E.—3b

4

The drought was felt very keenly, the water-supply having almost entirely failed ; consequently the quantity of produce fell off considerably, the value of all vegetables, milk, fruit, and pigs supplied to institutions and sold being £600 6s. lid., compared to £618 17s. lid. for last year. i*Forage to the value of £204 for the consumption of the cattle was also produced. The carpenters' shop has been kept busy, and the work therein shows a profit of £64. The Childben Placed Out. The number of children other than those in industrial and reformatory schools under the control of the Council on June 30th was 992. These children were distributed as follows : Boarded out, 612 (336 boys and 276 girls); placed at service, 239 (113 boys and 126 girls) ; adopted, 51 (14 boys and 37 girls), placed out without subsidy, 6 (1 boy and 5 girls); placed with relatives, 45 (15 boys and 30 girls) ; apprenticed, 1 boy ; out of colony with guardians, 14 (5 boys and 9 girls); in hospital, 4 boys ; in lunatic asylum, 5(1 boy and 4 girls); blind asylum, 1 boy; in gaol, 1 boy ; absconded, 13 (7 boys and six girls). The supervision of the children placed out has been efficiently carried out, every child, with few exceptions, having been visited several times during the year. The number of reports received from honorary visitors and visiting committees was 3,840 ; from official inspectors, 2,011; and from school teachers, 1,734; making a total of 7,585. The visitors' and inspectors' reports are classified with regard to the child and the home with the following result : Good, 5,457 and 5,730 ; fair, 313 and 106 ; indifferent, 74 and 9 ; bad, 17 and 6 respectively. There has been a large number of children returned from homes and transferred from one home to another for various reasons, the total of such returns and transfers being 547. A considerable number of service boys and girls were returned by farmers solely because the latter could not afford to keep them. The number of applications for children received was 287, of which number 56 were from Soman Catholic applicants, and 231 from Protestants. The Council approved 211 of these applications, refused 39, and 37 were withdrawn or deferred. The amount paid to the department for wages of children shows a falling off compared with last year in consequence of the Council having had to make concessions to employers in regard to the rate and payment of wages in consideration of the bad times. The account with the savingsbank is as follows :—

Analysis of Transactions with the Savings-bank, 1896-97.

The following lists show the names of the ladies and gentlemen forming the various visiting committees and acting as honorary visitors to the State children throughout the colony, and the Council takes this opportunity to again express its indebtedness to these ladies and gentlemen for the willing and valuable assistance rendered by them: —

List of Visiting Committees, 1897. Angaston. —Mrs. W. Hague, Miss E. Smith, M. E. Salter; Miss A. E. Eoberts correspondent. Auburn. —Mrs. Yeatrnan, correspondent. Aldgate. —Mrs. H. Carr, Mrs. Captain J. Hill; Mrs. A. S. Magarey, correspondent. Burra. —Mrs. Killicoat, Mrs. Sangster ; Mrs. Moore, correspondent. Carrieton. —Mrs. O'Grady, correspondent. Glare. —Mrs. Culleney, Miss Gillen, Mrs. W. Hosking, Mrs. Lloyd, Mrs. Lester, Mrs. Stacy; Mr. L. S. Stacy, correspondent. Glenelg —Mrs. P. Healy, Mrs. E. M. Mayfield, Mrs. S. Summers, Mrs. J. Tassie, Mrs. Weaver; Mrs. W. Storrie, correspondent. Gaioler. —Miss Duffield, Miss Jones, Mrs. Broderick, Mrs. B. Eudall, Mrs. Prendergast; Mrs. Deland, correspondent. Goolwa. —Mrs. A. Graham, Mrs. Kendrew ; Miss Goode, correspondent. Gumeracha. —Mrs. E. J. Henderson, Mrs. Vercoe, Mrs. W. Wise; Miss Norsworthy, correspondent. Georgetown. —Mrs. J. S. Lewis, correspondent. Goodwood, —Mrs. W. J. Mcßride, Mrs. C. Bronner, Miss McKay, Miss McLellan ; Mrs. J. Harris, correspondent. Hammond. —Mrs. F. H. Eix, correspondent. Mount Barker. —Miss Peterson, Mrs. Paltridge, Mrs. Sanders, Miss Sanders, Miss Witt, Mrs. Williams ; Mrs. J. G. Eamsay, correspondent.

£ s. d. £ s. d. Balance in bank, June 30th, 1896— Wages accounts Other trust acounts Interest added by bank — Wages accounts Other trusts accounts deceived and paid in since— Wages accounts Other trusts accounts.. .. 2,912 8 11 .. 504 3 10 80 15 1 19 17 1 .. 716 1 11 .. 170 18 4 Paid to sundry— Wages accounts Other trusts accounts .. Balances in bank— Wages accounts Other trust accounts .. .. 699 3 1 .. 114 4 8 .. 3,010 2 10 .. 640 14 7 £4,464 5 2 £4,464 5 2