Council Paper.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XV, 4 February 1857, Page 3

Council Paper.

REPORT OF THE CENTRAL BOARD OF EDUCATION, FOE THE HALF- YEAS ENDING- 31st DECEMBEE, 1857. Considering the short period during which the Education Act has been in operation, it cannot with any reasonableness be expected that in presenting its First Report the Central Board of Education should be able to point to any very important results already achieved. Its efforts have been of necessity directed up to the present time to measures of initiation and preparatory arrangement ; and, like other bodies similarly situated, it has found that in working an untried machinery, it had a good deal to learn, and met with obstacles, some of them foreseen, others unforeseen or accidental. But this also has not been without its advantage, for the difficulties encountered have been the means of pointing out the weak parts of the system, acd have suggested beneficial alterations in a law, which was always considered [ by those who framed it as almost essentially tentative aud open to much modification and impi'ovement. Among the difficulties with which the Central Board had to contend, one of the earliest, and apparently at one time the most formidable, arose from the opposition to the direct tax, founded partly upon the unpopularity of such a mode of collecting money, partly upon conscientious objection to the law, and partly upon the difficulty of procuring money, owing to the general depression of the times. The Central Board regrets to have to report that the rate which was due in July last has not been completely collected : in several districts, as for instance in the Town of Nelson, it has been necessary to summon a large number of persons before the Resident Magistrate's Court. In other districts, owing to the difficulty of proceeding, this has not been done, and the consequence is, that a considerable number of persons have thus, up to the present time, set the law at defiance with impunity. The difficulty which the Central Board ha 3 met with here has arisen principally out of what can only be regarded as an oversight in the Education Act* By the 1 9th clause the Secretary or one of the members of the Board are constituted the persons in whose names legal proceedings are to be taken : a duty of this nature would evidently have thrown upon, the Secretary an immense amount of trouble, and is more than could reasonably be expected from a member of au unpaid Board. It is therefore recommended that the Act should be altered, so as to make the collector the party by whom defaulters should be sued. Another direct difficulty which the Board has met with is the following : As is generally known, the Nelson School Society was, before the Education Act came into operation, the principal educating body in the province, and as such was in possession of land and schoolhouses in various localities. When the Central Board entered upon the discharge of its functions, it fonnd that in order to continue education it was necessary to make use of the buildings in occupation of the Nelson School Society. In point of fact, without any intimation on the part of the Central Board, the different Local Committees at once entered upon the use and occupation of the school-houses, a proceeding to which, with a liberality which deserves to be acknowledged, the Nelson School Society in the great majority of instances offered no opposition. It was very evident, however, that a tenure of school property so loose and insecure as this, did not become a body intrusted by law with the chief direction and responsibility of the education of the province. The Central Board therefore lost no time in putting itself in communication with Mr. Campbell, who represented the Nelson School Society in this matter, and regret now to be obliged to report that after various negotiations, and an offer on its part of terms as liberal as it deemed itself justified in conceding, and which in fact it was induced to propose solely under the pressure of the urgent necessity of having school-rooms, it has been unable to come to any terms with the Society for even the temporary use of its property. Having failed in accomplishing this, the Board then appointed a Sub-Committee of its number to report on the subject of the tenure of the property of the Nelson School Society, and the amount of debt due by that body. A copy of the Report of the Sub-Committee is appended. The Report of the Sub-Committee of the Central Board is to the effect, that of the schools known as " Campbell's Schools," some are upon land to which there is no title, some are upon land belonging absolutely to Mr. Campbell, while others are upon land granted by the Crown in trust for certain purposes. The terms of the trust are as follows : "to permit the said premises and all buildings thereon erected or to be erected, to be for ever hereafter appropriated and used as and for a school for children of all denominations without the imposition of any sectarian creed." The Sub-Committee further report that it appears to them, that the Nebon SchooTSociety ceasing to discharge its functions,' the Central Board is its natural and legitimate successor in the trust, and is entitled to enter upon the possession of the land thus granted to the Nelson, School Society, and premises erected chiefly