63

A.—4.

The printing done for the railways is paid for by that department. Some two years ago, the department, being dissatisfied with the Government Printing Office, removed its business to a private firm, with which it contracted for the forms required. The plan was found to be unsatisfactory, and the printing was restored to the Government Office. No other department pays for its printing. Electors' rights are printed in numbered books, with butts, which are issued to the Electoral Registrars, who are entitled, to a fee of one shilling for every right issued to an elector. The elector pays Is. for a stamp to be put on the elector's right, and the Registrar draws the shilling from the Treasury. The Hansard is printed from notes supplied by the staff of Government reporters, and is published once a week. About 1,500 copies are printed. Great numbers are given away to the members of Parliament and to various institutions throughout the colony; but there are very few sales, and no regular subscribers. The cost of reporting is stated to be about £4,000 a year, but no exact account of the cost of printing the Hansard appears to be kept. All the paper and other material used in the Government Printing Office is passed through the store, in which a vast amount of stock is kept, worth at least £15,000. This material is bought on contract; partly from the general contractors under the general service contract —a contract for all goods required by all branches of the Public Service—and partly upon special contracts made by the Printing Office itself, for which it has to obtain the authority of the Treasury. Goods were formerly procured from England through the Agent-General; but it was found that there were so many discrepancies between the orders and the supplies, which, owing to the money having been paid, could not be remedied, that it was more convenient and economical to deal with a local contractor, to whom goods not within contract could be returned. All goods supplied to the store are accompanied by a separate voucher or bill, which is entered in a register of vouchers, in which is also recorded the vote chargeable. These stores are charged directly and finally to the vote and item, as stated, on the Estimates. Erom the vouchers the articles are also posted into the stores ledger, of which there are two, one for paper, and one for other materials. These ledgers contain only quantities and numbers without values; each article being entered in a separate column, so as to show the quantity in stock, received, and issued; they are balanced yearly, when stock is taken by one of the overseers. The credit-side is posted from the requisitions for the issue of material, and, in the case of paper, from a rough issue-book, in which the receipt of the person to whom the paper was delivered is taken. Waste paper and unused or unserviceable books is worked up into pasteboard for book-covers, but is not brought on the store-ledgers as fresh goods received. The warehouse is that part of the establishment in which all Government printed papers and forms are kept, and are distributed to the departments or sold to the public. The issues are made only on requisitions, which are entered in a requisition-book; but no account is kept of the stock in hand, except in the case of certain books which have been published by the Government, and are of some value. Printed forms having money value are not kept in the warehouse, but are sent at once to the department ordering them. No money is taken in the warehouse, but the papers and forms sold are issued on the order of the Accountant, who has received payment for them. These orders, or sale tickets, are checked once a month against the Accountant's cash-bock. All requisitions for articles to be supplied or work to be done by the Printing Office, come first to the warehouse, and are distributed to the various branches, such as printing, bookbinding, &c, and the orders when executed are distributed by the warehouse to the departments. There is a Government publisher in the town, but he is given only one book as a specimen, and procures what he has sale for from the warehouse.