R—9

5

The increase on the figures of the previous year is £579, of which amount a sum approximating £50, being a proportionate part for three months, is chargeable to the administration of the Widows' Pensions Act, which came into operation on the Ist January, 1912. The proportion of this cost to the payments on account of pensions during the year is I'o7 per cent. The total cost of administering the Act since it was passed is £55,563, the percentage to the gross payments of £3,556,660 being 156 per cent., as compared with 162 in 1911, and I'7l in 1910. Forfeited Instalments. The instalments due last year and remaining unpaid on the 31st March totalled £1,629 15s. Bd., of which amount £1,4-82 17s. 4d. represents absolutely forfeited instalments on which there is no further claim, the balance of £146 18s. 4d. being instalments the payment of which is in abeyance. 1911. £ s. d. April ... ... ... ... ... 102 4 5 May ... ... ... ... ... 91 6 4 June ... ... ... ... ... 120 19 5 July ... ... ... ... ... 162 16 10 August ... ... ... ... ... 154 9 0 September... ... ... ... ... 136 0 5 October ... ... ... ... ... 132 l'O 4 November ... ... ... ... ... 123 1 8 December ... ... ... ... ... 151 12 7 1912. January ... ... ... ... ... 144 2 2 February... ... ... ... ... 101 15 9 March ... ... ... ... 61 18 5 £1,482 17 4 The instalments not collected within the time allowed by law, but subsequently specially authorized and paid during the year, numbered 874, representing a total of £1,728 2s. lid. The absolutely forfeited instalments for the past seven years are as follows : — £ 1906 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,330 1907 ... ... ... ... ... " ... 1,363 1908 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,199 1909 ... ... ... ... 1,330 1910 ... ... ... ... ... ... 938 1911 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,305 1912 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,483 Homes and Hospitals. The amount paid to the controlling bodies of the various homes and hospitals during the year totalled £21,412 4s. 2d., an increase of £199 on the amount paid in the previous year. £1,494 2s. 3d. of the total represents the charge made for the medical treatment of pensioners in hospitals. The number of pensioners paying for maintenance at the end of the year was 818, being an increase of 7on the number at the end of the previous year. Full particulars regarding these payments, including the amount allowed to pensioners out of each month's instalment, appear in Table XIII of the appendix. The decrease in the annual expenditure on outdoor relief since the Old-age Pensions Act came into force in 1898 is indicated by the following table : — European Annual Cost of Cost per Head Year ended Population. Outdoor Relief. of Population. £ s. a. 31st March, 1899 ... ... ... 746,676 50,850 1 4} 1900 ... ... ... 758,617 41,790 1 1J 1901. ... ... ... 772,719 42,181 1 1 1902 ... ... -.. 789,994 38,934 0 llf 1903 ... ... ... 814,842 43,421 1 Of 1904 ... ... ... 838,954 42,618 1 0J 1905 ... ... ... 864,971 40,799 0 11J 1906 ... ... ... 889,968 39,547 0 10^ 1907 ... ... ... 913,873 38,305 010 1908 ... ... ... 937,587 33,998 0 8f 1909 ... ... ... 968,313 37,537 0 9J 1910 ... ... ... 987,480 38,988 0 9i 1911 1,008,468 33,051 0 7f 1912 ... ... ... 1,031,500 (figures not available). Mental Hospitals. The number of old-age pensioners maintained in the mental hospitals of the Dominion during the year was 105, the percentage to the total number of pensioners whose names appeared on the