by contributions on the part of the public. In this view of the case the Ceutral Board concurs. It has not yet taken any Jegal advice upon the subject, not deeming it expedient to. do so, inasmuch as it contemplated the possibility of the question engaging the attention, of the Provincial Legislature. It is obvious, however, that it is a matter of essential concern to the Province to know whether this property is 'available for the purposes of general education, or whether it must endeavour to purchase other sites and erect other school-houses. The Central Board would therefore suggest that the Executive of the province should obtain a legal opinion on this subject, and if advised that a transfer of the property is possible, or perhaps necessary, probably the simplest and most effectual way of accomplishing this would be by an Act of the Provincial Legislature. But notwithstanding these direct obstacles with which the new system of Education has had to contend, the Board has great pleasure jin referring to the annexed Report of their | Inspector, which shows that within the last six months there has been an increase in the num»

ber of children attending school of upwards of lift}- per cent., a fact which alone is sufficient lo establish for the system a valid claim to favourable consideration. But, in addition to this, the Board has much pleasure in pointing to the circumstances of new schools being in onirse of erection in different parts of the pro- i unce ; of greater efficiency on the part of I teachers ; of a better supply of school books :i'.ul apparatus, and of local supervision and | fDiitrol, accompanied by greatly increased j interest. These different things, the fruits of the system, are now beginning to be apparent, :usd the consequences do not fail to show themselves iv the removal of the discontent wlitoli formerly existed, and the gradual establishment of the Education Act in the confidence of the public. Animated by an earnest desire to advance the o vise of education, and charged with the responsibility of being the chief administrative authority for this purpose, the Central Board is unwilling to bring this, its first report, to a i-lose, without offering a few suggestions which cither the actual working of the system, or a further consideration of the subject, have pointed out as calculated to make the Public School Education more useful and generally acceptable. One complaint has been uniformly iv.ade, one want has been generally felt, and that is, that the funds are insufficient. The requirements of all the District Committees have far exceeded the funds which the Central Board allot to them. It is necessary, in fact, to construct from the foundation. True, we have had the advantage of the use of a certain number of school-houses erected by the Nelson School Society : and, indeed, without these the Central Board would have been altogether para- 1 lyzed; but many of them are unsuitable, at all i events for winter schools ; some of them are | r.ot in suitable situations ; hardly any of them j are constructed on a proper plan, or contain those arrangements or conveniences which they ought to offer. It may therefore be safely assumed, that the school-houses and masters' dwellings within the province have yet to be built. But from what source are the necessary funds to be derived ? The present income of the Board is not much more than sufficient to carry on its working expenses ; and it is not to be expected that the rate can be increased ; nor can the condition of the revenue afford a vote of a sum of money equal to this purpose ; nor, if it could, can the Central Board admit the fairness or expediency of making the present inhabitants of the province pay for the creation o( a machinery by which their successors will be so largely benefited. It appears therefore to the Board that the proper way to accomplish this object is by borrowing money. A sum of £3,000 would go a long way towards building all over the province suitable schoolhouses and masters' dwellings. This sum wight be borrowed so as to be repaid, both interest and principal, iv a certain number of years, say ten or fifteen, and the sum thus annually taken from the revenues of the province would be comparatively little felt, even at present ; and it is to be hoped still less and less as the population and wealth of the prov;nee increased. Experience has pointed out another serious jfect in the operation of the Act. By far ie larger amount of the money with which ie Central Board has to deal, arises from anml vote of the Provincial Council. Thus, ' its current year's revenue, the Board estiates £61,300 as the proceeds of the rate, and 2,250 as the amount of the vote of the auncil. But it is evident that the sum to be ■ted by the Provincial Legislature is an unrtain amount, depending upon the state of c revenue, upon the pressure of the various mands upon it, and upon the temper and iws of the members. The effect of this unrtainty operates injuriously upon the prcedings of the District Committees. It is ipossible for these latter in such a state of ings to make arrangements for the future, cause they cannot tell what they are to get other year. All forecast in their operations thus to a great extent destroyed ; they are the same time prevented from borrowing jney, which they might often wish to do for particular purpose ; and thus going on acrding to a homely phrase, from hand to )uth, are encouraged as it were to spend, thout forethought and possibly without the ?atest advantage, their fund's actually in nd. It is but fair to the gentlemen who spared the report upon which the Education •t was founded, to state that this was fore•n by them, and that it was one of their •ommendations that the educational funds juld depend, not upon annual vote, but >uld be fixed by permanent appropriation, c evil thus pointed out would be remedied some measure by a loan for the erection buildings, for thus one of the chief subts of anxiety and consideration, both to the strict Committees and to the Central Board, uld be removed : but still the working exises of the system would be dependent upon • rate, supplemented by vote of the Council, sum in the nature of things more or less •ject to uncertainty and fluctuation. The experience of the past year, and further isideration of the matter, have led the ,itral Board to doubt whether the present isehold rate is the best mode of levying ney for education. To the opposition to rate arising out of its being a direct tax, Board attaches no importance ; the same tosition would be made to all direct taxation ; ! yet it is evident that it is a mode of coling money which must be submitted to, to which in - fact we must look chiefly for our funds for local purposes. But it may li a much greater show of justice be conJed that a direct tax should always be foled by a direct benefit ; and although it is f easy to prove that every one is benefited widely-diffused school instruction, still there many case 3in which this is not felt as it ht to be, and others in which the operation he rate is productive of apparent injustice, ferring more than his share of direct advan- : upon the man with a large family, confer- • apparently none at all upon his neighbour • has no children, but whose circumstances no better than those of the former. Cases i as these, and others of an analagous ire, tend to keep up a feeling of irritation, ;h it is to be feared will always render the upon its present basis unpopular, and •fere with the successful working of the

Influenced by a desire to remove all ground of complaint of injustice, although even only apparent, but influenced still further by considerations of equity, and by precedent derived from the practice of other countries, the Central Board has arrived at the conclusion that it would be a wise plan to set aside altogether the present mode of collecting the rate, lhat is, to do away with the household rate and substitute for it a tax upon real property. The effect of this, of course, would be to throw the burden of education in the major degree upon the wealthier classes of the community ; in the minor degree upon those who had been less successful. But still, when the general equalization of landed property in this country is considered, and the facility of its acquisition by every industrious man, it is apprehended that the burden would be more generally and equally distributed than mio-'it be at first sight supposed ; and if to this r*an it be objected that it is open to the .ame ground of complaint as the former, that it compels persons who have no children of their own to pay for educating the chldren of others, the answer is that the possession of property brings with it certain duties, and that the holders of property are directly interested in the maintenance of an efficient moral police. But the experience of other countries has shown that objections of this nature are not urged or felt by the possessors of property. The Central Board does not consider it a part of its duty to pursue a matter of this sort into details which, properly speaking, it is the business of the Legislature to consider ; but a very important point may be glanced at, before dismissing the subject. Supposing I funds for the purposes of education to be i levied by a property rate, should the schools las at present be open to all children 1 It would [ be very impolitic, in the opinion of the Board, aud not more impolitic than undesired, to place any class of society in the position of having their children educated entirely at the expense of any other. The answer to the question put is therefore in the negative. But as the advantage of having the school-door open is great, and as it is desirable that no impediment should be placed there to the admission of children, the Board would suggest that, in addition to the property rate, a certain sum more or less should be levied for each j child between the ages of five and fourteen. > If this sum were iixed at a low rate, it would offer to parents education for their children on easy terms ; it would act as an inducement to j them to send them to school, iv order that j they might receive the value of what they | had paid for; it would remove all feelings ofj eleemosynary assistance, and thus preserve, as | is most desirable, feelings of reliance and self- ! respect. A direct payment towards the school, ! not only by the holders of real property, but ' also by all parents of children, would also j have the effect of interesting a larger number j of persons in its success, and thereby leading j to its greater usefulness and efficiency. Although, in framing the Education Act, considerable trouble was taken to introduce ! provisions