Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1967-1968 — Page 66

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(2) although there was a decrease in the number of adoptions in the second period, there was an increase in the number of persons adopting children of their own or children otherwise related to them, as follows:

First 5 years

Last 5 years

Compilation of Vital Statistics

Adopted Children

With Relationship

Without Relationship

115

585

149

428

180. The Births and Deaths Registry is responsible for the compila- tion of vital statistics for the Colony. The Hollerith system is used for compiling statistics of mortality, and information is recorded by means of punched cards, covering the age, sex, marital status, nationality, occupation, place of death of the deceased, and also the cause of death, whether the body was sent to a mortuary, and the registration number of the attending doctor. In relation to these statistics close liaison with the Medical and Health Department and the Statistical Branch of the Commerce and Industry Department is maintained.

Fees

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181. The fees collected during the year amounted to $335,466. Particulars are given in Table XLIV.

PART X

NEW LEGISLATION

Land

182. The Stamp (Amendment) Ordinance 1967 provided for a fixed duty of $20 in the case of conveyances on sale of land where the sale price does not exceed $20,000, for a duty of $1 for every $100 or part thereof where the sale price exceeds $20,000 but does not exceed $40,000, and for the granting of a measure of relief from the higher rates of duty where the sale price only marginally exceeds $20,000 or $40,000. The Ordinance also imposed an obligation on those who execute a conveyance on sale of land and who wish to obtain the reduced rates of duty to certify that the transaction does not form part of a larger transaction or of a series of transactions on which duty would be pay- able at a higher rate.

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