H.—22

10

APPENDIX. I REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN. Census and Statistics Office, Wellington, 20th May, 1921. Since my return to New Zealand in August last after attending the conference of Statisticians of the British Empire I have devoted my energies principally towards effecting alterations and improvements in certain branches of statistics, enabling New Zealand to do her part towards the attainment of uniformity throughout the Empire, one of the principal purposes of the conference. Migration Statistics. Hitherto our migration statistics have been compiled from monthly statements of arrivals and departures supplied by Collectors of Customs throughout the Dominion, and, while accurate, were far from informative, in that they disclosed merely the sexes of migrants, the country whither bound or whence arriving, the port of arrival or departure, and, in the case of arrivals, the country of birth. In co-operation with the Comptroller of Customs I have now arranged, as from the Ist April, 1921, for an individual form to be filled in for each arrival and departure, containing very full particulars from which important statistics can be compiled. Under the new scheme it will, for instance, be possible to differentiate, as regards arrivals, between permanent additions to the country's population, persons visiting the Dominion for business or pleasure, and New-Zealanders returning from abroad. The ages, civil condition, occupations, &c, of arrivals and departures can similarly be placed on record ; and the scheme generally will be a most useful addition to our social statistics, and conform to the general scheme recommended at the conference for uniformity in these statistics throughout the Empire. Census of 1921. The census-taking is now complete, having been carried through very successfully with the co-operation of the Post and Telegraph Department, the machinery of which was again largely utilized, as in 1916, for the enumeration-work. Owing to high labour and other costs the census collection will be found to have been much more costly on this occasion than in 1916, a state of affairs which is, of course, inevitable. It is anticipated, however, that, with the utilization of mechanical appliances in accordance with the Government's instructions, a considerable saving in the cost of tabulation will be effected. An officer was sent to New York some months ago to gain a full knowledge and experience of the machines to be used, which are now on the water en route to the Dominion. Publications. Among the publications principally affected by the recent shortage of paper were the " New Zealand Official Year-book " and other publications under my control. The greatly reduced circulation and size of the Year-book (3,500 copies of 400 pages, as compared with the former 6,000 copies of 1,000 pages) have served to accentuate the fact that from one cause or another —shortage of staff and lack of paper, principally —recent issues of this, the principal of all Government publications, are, with the exception of the 1919 volume, below the standard of, say, 1914 and 1915. The Hon. the Minister of Internal Affairs has now instructed that in its next issue the Year-book is to be restored to its former size and circulation, and has authorized a policy which will result in the permanent improvement of the volume as a full and authoritative book of reference on all branches of the Dominion's activities and all aspects of her social and economic characteristics and progress. Registration of Aliens The Dominion Register of Aliens shows the total number registered as 9,021, against 8,581 for last year. Of the total number registered 3,008 were born in China, while 706 are British-born but have lost their British status by virtue of naturalization, marriage, &c. Malcolm Fraser, Government Statistician. The Under-Secretary, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

11. REPORT OF THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. Registrar-General's Office, Wellington, 14th June, 1921. I give hereunder a statement of the business transacted by this Department during the last five years:—

The figures for 1920 include all transactions under the Marriage and Registration Acts, such as correcting entries, adoption entries, legitimations, still-births, and marriages of Maoris under the Marriage Act, not previously included.

Year. Birth Entries. Death Entries. Marriage Notices received and Certificates issued. Marriages p Marriages by . solemnized. ?egiBta«B (included in previous column). 1916 .. 1917 .. 1918 .. 1919 .. 1920 .. 28,509 28,239 25,860 24,483 31,464 10,596 10,528 16,364 10,808 12,150 8,450 6,687 6,464 9,988 12,608 8,231 6,464 6,227 9,519 12,245 1,729 1,589 1,437 1,801 2,143