A.—No. 3

76

RELIGIOUS, CHARITABLE, AND

Disbursements. £ s. d. £ s. d. Paid to Provincial Treasurer ... ... ... 120 11 0 Paid for Registration of Crown Grants ... ... 65160 Paid for Auctioneer's Commission and Expenses ... 32 11 6 Paid for cutting thistles at Otepopo ... ... ... 8 10 0 Advertising, Printing, and Stationery ... ... 11 18 6 239 7 0 As it has been found impossible to lease satisfactorily the forty-acre sections set apart as reserves in pastoral districts, the Education Board has represented to the Government the advisability of exchanging all such unleased sections for other land in large blocks, which could be readily leased as stock farms on advantageous terms. It is expected that the necessary authority to carry out this arrangement will be obtained at the approaching Session of the Provincial Council.

Report for 1868. The number of Education Reserves now leased is 154, of which 16 are town sections. These are leased to 113 different tenants. The aggregate acreage of the leased rural reserves is about 7,463, and the rental £1,531; or at an average of about 4s. per acre. The rental of the 16 leased town sections is 116 55., or at the rate of about £7 per section. The total annual rental of the reserves already leased is therefore £1,647 lis.; but as no rent is payable for rural arable land for the first two years of the lease, the revenue hitherto derived has been mainly drawn from the town properties, and the deposit of 2s. per acre upon rural land. With the exception of about £170, the rents of all the properties will become payable on Ist May, 1869. The following is an abstract of the accounts for the year 1868: — Revenue. £ a. d. Received from Deposits and Rents ... ... ... ... 466 14 9 Disbursements. £ s. d. Paid to Provincial Treasurer ... ... ... 388 13 1 Paid for Registration of Crown Grants ... ... 49 12 0 Paid for Printing Deeds of Lease, &c. ... ... 1266 Paid for Auctioneers' Commission and Expenses ... 4 18 2 Paid for Advertising ... ... ... ... 820 Paid for Surveying ... ... ... ... 3 3 0 • £466 14 9 Tour Honor is aware that the Government, at the request of the Education Board, procured the passing of an Ordinance of the Provincial Council and an Act of the General Assembly last year authorizing the abandonment of a number of small Educational Reserves so situated that it had been found impossible to lease them to advantage. The aggregate area of the abandoned reserves is 7,137 acres ; and. in lieu of them, the Provincial Council at its last Session set apart as an Educational Reserve, a block of land of equal area in Wyndham district. I am satisfied that the Board has obtained a very fair equivalent for the reserves which have been given up. There is every reason to believe that the Wyndham reserve will be satisfactorily leased as soon as the Board has obtained power to dispose of it. The Provincial Council in 1867 authorized the setting apart as Educational Reserves of about 150 rural properties, comprising about 13,200 acres. The Crown Grants for the greater number of these reserves have been forwarded to Wellington, for His Excellency the Governor's signature. It is to be hoped they will be returned in sufficient time to enable the Board to procure the passing of a Management and Leasing Ordinance, otherwise another year's delay will occur in the leasing of these reserves, for many of which there is an urgent demand. It is now necessary that the leased Education Reserves be inspected annually, on behalf of the Board, in order to secure the due fulfilment of the conditions of the lease on the part of tho different tenants. This duty could probably be most conveniently and economically discharged by the Inspector of Schools in the course of his ordinary visits to the several districts of the Province. The collection of the rents twice a year from so many tenants will probably soon become a matter of difficulty and labour. Income. The following is an abstract of the income of the Education Department, for the year ended 31st December, 1868, viz :— £ s. d. £ s. d. 1. School Books sold ... ... ... ... 171 5 4 2. Educational Reserves Fund ... ... ... 388 13 1 3. High School Fees ... ... ... ... 742 10 0 4. From Provincial Revenue ... ... 11,718 5 4 13,020 13 9

Report for 1869. The number of Education Reserves now leased is about 212, of which twenty-two are town sections. They are leased to 156 different tenants. The aggregate acreage of the leased rural reserves is about 14,837, and the rental £2,407 —or at an average of about 3s. 3d. per acre. The rental of the twentytwo leased town reserves is £145 155., or at the rate of £6 12s. 6d. per section. The total annual rental of the reserves already leased is therefore £2,552 155.; but as no rent is payable for rural arable land for the first two years of the lease, the revenue has hitherto been mainly derived from town and pastoral lands, and the deposit of 2s. per acre on arable land. The following is an abstract of the accounts for the year 1869 : —