E.—s

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Memorandum of Adjustment of Accounts between the Auckland Girls' High School Account and the Education Board Fund, compiled from Statement, 1878 and 1879. Receipts by Board. £ s. d. Expended by Board. £ s. d, 1878. School fees ... ... ... 79110 0 1878. Salaries and sundries as per statement. 1,767 3 4 Capitation allowance at £4 5s. —■ Ist quarter on average of 96 ; 2nd ditto, 96 ; 3rd ditto, 111 ; 4th ditto, 142 472 16 3 1879. School fees ... ... ... 1,599 3 4 1879. Ditto ... ... ... ... 2,771 2 9 Grants from cchool Commissioners ... 105 13 4 Capitation allowance, January to June —■ Ist quarter on average of 141; 2nd ditto, 183 344 5 0 Total receipts, 1878-79 ... ...£3,313 7 11 Balance, excess of expenditure over receipts ... ... ... 1,224 18 2 £4,538 6 1 £4,538 6~1 Vincent E. Rice, Secretary. J. M. Clark, Chairman, Examined and found to be correct.—L. A. Duebieu, Auditor. 25th February, 1881.

THAMES BOYS' AND GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL. Thames, 14th June, 1881. The school was opened on Ist April, 1880, by means of a grant from Government of £1,500 to purchase premises, &c, the which was effected at a cost of £1,572 9s. Bd. The staff of teachers consists of —a head master, at £100 a year, with house ; a female teacher, at £200 ; and an assistantmaster, at £130, whom it will be necessary to replace by a man of more experience at a higher salary. The singing-master is paid £20 a year, and music is paid for by fees. The fees taken from Ist April to 31st December, 1880, amounted to £125 3s 9d.; while the expenses of the school for the same period reached £638 9s. Bd., leaving a deficiency of £513 ss. lid., which was partly met by a grant from Government of £400. 'A small sum (£lO6 15s. 7d.) in aid of the funds of the school was also received from the School Commissioners. For the current half-year ending 30th June, the fees amount to £186 Bs. 6d., showing a considerable increase in the attendance, but yet falling much short of the necessary expenditure, which may be estimated for the next six months at £500. It is true that the Thames High School possesses an endowment of about 3,400 acres at Mount Aroha, which was valued by Government at the time the grant was made at £10,000. It is obvious, however, that this is a large over-estimate of the value of the property, one-half of which consists of mountain which cannot be utilized, except, perhaps, for gold-mining purposes ; but, as the search for the precious metal has much slackened in that quarter, little hope exists at present of obtaining a revenue from that part of the estate. Of the remainder, available for farms, 781 acres 1 rood 4 perches have just been leased for twenty-one years at an annual rental of £139 15s. This constitutes the most valuable part of the land, so it cannot therefore be expected that an equal amount of rent will be obtained from the remaining agricultural sections ; nor can we look for a larger rental from the whole property than £250 a year. Upon this assumption, which may not be realized, the financial position of the school would stand thus : — Revenue. £ s. d. I Expenditure. £ s. d. From Endowment ... ... ~. 250 0 0 For Salaries ... ... ... ... 850 0 0 Fees ... ... ... ... 375 0 0 Other expenses ... ... ... 150 0 0 £625 0 0 £1,000 0 0 The above statement shews an annual deficit of £375, which, in the meantime, can only be met by Government aid. It must be understood that no part of the revenue from the endowment will be available until next year, which leaves us for this year in the following position : — Revenue. £ a. d. Expenditure. £ 8. d. Fees to 31st December, 1881 ... ... 186 8 6 Salaries, &c, to same date ... ... 500 0 0 Repayment of overdraft ... ... ... 151 511 £186 8 6 £651 5 11 —leaving a deficiency of £464 17s. sd. to begin next year with. It is therefore clear that, unless a grant of £500 be made this year, the Board cannot meet current expenses, nor, indeed, carry on the establishment, which in twelve months has risen from 18 to 54 scholars, a number which may be expected to increase with the progress of settlement, and which certainly encourages further effort to maintain the school upon an efficient footing. Another ground upon which Government help ought to be extended to the Thames High School is this: that it was started under the idea that we possessed an endowment worth £10,000. Had such been the case, the income arising from it would have served, along with the fees, to maintain the school. As it is, the probable income will not at present represent a capital sum of more than £3,500, And even supposing the mountain part of the land to become profitable in the future, it cannot reasonably be expected to yield a revenue equal to that of the flat. We trust that this statement of the position of the Thames High School will enable you to form