D.—l

XXVII

The following table shows the amount expended during the year ended 31st March, 1930, on new buildings, additions, sites, and teachers' residences :— £ Primary schools .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 253,636 Secondary schools.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 78,438 Technical schools .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32,593 Training colleges .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10,984 Universities .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 800 Native schools .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,068 Schools for feeble-minded .. .. .. .. .. .. 2,999 Child-welfare institutions .. .. .. .. .. .. 9,995 Kindergartens .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,107 Massey Agricultural College .. .. .. .. .. 45,304 Canterbury Agricultural College .. .. .. .. .. 6,961 Total .. .. .. .. .. ... £443,885 TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS. The net capital expenditure for the year was £20,547, as against £39,254 for the previous year. For this year a vote of £60,000 is proposed. The principal works undertaken were the rebuilding of Glade House, Te Anau, which was destroyed by fire ; the purchase of a new launch for Waikaremoana ; track and suspension bridge, Fox Glacier; and the reconstruction of the Pavilion Baths at Rotorua. The former will be completed this year and will be a great improvement on the old building both from the medical and recreational points of view. TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. The expenditure for the financial year in extending and improving the telephone, telegraph, and wireless facilities throughout the Dominion amounted to £594,383. Of the works upon which capital expenditure was incurred during the year the following were the more important: The installation of carrier-current telephone systems between Auckland and Hamilton, Auckland and Rotorua, Hamilton and Palmerston North (Auckland-Wellington link), Palmerston North and Napier, Palmerston North and Hawera, Palmerston North and Wellington, Wellington and Seddon, Seddon and Christchurch ; the erection of new metallic circuits between Auckland and Waiuku, Palmerston North and Pahiatua, Blenheim and Seddon, Seddon and Ward, Invercargill and Riverton ; the laying of submarine telephone cable across Auckland Harbour and across Onahau Bay (Queen Charlotte Sound) : the installing of toll dialling-circuits between Palmerston North and Wellington ; the opening of new exchanges at Kerikeri and Mossburn ; the installation in thirtyeight exchanges of additional switching-equipment for 6,636 exclusive lines and 504 party lines ; the establishment of seventy new public call offices (coin-in-the-slot telephones) ; the laying of 1,242 chains of underground telephone-ducts and 7,884 chains of underground cable ; the erection of 2,837 chains of overhead cable ; the erection of 830 miles of pole-line and 8,357 miles of open wire ; and the connection of 12,781 new subscribers' stations. The most important matter, so far as the extension and improvement of long-distance-telephone facilities throughout the Dominion is concerned, was the extension of the carrier-current system of telephony. During the year this mode of communication was extended by the installation of carrier equipment as follows : Auckland-Hamilton —-One additional single-channel system ; Auckland-Rotorua— One single-channel system ; Hamilton - Palmerston North —One three-channel system ; Palmerston North - Napier, Palmerston North - Hawera, Wellington - Palmerston North, Wellington-Seddon, and Seddon-Christchurch—One singlechannel system. The immediate effect of these installations has been to extend considerably the range of toll communication to relieve the congestion of traffic between certain large centres, and to increase substantially the efficiency of the long-distance toll network. Practically all the principal centres in New Zealand, from Dunedin in the south, to Auckland in the north, are now in telephonic communication at all hours of the day