E.—l.

9

school-buildings, the amount available for fresh grants was only £50,000. The Boards' accounts are made up to the end of the school year (December 31st), and consequently do not agree with the Treasury accounts, which close on the 31st March. At the end of the school year the sum of £30,725 granted to the Boards out of last year's new vote remained unpaid; but the whole of this amount with the exception of £1,200 had been claimed when the financial period expired on March 31st, 1881. This sum of £1,200 has uoav been paid, and must be provided for out of the current financial year's vote. The following is a summary of the chief heads of expenditure by Boards for the years 1880, 1879, 1878, and i 877 :—

TABLE H.—Summary of Boards' Expenditure.

The Boards' total expenditure on school-buildings Avithin the year exceeded the amount received from the special vote for that purpose to the extent of £12,973 ss. 2d. This excess was provided for partly out of the balances in hand at the beginning of the year, and partly by payments from their ordinary income by one or two of the Boards. The aggregate balances in hand had been reduced from £43,677 15s. 2d., at the beginning of the year, to £35,113 6s. at its close. Table No. 3 of the Appendix furnishes a detailed statement of the expenditure by the different Boards on management and on school inspection, including the examination of pupil-teachers. The moneys expended by the Boards on management and school inspection are classified as folloAvs :—Office staff, £5,934 9s. Id.; alloAvances to members of Boards, £636 7s. 9d; office rent, furniture, repairs, &c, £716 10s. 6d.; fuel, light, and cleaning, £202 Bs. Id.; IaAV expenses, £164 3s. 9d.; printing, £811 3s. 10d.; advertising, £743 3s. lid.; stationery, £539 9s. 5d.; sundries, £290 Is. 2d.; total on management, £10,037 17s. 6d.: Inspectors' salaries, £5,929 16s. Bd.; Inspectors' travelling expenses, £1,954 18s.; pupil-teachers' examinations, £388 19s. Id.; total on inspection and examination, £8,273 13s. 9d. The aggregate amount of allowances to members of Boards has increased from £462 18s. 3d. in 1579 to £636 7s. 9d. during the past year. No allowance whatever Avas paid to the members of the Auckland, Hawke's Bay, and Marlborough Boards. The payments under this head in the other districts range from £5 in Wellington to £203 16s. in Wanganui District. The law expenses last year amounted to £164 3s. 9d., as compared with £818 10s. 6d. in 1879. No law costs were incurred by the Southland Board, and in the other districts these ranged from £2 2s. in Marlborough to £34 17s. 7d. in Nelson District. The figures in the columns of Table No. 3 headed "Printing," "Advertising," " Stationery," and " Sundries," show that the expenditure by the Boards on these items does not bear any strict proportion to the relative number of schools or teachers, or to the average attendance, in the different districts. It may be expected that, as a rule, the rate of expenditure per scholar on management, inspection, and some other purposes will be higher in the more sparsely-settled districts with a number of very small schools than in the more densely-peopled districts having a greater number of largely-attended schools; but the returns, show that, in some instances, the rates have not altogether followed any such rale, and that the business of some Boards has apparently been less economically managed than that of others. 2—E. 1.

Principal Heads. Year 1880. Year 1879. Year 1878. Year 1877. 1. Liabilities on 1st January 2. Cost of management by Boards 3. Cost of inspection and examination 4. Maintenance of schools —Teachers' salaries and} allowances, grants to Committees and schools, > scholarships, training, fire insurance, &c. J 5. School-buildings 6. Befunds and sundry extraordinary payments £ s. d. 1,240 13 8 10,037 17 6 8,273 13 9 £ s. d. 3,432 5 4 11,109 8 10 7,735 4 0 £ s. d. 4,065 14 11 10,225 12 2 6,142 14 5 £ s. d. 11,036 18 2 10,484 14 10 5,606 19 7 247,121 3 5 221,053 4 0 191,499 15 5 173,726 9 7 117,410 1 10 726 7 0 172,867 14 3 1,651 11 0 90,491 17 9 4,254 2 1 82,322 7 10 3,610 8 4 7. Total expenditure on public schools ... 8. . Add—Public libraries, 1880, 1879... 9. Auckland and Otago High Schools ... L0. Balances in hand, 31st December ... 384,809 17 2 4,658 1 5 417,849 7 5 6,074 0 7 306,679 16 9 286,787 18 4 11,166 2 0 24,814 0 11 35,113 6 0 43,275" 6 7 61,605 19 3 LI. Totals, agreeing with Boards' general statements 3 424,581 4 7 467,198 14 7 368,285 16 0 322,768 1 3