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1920. NEW ZEALAND.

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (ANNUAL REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1920.

T/aid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave.

Sir, — Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 30th September, 1920. I have the honour to submit herewith the animal report of the. Department for the year ended :)lst March, 1920. I have, &C, J. HisiiOP, tJnder-Seerefcary. The Hon. (t, J, Anderson, Minister of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

EEPORT. WOn X O F TH E YE A 1, , . Passports and Permits. The establishment of the Permit Branch of the Department was necessitated by the war, principally to assist in carrying out the provisions of the Military Service Act and to conserve the man-power of the Dominion. By an arrangement with Canada, Australia, and British possessions in (he Pacific, permits were accepted in the place of passports to enable persons of British nationality to travel between those places and New Zealand. As a special war precaution it was provided by regulation that persons over the age of fifteen years entering the Dominion from countries other than the British possessions in the Pacific should be in possession of a passport issued within two years of arrival and vised by a British representative in the country of issue. A similar requirement has been adopted by all other nations, so that entry into almost any country in the world is contingent upon the possession of a passport, and, as pointed out in my last annual report, the issue in New Zealand of passports must be continued as long as they are demanded by other countries. With the steady return of shipping to its normal condition the arrivals and departures have increased, the Passport Branch being taxed accordingly. The number of people visiting Great Britain, the Continent of Europe, and other countries has been naturally great after the removal of restrictions placed upon travel during the war, and for the period ended 31si March, 1920, 4.f>20 passports were issued, as against L,lOB granted in the previous twelve months. Registration op Aliens Act, 1917. The Government Statistician's report gives the registration figures at 8,581 at the 31st March, 1920. Tliis Act, though the necessity for it was first made apparent by the war, is a permanent enactment, and adequate provision for its administration as such has been carefully made. In the, future it will be of great value not only for the purpose of keeping touch with the foreign population of the Dominion, and the preparation, as required, of statistics in connection therewith, but as affording means of inquiry to those Departments which are directly charged under other Acts with functions in respect of aliens. The naturalization functions of this Department under the Aliens Act, 1908, are a case in point.

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