3

E.—3

institutions, in some cases between the leaving of one situation and the entering on another, and in some instances owing to sickness or incapacity for service. The number over fifteen years that belonged to the schools at the end of 1883 was 133. They may be classified as follows : — Males. Females. Total. In service 31 17 48 With friends .. 23 11 34 On the school staffs 17 8 Waiting for situations, incapacitated through sickness, &c. 14 20 34 Missing 8 19 Total 77 56 133 There is an increase of 47 in the number of children placed out in charge of relatives or friends. In many instances the parents or friends of committed children make earnest application to have them restored to their custody After careful inquiry it is often found necessary, for the sake of the children, to refuse such applications, but not unfrequently they are granted for what are deemed sufficient reasons In such cases the children are licensed as prescribed by the Act, but they remain under the guardianship of the manager of the school, and can be recalled at any time, if necessary, by order of the Minister The parents or others to whom the children are thus intrusted, knowing this, are put upon their good behaviour, and are usually exceedingly careful to avoid such a course of conduct as would lead to the forfeiture of the custody of the children. It thus happens that the committal of a child to an industrial school sometimes proves beneficial to the parents as well as to the child. The particulars given in lines 10-15 of Table Q, and the following classification of the parents of the 320 children committed during the year, supply information of an interesting and suggestive character bearing upon the causes of committal: —

TABLE R.—Committed Children classified according to Parents' Circumstances and Character.

The fathers only of 96 children, and the mothers only of 13, are described as deserters, and 5 are reported as having been abandoned by both parents. The fathers only of 69 children, and the mothers only of 89, are stated to be of good character or poor, and 15 have both parents well reported of, 25 have fathers only, and 72 have mothers only, of bad character, and 22 have both parents of evil repute. The fathers only of 52 children, and. the mothers only of 44, were dead, and 7 had lost both parents by death. The fathers only of 18 children, and the mothers only of 25, were unknown to the authorities , and in the case of one child only was there no information about either parent. The information given in Table S respecting the parentage of the 37 children admitted to orphanages is of a different character ; —■

Mothers described a! Children of Total. Dead. Sick, Lunatic, Disabled, &c. Of Good Cbaracter (or poor). Not known or not stated. Of Bad Character. D ters. 'athers described as— Dead Sick, lunatic, disabled, &c. Of good character (or poor) Not known or not described Of bad character Deserters 7 3 20 1 13 7 3 1 11 4 2 6 33 4 15 2 2 48 19 1 6 16 15 6 22 35 2 4 5 2 6 59 10 84 19 47 101 Total 51 27 104 26 94 18 320