calculated to guard against any in- \ fringement of the rights of conscience, it j nevertheless appears that a considerable number of the Roman Catholics, and perhaps a small mimber of Protestants, object to the Act on conscientious grounds. The Roman Catholics would in fact object to anything like a common or national system, being strongly opposed to all education of their children which is not conducted by persons of their own communion, and in accordance with their own peculiar religious views. The system which would suit them best is the denominational, although it is confessedly quite unsuitable to the circumstances of a new and thinlypeopled country. Satisfied that nothing was further from the intention of the Provincial Legislature than any idea of doing violence to the religious scruples of any portion of the community, that its only wish was to devise a system which, should hold out the greatest amount of advantage and at the same time not exclude religious teaching, and that consistently with these conditions it had no wish to injure any existing school, or interfere with the educational operations of any denomination, ihe Central Board will take the liberty of offering a suggestion, calculated perhaps to secure more effectually the objects thus aimed at in the Act, and to disarm opposition. The plan they would suggest is the one which they uuderstand ha 3 been adopted in Canada with much success ; and certainly no more effectual | security can be devised to protect the rights of a minority, aud to guarantee it against anything like hardship or oppression on the part of the greater number : it is this — that if in any town or school district there be a dissatisfied minority, such minority may require their own school rate to be set apart, and may establish a school according to their own liking, denominational or not ; only providing that the school be open to government inspection, and that the Central Board be satisfied that a sufficient amount of instruction is given in it. It would of course be only in towns, and where the population is tolerably dense, that 3uch a provision would be likely to be taken advantage of. Still, under all circumstances, it would afford a great protection to any minority or denomination considering itself used with injustice, and would not be without its effect in making the conduct of the majority reasonable and conciliatory. An omission of serious importance in the Education Act, calling for immediate amendment, is this : that there is no provision whatever in it for the tenure of property, either by the Central Board or any of the District Committees. In the 9th clause the Central Board is empowered to erect and maintain schools, and to erect and keep in repair dwell-ing-houses for the teachers ; but the Act does not confer upon the Central Board any position by which it would be enabled to hold property. From the clause above quoted it may fairly be inferred that it was the intention of the Provincial Legislature that the land and houses to be used for educational purposes should be held by the Central Board in trust, rather than by the District Committees or the Executive Government. If such Avere the intention of the Legislature, it would appear desirable that a clause should be at once introduced into the Act, constituting the Central Board a " body politic and corporate," with the rights and functions commonly attaching

to such bodies. From the absence of such a provision some inconvenience has already resulted, and more is likely to result very soon ; for several new school-houses are being erected in different parts of the province, without any arrangements having been made by the Board, for the possession of either the land or the buildings. The very evident consequence is, that property of this nature, created at the expense of the public, and not vested in any proper body on its behalf, may before long be lost to it altogether. For, as the Act stands at present, the Central Board cannot hold a house, nor an acre of land ; nor does the Act appoint any one on behalf of the educational machinery it has called into existence, by whom this can be done. The subjects which the Board has indicated are those upon which chiefly amendments appear to be desirable ; other imperfections wiil in all probability suggest themselves to different members of the Legislature, and may be removed by its action. But the Board cannot refrain from congratulating the public of the province that a general system of education is at length in existence; that a beginning has been made, and the foundation laid, of a structure which, though imperfect and inconvenient in some of its details, is nevertheless sound in its general plan, and may be added to and improved from time to time. The education of the people of Nelson has at length become a matter of public concern, in the successful working of which our credit and the character of institutions of self-government are involved. It is with the hope of aiding in its development, that the Central Board has offered the above suggestions. It has been enabled to do so, because its functions have made it better acquainted than any other party with the working of the Act ; and its only wish has been, and is, to give greater perfection to a system from which most important results may be anticipated. (Signed) D. Monro, Chairman.

