59

1.—6

Friday, 9th July, 1886. (Mr. Ormond, Chairman.) Mr. J. H. Eichardson in attendance, and further examined. Witness handed in the following statement which he prepared for the Board in April last, as bearing on the expenses of management of 1885 as compared with 1884. This statement gives full particulars with respect to questions previously asked him :— Memorandum for the Manager re Accounts for 1885. Government Insurance Office, Wellington, 16th April, 1886. Excluding new and renewal commission and property-tax, the total of the expenses of management as printed is £28,205 os. 2d. The total for the previous year was £20,912 Is. sd. The gross increase is £7,292 18s. 9d. I attach tabular statement, showing the increases on the various lines, as also the increased expenses occasioned by the incorporation of the association. Salaries. —l should think, after careful consideration, and the Chief Clerk agrees with me, that £600 might fairly be charged to Board expenses, on account of the salaries of the officers at the head office. The salaries at the head office would then be about the same as they were in 1884. The gross increase is, say, £1,000; the remaining £400 being occasioned by increases at the branches. Medical Fees. —The increase—£s29 6s. Id. —is caused by the larger new business. Travelling Expenses. —£B96 14s. 4d. increase is in a great measure occasioned by the higher cost of procuring new business and keen competition, making it necessary to pay liberal travelling allowance to doctors and canvassers. £200 may, however, be fairly charged to the Board. Advertising. —The chief addition has been caused by the advertisements in connection with Board matters. Printing and Stationery is largely augmented, owing to the incorporation of the association having necessitated the reprinting of all our policy-forms, as well as the proposal and other forms. I should think that the incorporation occasioned the destruction of old forms mentioned, including prospectuses, &c, to the value of £700. This is of course entirely a special charge. The Board has also itself occasioned an additional increase of £391 Bs. 7d. Rent. —The increase of £436 13s. Id. is caused by the fact that, in 1884, we had not the head-office premises for the whole of that year, whereas we did so in 1885. Postage shows an increase of £150, as last year we did not charge anything against the Industrial Branch. Telegrams. —The additional charge of £332 6s. 3d., as already explained, arises from the fact that the district and resident officers have been rather reckless in. the use of the telegraph. General Expenses. —The greater part of the increase of £1,022 ss. Id. was caused by tho incorporation of the association necessitating the preparation of an alphabetical list of policy-holders entitled to vote. The Board itself has also occasioned some extra charges in respect of elections. J. H. Richaedson, Secretary.

Comparison of Expenses of 1884 with 1885.

1030. The Chairman.] Yesterday you were to obtain the property-tax valuation of the property in ,on which a loan of £25,000 was obtained: can you produce it ?—I have received information from the Property-tax Department, which shows £33,282. There appear to be two properties included by the valuators but omitted by the property-tax, amounting in all to £1,200. Since the property-tax valuation, improvements to the extent of, say, £4,565 have been made, thus bringing the total value to, say, £39,047, on the basis of the property-tax assessments. 1031. Is it the custom of the Board in dealing with loans to obtain the property-tax valuation or the county or borough valuations ?—lt is usually the practice to obtain the property-tax valuation, but that was not done in this case. I understand that this property-tax valuation is the most recent one, and was taken about the time the valuation of the properties was made by the valuators. 1032. Mr. G. F. Richardson.] You remember the loan of £900 to Mr. , of ?—Yes. 1033. What was the property-tax valuation of this property? —We searched the Doomsday Book when the application was made, but it was not to be found there, and about that time there was some difficulty in getting the most recent property-tax valuations from the department, as it did not then care about giving them to us. 1034. Then, you did not get the property-tax valuation on this property?— No. 1035. Did you get the county valuation ?—No; not at that time. The assessed value of the land stands in the County Council's book on the 3rd July last at £750. 1036. Who made the valuation on which your Board acted ? —The association's valuer. 1037. Is he the usual valuer for the department in that district ?—Yes ; he was one of the six valuers, but is now no longer employed. 1038. What amount did he value this property at ? —£l,Boo.

Disi section of Increi ise. 1884. 1885. Increase. Occasioned by Incorporation and Non-recurring. Board: Extra Charges. Quinquennial Special Charge. Salaries Medical fees Travelling expenses Advertising Printing and stationery Bent Postage Telegrams Exchange Office furniture, depreciationGeneral expenses.. Directors' fees Quinquennial expenses & s. d. 10,418 16 3 4,383 10 10 1,158 17 11 439 19 5 1,238 14 6 554 15 1 850 0 0 386 12 5 116 6 9 215 14 7 1,148 13 8 & s. d. 11,463 13 4 4,812 16 11 2,055 12 3 730 18 4 2,350 3 0 991 8 2 1,000 0 0 718 18 8 158 6 1 252 4 8 2,170 18 9 600 0 0 900 0 0 £ s. a. 1,044 17 1 429 6 1 896 14 4 290 18 11 1,111 8 6 436 13 1 150 0 0 332 6 3 41 19 4 36 10 1 1,022 5 1 600 0 0 900 0 0 £ s. d. 700"0 0 s, s. a. 600 0 0 200 0 0 175 1 9 391 8 7 £ a. a. 586 17 9 188*11 0 600 0 0 • • 900"o 0 Totals .. 20,912 1 5 28,205 0 2 7,292 18 9 1,286 17 9 2,155 1 4 900 0 0