E.-l

XII

TABLE P.—Money Liabilities (and Balances), December, 1899.

Tables 0 and P show the financial position of the Boards on the 31st December, 1899. Taking both the General Account and the Buildings Account, it appears that the Boards went back in their finances £11,430 19s. Id. during the year. In December, 1898, their total assets were ,£59,253 7s. 4d.; liabilities, £41,397 3s. 5d.; and the net balance (excess of balances over deficits), £17,856 os. lid. In December, 1899, the total assets were £50,467 35.; total liabilities, £44,041 18s. 2d.; and the net balance (excess of balances over deficits), £6,425 4s. 10d. On the Buildings Account for 1898 one Board (Auckland) showed a deficit; last year two Boards (Auckland and Otago) showed deficits, but the total deficit on this account was less than that of the single Board in the previous year. On the two accounts together (Buildings and General Accounts) four Boards improved their position during the year — namely, Auckland, by £925 14s. 9d.; Taranaki, £245 2s. 10d.; Marlborough, £280 13s. Id.; and South Canterbury, £50 12s. 10d. The remaining nine Boards were in a worse position at the end of 1899 than on the 31st December, 189d —Wanganui, by £2,625; Wellington, by £4,126; Hawke's Bay, £2,501; Nelson, £209; Grey, £198; Westland, £347; North Canterbury, £317; Otago, £731; Southland, £1,880. Only two of these Boards actually had deficits at the end of the year; these were Wellington, which changed a credit balance of £205 os. 7d. into an adverse balance of £3,921 9s. 3d., and Otago, which increased its deficit from £3,037 2s. Bd. to £3,767 17s. Bd. In Otago the average attendance showed a decrease cf 725, which accounts for a falling-off in the Board's revenue of £2,719; in the Wellington District, on the other hand, there was an increase in the average attendance of 351, and a consequent increase in the capitation allowance of £1,316. The last clause of section 39 of " The Education Act, 1877," which throws upon the Boards the responsibility of regulating their expenditure upon the basis of the estimate of their income for the year, seems to have a pertinent relation to the issues raised by the facts stated above. In Table Q will be found figures in reference to the deficiency of school buildings, schools with less than ten pupils in average attendance being omitted from the statement. Out of 1,544 schools, 77 were being carried on in buildings not belonging to Boards; there is a marked improvement here, as at the end of 1898 there were 191 schools out of 1,521 similarly unprovided for. The same remark cannot be made regarding teachers' houses, for the number of schools without residences increased from 457 to 517. Allowing 10 square feet per child, an estimate by no means high, 42 schools are more or less overcrowded.

Liabilities for Balances for Totals. Education Districts. Buildings. Other Purposes. Buildings. Other Purposes. £ a. d. 1,220 7 8 197 15 0 2,198 8 11 6,198 18 4 2,635 7 7 £ a. d. 1,306 17 1 1,179 1 8 455 0 10 2,772 10 11 1,661 8 10 32 16 0 398 5 4 19 8 6 242 2 2 5,861 9 11 1,176 8 0 3,425 8 10 709 15 9 £ a. d. 1,479 12 4 1,680 15 5 1,198 5 10 £ a. d. £ a. d. 4,006 17 1 3,113 5 5 3,851 15 7 8,971 9 3 6,183 7 7 932 16 0 3,975 12 11 794 8 6 992 2 2 12,375 15 2 3,693 15 5 7,185 19 1 6,044 7 0 oickland 'aranaki Vanganui Vellington lawke's Bay larlborough f elson Irey Vestland forth Canterbury South Canterbury )tago Southland 5513 4 589 12 5 900 0 0 2,194 0 9 398 0 0 657 0 1 3,203 10 0 1,805 6 11 1,29618 9 1,311 13 3 377 0 0 92 19 11 3,310 15 3 712 0 6 3,760 10 3 2,785 7 8 71 13 7 671'18 10 1,877' 4 9 Totals 24,801 4 4 19,240 13 10 14,778 2 7 3,301 10 5 62,121 11 2