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H.—2l

Manager has always been a member of the Church Missionary Society, and paid out of funds provided by that body. Eev. Bobert Burroivs, being duly sworn, states : The two latter dated grants recite the purchase of lands out of certain' funds given by the Government for the establishment and support of the Taurarua school. To the best of my knowledge these funds were Imperial grants in aid of Colonial revenue, and were at the disposal of the Governor (Sir G. Grey) under directions from Home. Part of these funds being placed at the disposal of the Bishop for Native educational purposes, certain sums out of them were applied by him in the purchase of these lands. The school buildings themselves are all erected on the purchased land. Extract from evidence of Mr. Beader Wood, Architect and Estate Agent, taken on sth April, 1869. On the same day (30th March) I visited St. Stephen's School at Taurarua. The acreage of the estate is 67 acres 2 roods 16 perches. It is all fenced, and has been in grass, but the greater portion of the land, which is exceedingly poor, and for agricultural purposes quite useless, is overgrown again with Manuka scrub. The buildings on it are —1. A large wooden building, 120 ft. in length, with all the- requisite apartments for a school or an industrial institution. At the back of this is,— 2. A building partly of stone and partly of wood, of the same length as the main building, divided into twelve rooms, of which eleven were intended for sleeping-rooms, and one is used as a bakehouse. There are a stable and a cow-house attached. Except a little shingling and painting these buildings are in good repair. They are worth about £1,200. 3. A printing-office (or building so used) in a good state of repair, worth say £70 to £80. 4. A dwelling-house, built by Mr. Eoskruge, on a portion of the land held on lease for twentyone years at a ground rent of £4 per annum. The house is occupied at present by the gentleman named, and is worth about £300. 5 and 6. Two small wooden cottages, erected by the Bishop of New Zealand, let respectively at ss. and 4s. per week, and worth about £80 each. 7. A stone house, occupied by Mr. Kissling, at a rent of £30 per annum ; worth £300. 8. A large building of timber, called the " Orphan Home," with centre of two stories, thirtyeight feet frontage, and two wings of one story, sixty feet each in length, with kitchens and diningroom detached. The buildings are in very good repair, and worth about £1,000. I do not know the terms on which this part is held. It is partly fenced off from the rest of the estate. I believe the Orphan Home is maintained by private subscriptions. I consider that the whole estate is now being made of as much use as can be; but three or four years ago it might have been let very advantageously on long building leases—the site is a very fine one for building purposes. The selling value of the estate is probably about £100 per acre. When I was at St. Stephen's there were seven boys, Half-castes and Maori, attending the Parnell day school attached to St. Mary's Church. They receive no education at the institution. In addition to these boys were three men, who maintained themselves —two being printers and one a tailor. The dormitories were fair-sized rooms, and moderately clean. I did not see the children. There is accommodation for at least 150 children at the buildings of St. Stephen's proper. At the Orphan Home, at the date of my visit, there were eighteen boys and nineteen girls. The whole place was scrupulously clean and neat. The dormitories contained single stretchers, and were well ventilated. The children were neat and tidy. The six acres occupied as the Orphan Home lies at one side of the estate, with a water frontage. It would not materially affect the value of the estate for letting. I did not see many of the children on the occasion of my visit, but, having often seen them at St. Mary's Church, I believe them to be mostly Europeans and Halfcastes. Note. — The remainder of Mr. Woods' evidence is published with the evidence on the estates to which it respectively relates. 3 acres, Mangere, near Onehunga — Church, School, and Cemetery. Eev. Bobert Burrows, being duly sworn, states (copy of Eecord copy, Eeg. A. 38, No. 4,762, Grant of 3 acres, Native allotment No. 10, Mangere, produced) : I am acquainted with the history of this estate. It is a portion of land set apart originally by Potatau as a site for a church and glebe, in consequence of which a stone church was erected by subscription wholly amongst the Natives. Services were conducted in this building until the departure of the Natives in 1863. This land was included in the original grant to Potatau. A morning school was also in operation, under the direction of Tamati Ngapora, until 1863. Eev. B. Burrows, being duly sworn, states (Eecord copy, Eeg. iv., No. 26, Grant of 10 acres of land at Maketu, p. 69, produced): This land has been always occupied as a mission station, and as such was the residence of the Eev. T. Chapmau till his removal to St. Stephen's. Since then it has been let to the Eesident Magistrate, the rent being given the Native minister placed in charge on Mr. Chapman's removal, as part of his stipend. Eev. B. T. Dudley, being duly sworn, states :My name is Benjamin Thornton Dudley. I am resident at Parnell, near Auckland, and am a clergyman of the Church of England, and Curator of the documents of the General Synod of that church in New Zealand. I have had before me a schedule of certain free grants of land to the Bishop of New Zealand and others for religious and charitable purposes, and I have inserted in it the names of the present trustees of the several properties, from the authority of documents in my custody, and I have initialled the several entries in that schedule, which I have been able to verify. Those entries are correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. (For schedule, see Appendix.) I know nothing of the management of the St. Stephen's institution, .