B— 4.

Miscellaneous Grants and Subsidies. Auctioneers' Act, 1928 : Fees to Local Authorities. £10,238. 48. We recommend that the permanent appropriation be repealed, and that the amount required be provided by annual appropriation. Finance Act, 1925: General Expenses of N.Z. Institute, £750. 49. In the present state of the finances of the Dominion, we consider that the payment of the grant at the above rate can no longer be justified, and we recommend that the amount be reduced to £400, subject to annual review and appropriation by Parliament. Annual saving, £350. Fire Brigades Act, 1926: Subsidies to Fire Boards, £3,492. 50. We see no reason why the Government subsidies to Fire Boards, if such are continued, should not be provided by annual appropriation, and we recommend accordingly. 51. We have, however, carefully considered the question as to whether subsidies to Fire Boards are warranted under present conditions. 52. We would point out that in those cases where no Fire Board is in existence the fire brigades are maintained by the City and Borough Councils, and no special subsidies are paid to them in respect of fire protection. All such Councils, however, receive subsidies on general rates under the Appropriation Act, 1916, and the amounts of such subsidies are not reduced when Fire Boards come into existence. The revenue of Fire Boards (apart from Government subsidies) is provided by the constituent local authorities, in most cases Borough Councils, and by the insurance companies, in equal proportions, and we are of the opinion that the subsidies paid to the Councils should be sufficient contribution for fire protection afforded to Government property in the districts. We see no justification for the payment of subsidies both to Fire Boards and to Councils, and we. recommend that payments to the former be abolished and the relative provisions of the Fire Brigades Act, 1926, repealed. Estimated saving, £3,492. Greymouth Harbour Board Amendment Act, 1920 : Subsidy for Interest, &c., £12,000. Land Act, 1924: Thirds, do., to Local Bodies, £11,000. New Plymouth Harbour Board Endowment Act, 1874 : Fourths to New Plymouth Harbour Board, £2,000. Police Offences Act, 1927: Fines to Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, £70. 53. We consider that the whole of the above expenditure should be subject to annual review and appropriation by Parliament, and we recommend accordingly. Rotorua Borough Act, 1922: Payment of portion of Bath Fees, £1,170. 54. We draw attention to the fact that the payment under the Rotorua Borough Act, 1922, ceases during 1931-32, and we recommend that, under no circumstances, should the payment be extended. Estimated saving, £1,170. SALARIES AND HONORARIA. Legislative. 55. We consider, for the sake of uniformity and to conform to the traditional practice of the British Parliament, that honoraria to members of the Legislature, with the exception of the salaries of the Speakers of both Houses and the allowance to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, should be provided by annual appropriation rather than by permanent appropriation. We recommend that, with the above-mentioned exceptions, the honoraria to members of the Legislature, with the present statutory limitation, be included in the annual appropriations, and that the relative provisions of the Civil List Act, 1920, be amended accordingly. * 56. We also consider that the salaries of the Clerks and Clerk-Assistants of both Houses should be provided by annual appropriation. 57. Although it is strictly not appropriate to the present item, we would mention that the expenditure under Vote, Legislative Department, in 1913-14 was £43,700, whereas for the year ended 31st March, 1931, the expenditure was approximately £99,000. The increase in the annual cost is really not as great as the figures indicate, due to changes in accounting methods, but this is more fully explained in our comments under the heading " Vote, Legislative Department." 58. Consideration has been given to the possibility of effecting economy by a reduction in the number of members of the House of Representatives, with a view to effecting economy under the heading of " Honoraria to Members," as well as a corresponding reduction in Vote, Legislative Department. We would mention that if the number of members in the British House of Commons bore the same ratio to the population of Great Britain as the membership of the New Zealand House of Representatives does to the population of New Zealand the number of members in the British House of Commons would be well over two thousand, whereas actually the membership is less than one-third of this number. 59. We do not suggest that so drastic a reduction as one based on those figures would be possible in New Zealand, but feel that the membership might well be reduced. 60. In recent years there has been a marked improvement in transport, and members can under present condition travel with greater freedom and rapidity through their electorates than they could some years ago. This leads to the conclusion that in quite a number of cases the size of electorates might be increased. We accordingly recommend the matter for consideration. We are also of the opinion that a reduction in the number of members in the House of Representatives should be followed by reduction in the membership of the Legislative Council.

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