A.—No. 6

FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE

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it will eventually frame one liberal and comprehensive scheme of education in the place of the diverse systems at present obtaining in the several Provinces. 1. have, &c, "W". Rolleston, Inspector of Native Schools.

Enclosure in No. 2. Exteact from the Daily Southern Ckoss. To the Editor of the Daily Southern Cross. Sin, — In your leading article of yesterday you comment at very great length on the report of Mr. Rolleston on Native schools. As far as the report concerns this place, in my estimation it is not worth the paper on which it is written. It is a tissue of falsehoods, founded on bigotry and ignorance of what an orphan school ought to be expected to know. As a contradiction of that report, I beg to submit the report of Henry Taylor, Esq., Inspector of Schools for the Province of Auckland, who, to say the least of him, knows well what to expect from an orphan institution. I beg also to enclose the reports of Mr. Haselden, late relieving officer, who frequently visited here on the part of the Provincial Government, and I ask any impartial reader, after comparing these reports with that of Mr. Rolleston, to judge how far he has been guided by truth, or even common sense. The fact is, he came hero one day in December last in the very worst of tempers, he having had to submit to a dose of mud-larking before landing at Shoal Bay. The boys wore all engaged at work in the garden, and consequently not decked out to come before a Southern swell. He did not remain ten minutes in the place —a very short time, indeed, to test the intelligence of over fifty boys. Moreover, I happen to know something of Mr. Rolleston, and am able to state that his position hitherto could not qualify him to bo an Inspector of Schools. Hence his incompetency to judge of the requirements of a school, either Native or European. Dear Sir, there are two points in your remarks on which I beg to say a.few words. Ist. Tou say that the schools are " liberally endowed from the Native funds." lam sorry to state that the contrary is the fact, the General Government only contributing the sum of £10 per annum ; and I am sure if you had to feed, clothe, and educate a Maori for that sum, you would not give our Wellington legislators such credit for liberality. 2nd. Tou wish it to be remembered that the visit of Mr. Rolleston to the school was contemporaneous with the writing of an address by the pupils to the Right Rev. Bishop Pompallier. Let me inform your readers that a period of over six months elapsed between these two events, and in all probability the boys whose names are to the address never came before such an individual as the Under Secretary for Native Affairs. Sir, I beg to be excused for trespassing so much on your valuable space, and the only apology I will Offer for asking you to publish the enclosed reports is, that I know your impartial columns are always open to give insertion to both sides of any important public subject. I am, &c, H. Mcllone, October 22, 1867. ___._. Manager.

No. 3. Exteact from the Report of R. 0. Stewabt, Esq., R.M., Raglan. There are at present three Maori schools in this neighbourhood, two of which, Aotca and Karakariki, I have lately visited, and the third, that at Rawhia, I have never seen. It is conducted by a Maori, who seems to be a superior young man, but it is impossible that he can teach the English language, or impart any very refined notions to his scholars, as the school, owing to the state of the country, is not visited by any European. It would be a pity, however, to reduce such an establishment, forming as it does an oasis to some extent amid surrounding heathenism, and a rallying point in the midst of disaffection for Christian and loyal Natives. The school at Aotea is taught by a European, who conducts the business of the school chiefly in the English language, and had some score or more children under tuition, some of whom could read and do simple multiplication. I understood that they were all related to the chief of the place, who is a kind of monitor, being besides a Government assessor, and I also learned that he would not sanction the attendance of any children of a hostile tribe. The reason of this is that the people who take care of the children belong to the local tribe, and they would look upon their care of children of another tribe as a degradation or sign of slavery, and indeed the children would not be taken care of. It is best for all in authority at Maori schools to bo Europeans, so far do tribal jealousies and distinctions interfere with the exercise of Christian and social duties. The parents of some of the children at Aotea school are with the disaffected Natives, and these children arc left with the aforesaid chief to bo fed, clothed, and educated by the Government. The other school, that at Karakariki, is not in the Raglan district, and I visited it in company with the missionary who has the oversight of it. It is taught by a young Maori woman, the chief's daughter, one of the few of her race who understand English to any extent. About a dozen children are at this school, and they may be said to be of the family of the chief and schoolmistress. Here, as at Aotea school, no stranger children would be received on the same terms as the chief's near relations are. So the missionary assured me. The children read with fluency both in English and Maori, and the houso and the whole settlement are conducted in a most orderly and exemplary way. The chief and several of his family are in receipt of salaries from the Government and the missionaries. At Whaingaroa there is no school for Maoris, nor has there been any worth notice for the past ten or twelve years, although during all that time there have been both a missionary and a magistrate stationed there.