[Enclosure, No. 1, referred to in the foregoing lieport.'] REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE CENTKAL BOAKD OF EDUCATION. The Sub-Committee appointed to inquire into the tenure and nature of the Trust by which the- Nelson School Society hold the lands and buildings at present in their possession, beg to report to the Central Board as follows :—: — From inquiries made at the Registrar's Office, they have ascertained that the following Crown Grants have been made out in favour of the Nelson School Society :—: — First. Three-quarters of an acre in the Town, being the land upon which the Town School stands, commonly known as Campbell's School. Second. A part of Section 150, Waimea South. Ten acres. Third. Five acres of Section, No. 41, Waimea South, being the land upon which the school, conducted by a man of the name of Renncll, stands. Fourth. Two and a-half acres of Section, No. 64, in the Riwaka. In each of these instances the land is granted In trust on precisely the same terms to five trustees, namely, " Matthew Campbell, Thomas Renwick, Alfred George Jenkins, William Hildreth, and Thomas John Thompson." And the conditions are, to permit the said premises, and all buildings thereon erected or to be erected, to be for ever hereafter appropriated and used as and for a school for children of all denominations without the imposition of auy sectarian creed, and with power to the trustees for the time being to appoint new trustees pursuant to the provisions of the Conveyancing Ordinance, Session 11., No. 10. The portions of land above enumerated, with the buildings upon them, are the only real property held by the Nelson School Society. But there were various other schools in the province, commonly known as Campbell's Schools. At Appleby there was a school standing on the corner of Section, No. 187, Waimea East. Your Committee do not believe that the land upon -which this school-house stands has ever been conveyed. At Stoke, there was a Society's school built upon land belonging to Mr. Marsden. At Hope, there was a Society's school standing on land the private property of Mr. Campbell. The River Terrace school is similarly situated : the land is Mr. Campbell's. In Suburban North, the school-house stands on land granted to Mr. Campbell, although it was erected by public subscription. In Waimea West there is a school-house standing on the corner of Section, No. ,at present in the occupation of Mr. Kerr ; there is no Crown Graut for this piece of land. At Motupipi there is also a school upon unconveyed land. The schools which were formerly supported by the Nelson School Society may thus, with reference to the tenure of the land upon which they are built, be classed under several heads. First. Schools built upon land granted by the Government to the Nelson School Society in the terms of the Trust above quoted : these are, the Town school, the school on Section 150, Waimea South, and the school on Section 41, Waimea South. In the Town, it may be observed, that the school-master's house does not stand upon the land conveyed to the Society by Sir George Grey, but upon land which is still the property of the public. Second. Schools erected upon land, the private property of Mr. Campbell : these are, the Hope school, the River Terrace school, and. the Suburban North school. But with regard to these, it is to be remarked, that the expense of erecting them has been defrayed from funds contributed by the public generally, either in the way of private subscription or grant from the public revenue. Third. Schools erected upon land lor which there is no title : these are, the Stoke, the Appleby, the Waimea Village, and the Motupipi schools. It is of course to the schools included under the first heading, that the attention of your Committee has principally been directed, and with regard to these it appears to them that

it is impossible to regard them in the nature of private property. The land on which they stand was granted by the Governor in trust for certain purposes, and the buildings have been erected and the schools supported by contributions from the public generally. The Nelson School Society could, in fact, be regarded only as the trustee or agent of the public for certain purposes, and as that body has now ceased to discharge the functions for which it was originally constituted, and as the public, by means of a machinery of its creation, has taken the work of instruction into ita own hands, it seems to your Committee consistent with reason and justice that the public should be entitled to re-enter upon the occupation of a property which it had for a time entrusted into other hands. But in expressing this opinion your Committee are speaking without any reference to the technicalities of the law or possible obstacles. What the decision of the law might be upon a question of this nature, it is of course impossible for them to say. But seeing that it is a question which ultimately must be decided by legal considerations, they would suggest to the Board that an opinion should be takeu upon it, and untimately they think that it is not unlikely that the action of the Provincial Legislature might be found necessary to vest this property in the Central Board. With regard to the amount of debt due by the Society, your Sub-Committee have not thought it necessary to make any application to the Treasurer of the Society, and can only therefore arrive at such results as public documents supply them with. From the balance sheet appended to the 1 2th Report of the Society, which is dated March 24th, 1856, they find that the Society was in debt a sum of j6263 15.?. \od. But the last year's vote of the Provincial Council in aid of existing schools had not been carried to credit. Of this vote your Committee have ascertained that the Society received the sum of so that the debt of the Society at the time when it closed its operations on the first of July last cannot well be less than and very probably exceeds it. But whatever may prove to be the debt due by the Societ}', provided it be shown that it was reasonably incurred for educational purposes, your Committee apprehend that it would be cheerfully discharged by the public, and that such a proceeding would be a necessary preliminary to claiming legal possession of property granted to a Society, which, by its zealous and disinterested efforts in the cause of education in the early days of the settlement, conferred upon us an obligation which we should always bear in grateful remembrance. (Signed) D. Mo is no, S. L. Muller. Nelson, December 24, 1856.

