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The Hon. the Minister in Charge of Department for the Cake of Mental Defectives to His Excellency the Governor. My Lord, — Wellington, 31st July, 1914. I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Inspector-General of Mental Defectives for the year 1913. 1 have, &c, R. Heaton Rhodes, Minister in Charge of Department for the Care of Mental Defectives.

The Inspector-General to the Hon. the Minister in Charge of the Department for the Care of Mental Defectives. Sir, — Wellington, 30th June, 1914. I have the honour to present, pursuant to section 78 of the Mental Defectives Act, 1911, the report for the year ended 31st December, 1913. The number of patients on the Mental Hospitals Register at the beginning of the year was 3,913 (males, 2,273; females, 1,640), and at tlit- end 3,964 (m., 2,332; f., 1,632), a net increase of 51, there being ">!) more males and 8 fewer females. The average increase during the former five years was a fraction over 134, the figures for the most and least favourable years being 86 and 174 respectively. The total number under oversight, care, or control was 4,805 (m., 2,816; f., 1,989), as against 4,743 (m., 2,813; f., 1,930) in the previous year, an increase of 62 (m., 3; f., 59), while the average number resident in our institutions during the year was 3,849 (m., 2,252; f., 1,597), against 3,697 (m., 2,146; f., 1,551) in 1912, or 152 more in the year under review. Distribution. Counting 93 (m., 69; f., 24) absent on leave as still resident in the mental hospital whence they left, the 3,964 patients on the register at the end of the year were distributed as follows : — Males. Females. Total. Auckland 552 344 896 Christchurch ... ... ... ... ... 339 313 652 Dunedin (Seacliff and Waitati) ... ... ... 546 378 924 Hokitika ... ... ... ... ... 202 68 270 Nelson ... ... ... ... ... 96 101 197 Porirua ... ... 485 407 892 Tokamii ... ... ... ... ... 89 ... 89 Ashburn Hall (private mental hospital) ... ... 23 21 44 2,332 1,632 3,964 Of those technically on leave, 41 men were resident at the Camp, near Dunedin, and 17 mentally deficient boys at the Richmond Home. The patients similarly on leave at Motuihi Island were returned to a temporary building on the Auckland Mental Hospital estate in September last owing to the buildings on the island, which had been adapted for their residence, being required by the Public Health Department in connection with the smallpox epidemic. Ratio in Population. The following calculations show the ratio of patients on the register at the end of the year to the estimated general popnlation, both exclusive and inclusive of the Native race. The number of Maoris on the register 39 only (in., 31; f., 8). The proportion of total mentally defective to the total population was, — Exclusive of Maoris ... ... ... ... 3619 per 10,000,0r lin 276 Inclusive of Maoris ... ... ... ... 3494 „ lin 286 The proportion of mentally defective males to the male population,— Exclusive of Maoris ... ... ... ... 4043 per 10,000,0r lin 247 Inclusive of Maoris ... ... ... ... 3915 „ lin 255 The proportion of mentally defective females to the female population,— Exclusive of Maoris ... ' ... ... ... 3150 per 10,000,0r lin 317 Inclusive of Maoris ... ... ... ... 3028 „ lin 330 Comparing these figures with those in the last report, and taking the ratios therein as a standard, there were, exclusive of Maoris, on the register at the end of the year 63 fewer patients than might have been anticipated by the natural increase of population. In the previous year there was an increase, limited to women patients, who were 60 in excess of the proportional increase in population, while the men were 5 fewer than anticipated. In the year under review the position of the men remains unchanged —6 fewer —while women patients are 57 fewer, a figure sufficient to alter the proportion from 1 in 307 to 1 in 317. In England and Wales the number of notified insane persons on the Ist January, 1913, stood to the estimated population (mean) in the proportion of 1 to 267, or 374 per 10,000.