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H.—2lb

The instructions for the outlay of the accumulations and income come from the Bishop of Wellington. There were two Maori boys maintained at the Te Aro school at the expense of this Trust; but since the establishment of the Grammar school the funds have not sufficed for more than one. Another Maori boy from this neighbourhood is maintained by the Government. There is a balance now in the Bank of £30 12s. sd. to the credit of the Trust. Mr. Hutcheson, being duly sworn, states : My name is William Hutcheson, of Wanganui, newspaper proprietor. My attention has been called to the question of the trust connected with the Industrial School Reserve. I think it an injustice that this trust should be in the hands of a particular denomination. It is considered by a large number of the inhabitants of Wanganui as a grievance that so large and valuable a portion of the town, being set apart for purposes of education, should be administered in that way. Looking at the terms of the grant, the fees charged for the pupils of this school are such as preclude the objects of the grant from receiving the benefit of it. There are a number of children of persons in humble circumstances in Wanganui who are not attending school at all, and whose parents allege their poverty as the reason. It appears to me that the grant was intended to assist these children. I think the most effectual mode of educating Maori children is to take them away from their parents. lam decidedly of opinion that Maori children educated when residing with their parents cannot be taught with any advantage. My objection is to the sectarian character of the trust. If the children of poor and indigent persons are admitted to a denominational school, the admission becomes a matter of patronage. Under the circumstances of this trust, the appointment of the teacher would be confined to one of the denomination having the administration of the trust, which makes it denominational. Mr. Godwin, being duly sworn, states: My name is Henry Haywood Godwin. I reside at Wanganui, and am head master of Wanganui Collegiate School, on the Industrial School Estate. I know the land comprised in the grant, a copy of which is before me, purporting to be from Register 1., folio 52. lam not in any way connected with the property, except as occupying and conducting a school on a portion of it under the direction of the trustees. It is the only school on the ground. Five acres of land are held in connection with the school. This land is fenced in with a live furze fence. The buildings comprise a house for myself, containing seven rooms, a kitchen, and a pantry. It is of kauri timber, and iron-roofed. The school building was a residence, the partitions of which I caused to be taken down, and an addition has been made to accommodate the increased number of scholars. The old portion is much decayed, and constantly requires repairs. The remainder of the five acres is used as a playground by the boys, except a piece round the dwelling-house fenced in as a garden. The remainder of the reserve is let to different tenants. The paper I produce (marked A.) contains an account of the scholars attending the school—their ages, length of attendance, and the religious denomination to which they respectively belong. The remuneration is arranged to me as follows: subject to my having another master engaged, £150 a year; £100 a year if I have not another master engaged. This is paid out of the trust fund. In addition lam authorized to charge in respect of each boy attending £6 per annum for boys under eleven years of age, and £7 for boys over eleven years of age. General improvements and repairs are effected at the cost of the trust estate, but the trustees hold me responsible for the repairs of the fence round my own place. I have been master of the school nearly three years. I should mention that I am at liberty to take boarders, in respect of whom I am permitted to fix my own terms, and have generally about six boarders. . Under written instructions from the Bishop of Wellington, one of the trustees, I have been authorised to restrict, and have restricted, the industrial training of the pupils to occasional lessons in practical geodesy. The religious instruction is confined to reading, without comment, at the opening of the school each day, a chapter of the Scriptures, and the use of a form of prayer, a copy of which I will forward to the Commissioner. During the reading and prayer the Roman Catholic pupils remain outside the schoolroom. The education I have aimed at has been such as is given to the middle class schools in England. I could not undertake to give what may be. termed an industrial tendency other than instruction in practical geodesy, and have never seen in England the combination of industrial with the ordinary education of a grammar school. My instructions from the Bishop of Wellington informed me that this was to be a grammar and commercial school. From what I have seen of industrial schools in England, I have been led to believe that the establishment of one in New Zealand would be attended with expenses beyond the means of any trust estate. There are no Maoris in the school I manage. lam not prepared to teach Maoris, and. my engagement with the Bishop was for the education of Europeans only. The Bishop has informed me that there are some Maori pupils maintained at the expense of this trust estate. Memorandum. It appears by " The New Zealand Church Almanac," for 1867, Appendix xxxvii., or B. x. of Schedule A., that the following trustees were appointed May 13, 1862—viz., The Right Reverend the Bishop of Wellington, the Venerable Octavius Hadfield, William McLeod Bannatyne, Esq., George Hunter, Esq., and Robert Stokes, Esq., to be trustees of the land comprised in grant referred to as entered in Register 1., folio 52. In page xxxix of the Appendix the trust is expressed to be, " That they the said trustees shall and do stand seized and possessed of all the lands comprised in the Schedule marked A, for the education of children of Her Majesty's subjects of all races, and of children of other poor and destitute persons being inhabitants of islands in the Pacific Ocean, so long as religious instruction, industrial training, and instruction in the English language shall be given to the youth educated therein or maintained thereat."