C.—l

XIII

For tinting, etching, sets-off, correcting, &c, 334 stones were used. The demand on the litho. machines and presses has been very severe throughout the year, as may be seen from the table showing the output on the following page. Printing was done for fourteen departments of the Service. The number of impressions taken was 1,220,823, as against 1,069,504 last year. The number of subjects dealt with was 1,013, of which 834,504 complete copies were taken, the hand-presses contributing 51,895. The number of plates taken in the photo, gallery was 873. 15 silver prints and 48 bromide prints were made. The extra-departmental calls on photo-lithography are now so great that until the staff is housed in the new building there will not be spare time for Mr. Eoss to practically experiment and keep pace with the developments which are speedily taking place in scientific processes in Europe. It is just being discovered in England what special advantages lithography offers for the printing high-class process pictures. The production of good illustrations at a minimum of cost has been accomplished already in this department under adverse circumstances, and improvements can be easily effected under improved conditions.

Lithographic Printing and Photographing from 1st April, 1894, to 31st March, 1895.

Abstract of lithographs printed during the twelve months : — Head Office ... ... ... ... ... 1,220,823 impressions. Auckland.. ... ... ... ... ... 6,900 Otago ... ... ... ... ... ... 4,250 Southland ... ... ... ... ... 200 Total ... ... ... ... 1,232,173 Maps mounted :At Head Office, 711 ;at Wellington District Office, 890; at Auckland, 425 ; at Napier, 95; at New Plymouth, 46 ; at Blenheim, 20; at Nelson, 20; at Christchurch, 60; at Dunedin, 353 ; at Invercargill, 39 : total, 2,659. COEBESPONDENCE. Mr. W. S. Shobt, Chief Clerk, reports : — The work of the Head Office, apart from matters of account, for the year ended 31st March last may be summarised as follows : — Inwards correspondence ~ ... ... 16,500 letters and telegrams Outwards „ ... ... ... 14,500 „ Total ... ... ... 31,000 These figures show an increase over those for 1893-94 of 500 inwards and 1,900 outwards letters. The warrants, Proclamations, Orders in Council, &c„ prepared and issued under various Acts were : — 1. Dealing with Land: Land Act, 235; Cemeteries Act, 30; Public Domains Act, 43; Land for Settlements Act, 3; Public Eeserves Act, 37 ; setting apart land for special settlements, 22; regulations, special settlement associations, 52 ; Native Land Improvement and Acquisition Act, 1. 2. Eoads, Bridges, Ferries, &c. : Land Act, 11; Public Works Act —Proclamations 32, warrants 6; Proclamations (various Acts), 14; Notices (various Acts), 18; Commissions issued, 6; Public Works Acts (Orders in Council taking Native land), 7 ; By-laws regulating traffic, 7 ; warrants of Governor and Surveyor-General taking roads, 41: total, 565. The claims under the Naval and Military Settlers' and Volunteers' Land Acts were as follows : A voluminous return (46 folios) was prepared of all claims remaining unsatisfied, and presented to Parliament last session (H.-23, 1894). In each case the report was carefully revised, and the return iii—C. 1.

Number of Separate Printings. Number of to. Impressions lotographii 'gDepartment. ten. . By Machine. By Hand. Number of Plates. Bromide Prints. Silver Prints. jand and Survey 3 ublic Works ... Railways vlines •Tew Zealand Institute ... Marine Postal and Telegraph ... Registrar- General defence Premier's Mucation jegislative Agriculture and Stock ... Customs 1,081 87 59 41 50 55 20 24 11 11 14 1 5 2 723,385 33,560 164,544 59,500 29,930 33,800 31,700 67,500 12,000 8,850 1,800 1,200 1,100 43,300 4,039 35 124 204 2,080 791 9 7 709 43 534 168 5 17 37 19 43 9 3 4 19 3 12 48 15 112 501 Totals ... 1,461 1,168,869 51,954 873 48 15