7

H.—lB

Fobfeited Instalments. The old-age-pension instalments due last year and remaining unpaid on the 31st March totalled £1,805 19s. lid., of which amount £1,775 14s. lid. represents absolutely forfeited instalments on which there is no further claim, the balance of £30 ss. being instalments the payment of which is in abeyance. The instalments not collected within the time allowed by law, but subsequently specially authorized and paid during the year, numbered 881, representing a total of £1,757 18s. sd. The absolutely forfeited instalments are as follows : — : :, i. £ s. d. 1912—April ... ... ... ... ... ... 150 19 4 May ... ... ... ... ... ... 138 14 2 June ... ... ... ... ... ... 147 1 0 July ... ... ... ... ... ... 129 5 7 August ... ... . ... ... ... ■ •■ 155 9 9 September ... ... ... ... , ... 178 7 1 October ... ... ... ... ... ... 119 3 0 November ... ... ... ... ... 137 17 2 December ... ... ... ... ... 162 5 0 1913—January ... ... ... ... ... ... 147 19 7 February ... ... ... ... ... ... 154 2 11 March ... ... ... ... ... ... 154 10 4 Total ... ... ... ... ... £1,775 14 11 Instalments of widows' pensions forfeited during the year totalled £64 10s. The total of instalments of military pensions forfeited was £14 15s. Homes and Hospitals. The amount paid to the controlling bodies of the various homes and hospitals during the year totalled £22,534 135., an increase of £1,122 on the amount paid in the previous year. The amount includes £269 11s. Bd. paid on account of military pensioners. £1,731 17s. 6d. of the total represents the charge made for the medical treatment of 41 pensioners in hospitals. The number of pensioners paying for maintenance at the end of the year was 858, being an increase of 40 on the number at the end of the previous year. Full particulars regarding these payments, including the amount allowed to pensioners out of each month's instalment, appear in Table XV of the appendix. The decrease in the annual expenditure on outdoor relief since the Old-age Pensions Act came into force in 1898 is indicated by the following table :■ — European Annual Cost of Coat per Head Population. Outdoor Relief. of Population. £ s. d. Year ended 31st March, 1899 ... ... 746,676 50,850 1 4J 1900 758,617 41,790 1 1| 1901 ... ... 772,719 42,181 1 1 1902 ... ... 789,994 38,934 0 llf 1903 ... ... 814,842 43,421 1 Of 1904 ... ... 838,954 42,618 1 0| 1905 ... ... 864,971 40,799 0 11J 1906 ... ... 889,968 39,547 0 10£ 1907 ... ... 913,873 38,305 010 1908 ... ... 937,587 33,998 0 8f 1909 ... ... 968,313 37,537 0 9J 1910 ... ... 987,480 38,988 0 9|--1911 ... ... 1,008,468 33,051 0 7f 1912 1,031,500 34,171 0 7f 1913 ... ... 1,061,748 (Figures not available.) Mental Hospitals. The number of old-age pensioners maintained in the mental hospitals of the Dominion during the year was 119, the percentage to the total number of pensioners whose names appeared on the roll during the same period — i.e., 18,721 —being 064 per cent. The instalments paid to the Mental Hospitals Department on account of these totalled £1,816 3s. 7d., and the number still being maintained at the end of the year was 79.