A.—No. 3.

6

RELIGIOUS, CHARITABLE, AND

I doubt if the estate would be sufficient to carry out all tho objects of the trust, the salary of the master absorbs so much of the proceeds of the land. When the Native Police was reduced on the West Coast, the persons retained in the force were all those who had been educated in the school in question. The Natives valued very much the qualifications acquired by the girls at the school, which made them useful for wives. The grown-up pupils who had married from the school, have, in many instances, sent or wished to have their children sent there also. This and the other lands given for this school, were appropriated by tho Natives themselves, for its maintenance. During the four years in which I received £300 or £400 a year from Government, the actual expenses of the children would have absorbed the whole of these sums. The improvements were paid for, practically, from other sources. Grant, 68 acres 2 roods 35 perches, Otaki. No. 3 (N.M. Miscellaneous, p. 33, area 68 acres 2 roods 35 perches). —The same remarks apply to this as to the foregoing grant. Grant, 24 acres 1 rood 16 perches, Otaki. No. 4 (N.M. Miscellaneous, p. 37, area 24 acres 1 rood 16 perches). —This was given by the Natives, and granted by the Government. It is for the promotion of the Church Missionary Society's objects. It has been used for educational purposes up the present time. It contains my house, the church, and cemetery, containing about eight acres ; but the rest has been used to support the school. Two of the buildings connected with the latter are upon it. These are good buildings of totara, several rooms in each. Tho school-house has one large room and two wings ; the other is the boarding-house of the scholars, in which tho Rev. Mr. McWilliam and Miss McWilliam reside. Very few Natives attend the church now, compared with former times. The road formerly was by the beach. We moved inland, on purpose to avoid the line of traffic. We have, however, been followed, and the Natives have to retire further into the bush. The congregation is now only about fifty or sixty. Drunkenness is spreading very rapidly ;it has been so for the last twelve months. One of the publicans at Otaki has, in fact, very few other customers than Maoris, although the selling to them is prohibited by law. Grant, 33 acres 3 roods, Otaki. No. 5 (N.M. Miscellaneous, p. 59, area 33 acres 3 roods). —This land adjoins the large block of 396 acres. The same remarks apply to it as to the former one. Grant, 62 acres, Otaki. No. 6 (N.M. Miscellaneous, p. 65, area 62 acres). —The same remarks apply as in tho former case. It also adjoins the large block. Grant, 17 perches, Wellington. No. 7 (N.M. Miscellaneous, p. 66, area 17 perches).—Mr. Hart states that this was a private purchase of tho Bishop of New Zealand for the church. Evidence taken before Mr. Domett at Wellington. Wednesday, 13th April, 1870. Major Kdwards, being duly sworn, states: I was Resident Magistrate of the Otaki District from 1862 to April, 1870, with the exception of a period between June, 1868, and April, 1869. I know the Church School at Otaki. As far as my knowledge goes, the attendance has varied from about sixty to (at one period) about four and five. I could tell the period when it was so low, if I referred to my papers at home. I think the Hauhau disturbance was one of the causes of the decline in attendance. I believe all confidence in Europeans, missionaries, or anybody else, was lost from 1564 to 1866. I believe tho attendance at the school for the last year or two has considerably improved. During the last two or three years a certain portion of English has been taught; but prior to that, the education of the children was almost entirely in the charge of a Maori and his wife (one of whom has since gone over to Hauhauism). Mr. Hadfield visited the school daily, and had service there. I have occasionally seen the children at the College. I never went officially :it was purely accidental when I saw them. They appeared at those times much like other Maoris. I once saw ten or a dozen of the boys squatting round a dish of potatoes on the floor in the middle of tho room. I fancy there may bo other reasons besides Hauhauism for the unattendance. One may be that the Maori parents are unwilling to part with their children, and also that they are discouraged as to the results generally, as well as to what they learnt, and as to their acquirement of civilized habits. The Maoris have told me this themselves. One Maori (I believe my late interpreter could give you his name) said that he did not send his children there because they were so dirty. I don't know that I can say airy more from my own knowledge. I know the Porirua Reserve (500 acres). I think £75 a year is quite enough rent for the property. Ido not sec that, with the short leases given (five years), the tenants could improve. It would take the tenant three years to knock down the trees and clear tho ground, so that ho would only have two years to get his profit from, having at the same time rendered the property so much more valuable, and of course it would be sought for at a higher rent. It would be throwing money away. I would suggest that the leases should be for fourteen years, in which case covenants might bo made for clearing, fencing, and laying down with English grass. I have seen some of the boys from the school write an excellent hand in Maori. As far as the humbug of English is concerned, I never had any proof of its existence. Many of the boys on the farm became bullock drivers, ploughmen, and shepherds. By Mr. Domett: Were the girls educated at the school sought for as servants by European families in the neighbourhood ? I lived there during a period of more than two years, during which we were often without servants, but I never got any from the school. I think it was a matter of public notoriety that the school was a failure.