[Enclosure, No. 2.] REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR OP SCHOOLS. to the chairman of the centeal board ot Education. Sir — In presenting my first report to the Board, as Inspector of the schools established under the provisions of the Education Act, it appears desirable shortly to refer to the measures which have been taken towards carrying out its general design and intentions, as any account of the present state of the schools which did not take these circumstances into consideration would be necessarily imperfect, and fail to convey any definite or satisfactory information. It was not to be expected that an alteration so great as that effected by the Act, substituting an entirely different and in a great measure untried system in the place of all former arrangements, should at once succeed without some drawbacks, some hindrances, or even some mistakes, interfering with its operation and practical efficiency. Although some measures for the improvement of education had been generally and widely called for, and the Act passed in consequence had been the subject of much previous inquiry and repeated discussion, it could only after all be looked upon in the light of an experiment, to ascertain how far the inhabitants of the various districts were willing to take upon themselves the duties which it gave them the power and means to perform ; and how far its provisions would in practice be found to answer the expectations of its promoters. Too short a time has yet passed to allow of giving a definitive answer to these questions ; but, as far as the experience of the last three months enables us to form an , opinion, it affords fair grounds for expecting a satisfactory result. Of the nine districts proclaimed under the Act, not one has failed to organize itself; whilst in two only was there any serious opposition to their doing so. In each of them a Local Committee has been appointed, and a representative returned to the Central Board. A general disposition has been shown to assist in promoting the successful operation of the Act. The Nelson School Society, which for many years took a large share in the work with very inadequate means, cheerfully resigned its functions to its successors ; and a similar spirit of willing co-operation was shown, with one exception, elsewhere. The schools formerly established have been continued, or others formed in their stead ; new schools have been opened, and others are now in course of erection. The numberof schools previously in operation is 13 The number of schools lately opened . . 6 The number of schools now building . . 3 It must be obvious to the Board that in reporting on the state of these schools, I can at present offer no opinion as to the comparative merits, zeal, diligence, or ability of those who have had them in charge. This might perhaps be done in a few instances, but in the majority of cases the circumstances vary too widely to admit of auy such estimate. Thus the state of a school lately established iv a district where none had previously existed, and where the children had received no training or education whatever, could not be fairly contrasted with that of one which had been long at work under careful watching and superintendence ; neither could a school, which formerly offered but a bare pittance to its master, but which under the operation of the Act had received a large addition to its num-

bers from among those who had been previously neglected and untaught, bear a comparison with another which had been always fully attended, and had received no fresh accessions. It is true that some schools offer unmistakable evidence of the care and attention of their conductors ; but where this is less apparent, other and very significant causes sufficiently account for the deficiency. Where no interest is taken in our labours, and increased exertions obtain neither reward nor commendation ; where there is censure for neglect, and no praise for well-doing ; some of the most powerful incentives to continued action or persevering improvement are wanting, | and discouragement, apathy, or at the most a lukewarm performance of duty may be looked for, unless in those rare instances where there exists a strong natural inclination for the work, or where the sense of duty performed is an sufficient in itself, and requires no other inducement or help. But among the most general and obvious causes of failure, may be mentioned a rate of payment below the common rate of labourers' wages, imperfect and insufficient school accommodation, and a general and almost total want of books and other educational apparatus. The schoolmaster's salary, collected in small sums, frequently in arrear, thoughtlessly neglected or wilfully withheld, was not calculated to quicken his diligence, improve his temper, or add to his impartiality in the performance of his duties. The school buildings in many cases have been insufficient