6

H.—lB

Widows' Pensions. —The gross payments under this head for the year were £22,114 11s. 4d. Deducting £5 for refund of overpaid instalments and £1 Bs. 4d. for a payment held up, the net charge against the Consolidated Fund is £22,108 3s. The gross payments in each year to date are as follows :— £ s. d. 1911-12 (two months) ... ... ... ••• •■• 1,963 1 5 1912-13 22,114 11 4 Total ... ... ... ■■■ ... £24,077 12 9 Military Pensions. —The payments made to the end of the year for this class of pension was £3,681 11s. Bd., being the instalments for four months, as follows: — £ s. d. December, 1912 ... ... •■■ •■• ■■■ 206 5 0 January, 1913 ... ... ... ... ■•• 646 18 4 February, 1913 ... ... ... ... ••• 1,304 13 4 March, 1913 ... ... ... •■• 1,523 15 0 £3,681 11 8 The following table shows the distribution of the year's payments under each head in the various parts of the Dominion : — _ , . _. , . , Old-age. Widows'. Military. Postal District £ £ £ J Auckland 87,162 4,161 1,610 Thames ... ... 13,732 706 279 Gisborne ... ... ... ... 3,271 227 58 Napier ... ... ... ... 15,796 816 389 New Plymouth ... ... ... ... 7,404 485 321 Wanganui ... ... ... ... 13,811 1,008 306 Wellington ... ... ... ... 45,829 3,012 342 Nelson ... ... ■■■ •■• 8,241 510 36 Blenheim ... ... ... ... 5,023 365 27 Christchurch ... ... ... ... 71,789 4,068 127 Timaru 17,149 742 15 Greymouth ... ... :.. ... 13,004 582 24 Hokitika ... ... ... ... 13,109 147 30 Westport . ... ... ... ... 6,764 421 9 Oamaru ... ; ... ... ... 8,231 319 30 Dunedin . ... ... ... ... 60,370 3,089 53 Invercargill ... ... ... ... 25,076 1,456 25 £415,761 £22,114 £3,681 Grand total, £441,556. Recoveries. The amount of overpaid pensions refunded and paid to the Public Account during the year totalled £873 os. 9d., as follows: Old-age, £868 os. 9d.; widows, £5. The total refunded to date now stands at £8,714, including £6 on account of widows' pensions. Cost of Administration. The cost under this head during the year amounted to £5,260 16s. 4d., the details being as follows : — £ s. d. Salaries ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4,526 12 4 Lodging-allowances ... ... ... ... ... 102 7 3 Non-permanent Postmasters for paying pensions ... ... 239 10 0 Fees for certificates of age ... ... ... ... ... 18 3 8 Interpreters' fees ... ... ... ... ... ... 700 Travelling-expenses ... ... ... .. .. 88 6 2 Printing and stationery ... ... ... ... ... 228 16 11 Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... ... 50 0 0 £5,260 16 4 Of the increase on the figures of the previous year—namely, £879 —£229 represents a new item for printing and stationery for the five months commencing on the Ist November, 1912. Ihe cost of this service was previously borne by the Printing and Stationery Department. The proportion of the total cost to the total amount paid in pensions during the year is 1"19 per cent. The total cost of administration to date is £60,824, the percentage to the gross payments of £4,000,180, being T5l per cent., as compared with T56 per cent, in 1912.