E.—l

XIX

Expenditure for the Year 1885.

The receipts for the year, amounting to £37,781 Is. 2d., are almost entirely rents of reserves. The only remarkable exception is the sum of £4,295 Bs. 10d., being proceeds arising from the sale of lands by the Otago School Commissioners. The power of sale is conferred by " The Land Act Amendment Act, 1882," and the Otago School Commissioners have invested altogether £'25,372 16s. Gd. in the manner required by that Act. The amount paid by the School Commissioners for primary education (£28,664 12s. lOd.) is rather less than the amount so paid in 1884 (£29,052 13s. Id.). On the other hand, the Education Boards' accounts show that their actual receipts from this source were larger in 1885 than in 1884, the amounts being £29,761 lls. 2d. and £29,511 Is. 4d. The discrepancies arise partly from the fact that money has been paid by Commissioners on the 31st December, and not received by Boards until the Ist January. It must always be understood that whatever the Education Boards receive from the School Commissioners for primary education is accounted for to the Department, and that the payments to the Boards out of consolidated revenue are reduced by that amount. The contribution made by the School Commissioners towards the expenses of secondary education in 1885 (£1,610 12s. 5d.) is very little more than half of the similar contribution for 1884. Part of this money (£942 13s. 7d.) was paid to the Governors of certain high schools, part (£594 ss. Id.) to Education Boards on behalf of district high schools, and part (£73 13s. 9d.) was paid through the Boards for the maintenance of scholarships held at Nelson College. On the 22nd July, 1885, it was ordered by the House of Eepresentatives that a return be laid before the House setting forth the area and estimated value of the education reserves in each county and education district. As a complete return of the reserves for secondary and University education was laid upon the table last session (E.-ll in Appendix to the Journals of the House), a return of the reserves for primary education appeared to be all that was required. Such a return has been prepared from information supplied by the School Commissioners, and it was laid before the House on the 13th of the present month. It is marked E.-11. Native Schools. At the beginning of 1885 there were 55 Native village schools in operation, 5 subsidised schools, 3 half-time schools, and 6 boarding-schools. During the year the village school at Kuapuke, near Stewart Island, has been closed, owing to the death of the Eev. J. H. F. Wohlers, after forty-two years of faithful work among the Maori people of the settlement: the population is too small to justify the establishment of another teacher there. The school at Otago Heads has been transformed into an ordinary public school, under the control of the Education Board of the district. The Roman Catholic boarding-school at Meanee, near Napier, has been closed : it may, perhaps, be revived on a new model. The subsidised school at Pakia, having achieved respectable success,has been converted

Provincial Districts. Office Expenses and Salaries. S'LSf upended Auctioneers, r o v v e & s: Advertising, Fe^™%. Crown Grants and Law Expenses. Paid to Boards for Primary Education. Paid for Secondary Education. Sundries. Balances on 31st December, 1885. Total. Auckland Taranaki Wellington .. Hawke's Bay Marlboi'ougU Nelson Canterbury ,. Wcsfclancl Otago £ s. a. 101 8 8 118 10 2 64 9 1 103 10 3 32 G 0 25 0 0 546 5 4 18 8 0 659 12 9 £ s. a. 35 10 9 8 10 0 11 6 12 0 3 £ s. a. 113 15 6 G7 5 3 79 1 11 130 3 10 £ s. a. 22 9 10 28 1 10 3 3 O 1 1G 4 6 £ s. a. 960 5 4 525 0 0 600 0 0 1,750 0 0 190 7 0 583 13 9 12,400 0 0 £ s. a. G50 0 0 183 0 0 £ s. d. 39 10 10 £ s. d. 1,185 14 2 324 6 7 417 5 1 C52 11 1 107 4 o! 319 14 0: 140 G 2' 91 17 5 480 2 T £ s. a. 3,108 15 1 1,254 4 10 1,164 10 7 2,794 9 11 359 15 9 984 5 5 il3,214 1 0 112 7 6 18,444 9 6 130 0 0 29 18 9 43 15 0 12"2 8 10 4 10 103 6 8 2 2 0 294 8 7 13 18 0 173 19 11 8318 11 11,055' G 9 573 18 8 *4,573 1 0 Totals .. ! 117 1G l' i '28,GG4 12 10 1,669 10 3 252 10 11 790 3 9 1,010 12 5 4,612 12 7 3,719 0 7 41,430 19 5 ♦ Includes £3,205 18s. 3d. invested oi mortgage, and £1,350 on fixed deposit.