for the orderly arrangement or proper subdivision of the children into classes, which the want of books and of other necessary aids to the teacher has rendered almost impossible. In the greater number of schools, works on grammar and geography, even of the most elementary kind, have been wanting altogether, and those on arithmetic almost equally so ; so that the instruction upon these subjects was for the most part confined to the rudiments, even when it was given at all. But in all these particulars the operations of the Board, and the exertions of the District Committees, have already effected some improvement. The knowledge that the schools are to be periodically inspected, and a detailed account of their state and an accurate register of their progress rendered to the Board, is in itself a strong motive for increased exertion, which in some districts is further promoted and ensured by the regular visits of the Local Committees. The punctual payment of the master's salary is assured to him, free from all the petty annoyances inseparable from its personal collection week by week ; repairs and alterations long wanted have been commenced ; and a supply of books has been procured sufficient to meet the most urgent and pressing necessities. At the same time much still remains to be done. It was strongly recommended by the Commissioners on Education that, in addition to a yearly grant from the general revenue equivalent to the calculated amount of the rate, an additional sum should be voted in the first instance to meet the necessary outlay on new buildings, indispensable repairs, school fittings, and other similar and requisite objects. This recommendation seems to have been lost sight of altogether, and the action of the Board and the various Committees has been in consequence much crippled. To provide funds for some of these purposes, the schoolmaster's salary has been in some cases fixed considerably below the smallest amount originally contemplated, and his efficiency lessened in proportion. The value we attach to his services, and the estimation in which we hold his office, are shown by the amount of salary offered ; and it will be found eventually, as it has ever been, that on no other terms than those of a fair remuneration can we hope to enlist or retain competent persons in the work of education. The comparatively improved position in which they are now placed has already had the effect of producing more numerous applications, and enabling the Board to require a certain increase of qualifications for the situation. The standard may be further raised as the advantages offered become greater, until in every school ample means shall be provided to all who present themselves for acquiring the elements of a sound and useful education, sufficient for all the general requirements and business of after life. The annexed tabular view of the number of children in the schools, as compared with former statements, is satisfactory, as affording grounds for believing that the anticipations of the framers of the Education Act, as to its effect in producing a largely increased attendance, will not be disappointed. With these observations I have the honour to conclude the present report, reserving for a future opportunity such a detailed account of individual schools as will be required when they have been rather longer in operation, as well as such suggestions as may then appear desirable for their improvement. I have, &c, (Signed) J. D. Greenwood, Inspector of Schools. Nelson, December 5, 1856.

Tabulae View op the Number op Childeen foemekly and at pee Bent attending the Schools, and the Nfmbes examined at the Pbeiiminaby Inspection.

A Horrible Assassination. — One of those revolting assassinations at which the heart sickens, and which have become so common in these days of enormity, was committed in this country on the night of the 2Gth

September. The victims were Mr. A. E. Moore, his wife, and a lovely orphan girl, 1 2 years old, who was, by adoption, one of the family. They had just seated themselves at the supper table in the entry of their house, when the assassin, coolly fixing a rest for his gun by propping a board between the two stems of althea twenty steps from the table, and in full view of his unsuspecting victims, discharged at them a double-barrelled gun. At the first fire Moore fell. His wife, who sat on his left, exclaimed, " Lord, have mercy !" and at that instant received the contents of a second gun, fired in quick succession. She fell instantly, and the orphan girl, who was seated on Moore's right, and between Mr. Moore and the assassin, sprang into the house and called for camphor, but before ths servant could get *o her she was dead. Mr. Moore received three* shots in the head and four in the right side of the chest. His arm above the elbow was much shattered and the hand shot through. He lived a few minutes, but never spoke. Mrs. Moore received