9

H.—22

officers are being replaced by officers of this and other Departments, but the process is unavoidably slow. As each of these new Inspectors is appointed he is instructed in his duties by the principal Inspector for the Dominion. r l he necessity for this instruction has been amply proved. (9.) Board of Science anil, Art. The Board of Science and Art appointed under the Science and Art' Act, 1913, held its first meeting on the 28th and 31st January. The Board and its committees have already done good work, and its recommendations to the Government are receiving consideration. The Director of the Museum in his report deals further with the operations of the Board as they affect the Museum. (10.) Hector Ohservatory. In 1914 Mr. C. E. Adams, the Government Astronomer, was awarded the Martin Kellogg Fellowship in Astronomy of the University of California, and with the consent of the Government and the Public Service Commissioner lie left New Zealand on the 7th January, 1915, for a year's work at the Lick Observatory, returning on the 30th January, 1916. During his absence the work at the Observatory was undertaken by Mr. C. J. Westland, as Acting Government Astronomer. I take the opportunity of expressing appreciation of the valuable services rendered by Mr. Westland. Mr. Adams, during his absence in America, was awarded the degree of Doctor, of Science by the University of New Zealand for his thesis " The Harmonic Analysis of Tidal Observations and the Predicting of Tides," and his other papers on tidal survey, geodesy, etc. Mr. Adams's report on the year's work at the Observatory is printed in the appendix hereto. 3. The Work of the Sub-Departments during the War. As pointed out above, the war has had its effect on the work of the sub-departments as well as that of the Head Office. In the performance of their ordinary peace-time functions they have been worked efficiently and with a special view to economy. Census and Statistics Office. —The ever-growing importance attached to statistics has naturally led to an increase .of work in this office. The staff has been reorganized, and the effect of this reorganization is even now apparent. Owing to the pressure of war work in the Printing Office, the issue of certain of the statistical publications is unavoidably delayed. Registrar-General's Office. —It is proposed for the future to separate the appropriations for the Census and Statistics Office from those for the Registrar-General's Office. The effect of this will be to show clearly the fact that the latter is a revenue-producing office, its operations for the year showing an excess of receipts over expenditure of approximately £8,000. Dominion Laboratory. —The re-establishment of the Chemical Division of the Department of Agriculture, Industries, and Commerce has relieved the Laboratory from dealing with chemical questions relating to farming and kindred interests. The war, however, has considerably increased its work in several directions, the Laboratory proving of great value to the Defence authorities. The extent of this work is shown in the Dominion Analyst's report. Dominion Museum. —The Director and his staff have done excellent work during the year, but until the new building is erected its real extent will not be apparent. A vexed question is the long delay in the issue of Museum Bulletins. There are a number in manuscript, but for various reasons it seems impossible to get them printed. This matter is now receiving special consideration with a view to more satisfactory arrangements after the war. Reports. —The annual reports of the heads of sub-departments are printed in the appendix hereto, along with those of the Officer in Charge of the War Funds Office and the Government Astronomer. lII,—STAFF. The pressure on the staff of the whole Department during the past, year has been extremely heavy, and I have great pleasure in. acknowledging the cheerful willingness of all my officers under very trying circumstances. The heads of sub-departments have shown the true spirit, of co-operation in their relations with me as head of the Department. Their knowledge and ability have been of the greatest assistance. As an indication of the increase of departmental work entailed by the war, it may be mentioned that the volume of inward and outward correspondence for a single month of the present year exceeds in number that for the entire year 1912. IV.—ASSISTANCE RENDERED BY OTHER DEPARTMENTS. At all times, of course, the activities of each Department necessitate the assistance of other Departments in some particular phase of its work. The Department of Internal Affairs is no exception. Under ordinary circumstances this assistance would need no special remark, being recognized as -a natural co-operation of the various units of the Public Service. So far, however, as this Department is concerned, the special assistance rendered by certain other Departments during the past year demands special acknowledgment. I have already referred to the assistance given by the Postal Department in connection with the compilation of the National Register, and that afforded by the Defence Department in our shipment of gift goods, arid here I wish to place on record the indebtedness of the Department of Internal Affairs to the Police, Customs, Tourist, and Post and Telegraph Departments for assistance in carrying out the work created by the War Regulations. The machinery of the. Customs Department has been freely placed at our disposal when setting up permit agencies. Without the help of the Police Department the task of reporting on applications for permits and passports could only have been carried out at a considerable expense, and even then the result would not have been satisfactory. J. HISLOP, Under-Secretary,

2-H,^22.