c.—i

XXI

TJnivebsity and Colleges. The report of the Chancellor of the University of New Zealand is a separate paper (E.-6). The number of graduates admitted or qualified for admission now amounts to 694. Of this number, 354 have the degree of B.A. alone ; 20, that of B.So, alone; 15, LL.B. alone ; 26, M.B. alone; 192, M.A. alone; 5, M.D. alone ; 3, LL.D. alone ; and 1, D.Sc. alone. The graduates upon whom degrees in two faculties have been confered are : B.A. and B.Sc, 8; B.A. and LL.B., 21; B.A. and M.8., 6; M.A. and B.Sc, 21; M.A. and LL.B., 14; M.A. and M.8., 2; M.A. and D.Sc, 2; M.A. and LL.D., 3; LL.D. and 8.A., 1. The number of degrees conferred after the examination of 1898 was 80: 8.A., 32; B.Sc, 9; LL.B., 2 ; M.8., 3; B.Sur., 3; M.A., 29 ; LL.D., 2. The number of candidates at the entrance examination for 1898 was 814; 401 sat at examinations for degrees, and 103 for professional qualifications not academical, making a total of 1,318. The number of students at affiliated colleges in 1898 was 667, of whom 219 were women. Of these students, 462 were matriculated at the University of New Zealand. The numbers in attendance at the several colleges are as follows: University of Otago, 183 men and 51 women matriculated, and 35 men not matriculated ; at Canterbury College, 85 men and 46 women matriculated, and 18 men and 38 women not matriculated; and at Auckland University College, 75 men and 22 women matriculated, and 52 men and 62 women not matriculated. The reports of these colleges are papers E.-7, E.-8, and E.-9 respectively. The report of Victoria College is E.-10. " The Univebsity Endowment Act, 1868." The income accrued under this Act, and applicable to purposes of higher education yet to be determined by Parliament, amounted, at the end of 1898, to £4,465 16s. 5d., as follows : Canterbury Beserves, £1,714 ss. 4d. ; Westland, £227 2s. 6d.; Taranaki, £2,524 Bs. 7d. Chatham Islands. At Te One, on the main island of the Chatham Islands group, there is a fully equipped school; but this has of late not been in a very satisfactory state. Strenuous efforts are being made to improve matters, and it is hoped that these will be successful. The average weekly roll-number for 1898 was 25-91, and the strict average attendance was 14*92. The subsidised schools at Waitangi West and Te Baki, taught by one teacher, had a joint average weekly roll of 11-07, and a joint average attendance of 10-26. Since the beginning of the current year there have been three centres instead of two, and the joint average attendance for the first quarter of the year has been 20. The subsidised school on Pitt Island is doing very good work. It had for 1898 an average weekly roll-number of 11-75, and an average attendance of 11-59. This island is visited by a steamer about three times in a year, and the schools must be some of the most isolated in the world. Subsidies to Public Libeabies. Previous to the vote of last session granting £2,000 for aid to public libraries, there had been no vote for that purpose since 1886, when the amount for distribution was £4,000. In the division of the vote for 1886 a nominal addition of £25 was made to the amount of the income of each library derived from subscriptions, donations, and rates, provided that the receipts for the year were not less than £2, and the vote was divided according to the amounts thus augmented. In the present instance, in order to secure a fair share to the smaller libraries, the total subsidy being smaller, the further limitation was made that no library should receive credit for a larger income than £75 —that is, in no case should the augmented amount on which distribution was based exceed £100. In accordance with a Gazette notice of the 25th November, 1898, the day appointed for the distribution of the subsidy was the Bth February, 1899, and on that date the amount of the vote was divided among the 285 libraries from which applications, each accompanied by a statutory declaration on the proper form, had been received. The result was that a dividend of 3s. 3-3 d. was given for each pound of the sum on which each library's share was calculated. The possible minimum was thus £4 Bs. 5d., and the maximum amount paid to any library was £16 7s. 7d.,

iv—E. 1.