The special efforts of the Government to settle impecunious persons on the land are still in the { 116} initial stage and have not served to neutralise the effects of the lowness of prices and consequent scarcity of employment. The total expenditure under the heading of Charitable Aid was £106,500 in the year ended March, 1896, being an increase of £20,000 upon that of the previous twelve months. A sum of £18,000 was also spent on relief works. The administration is vested in the local authorities, who obtain the necessary funds from rates, voluntary contributions and subsidies on a fixed scale from the National Exchequer. They expend one-fifth of the amount on the maintenance of destitute children and the greater portion of the remainder on outdoor relief. No information is available as to the number of persons relieved, their average ages, the form of relief or the conditions under which it is given; but it is evident from reports of the Inspector of Charitable Institutions that the administration is exceedingly lax and tends to intensify the evil which it should strive to alleviate. It would seem that, on the one hand, the Government are inculcating habits of independence, on the other, conniving at the encouragement of pauperism.