97

H.—la

Expenditure. £ a. d. Office expenses and management— Salary of Steward ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 600 0 0 Allowances to Commissioners ... ... .. ... .. ... 11 3 0 Printing, stationery, and postage ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 14 1 Seal ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 10 0 Expenses of leasing— Auctioneer's commission ... ... ... ... ... ... 15 16 9 Advertising .... ... ... ... ... ... ... 23 18 4 Surveying and maps ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 64 16 0 Payments to Education Boards— North Canterbury ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5,269 1 3 South Canterbury ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,230 18 9 Payments on account of Secondary Education — Canterbury College ... ... ... . ... ... ... 625 0 0 Timaru High School ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 437 10 0 Ashburton High School ... ... ... ... ... ... 185 0 0 Total expenditure ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8,474 8 2 Balance in Bank of New Zealand 81st December, 1879 — At Cr. of current account ... ... ... ... ... ... 374 2 0 On fixed deposit ... .... ... ... ... ... ... 750 0 0 Total ... ... ... £9,598 10 2 Assets. £ a. d. £ s. d. To Rents payable in advance on the Ist May, 1879 and still unpaid ... 302 15 3 Less written off as not recoverable ... . . ... 5983 ■ 243 7 0 Rents payable in advance Ist November, 1879, and still unpaid ... 853 7 3 Total assets ... ... ... ... ... ... £1,096 14 3 Liabilities and Engagements. £ s. d. By Contribution towards cost of drain on Reserve, No. 1,400, brought forward from last year ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 120 0 0 Steward's salary for December, and sundry claims ... ... ... ... 70 0 0 Total liabilities ... ... ... ... ... ... ... £190 0 0 Christchurch, 3rd January, 1880. John Marshman, Treasurer. I certify that I have audited this account and find it to be correct, and that the balance at the credit of the School Commissioners with the Bank of New Zealand, Christchurch, on the 31st December, 1879, was as herein stated. sth January, 1880. J. Ollivier, Provincial District Auditor.

WESTLAND. Sir,— Hokitika, 27th March, 1880. In accordance with the request contained in Circular No. 45, the Commissioners have the honor to make the following report of their administration during the past year. At the beginning of the year the following gentlemen were members of the Board of Commissioners, —The Hon. J. ABonar (Chairman), Dr. Giles, E. Patten, Esq., and H. L. Robinson, Esq. M. Price, Esq., having resigned in December, 1878, andE. Patten,Esq., one of the members appointed by the Board of Education, having resigned during the year, G. Mueller, Esq., was appointed by the Board to succeed him, and W. Duncan, Esq., has been appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of M. Price, Esq. Six meetings have been held during the year, inclusive of one special meeting. The only reserve from which any revenue is derived is that at Kumara. No payments have yet been made to the Board of Education ; as reference to the statement of receipts and expenditure will shew that the overdraft at the Bank of New Zealand is not yet covered. Considerable difficulty has been experienced during the past year in collecting rents from tenants upon the Kumara reserve, and it was found necessary, in many cases, to take legal proceedings for recovery of the same. The solicitor to the Commissioners took out during the year forty-four summonses, and attended the Magistrate's Court at Kumara five times. The effect of this has been to considerably increase the expenses, and to hinder the Commissioners in their efforts to liquidate the overdraft. The revenue received during the year amounted to £530 17s. 2d., and the expenditure to £731 7