E.—l.

schools of the colony at the end of the year was 109,648. The term "drill" here must be taken to include physical and disciplinary exercises. The report of the Officer Commanding the Public-school Cadets forms an Appendix (E.-1d) to this report. There were on the 30th June, 1904, 210 cadet corps, with a strength of 10,858 members, equipped with the " model rifles" (dummies) which have been imported by the Department for purposes of drill, and with a percentage of miniature Martini-Henry rifles for target practice. The number of cadet companies in the several districts is as follows: Auckland, 40; Taranaki, 8; Wanganui, 23; Wellington, 31; Hawke's Bay, 27; Marlborough, 4; Nelson, 10; Grey, 7 ; Westland, 3; North Canterbury, 14; South Canterbury, 8; Otago, 34; Southland, 8: total, 217. The number of battalions formed was 24. The number of models on issue to the Boards at the end of the year was 9,948, and of miniature rifles 900. At the end of the year twenty-four companies in the North Island and twenty-seven in the South competed for two challenge shields presented by the Government. The conditions were that the competing squad should consist of ten cadets, all belonging to the same company or detachment; each competitor to have seven shots at 100 yards (lying), 150 yards (sitting), and 200 yards (kneeling), the local range being used in each case. The North Island shield was won by the Onehunga Cadet Company, with a score of 642, and the South Island shield by the Waiinate Cadet Company, with 673, out of a possible 840. The Department has obtained the services of men qualified to give instruction to teachers in military drill, and facilities are given to teachers to attend classes for instruction, the Department paying rail fares. Under this arrangement classes were established in almost all Education Districts, and in some districts at several centres. The expenditure for the year was £7,728 lis. 9d., made up as follows :— £ s. d. £ s. d. Salary of Commanding Officer ... ... ... 300 0 0 Clerical assistance ... ... ... ••• 230 16 0 Travelling-expenses of Commanding Officer 241 8 2 772 4 2 Capitation ... ... ... ■•■ ••• 926 17 6 Arms, accoutrements, ammunition, &c. ... ... ... £4,538 2 9 Less recoveries ... 186 10 4,352 1 9 Eent, &c, of rifle ranges ... ... ... 40 7 9 Railway fares of cadet corps ... ... ... 68 3 0 Contingencies ... ... ... ••• 30 9 4 B 5,417 18 7 Instructors of teachers' classes ... ... ... 291 5 0 Railway fares of teachers attending instructionclasses, and of instructors ... ... ... 1,247 4 0 1,538 9 0 £7,728 11 9 Railway Passes, etc., for School-children. In 1903 £6,388 2s. 6d., made up as follows, was paid for conveyance of school-children—viz., railway fares of pupils attending public schools, £2,748; of pupils attending private schools, £1,386 ; of pupils attending district high schools, £716 ; of pupils attending secondary schools, £1,261 10s.; and of holders of technical scholarships, £5 ; grants for conveyance of children by road—to Wanganui Education Board, £48; North Canterbury Board, £101 10s.; Otago Board, £122 2s. 6d. Chatham Islands. The number of schools open in the Chatham Islands during the year 1903 was six. Of these the principal school at Te One, on the main island, was under a master assisted by two pupil-teachers. Three half-time schools in the northern part of the island were in charge of an itinerant master, one half-time school in the southern part temporarily under the charge of an assistant mistress acting under the supervision of the master of the Te One school, and there was also a small school of eleven in charge of a master at Pitt Island. The total number

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