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REPORT ON CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL AT OTAKI, WESLEYAN SCHOOL AT THE HUTT, AND ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL AT WELLINGTON.

The Hutt, 19th May, 1858. Sir,— As Chairman of the Board of Commissioners appointed by His Excellency to inspect and report on the state of the Native Schools in this part of the Colony, I have now the honor to forward to you the Report which was unanimously agreed to by my brother Commissioners, together with tlie enclosures, as enumerated in the margin; and, in doing so, I would only take occasion to observe that we were at considerable pains to obtain and convey a correct impression of the actual state of those Schools for the information of His Excellency's Government. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, The Honorable : William Fitzherbert, The Colonial Treasurer, • Chairman. Auckland.

REPORT AND MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. In discharge of the duties imposed on them by the General Government, the Commissioners appointed to inspect and report on the Native and Half-caste Schools in this portion of the Colony, directed their attention to that Institution which has for some years attracted notice and created large expectations ; and decided that the Native Establishment at Otaki, under the charge of the Venerable Archdeacon Hadfield, should be visited first. And although they received a circular from the Archdeacon, warning them that they would not be received, they deemed it their duty, nevertheless, to proceed, trusting that a little reflection would induce him to reconsider his decision in this respect, or, if not, that after all the question in dispute touched rather the authority of the General Government, in which it behoved the Commissioners in no way to meddle. On arriving at Otaki they were again met by a refusal, on the part of the Archdeacon, to submit to their inspection, and recognise them as Commissioners of the Government. Having, as they believe, most scrupulously avoided giving even the slightest occasion of offence, the Commissioners conceived that they could not abandon what had now assumed the character of a most unpleasant task, without incurring the charge both of want of respect to His Excellency's Government, who, unsolicited, had confided to them so important a trust, and also of being consenting parties to the Archdeacon's avoidance of a public enquiry. The only alternative that, under these circumstances, appeared to be left to the Commissioners was to hold an open meeting and throw themselves upon the good sense of the European and Native inhabitants of the Settlement, to extricate them from the dilemma, and to supplement, so far as possible, the information thus obtained by their own personal observation on the spot. The result fully justified the course thus pursued; and a most attentive and crowded meeting assembled on the occasion. The Commissioners would have entirely refrained from offering any comment upon evidence thus taken in the most formal and open manner (copy of the Minutes whereof accompany this Report), had it not been for certain documents that have been put forward, the tendency of which is to impugn