H.—l9

10

Maintenance of Troops in the Field. —Included in the " general expenditure " above is the sum of £14,369,720 10s. 3d. for per capita charges paid to the War Office for maintenance of New Zealand troops in the field, based on average charges per head to cover food, clothing, ammunition, &c, in spheres as follows : — . £ s. d. Gallipoli campaign, April, 1915, to December, 1915 .. .. 596,304 6 0 Egypt, Ist January, 1916, to 31st March, 1919 .. .. 888,690 9 0 France, 11th April, 1916, to 30th April, 1919 .. .. 6,921,710 5 0 France, gun ammunition, April, 1916, to 11th November, 1918 5,703,702 14 3 Mesopotamia, April, 1916, to October, 1918 .. .. .. 10,413 12 0 Troops passing through Egypt, April-November, 1918 .. 6,030 14 0 Sea transport, 1915-16 — Egypt-Gallipoli .... .. .. .. 22,500 0 0 Gallipoli-Egypt .. .. .. .. .. 21,000 0 0 Egypt-France .. .. .. .. .. 177,476 0 0 Egypt-England .. .. .. .. .. 21,892 10 0 Grand total.. .. .. ..£14,369,720 10 3 Horses and other Animals. —The amount paid for purchase of horses in New Zealand and expenses incidental thereto was £216,309 18s. sd. The despatch of horses from New Zealand ceased in December, 1916, after that date they were drawn from Imperial supplies. For horses, mules, and donkeys drawn from Imperial supplies in Egypt, France, and the United Kingdom New Zealand's liability to the War Office was £237,864 6s. 9d., of which sum £55,764 lis. 6d. remains to be paid, final settlement having been delayed by negotiations regarding basis'of settlement. Credits due to New Zealand for animals handed over on demobilization, sold in United Kingdom and elsewhere, total £217,013 13s. lid., of which £105,121 14s. 6d. is still to be received from the War Office. For obvious reasons, owing to conditions existing in France, it was found impossible to effect settlement on "actual " figures as to issues, returns, and wastage of animals; and New Zealand, as well as the other overseas Governments, agreed that basis of settlement should be the cost of maintaining " animal " establishments based on the ascertained percentage wastage basis over the whole of the British Forces in France. This system had the advantage of not penalizing formations which, in consequence of their efficiency, were retained for longer periods in " lively " sectors, when, as a matter of course, losses of animals, and consequent demands on remount depots for replacements, would be heavier. This arrangement proved most satisfactory to New Zealand, because, had settlement been carried out on the actual figures as to remount issues to and receipts from New Zealand units in France, the cost to New Zealand would have been £45,989 more. Armies of Occupation. —Under Article 249 of the Peace Treaty, Part IX, the cost of the armies of occupation in German territory from date of signing of the armistice on the 11th November, 1918, is recoverable from the German Government. Under this article the amount claimed by New Zealand is £624,087 2s. lid. for cost of N.Z. Expeditionary Force Army of Occupation in Rhine territory, and £51,080 12s. lOd. in respect of Samoa. Customs Duty Rebates, United Kingdom. —The matter of Customs duties charged on foodstuffs, &c, shipped from New Zealand for use of New Zealand troops in United Kingdom, and on food-supplies purchased in the United Kingdom, was taken up with the Imperial Customs authorities in London in January, 1918, with the result that rebates totalling £54,942 ss. 6d. were obtained. Retrospective Allowances. —The claims to retrospective married and children's allowances have practically all been disposed of, but there are approximately 472 claims of widowed mothers and other dependants still to be dealt with. Progress with these is somewhat slow owing to considerable correspondence being necessary to obtain evidence to prove eligibility to the allowance. The payments of retrospective allowances up to the 31st March, 1921, were as follows : Additional married allowances, £548,683 14s. 3d. ; additional children's allowances, £306,245 Is. Id. ; additional widowed mothers' allowances and other dependants' allowances, £114,158 9s. 6d, War Gratuities. —Provision was made in the Military Service Amendment Act, 1920, for the extension of payment of deceased soldiers' gratuities under certain conditions to relatives who were not eligible under previous Acts. These cases involve considerable correspondence in gathering independent evidence to prove eligibility or otherwise of claimants, and after inquiries are completed a precis of each case is submitted to the War Pensions Board, which is the deciding authority. There are approximately four hundred of these cases still to be dealt with. During the past six months every effort has been made to trace discharged soldiers who had failed to apply for gratuities, with the result that the number unpaid and not applied for has been reduced to eighty-six. The number of applications dealt with and paid in New Zealand up to date is 94,119, while a further 2,000 have been paid by the Staff Paymaster in London. The total payments to the 31st March, 1921, were £5,591,262 19s. Id. Transport Accounts. —The gross amount paid to date for oversea transport of troops, including passage-money on Imperial-requisitioned and other liners, and cost of fitting, running, and reconditioning chartered transports and hospital ships, is £7,738,671 15s. Id. ; while credits to the extent of £400,526 10s. 7d. have been received for refunds on account of carriage of Imperial and other troops, sales of stores and fittings, temporary requisition by Imperial Government of certain New Zealand transports, &c. In addition to these credits', the sum of £178,714 18s. 2d. on account of freight earnings of New Zealand chartered transports was received and credited to Consolidated Fund. Owing to the release from Imperial requisition of oversea liners from the beginning of 1919, new arrangements covering the cost of repatriating the bulk of New Zealand troops had to be entered into with shipowners. These arrangements were the subject of exhaustive and lengthy negotiations between the shipowners on the one sideband the Ministry of Shipping and New Zealand and Australian Governments on the other. These negotiations, which included the fixing of new rates of passage-money, have practically been completed, but the important matter of allocating the cost of the final reconditioning of the vessels between the shipowners and the various Governments has still to be settled. Another important matter still under consideration in London is the fixing of new rates of passage-