5

8.—6

Electric Supply Account.

Main Highways Account.

Immigration.

Electric Supply Account. Expenditure in connection with development of hydro-electric schemes totalled £847,478, or an increase of £34,503 on [the expenditure of the previous year, which amounted to £812,975. Full particulars with regard to works which are already revenue-producing and those under construction will be submitted later by my colleague, the Hon. the Minister of Public Works. Development works were continued in connection with the^Mangahao_sclierne and the extensions at Horahora and Lake Coleridge, and these schemes are now supplying large areas with power for various purposes. A commencement has also been made with the harnessing of power at Arapuni, on the Waikato River, a contract having been entered into with Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co. for the necessary works at that place. The first transmission-line to Auckland is approaching completion, with the object of supplying power from Horahora pending the completion of the Arapuni development, estimated to be finished in about three years. Current from Mangahao was made available to the Horowhenua Power Board on the 3rd November, 1924, and to the Manawatu-Oroua and Hutt Valley districts before the 31st March last. Main Highways Account. Revenue Fund. £ The balance in the account on the Ist April, 1924, amounted to .. 249,681 During the year additional sums were provided as follows : — £. Credits in reduction of expenditure incurred .. 3,507 Interest on investments .. .. .. .. 10,840 Transfer from Consolidated Fund (under special Acts) 35,000 Customs duty on tires .. .. .. .. 152,303* Annual license fees in connection with motor-vehicles 257,500 459,150 Total .. .. .. .. .. £708,831 * Includes £32,500 paid from Consolidated Fund. The expenditure was : — £ Maintenance of main highways .. .. .. ..119,958 Charges in connection with the registration of motor-vehicles and collection of annual license fees .. .. .. .. 7,500 Balance at credit of the account as at the 31st March, 1925 .. 581,373 Total .. .. .. .. .. £708,831 Construction Fund. The net expenditure out of the Construction Fund amounted to £225,454, the whole of which was provided by the Government in terms of section 15 (2) of the Finance Act, 1923. IMMIGRATION. The number of new arrivals under the immigration policy during the financial year ended 31st March, 1925, shows an increase of 30'7 per cent, over the figures for the previous year. During the year 208 public-school boys arrived in the Dominion under the nomination of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce and the New Zealand Farmers' Union, and they have all been placed on farms in various parts of the Dominion. This class of juvenile migration, although only in its infancy, is proving a great success. The existing agreement between the Imperial and New Zealand Governments expired on the 31st March, 1925, and a new agreement was entered into on terms even more favourable to the migrants and the New Zealand Government than that which has just expired.