H.—36.

1939. NEW Z E ALAND.

PRINTING AND STATIONERY DEPARTMENT (ANNUAL REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1939.

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave.

Printing and Stationery Department, Wellington, 26th July, 1939. Sir,— I have the honour to submit the annual report upon the working of this Department for the year ended 31st March, 1939. The tables accompanying the report show the nature, extent, and result of the year's working. Gazette.—The number printed of each issue was 750, the number of subscribers 348, and the amount received from sales and subscriptions £1,758. Hansard. —The number printed of each issue for session 1938 was 8,000, the number of subscribers 154, and the amount received from sales and subscriptions £180. Stamp-printing.—Stamps to the value of £5,220,680, and postal notes to the value of £41,368, were printed during the year. Stereo-plates.—The number of stereo-plates cast during the year was 62,879, of which 6,971 were nickel-plated, the weight being 41,042 lb. The output over the last five years is shown in the accompanying table:—

Rubber Stamps.—The number of rubber stamps made was 18,712. The details set out in the table appended show the increase as compared with previous years:— Year. Number of Stamps. 1934-35 .. .. .. .. 1,551 1935-30 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8,915 1936-37 .. .. .. .. .. 9,734 1937-38 .. .. .. .. 12,110 1938-39 ■ . •• .. 18,712 Railway Tickets.—The number of tickets printed was 7,574,134, the largest number printed in one month being 885,848 in November, 1938. This is an increase of 362,906 over the output for the previous year.

I—H. 36.

Number of Stereo-plates east. Year. Total. Weight of Metal. Ordinary. Nickel-plated. lb. 1934-35 .. .. 34,124 1,446 35,570 23,306 1935-36 .. .. •• 39,410 1,281 40,691 25,734 1936-37 .. 40,569 5,746 46,315 26,192 1937-38 .. .. 43,152 6,487 49,639 31,624 1938-39 .. .. .. 55,908 6,971 62,879 41,042