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Sess. 11.—1884. NEW ZEALAND.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING DEPARTMENT (REPORT ON) FOR 1883.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

■ Sib, — Government Printing Office, Wellington, 12th August, 1884. I have the honour to submit the following report on the operations of the Printing and ' Stationery Department for the year 1883. DEPARTMENTAL RETURNS. The following returns will be found appended to this report: (1) Balance-sheet of the department for the year 1883; (2) return of the printing and binding executed; (3) the number and classification of the employes; (4) the quantity and value of paper and parchment consumed; (5) the number and value of printers' accounts examined; (6) the value of printing and binding executed at the Lyttelton Gaol. The balance-sheet is given in detail, and affords full information under the respective heads of expenditure. It shows a satisfactory balance of £6,041 11s. 7d. to the credit of the department. The receipts from Gazette advertisements and subscriptions, and from sale of Government publications, amounted to £2,297 18s. 7d. The return of employes shows the number engaged in the department during each month in the year. It will be seen that the number fluctuates considerably, the highest being 156 in August, . and the lowest 97 in December last. The average per month was 130, as .compared with 113 for the previous year. PUBLICATION OF HANSARD. Since the number of free copies placed at the disposal of members has been increased, the subscribers to Hansard have gradually diminished. In 1831 there were 261 subscribers; in 1882, 258; in 1883, 161 ; and in 1884, 109. Members were formerly supplied with only two free copies, the number being afterwards increased to eight, then to twelve, and in July, 1883, to twenty. Even with that number many of the members complain that they are unable to supply all the demands made upon them by their constituents. The rate of subscription at present is 10s. per session. I am, however, inclined to think that greater facilities should be offered to induce the public generally to take in Hansard, and that, if the subscription were reduced to 3s. for the session—that is, about Is. per month —and the free issue to members discontinued, hundreds of people would be induced to subscribe. All Postmasters throughout the colony could be made agents for receiving subscriptions and forwarding the names and addresses to the Printing Office, while every opportunity should be embraced for making the fact publicly known and widely circulated. The number of bi-weekly parts into which Hansard is divided is of course regulated by the length of the session; the average for the past four years has been 30 ; therefore the price above named is at the rate of 1-J-d. per number, and would about pay the cost of the paper on which Hansard is printed; but even that is better than no return at all, which present indications point to as the ultimate result. THE STEREOTYPE BRANCH. The manufacture of rubber stamps has been carried on for the past two years in connection with the stereotype branch, and the department is now prepared to supply all requirements of the public service in the shape of seals or departmental or autograph stamps. The number supplied to the various departments during the past year was 455. The order for the new series of beer-duty stamps was completed last year. They were entirely of local manufacture, and both in design and execution were alike creditable to those engaged in their production. The number of railway tickets printed and issued under the supervision of the stereotyper was 2,470,975, which were distributed to 503 separate stations. THE EXAMINATION OF PRINTERS' ACCOUNTS. The department is charged with the duty of examining all accounts for printing and advertising before being passed by the Audit. The number examined for the past year was 5,195, representing a total value of £19,284 os. lid., from which deductions to the amount of £133 14s. lid. were made, being at the rate of 6d. off each account, or about 13s. 9d. per cent. During the two previous I—H. 7.