H.—ll

16

Ninety-nine prosecutions were taken, forty-six for using or being in possession of unstamped or unjust appliances, and fifty-three for various other breaches of the Act and regulations; total penalties, £154 17s. The total fees collected during the year were £3,942 18s. 5d., as compared with £2,726 Bs. sd. last year and £574 the previous year, which last were, however, under a former (lower) scale. The increase in the volume of inspections and reverification work during the year is largely due to the more efficient organization of the work by the Inspectors, and the better understanding of the Act and regulations by the owners of appliances. As nearly as possible an annual inspection of all appliances is made in the sixteen principal towns where the Inspectors are stationed, and the country districts are attended to when the general inspection of factories and shops in those districts is being carried out. As stated above, owners of appliances within ten miles of the Inspectors' offices are required by the regulations to submit their appliances annually for reverification, whilst owners outside these radii are not bound to do so unless the appliances have been altered or adjusted. This position is somewhat illogical, as the purchasers and the traders in the country are equally entitled to protection ; it is hoped to gradually extend the inspection to the whole Dominion. In regard to the sale of coal, coke, and firewood, the amendment of 1922 made it an offence to sell these goods short of the weights purported to be sold, whether or not the weighing-appliances are correct; in regard to other commodities the Act applies only to the weighing and measuring instruments used. The inspections relating to the sale of coal, &c., as referred to last year, have evidently resulted in more correct weights being given, as very few breaches have since been found ; coal-dealers generally have obtained satisfactory appliances. More effective measures are desirable to protect the public from unscrupulous sellers. I recommended last year that measures similar to those adopted in New South Wales, South Africa, and other countries be adopted here —for example, to make it an offence not only to use incorrect or unsatisfactory weighing or measuring appliances, but also to sell or deliver any goods short of the weight or quantity purported to be sold. During the year twenty-four appliances presenting novel features were submitted for approval in accordance with clause 5 of the regulations, which requires that this course shall be followed before such appliances shall be used for trade purposes ; twenty-two were approved as being of a pattern such as would not facilitate fraud, and two were rejected. The reciprocal arrangement with other countries that was instituted last year at our suggestion has been continued, particulars of new legislation, regulations, and orders having been issued and received from time to time ; the information so obtained from the British Board of Trade in this respect has proved very valuable. LEAD POISONING. This matter has received further attention during the year, and much additional information on the subject has been gathered. lam unable to report, however, that any great move forward has yet been made in any country regarding the use of white-lead. The Lead Paints (Protection against Poisoning) Bill promoted by the Labour Government in Britain last year did not pass the House. This Bill proposed to adopt the recommendation of the International Labour Conference that the use of white-lead for internal work be prohibited. In connection with this Bill Sir Thomas Olliver, who is a recognized authority in England on the subject of white-lead, stated that while lead dust will always be more or less a danger and a menace to health, the opportunities of lead doing any harm can be so much reduced that trades which were formerly called dangerous can now be followed when due attention is paid to personal cleanliness and regulations rigidly followed, without the risks to health of three or four decades ago. As an example he states that by the observance of regulations plumbism has practically disappeared from the north of England. Following upon the information obtained as above referred to, it was decided at your direction to call a conference of representatives of manufacturers, importers, master painters, and workers employed in painting as well as in paint-factories, to consider proposed rules on the subject. This conference was held in March last, and was presided over by myself. The proposals were, after some alteration, agreed upon by the conference, and are now being finally revised. As it is found that regulations may be made under the Public Health Act without the necessity of legislation, the issue of regulations is in the hands of the Health Department. Meanwhile further endeavours have been made by several firms in New Zealand to produce and put upon the market substitutes for carbonate of lead that might be regarded as non-poisonous—for example, normal sulphate of lead and zinc compounds. At the request of the Department, tests of some of these have been made by Government experts, but, as a considerable period must elapse before the effect is seen, the tests are not yet complete; so far as they have gone, however, the results of the tests are given below. At the present time the production or manufacture of lead compounds for paint does not exist to any great extent in the Dominion ; the compounds are usually imported either in paste or in powder form. The manufacture of these compounds in New Zealand would produce an added risk of lead poisoning to those engaged in the process, as it is admitted that even in the manufacture of so-called non-poisonous lead compounds the risk of lead poisoning exists up to a certain stage, though the risk may not be so great as in the case of ordinary white-lead (or carbonate qf lead). For the test with zinc compounds three new cottages erected side by side about fifteen