E.—l

XV

The number 543 (" at service, &c") is made up as follows : 391 at service; 117 licensed to friends; 15 absent -without leave; 5 at Costley Institute on probation ; 3 in hospital; 3in lunatic asylums; 2 in blind asylum; 6in refuges; 1 in prison. The cases admitted (225) may be classified in different ways. As to the ostensible causes of admission, 118 were destitute, 11 vagrant, 46 were living in disreputable places, 11 were uncontrollable children, 4 were admitted by arrangement with their relatives, 35 were convicted of offences. As to the parentage, it-may be deduced from Table U that in 43 cases both parents were of unsatisfactory character; that in 97 cases one or other of the parents—the father in 43 cases, the mother in 54—was not of good character ; that 53 cases were, so far as known, cases of simple indigence ; and in 32 cases there are no data on which to base an opinion. As to religious profession, 101 belong to the Church of England, 78 are Soman Catholic, 39 Presbyterian, 5 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Hebrew.

TABLE U. —Admissions classified according to Parents' Circumstances and Character, 1892.

The 228 discharges include 5 deaths: at Nelson Industrial School, a girl between eight and nine died of brain fever and worm fever ; a girl of eighteen, placed at service from Burnham, died of typhoid fever; a boy of eighteen, placed at service from Caversham, also of typhoid; a boy of nearly fifteen, at Caversham, of epileptic convulsions and coma; and an infant, boarded out from Caversham, died at the age of one year, of bronchitis. The discharges by warrant of His Excellency the Governor numbered 204; by transfer to Costley Institute, 10 ; by marriage, 2; by attaining the age of twenty-one, 7.

TABLE W. —Cost of Government Schools, 1892.

The expenditure on the Government schools (Table W) is rather less for 1892 than for 1891. The net cost (to the Government) is less by £2,200, the alteration being in great part due to the payment by Charitable Aid Boards of large sums that were in arrears. If the gross outlay (£15,512) is divided by the average number on the school-rolls (1,137), the capitation cost is about £13 135., and the net cost (to the Government) is about £5 19s. Another calculation is as follows : If from the gross outlay is deducted the amount of salaries, rent, and insurance (regarding these items as a fair equivalent for services rendered in connection with young people not maintained by the schools, but placed at service or with friends), and if the remainder (about £12,900) is divided by the average number of children living in the schools or boarded out (652), the capitation cost is about £19 15s,

Mothers (escribed as Children of Dead. Sick, Lunatic, Disabled, &c. Of Good Character (or Poor). Not known or not stated. Of Bad Character. Deserters. Total, 'athers described as— Dead Sick, lunatic, disabled, &c. Of good character (or poor) Not known or not stated Of bad character Deserters 7 7 3 4 1] 5 6 6 4 4 1 16 4 1 1 8 14 9 12 5 15 17 16 16 15 1 8 'a 12 45 16 42 36 53 33 Totals 37 21 40 30 79 18 225

School. Cost of School. Cost of boarding out. Recoveries. Net Cost. .uckland [ohimarama Surnham laversham £ s. d. 418 15 5 1,180 14 10 3,260 3 11 2,913 2 7 7,772 16 9 | £ s. d. 340 15 6 762 15 6 2,984 15 7 3,021 7 2 7,109 13 9 £ s. d. £ s. d. 116 5 8 643 5 3 511 17 10 1,431 12 6 3,510 2 8 2,734 16 10 3,982 15 8 1,951 14 1 8,121 1 10 6,761 8 8 Totals