F.—9

4

After deducting the sum of £581 Os. 4d., representing refund of pensions overpaid, and making allowance for a limited number of payments held up on account of some informality, the net charge against the Consolidated Fund for the year stands at £405,672, to which has been applied a credit of £18,709 lis. 6d., being revenue from the national-endowment lands. The total amount credited to old-age pensions from the endowment-lands revenue to date is as follows : — £ g# ,j 1910 ... ... ... ... ... 20,142 12 7 1911 ... ... ... ... ... 16,758 9 8 1912 ... .... ... ... ... 18,709 11 6 £55,610 13 9 This amount just exceeds by a few pounds the total cost of administering the Act since its inception. The grand total paid in pensions since the Act came into operation now stands at £3,556,660. The distribution of last year's payments in the various parts of the Dominion is indicated in ■the table following, to which has been added a column showing the distribution over the whole period of the Act : — Number of Payments Amount paid during Amount paid since Postal District. during Year. Year. Act passed. £ s. d. £ Auckland ... ... ... 41,091 85,157 11 3 742,500 Thames ... ... ... 6,684 14,111 311 137,300 Gisborne ... ... ... 1,490 2,973 4 11 28,800 Napier ... ... ... 7,448 ' 15,534 8 3 128,400 New Plymouth ... ... 3,572 7,309 15 1 66,400 Wanganui ... ... 6,485 13,688 12 0 107,400 Wellington ... .., 20,928 43,435 18 6 336,300 Nelson ... ... ... 3,827 8,100 7 1 82,600 Blenheim ... ... ... 2,368 4,971 15 2 43,100 Christchurch ... ... 32,591 68,159 10 1 560,600 Timaru ... ... ... 7,730 16,285 9 8 121,800 Greymouth ... ... 6,304 13,392 9 8 143,600 Hokitika ... ... ... 6,292 13,384 4 5 143,500 Westport ... ... ... 3,261 6,929 17 7 79,100 Oamaru ... ... ... 3,822 7,990 3 1 71,500 Dunedin ... ... ... 28,864 59,996 10 0 540,300 . Invercargill ... ... 11,866 24,834 15 8 223,400 Totals ... ... 194,623 £41)6,255 16 4 £3,556,600 The total payments and the cost per head of the population in each year are as follows : — Gross Payments , ~ Cost per on Account of P #) 10 ? Head of Pensions. at ILnd ot Popu i at i on . £ lear ' s. d. Three months ended 31st March, 1899 (at £18) 3,124 746,676 0 1 Year ended 31st March, 1900 (at £18) ... 157,342 758,617 4 1 1901 „ ... 197,292 772,719 5 1 1902 „ ... 207,468 789,994 5 3 1903 „ ... 210,140 814,842 5 2 1904 „ ... 203,164 838,954 4 10 1905 „ . ... 195,475 864,971 4 6 1906 (at £18 and £26)... 254,367 889,968 5 8 1907 (at £26) ... 314,184 913,873 6 10 1908 „ ... 325,199 937,587 . 6 11 1909 „ ... 336,760 968,313 6 11 1910 „ ... 362,496 987,480 7 4 1911 „ ... 383,393 1,008,468 7 7 1912 „ ... 406,256 1,031,500 7 10 Total ... ... y ... £3,556,660 Recoveries. The amount recovered and paid to the Public Account during the year totalled £581 os. 4d., included in which are two sums of £69 and another of £61 recovered from the estates of deceased pensioners. The total refunded since the scheme was brought into operation now stands at £7,840. Cost of Administration. The cost under this head during the year amounted to £4,381 15s. lid., the details being as follows:— £ s _ d . Salaries ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3,819 6 1 Lodging-allowances ... ... ... ... ... 50 6 8 Non-permanent Postmasters, for paying pensions ... ... 256 4 0 Fees for certificates of age ... ... ... ... 3143 Interpreters' fees ... ... ... ... ... ... 3-16 Travelling-expenses ... ... ... ... ... 71 10 5 Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... ... 150 0 0 £4,381 15 11