four shots in the face, and never seemed to have breathed after she fell. A single shot struck the young girl a little to the left of the spine, passed, through the heart, and, coming out at the left nipple, lodged in her clothes. I have this shot in my possession ; it is evidently a slug. Mr. Moore was an intelligent, amiable, worthy citizen. Among the most warm-hearted, womanly, and benevolent of her sex, Mrs. Moore had no superior. Without children herself, she had shown the goodness of her nature in adopting from among the indigent three homeless orphans, on whom she not only lavished all the care and kindness of a mother, but by will has left them (now but two— a young lady 16 and a boy 14 years) most of her large estate. — Marion (Texas) Correspondent of the New Orleans Delta. Origin of the German Race. — I once related to an Ossetian, in Tiflis, that, amongst the learned in Germany, it is a common opinion that we Germans are of the same stock as the Ossetiaus, and that our forefathers formerly dwelt in the Caucasian mountains. The Ossetian, who was a very handsome man, with the Caucassian acquiline profile, laughed outright at this; and an educated Russian, who was standing near agreed with him. A Wuitemberg peasant, of the colony of Marienfield, was just then passing by. The plump figure of this German, his broad countenance, with its heavy expression, and his slouching gait, contrasted certainly, in a striking manner, with the glorious figure of the Caucasian. " How is it possible," said the Russian, " that there can be such fools amongst you, as to believe that people of such different types could possibly proceed from the same stock ? No, the ancestors of these two men have no more come from the same nest than hawks and turkeycocks. Look you, this Ossetian and that German carry on the same business. They plough the field and tend the cattle. Let them send their peasants to the high mountains, and dress them all in the Caucasian coat, yet you would never make an Ossetian or Circassian out of them. Even a thousand years hence, it will be easy to distinguish the posterity of both, a mile off." — Travels in Persia, fyc.,from the German of Dr. Moritz Wagner. The painful speculations to which the late mysterious disappearance of the Baron de Robeck gave rise are at length set at rest, the body of the ill-fated nobleman having been found in the river Liffey, under such circumstances as to leave no doubt that his death was caused by accidental drowning. The jury returned a verdict to that effect. A few days ago upwards of one hundred bakers of Madrid waited on the constitutional alcades to represent that they would be obliged to raise the price of bread ; the civil governor, considering this act a coalition, caused seven of the more influential bakers to be arrested, and ordered for trial. The Vienna correspondent of Le Nord relates the following : " Marshal Radetzky lately experienced a slight accident in getting off his horse at his general quarters at Monza. The doctors have forbidden him to mount again, and the old hero, out of temper, declared that in that case he should not command the troops. Not only has the Emperor authorized him to command the army from a carriage, but has made him the present of a beautiful and suitable vehicle." The Jesuit characters, which play a very conspicuous part in the "Wandering Jew," are entirely omitted in the drama of that name, just revived at the Theatre de la Gaiete, Paris, and it is not allowed to mention the name of Eugene Sue, the author, in the play-bills. Probable Sentence on Archdeacon Denison. — It is fully expected that the sentence will amount to one of deprivation of his ecclesiastical appointments, namely, the Archdeaconry of Taunton, worth about i£9oo a year ; the Vicarage of East Brent, worth £ 1,000 a year ; and a prebendall stall in Wells Cathedral, of small annual value. All these appointments will fall to the patronage of Lord Auckland, the bishop of the diocese. There will be the power of appeal to the Judicial Committee of Privy Council in this case ; but, by the 16th clause of the Church Discipline Act, the Archbishop of Canterbury will not be permitted to sit on that occasion. — Morning Chronicle.

i a j_ 80 85 27 30 61 30 31 35 30 53 44 85 25 37 45 18 40 ■s w Remarks. Nelson, boyi ■ Ditto, girls . Wakapuaka . . Stoke . Richmond . Appleby , . Tlanzau . Hope . River Terrace Spring Grove • Wakeneld . Upper Wakeneld . Waimca West . Motucka, boys . Ditto, girls . > Pamga Totara . Hiwaka . , Motupipi ■ . Upper Moutere . Lower Moutere . Upper Wakefleld . 78 60 66 58 19 27 46 24 24 21 New School, formerly private. Lately opened. 15 40 24 25 27 New School, lately opened. 53 36 20 IS 36 33 23 13 20 32 38 Lately opened, Former School subdivided, & New School for girls opened. New Sohool, Utely opened. - 26 33 » - " " New School, lately opened. New School building. Ditto. Ditto. •• " " •• - - I 455! i 1696 467