E.—3

2

tenance of the child. Of the 48 children committed under this clause last year 30 were committed by one magistrate, and 9by another; in some cases, 3, 4, or 5 children of one family were so committed, and no security was taken for maintenance, or the payment was fixed at a very low rate. The view of the Department is that such cases do not properly come under section 17, and the attention of the Minister of Justice has been called to the practice that has sprung up. While 340 children were committed, 220 names were removed from the roll, 208 being discharged by warrant under the hand of the Governor (the majority being returned to their friends), 4 having reached the age (21) at which the control of the school ceases, and 8 having died. Considering that more than 1,500 children belong to the schools, and that many of them are affected with hereditary disease and weakness, the number of deaths must be considered very small. The particulars are as follows : A boy, 2 years old, boarded-out in Auckland ; at Nelson, a boy, nearly 14 years old, drowned while bathing, and two girls, 6 and 8 years old; one boy from Burnham, aged 10, long in hospital with hip disease ; a boy from Burnham, aged 9, boarded-out, died from sunstroke ; an infant of 10 months, at Wanganui (nominally committed to Burnham) ; a boy, aged 12, at Caversham, of cramp and weak action of the heart. The increase in the number of children belonging to the schools is 120, being, of course, the difference between 340 admitted and 220 discharged; and the number belonging to the schools at the end of the year was 1,566. But, of this number, 267 were at service, 156 were with their friends on probation for discharge, 24 were absent from the schools or from service without leave, and 3 were in hospital; so that the number actually maintained by the institutions was 1,116, which exceeds the corresponding number for the previous year by 57. Pour of these children, being over the age of 15, were maintained by the institutions in which they resided, and no contribution was paid on their account by the Government. The following table shows the numbers maintained in connection with each institution, and the increase or decrease during the year : —

TABLE W.—Number of Committed Children maintained.

The number of children actually residing in the schools was much less than the number shown in this table. The actual residents were only 618, the rest being placed with foster-parents under the boarding-out scheme, as follows : From Auckland, 106 ; from Burnham, 207 ; from Caversham, 183 ; and from St. Joseph's, Wellington, 2 : that is, 498 in all. The actual number residing in the Government schools was : at Kohimarama, 61; Kent Street, 3 ; Burnham, 127 ; Caversham, 155. Of non-committed children in orphanages and industrial schools there were 169 at the end of 1884; 45 were received during the year, 47 were discharged, 4 were committed under the Industrial Schools Act, and 1 (a girl, 16 years old, belonging to St. Mary's, Nelson) died; so that there were 162 on the books at the end of the year, as follows: Kent Street, 5 (1 at service, and 4 boardedout); St. Mary's, Ponsonby, 3; St. Stephen's, Parnell, 14; Thames Orphange, 13; St. Joseph's, Wellington, 4; St. Mary's, Nelson, 13; Motueka Orphanage, 5 ; Lyttelton Orphanage, 103 ; Caversham, 2. The numbers at Lyttelton Orphanage show an increase of 22; at most of the other schools there was a decrease.

Doe., 1884. Increase Decrease. Dec, 1885. rovernment Schools — Auckland—Kohimarama , Kent Street Burnham Gaversham iocal School —• Thames Industrial School 'rivate Schools— St. Mary's, Ponsonby St. Joseph's, Wellington St. Mary's, Nelson 102 71 292 351 12 3 42 "6 13 105 65 334 338 12 50 16 165 9 25 3 47 25 190 Totals 1,059 79 22 1,116