3

E.^3,

Of the 45 cases of admission, 21 are traceable to death, sickness, or other trouble; there are only 4 that are due to the misconduct of both parents ; in 2 others the mothers were in fault; in 12 others the fathers were of bad character; and in 6 cases the information is not sufficient to justify a conclusion. One of these children had been at a high school, and 27 at public schools; 13 had not been to .school (most of them being too young); and information is wanting in 4 cases. As to religion, 34 belong to the Church of England, 3 are Presbyterians, 1 is " Protestant," and no information was supplied with respect to the remainder (7). Under the operation of " The Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act, 1885," all the non-committed children will now be cared for by the District Boards, instead of by the Government; and the Boards will pay for the maintenance of such of the Industrial School children as have been committed under the Industrial Schools Act simply as being destitute. The children at the " private schools " (St. Mary's, Ponsonby, St. Joseph's, Wellington, and St. Mary's, Nelson) were maintained at a cost to the Government of Is. a day for each child, paid by the Colonial Secretary's Department. The few (12) children at the one "local school," the Thames Industrial School, were maintained by an arrangement between the Borough Council and the Colonial Secretary's Department. The Thames Orphanage and the Lyttelton Orphanage were supported in the same way. The expenditure in 1885 (exclusive of building works) on account of the children belonging to the Government schools was as follows :—

TABLE X.—Cost of "Government Schools."

The average of the twelve monthly statements of the number of inmates was 384 children in the schools and 459 boarded-out, the total being 843. The general rate of payment for the boarded-out children is Is. a day, but as most of these children when committed are almost destitute of clothing, and must be provided with an outfit before they are sent to foster-parents, it is impossible to separate between the cost of those that remain in the institution and those that are boarded-out. During the year about 200 children were supplied with clothing on being sent out to board. Moreover, some items charged against the schools are for the travelling expenses of such children, and much of the time of officers of the institution is spent in attending to their affairs. The schools have also to bear the expenses of management involved in finding places of service for the older children that are no longer resident, and in looking after their wages and savings-banks accounts. The cost of the maintenance of each child is therefore not easy to ascertain. It can only be said that the total cost (£19,261 13s. 4d.) is equivalent to about £22 17s. for each of the 843 children of the average roll, or about Is. 3d. a day. Apart from the explained impossibility of separating the items of expenditure on the resident and boarded-out children respectively, and from a consideration of the fact that the £10,312 spent on the schools includes the cost of education for 384 inmates, the conclusion that might be drawn—-that each resident child costs the Government nearly £27 a year, and each boarded-out child £19 only—would be misleading. Probably the difference of expense either way is very small. A small proportion of the cost of maintaining these children is paid by parents under orders of Court; but such payments with all other recoveries amounted during the year to no greater sum than £1,080 9s. Id. The recoveries

School. Maintenance of School. Payments to Foster-parents. Total. .uckland iurnham laversham £ s. d. 2,404 7 11 4,587 17 1 3,320 6 3 £ s. a. 1,867 9 4 3,280 12 6 3,541 19 9 £ s. d. 4,271 17 3 7,868 9 7 6,802 6 0 Totals .. Salary and expenses of visiting officer.. 10,312 11 3 8,690 1 7 19,002 12 10 259 0 6 Total .. 19,261 13 4