2

8.—3.

was her guardian. The causes of the 6 deaths are recorded as follows:—A young woman, aged 19, on the books of the Caversham School, died of tubercular meningitis ; a young man of 18, licensed to service from the Caversham School, was drowned while bathing; a girl of 17 died in the Auckland Industrial School of sarcoma and wasting; a girl from Burnham, aged 12J, died in the hospital from chronic inflammation of the ear; a little girl of 10, belonging to St. Joseph's School, Wellington, died of abscess of the liver; and a very delicate boy, aged lj, belonging to Caversham, died of enteritis and pneumonia. The precedent condition of inmates admitted during 1897 may be stated as follows : —54 destitute, 20 vagrant, 33 living in disreputable places, 8 uncontrollable, 64 guilty of punishable offences. The number of new inmates belonging to the Church of England is 88 ; 53 are Boman Catholic ; 27 are Presbyterian; 10 Methodist; and 1 Congregational. A list is here given of the several Stipendiary Magistrates' Courts from which the 179 new inmates were sent to the schools, and of the number sent in each case : —Auckland, 31; Thames, 2 ; Hamilton, 1; Ngaruawahia, 4 ; Hunterville, 5 ; New Plymouth, 2 ; Palmerston North, 3; Wanganui, 1; Pahiatua, 5; Marton, 1; Wellington, 44; Blenheim,!; Nelson, 2; Beefton, 1; Greymouth, 2; Christchurch, 24; Lyttelton, 4; Ashburton, 1 ; Timaru, 4; Waimate, 3; Oamaru, 5 ; Dunedin, 24; Port Chalmers, 2; Invercargill, 6; Biverton, 1: total, 179. The information from which Table U is compiled is somewhat meagre, but probably the following results derived from it are not very far from being true:—ln 72 cases the character of both parents appears to be satisfactory; in 12 cases there is not sufficient knowledge of this matter; in 31 cases the father is of bad character ; in 34 cases the mother ; and in 30 cases both.

TABLE U. —Admissions, classified according to Parents' Circumstances and Character, 1897.

The balance in the Post-Office Savings-Bank at the end of 1897 on account of wages of inmates belonging to the Government schools was <£9,986 10s. lid., and on account of inmates in private schools, £633 4s. 2d. The amount withdrawn during the year for inmates of Government schools was £1,617 19s. 7d. and for inmates of private schools, £74 12s. 4d. Table W is the statement of the expenditure on the Government schools, and of the amount recovered from charitable institutions, from parents, from sale of farm produce, &c.

TABLE W.—Cost of Government Schools, 1897.

Mothers described as Children of Dead. T ,?«o«« O* Good No t known I _;, „ . S,' Character or not : , n 0t Bad &c (or Poor). stated, i 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 9 10 2 9 5 1 7 2 18 3 24 4 9 7 65 1 3 4 2 16 11 27 3 5 30 3 63 22 45 16 1 Totals .. 35 11 59 179

School. Gross Cost of School. Cost of boarding out. (Included in preceding Column.) Recoveries. Net Cost. Auckland Burnham Caversham £ s. d. .1,119 9 9 7,524 7 4 7,115 3 1 £ s. d. 493 2 0 2,847 15 9 3,505 11 5 £ s. d. 242 19 9 2,642 18 2 3,948 13 5 £ s. d. 876 10 0 4,881 9 2 3,166 9 8 Totals 15,759 0 2 6,846 9 2 6,834 11 4 8,924 8 10 Salary and expenses of Visiting Office Inmates maintained at other instituti Contingencies ir ions .. 398 8 10 346 4 3 11 6 0 To tal .. £9,680 7 11