E.—3

3

whom the children are thus intrusted, knowing this, are, in most cases, exceedingly careful to avoid such a course of conduct as would lead to the forfeiture of the custody of the children. At the close of 1882 the aggregate number of committed children placed out, but still under legal control, was 226 (180 boys and 96 girls). Of these, 74 (51 boys and 23 girls) were at service, and 152 (79 boys and 73 girls) were with relatives or friends. These being added to the number in the schools and the number missing (9) on the 31st December, 1882, the total is 1,062 young persons (627 boys and 4-5 girls) under the control of the school authorities at that date. The following table gives the ages of the children maintained by Government at all the schools on the 31st December, 1882 : —

TABLE T. —Ages of the Children.

These figures show that 11 "4 per cent, of the children are under five years of age, that 42- 8 per cent, are between the ages of five and ten, and that 45-8 per cent, are over ten years old. About 939 of the children were receiving day-school instruction, the numbers being as follows: Auckland Industrial School, 128; St. Mary's, Auckland, 35; St. Stephens, Parnell, 16; Thames, 17 ; St. Joseph's, Wellington, 19; St. Mary's, Nelson, 108; Motueka, 29; Lyttelton, 73; Burnham, 275; Caversham, 239. Those at the Thames Orphanage are included in the returns of "public school" attendance. Probably the changes of the greatest practical importance in the administration of the Industrial Schools effected by the passing of " The Industrial Schools Act, 1882," are those which relate to the boarding-out of the younger children with respectable foster-parents, and the extending of the period of the Manager's legal guardianship over the children till the age of twenty-one is reached. A very fair commencement has been made in the boarding-out of the younger children from the Burnham and Caversham schools. A Lady Official Correspondent and Lady Visitors have been appointed in connection with each school, and already (14th June) 53 children from Burnham and 67 from Caversham have been placed out. A Lady Correspondent and Lady Visitors have also been appointed for Auckland, but little progress has yet been made there. The scheme, so far as it has yet been tested, gives promise of success, but it would be premature to express a very decided opinion on the subject. The extending of the term of the Manager's guardianship over the children to the age of twenty-one years is likely to prove very beneficial, especially in the case of those who need protection from their own depraved and worthless parents or other relatives.

No. 2. MEMORANDUM BY THE SECEETART FOE EDUCATION. A summary of the admissions and withdrawals at all the industrial schools and orphanages under the inspection of the Education Department is given in a preceding table. Corresponding information with regard to each of the institutions is contained in Tables Nos. 4 and 5 on page 11 of this paper. The following is a summary of the payments made by the Government on account of all the industrial schools and orphanages during the financial year ending 31st March, 1883 L

Under 1 Year. 1 and under 2. 2 and under 3. 3 and under 4. 4 and under 5. 5 and under 7. 7 and under 10. 10 and under 13. 13 and under 15. Over 15 years. Total. Committed children Non-committed children 4 12 2 15 2 29 4 41 9 110 36 223 76 273 57 111 19 8 8 827 213 Totals ... 4 15 17 33 50 146 299 330 130 16 1,040