E.—2

8

townships, such as Opotiki and Whakatane, are bestirring themselves to get their children educated. For instance, about a hundred children living within ten miles of Opotiki, whose education had been either entirely neglected or had been of a very intermittent character, are now attending the schools at Waioeka and Omaramutu. The attendance at Whakatane also is very large, and seems to be increasing. In fact, the same sort of change has taken place here as at Tauranga, where the Natives, after doing little or nothing in this way for many years, have come to realise the necessity of getting their children educated, so that they may be able to exist under the new order of things that is coming into being. Nearly all the outlying schools in this district are doing good work too. Torere and Te Kaha are in the van just now, but they will have to work hard to maintain their position; they have competitors that are not to be despised. Here, as in several other districts, much of the credit due for the measure of success obtained by the Native schools must be given to the District Superintendent, who actively co-operates in every effort that is made to secure the good conduct and efficiency of the schools. Te Kaha. —This is an excellent school all round. The elder pupils work hard and seem to be exercising a very good influence over the juniors; this good influence has extended to the parents also. The fact is that the elder children, by means of their rapidly-increasing intelligence and ability to deal with such practical problems as turn up in the affairs of the Natives, have demonstrated to their parents in the best of all ways that a pakeha education is not half a bad thing. As a consequence of this, the Natives value their school much more than they did in bygone times. There was a large gathering of Natives to see the examination; they appeared to take great interest in all that was done, and were evidently much gratified at the success of the three boys that passed the highest standard. There is one matter to which a slight reference should be made here : a little difficulty with regard to the teacher's right to exclude Natives from the school-grounds arose through a misconception by the teacher of the nature of an Inspector's duties. It is and can be no part of an Inspector's work to enforce the letter of a regulation upon the Natives when he feels that an extremely strict reading of this regulation is entirely at variance with the whole spirit of the Native Schools Code. Perhaps it is not quite in good form for a teacher, in the presence of the Natives, to insist on obtaining answers to questions that are far better left unanswered, and that can be practically and satisfactorily dealt with only by the constant exercise of tact and prudence on the part of the teacher himself. Torere. —The teachers are on excellent terms with the Natives, who are now taking more interest in their school than ever they did. The influence of William King, the chief of the district, is most beneficial. If all Maori chiefs were like him, Native education would be a much easier thing to deal with than it is. There was a large attendance of Natives on both examination days, and the proceedings^from beginning to end were watched with great attention. Omaramutu. —This school, like the following, has made an excellent beginning, and bids fair to be very useful. The chief, Te Awanui, has here an opportunity of doing great good to his people by steadily keeping up the interest he has already shown in school matters in trying to have the school reopened and fairly started. Waioeka.- —There is every reason to hope that this will be a very successful school. Great progress had been made during the few months that it had been open. As is usual in the case of new schools, some pretty unreasonable requests were made by the Natives— e.g., that the members of the Committee should be paid for their services; but the proceedings on the whole were satisfactory. It may here be mentioned incidentally that the more uncivilised Maoris find it difficult to understand why teachers, inspectors, and other Government officials, in order that they may be able to support their own families, should be paid for attending to the educational wants of the Native children, while the Maoris themselves are expected to render their services gratis; yet they have no difficulty in seeing that it is right that Maoris should be paid for potatoes, kumara, or pork that they raise for the pakeha and his children, and would laugh if a pakeha asked them to make an allowance on the price charged, on the ground that he would have to be at the trouble of having these things cooked in order that his children might get the benefit of them. Seeing that the Maori mind is very acute and logical, and is able to form clear ideas as to what is just and what is unjust, the difficulty that the Natives find in understanding this simple principle is rather to be wondered at. Omaio. —This school was closed at the time of my visit to the district, the master, Mr. M. Nicholson, a very valuable and painstaking teacher, having died a short time previously. A new master has since been sent. Whakatane. —There is a difficulty here: it is found to be impossible to get a Committee elected in the usual way. The members of the present Committee hold, perhaps rightly, that they are the very best men that could be obtained. If this is the case, they say, what possible use can there be in having an election ? As it appears that the other Natives of the district hold substantially the same opinion, and, besides, are unwilling to attend any meeting whatever at which an abundant supply of flour, sugar, &c, is not forthcoming, it may be just as well to let things remain as they are. It is, however, to be regretted, on general grounds, that the Natives cannot be induced to adopt the European custom with regard to this matter. There is now a large and regular attendance at Whakatane, and there seems reason to believe that the school is going to be successful in all respects. Matata. —Matata has suffered greatly through the prolonged illness of the mistress. _As the school is a very large and important one, the Department, with the concurrence of the teacher, considered it advisable that he should be removed to a smaller school, where the services of a mistress would not be indispensable. One of the most successful of the Hokianga teachers is now master of the Matata School. Te Teko. —The new master and the Natives agree very well; he likes them and they respect'him. There is reason to hope that, when the teachers have had a little more practice and expe-