is.—n

1890. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION OF DEAF-MUTES (EVIDENCE GIVEN BY MR. H. E. CROFTS BEFORE A ROYAL COMMISSION IN LONDON RESPECTING).

Return to an Order of the House of Representatives, dated 11th September, 1889. Ordered, "That the evidence recently given by Mr. H. E. Crofts, an instructor of New Zealand deaf-mutes before a Royal Commission in London, be laid before this House."—(Mr. Joyce.)

Thuksday, Bth March, 1888. Present: The Eight Hon. the Lord Egerton of Tatton, in the chair; the Lord Bishop of London; Admiral Sir E. Sotheby, X.C.8.; B. St. John Ackers, Esq.; L. van Oven, Esq.; Charles E. D. Black, Esq. (Secretary). Mr. Hekbbet Edwin Ceofts examined.* 1. The Chairman.'} You are one of the teachers of the Sumner Institution, in New Zealand ?—Yes. 2. How long have you been in that position?—l took my position there in July, 1884. 3. What was your previous training?— Ordinary scholastic work in England. 4. Was Mr. Van Asch the Principal of the institution when you went out to New Zealand ? —Yes. 5. And therefore you have been under his direct training?—l have been trained entirely by him. 6. Was Mr. Van Asch trained in a German or in a Dutch school ?—He was trained, I think, in the institution at Rotterdam. 7. How long has the Sumner Institution been founded? —It was founded in 1880. 8. Is there any institution for the deaf and dumb besides this in New Zealand? —There is no other institution in New Zealand. 9. And are the blind provided for in the same way ?—There is nothing done for the blind at all. lam speaking from a Government point of view. I do not know of anything being done for the blind. 10. Have you any statistics as to the number of the deaf and dumb in New Zealand ?—We have no such statistics further than we can get from the number of children we have in the institution, and from general observations in the colony. We have now forty-three deaf children in the institution. 11. And what is the present population of New Zealand? —Over six hundred thousand white people. 12. Could you describe what is done by the State for the deaf and dumb in New Zealand?— The parents of children sent to the institution are supposed to pay a sum of £40 a year for their board and education, where they can do it; if they cannot, they are allowed to pay what they can afford. In a great many cases, where the parents are too poor to pay anything towards their children's education, it is entirely free. 13. Is there free education in the colony in regard to ordinary education ? —Yes. 14. In the elementary schools, that is to say ?—Yes, in the elementary schools there is free education. 15. For every one ?—-Yes. 16. Those are not boarding-schools ?—No. This £40 a year which I have mentioned is simply paid for their board.

* The footnotes signed " G.V.A." are by Mr. Van Aseh, "the Principal of the institution, to whom Mr. Crofts's evidence was submitted for comment.

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