F.—l.

The success of the scheme is due largely to the co-operation received from teachers, and, in recognition of this, donations ranging from 10s. to £2 10s., according to the size of the school, were granted during the year to School Committees for expenditure on school libraries or other approved forms of school activity. Since the inception of the scheme in 1934 the sum of £16,330 13s. has been transferred from school savings accounts to Post Office Savings-bank accounts opened in the names of the children. SAVINGS-BANK LETTERS OF CREDIT. Letters of credit numbering 7,763 were issued during the year for an aggregate amount of £146,543. The letter-of-credit system enables Post Office Savings-bank depositors to make withdrawals by instalment up to a total sum of £50 in a period of four weeks at any branch of the bank. In this way depositors, while travelling in the Dominion, are relieved of the responsibility of carrying cash in excess of that required to meet their immediate expenses. POST OFFICE INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES. The total sales of Post Office investment certificates for the year amounted to £20,945. WORK PERFORMED FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS. The volume of work performed by the Department on behalf of other Government Departments continues to expand. The total sum handled in this respect during the year amounted to approximately £62,000,000, an increase of about £9,000,000 on the previous year's total. Registration of Motor-vehicles and Associated Work. Motor-vehicles licensed at the 31st March last numbered 305,828, an increase of 27,478, or 9-87 per cent., over the number licensed at the corresponding date in 1938. Registrations of motor-cars during the year —namely, 28,937 —were lower by 900, or 3-01 per cent., than those effected during the previous year. Commercial vehicle registrations reached a new high level, the total being 10,862, compared with the previous highest total of 10,413 for the year 1937-38, an increase of 449, or 4-31 per cent. Motor-cycle registrations, which numbered 2,233, showed a decline of 785, or 26-01 per cent., compared with the registrations during the preceding year. Notifications of change of ownership totalled 164,265, compared with 150,290 for the previous year, an increase of 13,975, or 9-3 per cent. Approximately 15,000 applications for duplicate certificates of registration were issued. The total amount of registration fees collected was £592,763, an increase of £48,758 compared with the previous year. Detailed statistics concerning the work undertaken by the Post and Telegraph Department in connection with the registration and licensing of motor-vehicles appear in the report of the Transport Department. Premiums were oollected during the year on behalf of forty insurance companies authorized to underwrite business in terms of the Motor-vehicles Insurance (Third-party Risks) Act, 1928. Approximately 310,000 nomination forms were handled. The gross amount of premiums collected was £357,006, an increase of £58,778 over the amount received during the preceding twelve months. A. total of 52,54-7 claims for refunds of duty on motor-spirits consumed otherwise than as fuel for licensed motor-vehicles were approved for payment during the year, the total amount refunded being £195,091 18s. 3d. Compared with the figures for the previous year the claims increased in number by 1,582 and in amount by £6,646. Mileage-tax (payable in respect of vehicles not propelled exclusively by means of motor-spirits and certain other vehicles exempted from other forms of taxation) collected during the year amounted to £14,184, in respect of 327 vehicles. In the previous year tax to the amount of £9,876 was collected on 276 vehicles. Employment Work. The registration levy and a large proportion of the employment charge on income, payable under the Employment Promotion Act, 1936, were paid through the Post Office. The Department also made the payments to those persons receiving allowances under the Act. Postmasters continued to act as certifying officers for the Employment Branch of the Labour Department. The employment receipts and payments for the year amounted to £8,008,354, made up as follows £ s. d. (a) Collection of registration levy .. .. . . .. 467,393 2 8 (b) Collection of employment charge .. .. .. 1,133,001 0 4 (c) Sales of employment stamps .. .. .. .. 1,558,575 9 9 (d) Wages-tax oollected in cash .. .. .. .. 1,262,414 3 0 (e) Wages and sustenance payments .. .. .. 3,586,970 5 4The Employment Promotion Act, 1936, was repealed by the Social Security Act, 1938, some of the provisions of which came into operation on the Ist April, 1939.

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