8.—6

XIX

The telephone-exchange business develops rapidly. The expansion of this business and its extension to the remoter country districts have involved an expenditure of £288,395 out of the appropriation for telegraph - extension. The receipts from exchanges amounted to £303,856. Full details will be found in the annual report of the Department. PENSIONS. The gross amount paid by way of pensions during the year ended the 31st March was as follows : £ Old-age pensions .. .. .. .. 460,854 Widows'pensions .. .. .. .. 31,617 Military pensions .. .. .. .. 47,610 £540,081 These figures represent an increase in round numbers of £99,000 over the figures of two years ago and an increase over the amount paid during the year ended the 31st March, 1914, of £66,000. The cost of the system per head of the European population is 9s. 9d. The pensioners on the roll at the close of the year numbered 22,528, as follows : Old-age, 19,352; widows', 1,788; and military, 1,388; representing increases respectively on the figures of the previous year of—Old-age, 1,302 ; widows', 248 ; and military, 148. The old-age pensioners include 2,150 females of the ages of sixty to sixty-four years, inclusive. The ratio of old-age pensioners of the age of sixty-five and upwards to the total population of that age is now 33 per cent., whereas in recent years it has practically remained stationary at 32 per cent. The ratio of female pensioners aged sixty to sixty-four to the total female population of these ages is 16 per cent. The short amendment of last year providing a pension of £6 per annum for every widow's child under fourteen years of age increased the appropriations by £1,500. DEFENCE. A perusal of the annual Defence Report will show that the training of the Territorial|Foice and Cadets has been satisfactorily carried out concurrently with the raising, training, equipping, and despatch of the Expeditionary Force and its Reinforcements. It is a matter for congratulation that when the war commenced our system of universal training was in a sufficiently forward state to enable us to raise, train, and equip the Expeditionary Force on a sound basis and with the minimum amount of confusion. The coast-defence troops and units which were mobilized for home defence were quickly at their stations when the war broke out, and most efficiently manned the forts and other important positions, thus affording another tribute to our universal system of training. Annual Training-camps. The attendance at the annual training-camps of the Territorial Force throughout the Dominion has been excellent. The discipline and training have been exceptionally good, despite the fact that in many units equipment was necessarily short, owing to the demands of the Expeditionary Force. The success of these camps is noteworthy, owing to the absence of many of the Territorial officers and N.C.O.s with the Expeditionary Force. Defence Expenditure. The expenditure out of revenue on account of defence amounted to £499,137, or £13,191 less than the estimated requirements. The civil administrative side of the Defence Department is steadily being reorganized on the lines advocated by the Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces during his visit to the Dominion in 1914. The annual appropriation for defence is being kept separate from the War Expenses Account. Expenses and Casualty Branch has been organized to deal with the to the war.