E.—l

who entered for shorthand only and passed. At the Junior examination 148 presented themselves. Of these candidates sixty-six passed: their names were published in the Neiv Zealand Gazette in the order of merit, and the list is kept in the office of the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, in order that cadetships becoming vacant during the year may be offered to the candidates according to the principle of competition embodied in the Act. The cost of the examinations as a whole —for teachers and for the Civil Service—was more than covered by the fees received from the candidates. Under an Act of 1868 for the endowment of a " Colonial University" the income arising from certain reserves is accumulating, and is at some future time to be appropriated by Parliament to the purposes of higher education in the districts in which the reserves are situated. The sums now in the Treasury on this account are as follows :■ — Prom reserves in Canterbury (Ashburton) ... ... ... £971 1 4 ~ at Grey mouth and Hokitika ... ... ... 102 7 6 „ at Waitotara ... ... ... ... Nil. ~ in Taranaki ... ... ... ... Nil. Total £1,073 8 10 The Post-office system designed to encourage thrift among school-children by receiving deposits of postage-stamps at the savings banks is not valued as highly'as it was expected to be. The number of accounts open at the end of the year was 2,828; and at the end of 1883 there were 5,586 accounts. The new accounts opened during the year were only 261. The Secretary to the Post Office has, as usual, kindly furnished the statistics, which are as follows : —■

Regulations op His Excellency the Goveenob in Council. I. — Computation of Average Attendance. — Dated sth January, 1888. 1. The third section of the regulation, made by Order in Council on the fifth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, relating to Attendance Eegisters and Eeturns is hereby amended by the excision of the words "the average daily attendance so ascertained shall be known as the strict average," and of all the following words to the end of the said third section. 2. The form of attendance prescribed in the sixth section of the aforesaid regulation is hereby amended by the excision of the word " strict" in line XI., by the excision of lines XII., XIII., and XIV., and by altering the number of line XV. to " XII." 3. The form of summary statement of quarterly attendance prescribed in the eighth section of the aforesaid regulation is hereby amended by the excision of the words "strict average "and " working average."

XXIII

Postal District. Number of Accounts opened during the Year. Number of Accounts remaining open at Close of Year. Amount at Credit of all open Accounts. Auckland 31cnheim 3hristcliurch Dunedin.. jisborne.. Jreymouth jlokitika.. Napier kelson Jew Plymouth )amaru .. Thames .. Cimaru .. iVanganui Wellington iVestport 10 33 12 23 2 106 105 609 373 13 12 4 27 83 390 90 94 183 136 73 496 32 £ s. a. 61 0 2 36 8 0 776 19 6 103 1 8 7 10 2 7 12 8 0 14 0 11 4 3 30 3 8 644 1 7 19 15 0 94 13 11 111 14 3 120 8 9 56 11 10 93 9 9 23 9 8 22 1 5 15 8 6 123 1 Totals, 1887 .. 261 2,828 2,198 18 10