39

H.—l

reserves, the Commissioner of Crown Lands says, " There may be within the unsold portions of these runs a few thousand acres that may hereafter be purchased, but the greater part of what is considered worth buying at 40s. an acre has been already taken up; what is left is for the most part hilly, and some oi it mountainous, fit for nothing but sheep-walks." Altogether a sum of £109,495 has been received from the sale of reserves vested in the Board of Governors oi Canterbury College, and of this sum £10,000 has been appropriated to College buildings, and about £13,500 to the purchase of the farm for the Agricultural School. The remainder is invested, and the proceeds are applied to the several objects for which the endowments were made. The buildings for the Agricultural School have been erected, and the farm has been stocked, by anticipating the revenue of the school, the Board not having legal power to use capital for the purpose. We do not think it was ever intended to render the Agricultural School so much richer than the other endowed interests under the management of the Board of Governors. The difference is due to the fact that the lands set apart for that school found the readiest sale. We arc of opinion that the governors should be empowered to apply part of the proceeds of this particular endowment to any purpose of technical instruction which, in the course of years, may become important to the district or to the colony. The College authorities hold in trust a reserve of 4,630 acres, estimated to be worth £750 per annum, but not producing any present revenue, for the purposes of a medical school. For the Girls' High School they have an endowment of 2,815 acres of agricultural land, valued at £563 per annum, not let, and a sum of £4,370, derived from the sale of 2,185 acres; and for the Boys' High School, which is not yet in operation, they have 9,360 acres, of which part is let at £915 14s. 10d., increasing to £1,600 Bs. 6d., and the part not let is believed to be worth £432 2s. 6d. per annum. The Girls' High School buildings and site cost £6,030, and the Boys' High School is to cost about £9,000, in addition to £2,500 for site. The first cost of these schools was provided by the Provincial Government, or by special grants made by Parliament out of the Canterbury land revenue. The College has purchased the Girls' High School and site for College purposes, and a new school is to be built with the pur-chase-money. We believe that all these endowments are administered in strict accordance with the terms of the several trusts. According to the return supplied to the Royal Commission, and summarized in page 4 of the appendix to our interim report, the landed estate of the Auckland College and Grammar School amounts to 286 acres, of which a part is" let at an annual rental of £1,712 55., and a part, worth £99 per annum, is not let. The return on page 7of the paper 0.-3 states the area at 278 acres, valued at £16,492 10s., and all let for £1,759 17s. per annum, with a probability of increasing to £1,979 2s. There is also a sum of £7,500, being accumulated rent and. interest, which, being invested, produced an income of £545 10s.; but of this sum a portion (about £2,500) has been applied towards the building and furnishing of the new school just opened, to supplement the Parliamentary grant of £5,000 for the same purpose. The school has hitherto been held in buildings lent or held under lease. The first endowments were made by Sir George Grey, as Governor of New Z.ealand, in 1850. The lands described in the grant are granted "as an endowment for or towards the maintenance and support of a college and grammar school or schools on the isthmus on which Auckland stands, if the funds suffice; or otherwise as an endowment for or towards the maintenance and support of such grammar school or schools alone:" and it is provided that students shall, if they desire it, receive instruction in Greek and Latin; that upon all school-days, not being half-holidays, the grammar school or schools shall be open two hours in the evening; that persons of all classes or races shall be equally admitted; and that a proportion of students and scholars shall be free scholars. This grant relates to 33 acres 3 roods. The Commissioner of Crown Lands in his evidence mentions three other grants, and refers to the site of two acres for the grammar school reserved by the Provincial Government in 1871. The governing body has endeavoured to satisfy the requirements of the trust by combining college and

int. Eep., Appx., P* 9-

ibid., Evid., al^ 3588'3601'

ibid., qq. 3616, 4301'4727'

ibid., q. 3693.

Auckland College,

int. Eep., Apps., pp- 31 ' 32'

ibid., Evid., qq. 372> 373>