H.—4o.

a ♦ ToL nUm l 6I l of or gi S rationS canoelled between the coming into operation of the Motor-vehicles Act, 1924, and the 31st March, 1931, is as follows :—

Action was taken during the year to place with the Precision Engineering Co., of Wellington SlstM? 1932° manufaOtUre ° f the numb er-plates required for the relicensing year ending on the VEHICLES ACTUALLY ON THE ROAD. The number of " live " registrations on the register kept in accordance with the provisions of the Motor-vehicles Act, 1924 may be taken as a reasonable indication of the number of vehicles actually on the road. The numbers of these "live" registrations have been estimated for each month and the monthly averages for the twelve months ended 31st March, 1930 and 1931 are given hereunder:— ' g

N ;B-— Service-cars desi B ned t0 carry not more thail nine persons are included with motor-oars while those designed to carry more than nine persons are included with omnibuses. MOTOR-SPIRITS TAXATION ACT, 1927. The motor-spirits tax was increased from 4d. to 6d. per gallon as from the 22nd July 1930 «M f S l6 l 0 "^ lf« ShOW f e yieW fr ° m and distnbution of the petrol-tax for the year ended diet Marcn, 1931. Ihe figures for previous years are given for comparative purposes :— (a) Yield. n Gross yield .. .. . . .. _ _ _ _ .. 1,417 294 Deductions— £ Refunds and cost of making same .. .. 102,844 Commission to Customs Department for collection .. 14,400 117,244 £1,300,050 Net yield (i.e., gross yield less refunds and commission on collection)— Year ended 31st March— £ l9 f ■■ .... 143,516* jXf 802,232 }S? 961,907 W6i •■ •• •• •• .. 1,300,050f Total since inception of tax .. .. .. £3,207 705 There has been an increase in the applications for refunds since the tax was increased to 6d There are two mam reasons for this—firstly, the financial stringency due to the prevailing depression' and, secondly, the increase in the tax, which has now made it worth while for people to claim refunds that they did not worry about when the tax was 4d.

* Part year only. f Increase from 4d. to 6d. per gallon as from the 22nd July, 1930.

4

North Island. South Island. Total. p arS .7 ,. 8.299 4,878 13,177 Commercial vehicles .. .. 3,685 1,619 5 304 Cycles " •• •• 7,021 5,341 12^362 Tota^s •• •• 19,005 j 11,838 30,843

Monthly Averages. Vehicle. — ' 1930. 1931. Motor-cars .. .. .. 125,013 134,407 T™ckB 23;512 25 ; 294 Omnibuses .. .. .. 1,029 1,040 Traction-engines .. .. .. 173 ' \\7 Trailers .. . . . . . . 755 923 Tractors . . . . . . 293 302 Motor-cycles .. .. .. 26,266 25,167 Other motor-vehicles .. . . 445 Totals .. .. 177,486 187,708