1.—13 a.

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L G. HOGBEN

be amended by inserting after the word " Minister " the words " not being officers of the Public Service," and by adding the following new subclause (2) : " The members who are officers of the Public Service shall be paid such allowances as are in accordance with law." Clause 14.—Subclause (3) : It was represented by the Wangamii Education Board that the miniiiiiini of two members for each urban area would lead to the over-representation of the smaller boroughs. There is some weight in this objection, which could be met by deleting all the words after the words " shall be " and substituting therefor the words " one member for each thirty thousand or part of thirty thousand of the population of such urban area : Provided that the total number of members for any urban area shall in no case exceed three." If this amendment were made, however, the number of members for many of the education districts would be odd, and accordingly it would not be possible to retain the provision for the retirement of half the members of the Education Board at each biennial election. That difficulty could be overcome by making all the members retire at every election. A consequential amendment would be required in the Third Schedule to the Bill. Clause 23. —In my opinion clause 23 (2) provides for the proper transfer of all property, credits and debits, to the new Boards constituted under the Bill. Clause 24.—Add at the end of the clause the following words : " and the education service of any such officer as defined in the Public Service Classification and Superannuation Act, 1908, and completed at the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been public service." Clause 27. —Subclause (1): It was suggested by the Otago Education Board that a quorum at any Board meeting should be at least half the members of the Board. Under the present Act three out of nine members constitute a quorum, and this appears to have worked well. Clause 31. —Subclause (5) : It would be better to omit as unnecessary the winds " without the authority of the Minister or of Parliament," and to insert after the words " special fund," in line 15, the words " to any other special fund or to," and to delete the word " into. Subclause (6) : Omit all the words after the words " another special fund." Clause 34. —Paragraph (6) : Already dealt with under clause 6, paragraph (iii). Clause 36. —To amend as follows :To insert, after subclause (I), the following new subclause :— *' (la.) The Board shall cause its accounts for the preceding calendar year to be balanced, and a true statement and account to be prepared, in the prescribed form, of the receipts and expenditure of the Board and of its assets and liabilities." To omit subclause (2), and substitute the following new subclause : —■ " (2.) All such accounts shall be audited by the Audit Office, which for that purpose shall have and may exercise all such powers as it has under the Public Revenues Act, 1910, in respect of public moneys. Clause 37. —Subclause (2) : To omit the words " by law," and substitute the words " in the last preceding section." Clause 38 (4). —In accordance with the suggestion made by several witnesses, insert after the word " effect " the following words : " on a date to be fixed by the Board, being not later than," and omit the words " on and after." Clause 40.—Paragraph (a) : To insert after the words " or School Committee " the following words :"or of the Board of any secondary school or technical school." The reason seems obvious. Clause 45. —Strike out the words " the members of the Board," and insert after the words " for such urban school district" the following words: "the members of the Board who were elected for the said urban school district. The Commissioner so appointed," and delete the word "who" next following. Clause 47 (4). —To omit the words " in accordance with " in line 37, and substitute the word " under " ; to omit the words " and with such by-laws of the Board as are in accordance therewith," and substitute the words " in accordance with by-laws of the Board " ; to omit the word " likewise," and substitute the words " in like manner.'' Clause 50. —To omit subclause (1) and substitute the following : — "(1.) The Committee shall keep such accounts as may be prescribed, and the same to be balanced to the last day of January in every year, and a statement and account to be prepared, in the prescribed form, ,ef the receipts and expenditure of the Committee during the twelve months preceding that date. "' (2.) All such accounts shall be audited in such manner as may be prescribed." Subclause (3) : To omit the words " as provided by law " and substitute the words "' in the prescribed manner." Subclauses (2) and (3) to stand as subclauses (1) and (2) of 50a. Clause 51. —It is suggested by the Wanganui Board that the words " five miles " in subclause (3) should be " three miles." It appears to me that the proposal to establish any school within five miles of an existing school is a matter that should be seriously considered by all the authorities concerned, as this subclause provides. Subclause (4) : Before the word " Council " where it first occurs insert for the sake of clearness the word " general." The Taranaki Education Board objects to subclauses (4) and (5) of this clause as being too arbitrary and' placing too much power in the hands of the Minister. [Note. —The Minister can act only on the advice of the Council, and it seems absolutely necessary to place some limit on the undue multiplication of small schools.] The Taranaki Board proposes also, in subclause (6), paragraph (a), to strike out the words after the words " Grade 0." The Board says that it does not seem reasonable to require struggling settlers to provide part of the teacher's salary. I would point out that the Board may not require this.