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Cinematograph Theatres The parliamentary Committee which, as mentioned in the previous report, was set up to investigate various phases of operation of the motion-picture industry commenced its sittings in June. 80 voluminous was the evidence offered the Committee that it was not able to complete its inquiries in the year under review, and adjourned. It is understood that the Committee proposes to resume its sittings before the next session of Parliament. Applications for licences to exhibit 16 mm. commercial entertainment film have continued to come in in substantial numbers. This factor in itself has. thrown a heavier strain than normal on the staff of the Branch. Many of the problems raised by such applications have been complex, and in certain cases what may appear to be inordinately long delays in coming to decisions have of necessity occurred. Despite this, a considerable number of applications was determined during the year, and questions of grant of licences are being handled as expeditiously as is practicable having regard to the extensive inquiries which often have to be made into particular applications. r XVI. RAFFLES AMD ART-UNIONS Five hundred and eighty-three licences under the authority of section 42 of the Gaming Act, 1908, were issued during the year. Of these, 320 were for works of art and 263 for amounts of alluvial gold, only 6 being in excess of £5O. In addition, 13 licences were issued in respect of the regular £5,000 alluvial gold art-unions, the aggregate result of these being as follows : £ Gross sales . .. .. .. .. 286,494 Commission on sales .. .. .. .. 42,974 Expenses .. .. .. .. .. 31,948 Prizes .. .. .. .. 65,000 Lottery duty .. .. .. .. 28,649 Net profit .. .. .. .. . . 117,923 . . Of the net profit, £39,468 was distributed to various Mayoral and other recognized central relief of distress funds, £30,385 to charitable and philanthropic organizations, £11,419 to children's health camps, and £3,500 to Patriotic Funds. XVII. PASSPORTS New passports totalling 6,540 were issued, and 292 renewals were granted where the traveller was already in possession of a passport. During the year, authority for the issue and renewal of New Zealand passports was granted to the High Commissioner for New Zealand at Canberra and to the ConsulGeneral of New Zealand at San Francisco. XVIII. NATURALIZATION, NATIONALITY, AND CITIZENSHIP The law relating to British nationality was radically changed by the passing of the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act, 1948, which came into force on Ist January, 1949. This statute is founded on the agreement reached in 1947 between Commonwealth countries that each country was to enact its own citizenship law defining what classes of persons were its citizens, and to declare its willingness to accept the citizens of other Commonwealth countries, as well as its own, as British subjects. Thus a common code of British nationality still exists throughout the Commonwealth, but it is now based on the regional status of citizenship.

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