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The Telegraph Store.

The store for telegraph material for the whole colony is at the seat of Government. The goods are imported for the most part from England, upon orders prepared by the Superintendent of Telegraphs. The articles procured in the colony are purchased as wanted at the market price, not on contract, as they have to be delivered at the numerous stations throughout the colony Such goods are for the most part supplied by local tradesmen to the stations without passing through the store, although brought upon the store accounts. All purchases are made upon requisitions approved by the Superintendent, which are sent to the tradesmen supplying, and must be attached by him to the voucher for payment. Issues are made on similar requisitions similarly approved. The Store Ledger is an account of the receipts and issues of the stores, posted from the vouchers and the requisitions for issue, each article having a separate page, and the balance in stock being carried out with every entry. A Stationery Ledger similar to the Stock Ledger is kept for supplies of stationery and printed forms; the latter are procured by the department partly from local tradesmen, but for the most part from England, and not from the Stationery Store attached to the Printing Office. The debit side is posted from the English invoices and the local requisitions, and the credit side from a broad sheet prepared and totalled for each month, and the balance is carried out monthly. There are no money values attached to any of the accounts in this store. The goods are all bought out of votes for the Telegraph service, on which they are finally charged. There is therefore no balance-sheet and no record of the value of the goods on hand or of those consumed. Hence there is no means of checking the accuracy of the entries in the Stock Ledger The stock is inspected about once in six months, but in the event of discrepancies between the balances in the ledger and in the store, a reference to the original requisitions alone would prove whether the stock of any article was deficient or the ledger entries incorrect. There has been no inspection of the stock outside the department for several years. This store contains all articles necessary both for the construction as well as maintenance of the lines; and the charge on the vouchers shows to which vote the goods are debited. Unserviceable articles, wire, poles, &c, are not brought on charge again in the store books, but are sold, sometimes by auction, but more frequently by private contract to persons in the neighbourhood of the waste stock, which would not pay for carting to a distance, and the proceeds are paid into the Public Account by the Superintendent; but there is no check on these receipts outside the department. There does not appear to be any clear account kept of the expenditure for maintenance as distinct from that for construction. The votes for the former are taken on the Consolidated Eund, and of the latter on the Public Works Eund, and are charged on the loans; but the stores when purchased are for the most part charged on the latter; and no transfers are made when material thus charged on the loans is used for maintenance. Whereas, when a line is once opened, it is obvious that its maintenance or renewal should be a charge against the current revenue of the lines. The departments of Post Office and Telegraph being now combined, the stores used for the service of the former are now all included in the Telegraph Store.

Eroin the Military Stores are supplied all arms, ammunition, accoutrements, clothing, and field equipage to the Armed Constabulary and the Volunteer forces. For this purpose there is a principal store at Wellington, and sub-stores at Auckland, Dunedin, Opunake, Taranaki, Waikato, Tauranga, and Taupo. Arms and ammunition are of course imported from England; almost all other stores are bought by the Wellington store on contracts in the colony, but some small goods are bought by the sub-stores on local contracts. Goods are received with invoices, and the contractors' bills are sent in

The Military Store.