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Local Bodies' Finance Act. —This Act is now working smoothly, and the only provisions which have given rise to any amount of work are sections 3 (5) and 7. The former section deals with the borrowing-powers of a local authority during its first year of existence, and has been exercised in a number of cases. The latter section empowers the Minister to authorize borrowing by a local authority under such exceptional circumstances as flood, earthquake, fire, or other accident, and this section has been widely used during the year on account of the several floods which occurred throughout the Dominion. War Memorials. —Three local bodies were authorized to erect and maintain war memorials under the powers given by section 15 of the Finance Act, 1919. By-Laws of Local Bodies. —As usual, a large number of by-laws of County Councils were approved by the Governor-General under section 109, Counties Act, 1920, and confirmed by the Minister under the By-laws Act, 1910. Public Bodies' Leases Act. —The Feilding Borough Council was declared a leasing authority under this Act. Designation of Districts Act. —Names were assigned to two districts, and the names of two districts were altered under this Act. Legislation. Motor-vehicles Act, 1924.—The most important Act affecting this Department passed during the 1924 session was the Motor-vehicles Act, which provided for the registration, licensing, and regulation of the use of motor-vehicles. The Act gave rise to considerable discussion throughout the whole of the Dominion, and a large volume of correspondence was conducted by the Department. The work of registering and licensing motors, and issuing number-plates, is being carried out by the Post and Telegraph Department, the Secretary of that Department having been appointed Registrar of Motorvehicles. Local authorities will, as hitherto, deal with the licensing of drivers of motor-vehicles. After the Act came into force action was immediately taken to issue regulations dealing with the more urgent matters, such as registration and licensing of motor-vehicles and licensing of drivers, and the issue of general regulations is now under consideration. Throughout consideration of the Bill it has been the policy of the Department to consult local authorities, motor unions, and others affected. Matters connected with the Act are all being very closely watched. The following report has been received from the Secretary, General Post Office, as Registrar of Motor-vehicles :— " I beg to submit a progress report on the work of registering and licensing motor-vehicles under the Motor-vehicles Act, 1924. " On the Ist January, 1925, the date on which the Act came into operation, everything was in readiness throughout the Dominion for the acceptance from motor-vehicle owners of applications for registration and licenses. Certificates of registration and licenses could not be issued at that juncture, however, as registration-jDlates, which require to accompany the issue of such documents, had not arrived. Owing to the short time available it was quite impossible to obtain registration-plates in the Dominion ; and it was necessary to obtain a supply from California. Pending the receipt of the plates from America, motorists were permitted to carry on with the old number-plates issued by local authorities. " The first batch of standard plates arrived in February ; but it was insufficient to cover the whole Dominion. At the time the plates were ordered it was impossible to ascertain even approximately how many would be required. Until the second batch of plates arrived, in April, motorists in the Postal Districts of Napier, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Timaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill were required to continue to use the plates issued by local authorities. All districts have now been supplied with standard plates ; and the police have been asked to challenge motorists using vehicles that have not attached a set of standard plates. " The plates obtained from America are quite satisfactory. The numbers and distinguishing marks are embossed ; the plates are distinctive in design and cannot easily be imitated. They are lettered in white on a background of green. The cost of the plates was such that, after paying freight, insurance, Customs duty, wharfage, handling, and other incidental charges, it was possible to sell the plates to motorists at the very reasonable price of 2s. a set. The quantity of plates obtained was as follows : -

" It will be necessary to place a further order for plates ; but the placing of this order is being delayed until such time as it is possible to estimate requirements up to the end of the present motorregistration year. " Between the Ist January and the time of receipt of the first batch of plates from America, temporary plates, painted locally, were issued to enable owners of new vehicles to put the vehicles on the road. Such vehicles, not having been registered by local authorities, had no number-plates under which to run. The number of new vehicles registered in January and February exceeded all

n , , n i t , Dealers Dealers Oar-plates. Ovcle-plates. n , n -> . r r Car-plates. Cycle-plates. First order .. .. .. 76,000 15,000 1,000 ' Second order .. .. .. 32,000 10,000 2,000 500 108,000 25,000 3,000 500