£.—1

48

tion for junior scholarships ought to be a fair test of the efficiency of secondary schools. If anything further is needed, the University should occasionally undertake the annual examination of the highest form in all branches of work. G. S. Sale. Chas. C. Bowen. W. Edw. Mulgan. We do not concur in the recommendation " that the fees at secondary schools be not lower than £10 per annum." We think that the purpose of conferring upon secondary schools endowments out of public funds is to enable them to give an efficient education at so cheap a rate as to put it within reach of all classes of the community which are likely to take advantage of it, and that an endowed school which charged high fees would be using its endowments almost exclusively for the benefit of the class least requiring aid from the State. We do not regard the minimum fee recommended by the majority of the Commissioners as necessarily excessive, but we consider the recommendation unsound in principle, and we believe that in the case of some schools the proposed increase of fee would not only diminish their usefulness, but would also injure their financial position. John Shand. W. Macdonald.