I.—ll.

34

petitions, and you can answer them as briefly as you like. Should there be any question which you would rather not answer, you are, of course, at liberty not to do so. Ido not anticipate there will be any such questions. What is your recognized position in the Roman Catholic Church?— Bishop of Auckland. 603. What is the extent of your diocese?—My diocese is commensurate with the Province of Auckland. 604. Give an idea of the extent in miles ?—I am only a recent arrival in New Zealand, and therefore lam not very well up in the geography of the colony at present. The diocese, however, extends over the Province of Auckland. 605. What is the number of Eoman Catholics in your diocese ? —About 17,000. 606. What is the number of children of both sexes educated in the Catholic schools within your diocese?—About 1,380, as far as I can ascertain. 607. What is the proportion of Eoman Catholics to the whole population of Christians in New Zealand?—l am informed that it is one-seventh; but, as far as the population of Auckland is concerned, it is about one-sixth. 608. How many State schools are there in your diocese?—l am not able to inform you at the moment, but it is a thing that can be easily ascertained. It is, of course, the number of State schools there are in the Province of Auckland. 609. There are a considerable number?—Yes. 610. How many Roman Catholic schools have you solely maintained in your diocese ?— Thirteen. 611. Are these schools attended by others than Roman Catholic children; if so, please state the probable percentage ?—There is a small percentage, I believe, in every school that are not Roman Catholics; but, as far as I can judge myself, it would be about 10 per cent. 612. Do you find that the parents of other Christian denominations have any objection to send their children to the schools ? —Those who send their children have, of course, no objection whatever; but, no doubt, there would be a great many who would have a very decided objection. 613. Do these Catholic schools receive any endowments or assistance from the Government of the colony; if so, state the amount received?—None of the thirteen I have referred to receive anything at all; but there are two schools that have received assistance—one of them the industrial school for girls at Ponsonby—that receives a capitation grant. 614. Are these Catholic schools, then ?—The one I have mentioned is a Catholic industrial school. 615. And is this school kept by the Roman Catholics ?—lt is managed entirely by the Roman Catholics. But the capitation grant, I may add, is quite insufficient; it is only £10 per head. 616. How are the funds provided for maintaining these schools ?—ln different manner, according to the system followed in the district. They come from the voluntary contributions of the faithful, from the school-pence of the children, and from the subsidies of the Roman Catholic clergy. 617. Do you think the Roman Catholics have a grievance through the Government not affording assistance to their schools ?—lt is so self-evident that I need only reply that the grievance is a very great one indeed. 618. Do the parents of the children cheerfully subscribe towards maintaining the schools, and what is the annual charge to each pupil ?—As regards the first portion of the question, I may say there are a certain number who do not contribute anything at all; they are too poor, and are taken in gratis. But, speaking of the Catholic body as a whole, it does cheerfully contribute, though grudgingly at the same time—that is to say, they protest against the injustice of the legislation, but, rather than sacrifice the Catholic education of their children, they do so. 619. What is the amount charged for each pupil?—That, again, is relative. The charge varies. As I have said already, some are received gratis. A certain number in some of the schools pay as much as Is. per week. Others, again—in the boarding-schools, for instance—pay so much per annum. At Ponsonby I think it is £20 or £30 per annum, but at the present moment I forget the exact amount. 620. Then, those parents of children who are able to do so do pay for the education of their children ?—Yes. 621. Have the Roman Catholics any conscientious objections to avail themselves of the State system of education, and do you believe the Catholic parents would consent to send their children to the State schools rather than forego their education?—That, again, is a double question. As regards the first part, we have a very decided conscientious objection. It is not for me to address the Committee at length in support of that objection, but if you wish to know the grounds of our objection I will be very happy to state them. As regards the second part of the query, we hold that secular instruction is a necessary part of education, and Catholic parents, who have not the opportunity of procuring Catholic education, would prefer to take what they can get, and supplement the secular instruction as well as they can. But it is a very decided grievance. 622. As Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland, are you opposed to those children receiving education at the State schools ?—Most decidedly. 623. I think you have already stated that there are some children who do attend the State schools ?—You must bear in mind that Catholic education in Auckland is behind the day, owing to the circumstance that the Catholic diocese has been left so long without a bishop. The Catholic population is a poor population; and I am in a position to show by figures that, notwithstanding this circumstance, what we have done certainly speaks well for the zeal and conscientious sense of duty of the Catholics of the diocese. 624. Do you and your priests attend your schools regularly—periodically?—Certainly. 625. How often in a week?—There is no fixed time. In some of the schools the priest is in the school every day. But as many of our schools are conducted by the Sisters of Mercy there is less necessity for the personal supervision of the priest than there would be in schools differently conducted. In some of the schools the priest attends only once a week.