ... 203,164 838,954 4 10 1905 „ ... 195,475 864,971 1 6 1906 (at £18 and £26)... 254,367 889,968 5 8 1907 (at £26) ... 314,184 913,873 6 10 1908 „ ... 325,199 937,587 6 11 1909 „ ... 336,760 968,313 6 11 1910 „ ... 362,496 987,480 7 4* Total ... ... ... £2,767,011 • Reduced to Us. lid. if the net payments arcs taken.