E.—l.

the Building""Account fell, therefore, during the year from ,£14,722 to £9,552, a result which is more than accounted for by the greatly increased deficiency of the Wellington Board already referred to above.

TABLE O. —General Account.—Assests and Liabilities of Boards on 31st December, 1902.

TABLE P.—Building Account. —Assets and Liabilities of Boards on 31st December, 1902.

School Buildings. As was pointed out in last year's report, the expenditure on school buildings may be classed under two heads, according as the items to which the grants are devoted are recurrent or non-recurrent in character. To the class of recurrent expenditure may fairly be assigned such items as the maintenance and repairs of existing buildings and furniture, the rebuilding of worn-out schools and teachers' residences, and the rent of premises used for school purposes. The new or non-recurrent expenditure includes the cost of building new schools and of additions to existing schools, where such new schools or additions are required to meet the needs of newly settled districts or of an increase of population in districts already settled ; and with such items may be reckoned also the cost of sites, where these have to be purchased, and the initial cost of fencing. The ordinary building grants to Boards are intended to cover all the items named above as recurrent, and others of a similar nature; these may again be conveniently subdivided into (a) the cost of rebuilding, and (b) all other recurrent items. If we assume that a school-building in wood, well constructed in the first instance, and kept in good repair afterwards, will last for thirtythree years, then, roughly speaking, a Board will have to rebuild, say, one-thirty-third of such buildings each year, and to enable the Board to do so it would be sufficient if it received each year a grant of 3 per cent, of the

XIV

Asset ts and Deficits. Liabilities and Balances. 1901. Balances. Deficits. Balances. £ £ £ 3,090 ..I 2,203 465 ! 198 51 t>549 1,678 .. j 2,855 553 .. 422 985 101 ' 104 i 2,402 311 .. 443 608 ' 653 : 402 261 ! Auckland Taranaki Wanganui Wellington .. ! Hawke's Bay .. j Marlborough .. Nelson .. .. Grey Westland North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago .. Southland Education Districts. Cash. £ 4,533 396 1,321 - 3,671 695 2,451 1,470 3,347 859 Due from n e « P u s all Sources uen '-« f " £ £ 406 183 213 725 557 2,762 7 Over- Due to Other drafts. Government. Liabilities. \'\ * ! * 1,500 ' 349 706 J 86 1,241 607 894 1 ,753 672 1,000 1,000 142 147 318 260 322 I 44 6 6 .. 121 4,866 866 1,147 ' 477 3,149 i 520 904 215 510 87 285 91 36 876 2,405 465 930 447 Totals 18, 743 4,989 6,2111,809 ' 15,724 j 6,010 6,840 I 9,571 5,923 !

Assets and Deficits. Liabilities and Balances. 1901. Education Districts. C-h. «*«'*■ 1 " I ° V aft"s. U& Balances. Deficit*. Balance,. Auckland Earanaki Wanganui .. Wellington .. Hawke's Bay Marlborough STelson 3-rey Westland STorth Canterbury South Canterbury Dtago Southland .. Totals a £ £ 4,147 i 1,012 .. i 1,317 923 ! .. ! 1,325 5,098 ! ..I 423 ' 1,387 j 7,651 .. i 1,051 3,700 .. ! .. 950 1,406 2,820 : 512 550 75 500 : 6,324 267 1,900 '■ 6,884 456 .. 660 4,773 ! .. I 7,036 39,956 9,119 £ 1,157 ! 134 £ £ 4,003 771 ! 1,469 5,297 ' 1,126 9,461 1,543 3,208 816 2,319 1,907 115 947 94 481 2,306 I 3,771 466 1,701 2,405 2,188 3,245 30,967 18,671 £ £ 3,587 2,793 2,445 604 : 2,636 232 : 2,012 103 681 2,662 1,670 1,491 2,858 4,526 :19,248 247 4,935 6,473 I