29

H.-14

to take up private work, but rejoined later in the year, and acted as Private Secretary to various Ministers. Later he served in several of the Government Departments until his appointment in November, 1907, to the Public Service Superannuation Board. Mr. W. M. Wright, formerly Accountant to the Public Service Superannuation Board, is now filling the combined position of Secretary and Accountant. Mr. John Strauchon, 1.5.0., entered the Survey Department in 1865, having previously served from 1862 in the Otago Provincial Engineer's Department. After qualifying as a surveyor in 1868 he entered the Head Office as Draughtsman, and later acted as Office Surveyor. After serving in the various capacities of Draughtsman, Surveyor in Charge, and District Surveyor in several parts of the South Island, he became Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lauds for Taranaki in 1893. In 1902 he was transferred to a similar position in the Wellington district, and in 1908 to Auckland, at the same time holding many other positions more or less connected with his work in the Lands Department. From 1909 to 1912 he held the position of Surveyor-General, and in 1911 represented the New Zealand Government at a conference of Surveyors-General held in Australia. He was appointed a Companion of the Imperial Service Order in June, 1912. From 1912 until his retirement on the 31st March, 1914, after a continuous service of fifty-two years, he was Secretary for L:;nds and Surveys, and until the Immigration Department was separated from the Lands Department in 1913 he was Under-Secretary for Immigration also. Mr. J. Mackenzie, formerly Surveyor-General, succeeded Mr. Strauchon as Under-Secretary for Lands. It is with regret that I have to record the sudden death in October last of Mr. A. Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Museum. He was appointed Director in 1903, having previously held the position of Registrar of Otago University. While in Dunedin he made a special study of Maori art, and published a book on the subject. In earlier life Mr. Hamilton was a schoolmaster. He was for many years an active member of the New Zealand Philosophical Institute, and made many contributions to its literature. He has been succeeded as Director by Dr. J. A. Thomson, Palaeontologist to the Mines Department. Staff Records. The incompleteness of the records was pointed out in the First Report; and whilst there has been some improvement, yet so badly have the particulars of staff been kept in some Departments that even now some doubt exists whether the name of every permanent officer appears in the Classification List. Delays are unavoidable when incomplete information is furnished, and much extra work is involved in obtaining the additional details. A disposition has been shown by some few Departments to engage temporary assistance without obtaining approval beforehand. It has been found necessary to order the discontinuance of the practice followed by a few officers in fairly responsible positions, of engaging members of their own families when authorized to provide themselves with temporary assistance; and it has been pointed out that such action constitutes a breach of the Public Service Act. Expansion of the Service. In Table 111 the new positions created during the year are shown in detail, and the reasons given for action in each case. The total additional cost of salaries on account of these new positions was, after making deductions on account of the consequential changes, €22,179. I have no means of comparing the figures with any former year; and there is little to remark except to say that every application for the creation of a new position, even if only for an additional cadet for expansion of business, has been submitted to rigid scrutiny. Movement of the Service. Departments other than the Post and Telegraph Department. The following table showing alterations in the staff and salaries of Departments gives, for the first time in the history of the Service, the actual state of the stall at the. beginning and end of the financial year, with details of increases to the staff under various headings, and the wastage owing to deaths, retirements. resignations, &c.