F.—l.

School Savings Branch. Good progress was made during the year with the school savings-bank scheme, which was introduced m 1934 to encourage the practice of thrift among children. At the end of the year the scheme was in operation in 388 schools, the number of accounts was 66,062 and the total amount at credit £28,255. During the year 19,239 new accounts were opened and 152 additional schools joined the scheme. The deposits amounted to £22,178 and the withdrawals to £8,001. Interest to the amount of £299 7s. 2d. was credited to depositors. On leaving school, I,7s3'scholars transferred their accounts to the Post Office Savings-bank. The special deposit of Is. credited by the Department to each account when the deposits reach 19s. was continued during the year, and the concession was appreciated by the children and their parents. Donations ranging from 10s. to £2 10s., according to the size of the school, were again granted to School Committees for expenditure on school libraries or other approved forms of school activity The Department again wishes to express appreciation of the valuable assistance rendered by teachers in the operation of the scheme. POST OFFICE INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES. The total sales of Post Office investment certificates for the year amounted to £73,430. WORK PERFORMED FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS. The volume of work performed by the Department on behalf of other Government Departments continues to expand. The total sum handled in this respect during the year amounted to approximately £50,000,000, an increase of about £4,000,000 on the previous year's total. Registration or Motor-vehicles and Associated Work. Motor-vehicles licensed at the 31st March last numbered 254,017, or 27,243 (12-01 per cent) in excess of those licensed at the corresponding date in 1936. During the year 25,796 cars were registered. The previous highest yearly total (for 1929-30) was 20,802. Registrations of commercial vehicles were also well in advance of previous figures, the total for the year being 8,999, compared with 6,445 in the preceding year, which was the previous highest total. The number of notifications of change of ownership totalled 129,486, the increase over last year's figures being 28,039, or 27-6 per cent. Applications for duplicate certificates of registration, of which there were approximately 12,000, were well in excess of the number issued in any previous year. The total amount of motor-registration fees collected was £488,743, an increase of £39,822 compared with the previous year's figures. Detailed statistics concerning the work undertaken by the Post and Telegraph Department in connection with the registration and licensing of motor-vehicles appear in the report of the Transport Department. Premiums payable under the Motor-vehicles Insurance (Third-party Risks) Act, 1928 are collected on behalf of the forty-two insurance companies authorized to underwrite the business. The gross amount of premiums collected during the year was £264,190, an increase of £27,609 over the amount handled during the preceding twelve months. Claims to the number of 52,342 for refunds of duty on motor-spirits consumed otherwise than as fuel for licensed motor-vehicles were dealt with during the year. The total amount refunded was £176,390. Compared with the figures for the previous year, the claims decreased by 3,105, but the amount refunded increased by £12,506. Mileage-tax is collected in respect of most motor-vehicles which are not propelled exclusively by motor-spirits and for certain other types of vehicles for which the special tax is the only form of taxation payable. During the year the tax was collected in respect of 198 vehicles, compared with 142 in the previous year. The gross amount collected was £5,053, as against £2,360. Another phase of the Department's activities is the issuing of temporary goods licenses in terms of the Transport Licensing Act. Such licenses are obtainable at most post-offices. Certain selected Deputy Registrars also issue temporary passenger-service licenses. Employment Work. The control of the collection of employment taxes was transferred from the Post and Telegraph Department to the Commissioner of Taxes on the Ist June, 1936, but the registration levy, wagestax, and a large proportion of the employment charge on income are still paid through the Post Office. The Department also makes the payments to those persons receiving sustenance. Postmasters continue to act as certifying officers for the Employment Branch of the Labour Department. The employment receipts and payments for the year amounted to £6,532,367, made up as follows: — £ s. d. (a) Collection of registration levy .. .. .. .. 437,509 13 3 (b) Collection of employment charge .. .. .. 888,455 10 10 (c) Sales of employment stamps .. .. .. .. 1,240,890 14 9 (d) Wages-tax collected in cash .. .. .. .. 968,126 10 9 (e) Wages and sustenance payments .. .. .. 2,997,384 12 7

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