D.—l.

of the forty-hour week. The net expenditure out of Public Works Fund, vote " Prison Buildings and Works," amounted to £9,476. At Waikeria Borstal Institution and Reformatory improvement to the farm and institution water-supply for domestic, live-stock drinking, and fire-fighting purposes was put under way and is now nearing completion. This has been a necessary major work involving an expenditure of approximately £3,000. At the Invercargill Borstal Institution the new mechanized laundry has been completed and the roof of the swimming-bath renewed. A newly installed plant now supplies tepid water to the swimming-bath. This important improvement, awaited for thirteen years, will enable the bath to be enjoyed throughout the year, and meets with great appreciation. The boilers for both the laundry and the bathhouse at this Institution are capable of burning run-of-mine slack purchased at the mine at 6s. per ton, resulting in a very low fuel-cost. At Auckland Prison the installation of up-to-date machines in the boot-workshop has displaced the previous method of making footwear by hand. This has resulted already in better and faster work, and also provides vocational experience conducing to the rehabilitation of prisoners upon re-entering the outer world. The additional staff cottages at Waikeria were completed during the year, and at Paparua Prison several new cottages were nearing completion at 31st March. These will, in the meantime, complete the Department's programme for married staff accommodation,. The meat and milk chilling plant at Waikeria was completed during the year, but some minor defects have deferred the regular use of the plant up to the present. Police-stations. The gross expenditure on police-stations during the year was £16,086, of which the sum of £5,000 was made available out of the Consolidated Fund towards the renewal and replacement of buildings. New police-stations to replace buildings which had become unserviceable were erected at Kaeo, Manunui, and Te Whaiti and new offices at Newmarket and Tauranga. Extensive alterations to the Central Police-station at Wellington were carried out to provide much needed and improved barrack accommodation. Houses and land were purchased for police-stations at Manurewa, Papatoetoe, Matawai, and Millerton, and land for police purposes was acquired at Hamilton and Moera. Many of the police-stations which were built over fifty years ago are now beyond repair and quite inadequate for present requirements. It is necessary to replace them at an early date, and provision in this direction is being made in this year's estimates. Post and Telegraph Buildings and Land. The erection of the following post-office buildings was completed during the year : Belfast, Dunedin (chief post-office), Kamo, Kerikeri Central, Kumeu, Mangaweka, Maungaturoto, Mayfield, Omakau, Pahiatua, Queenstown, Thames (chief postoffice), Waikari, and Waimana. In addition, residences were erected for the Postmasters at Maungaturoto, Oha ; , Omakau, Oturehua, Putaruru, Queenstown, and Waikari; and a residence was provided for the Superintendent, Awarua-Radio, and for the staff at Oturehua. Other buildings completed were an automatic telephone exchange at Napier ; combined line-depot and garage buildings at Eketahuna, Levin, Pokeno, Queenstown, Te Awamutu, and Wakefield ; and a line-depot, garage, and workshop building at New Plymouth; line-depot, garage, battery, and power buildings at Rotorua ; garages at Bulls, Hamilton, Morrinsville (two), Patea, Reefton, and Winton; cable-repeater stations at Blind River (Seddon) and Lyall Bay (Wellington) ; a power and battery building at Greymouth, and a small rural automatic telephone exchange building at Porirua. Alterations providing for improved accommodation were carried out at a number of offices, and substantial additions were made to the automatic telephone exchange building at Hamilton and the post-office buildings at Dunedin North, Epsom, Kilbirnie, Kingsland, Mount Eden, and Waimate.

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