E.—B

4

TABLE S. —Parentage of Non-committed Children admitted to Orphanages in 1883.

The fathers only of 11 children and the mothers only of 4 were dead, and 13 had lost both parents, showing that, out of the 37 children placed in orphanages, 28 had been deprived of one or both parents; 4 children had one or both parents sick or m a lunatic asylum , 2 had been deserted by both parents, 2 had a father and 1 had a mother of bad character The following is a summary of the ages of the children maintained by Government that were resident at all the schools on the 31st December, 1883:—

TABLE T.—Ages of the Children.

At the beginning of the year 25 51 per cent, of all the resident committed children were under seven years , at the close of the year the percentage of children under that age was only 12-37 This large decrease m the number of very young resident children is owing to the large number (205) that had been boarded out with foster-parents, almost all of whom are under seven years of age. About 915 of the resident children were receiving day-school instruction at the end of the year, the numbers being as follows Auckland Industrial School (Howe Street and Kolnmarama), 129, Burnham, 210, Cavcrsham, 236, St. Mary's, Auckland, 44, St. Mary's, Nelson, 132, St. Stephen's, Parnell, 18, St. Joseph's Providence, Wellington, 22 , Motueka, 24 , Lyttelton Orphanage, 82. Those at the Thames School, 18 m number, are included in the returns of " public " school attendance. The amount of payments made by parents on account of the maintenance of their children is larger for 1883 than for 1882. The amounts for the two years were as follows :— £ s. d. Total for 1883 ... ... .. 1,335 16 7 Total for 1882 .. 1,130 13 4 Increase . £205 3 3 The Industrial Schools Act provides that- the earnings of the children when at service shall be placed in the Post-Office Savmgs-Bank, after defraying the cost of clothing and other necessaries The repayment of these moneys, with accumulated interest, is contingent on good conduct. The boys usually receive theirs on reaching manhood and showing that the money will be satisfactorily expended by them. The girls' money is usually paid to them on their marriage

Mothers [escribed as Children of Sick, Lunatic, Disabled, &c. Of Good Character (or poor). Not known or not stated. Total. Dead. Of Bad Character. D 'athers described as— Dead Sick, lunatic, disabled, &c. Of good character (or poor) Not known or not described Of bad character Deserters 13 2 1 1 2 9 1 24 2 3 2 2 4 i 1 2 1 2 1 Total 12 37 17 i

Under 1 Year. 1 and under 2. 2 and under 3. 3 and under 4. 4 and under 5. 5 and under 7. 7 and under 10. 10 and under 13. 13 and under 15. Over 15 Years. Total. lommitted children 4 7 9 15 64 262 269 135 35 800 Ion-committed children 1 2 4 24 62 65 37 6 202 Total 1 4 8 11 19 88 324 334 172 41 1,002