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(c) Temporary Goods-service Licenses. During the year under review 773 applications for temporary licenses were dealt with directly by Licensing Authorities, while 6,626 licenses were issued by postmasters, making a total of 7,399. This is almost double that recorded for the year ended 31st March, 1934—viz., 3,793. Each postmaster operates under the jurisdiction of the Licensing Authority in whose district the post-office is situated. The substantial increase shown is probably due to an improvement in business conditions, and also to the fact that operators are now becoming more conversant with the requirements. Nevertheless the temporary goods-service license has a special limited purpose, and it is undesirable that it should bulk too largely in the scheme of licensing for goods transport. The Department is investigating the position with a view to reducing to a minimum the number of such licenses which are warranted by the conditions of transport and trade. (d) Finances and Statistics. The financial and statistical returns relating to the licensed goods-services are required to be submitted with the applications for the renewal of licenses. As these applications are not received until the month of May it has not been possible to include a review of the finances and traffic statistics for the past year in this report. Last year's report was prepared later in the year and included figures for the year ended 31st March, 1934. C. APPEALS FROM DECISIONS OF LICENSING AUTHORITIES. Full details of the appeals dealt with during the year ended 31st March, 1935, are contained in the annual report of the Transport Co-ordination Board, which acts as the Appeal Board under the Transport Licensing Act, 1931. 10. COMMERCIAL AIR TRANSPORT. The year 1934 witnessed the extension of the principle of the licensing of transport in the public interest to the latest entrant into the field of transport—viz., air transport. The Transport Licensing (Commercial Aircraft Services) Act, 1934, became law on 31st October, 1934, and provides a system of licensing for all aircraft services, the term aircraft service meaning " any service by aircraft for the carriage of passengers or goods for hire or reward in respect of any journey beginning and ending in New Zealand other than a service in which the aircraft used leaves from and returns to the same aerodrome without any intermediate stop." Two classes of license are provided —viz., continuous licenses, which have a maximum tenure of five years, and temporary licenses, which cover services to be carried on for a specified period of not more than seven days or any specified special occasions. The power to deal with'applications for licenses is vested in the Transport Co-ordination Board, which is required to take into account considerations which are similar in principle to those existing in connection with applications for motor-transport licenses. The Transport Licensing (Commercial Aircraft Services) Regulations, 1934, which contain the necessary machinery requirements to give effect to the provisions of the Act, were gazetted on 20th November, 1934. Details of the applications considered during the year under review are contained in the annual report of the Transport Co-ordination Board. 11. MOTOR ACCIDENTS. (a) Review op Statistics. During the year ended 31st March, 1935, motor accidents caused the death of 26 children under the age af fourteen years, 42 young persons between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four years, and 114 persons over twenty-four years, making a total of 182 human lives. This figure shows an increase of 47 over that for the previous year, which was the lowest figure recorded since the present system of statistics was instituted in 1930. Expressed in terms of potential earning-power of the persons who have lost) their lives, and of the estimated costs involved in physical disability in non-fatal accidents, as well as the estimated value of property damaged as a result of all accidents, it is estimated that the annual loss due to these accidents is not less than £1,000,000. This figure gives some idea of the magnitude of the motor-accident question from the purely monetary point of view, but it is generally recognized that there is also a staggering and unrecorded burden of human misery and distress. This aspect of the matter is mentioned in order to lay emphasis on the whole question and to ensure that the magnitude of the problem is realized. The deaths referred to in the preceding paragraph resulted from 174 accidents ; this figure is 49 greater than that for the previous year. It is true that there was a considerable increase in the volume of motor traffic on the roads last year, the benzine-consumption showing an increase of approximately 10 per cent., but there seems to be grounds for believing that the increase in fatal motor accidents has been considerably greater than that recorded for the volume of traffic. The data cover too short a period to enable definite conclusions to be arrived at, but they are sufficiently definite to make it impossible to shelter behind the increased volume of traffic as the sole cause of the increase in fatal accidents. Moreover, experience from overseas shows that in many other countries, particularly Great Britain, the numbers of motor accidents have increased at an alarming rate over recent years.

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