Or.—s.

40

J. THORNTON.

150. In reply to questions put by Mr. Hogg you said something about Government scholars and others attending the College: are there not some students attending who received scholarships from the Makarini trust?—Y'es, there are three Makarini scholars sent to Te Aute every year. The examination is held in December, and the scholarships are awarded on the results of that examination. The scholarship is tenable for two years, and the amount is £35 per annum, of which £20 goes for board and education, and £15 is handed to the scholar as a personal allowance for clothes and travelling-expenses. 151. They would be called paid scholars?— Yes. I may say for the information of.the Commission that these scholarships were founded by Mr. Douglas McLean as a memorial to his father. They were offered as a help to the Maori race, and especially in connection with Archdeacon Williams, who was a friend of his father's. I believe it was at first suggested they should be limited to Te Aute College; but the Archdeacon represented that limitation, should not be fixed, as it might be.advisable to use the funds in other directions, and, as in your own case, Mr. Ngata, the Makarini funds enabled you to pursue your studies at the Canterbury College. 152. As to the sanitation of the College, what precautions are being taken to secure the proper sanitation of the College premises ?—The drainage of the College has been improved in every possible way, and it has been inspected over and over again, and it is absolutely safe. 153. The disposal of nightsoil was not altogether a burning question, still it was raised? —For many years now it has been satisfactorily disposed of. We are contemplating a further improvement by the erection of a septic tank. I have written to Dr. De Lisle, and I have his letter promising to visit and report on a good site for it.' 154. Would it be advisable to have a medical examination of the pupils for admission into the College ?—lt would be a benefit, no doubt; but I think it would be very difficult to get it in every case. 155. Would it entail any heavy expenditure on the College funds?—lt would certainly be a benefit if it were practicable. I believe Mr. Bird will bear me out that special precautions are taken by the Government. We made representations to the Government years ago, and I believe the Government are very careful in sending us healthy boys; and, as a matter of fact, for many years past most of the boys who come to us have been particularly healthy boys. I may say one of the boys I was doubtful about, and I sent him to tlie doctor at once to be medically examined. 156. As to the teachers, is the salary of the first assistant sufficient for the work he does? —Salary would never stand between us and a good man ; the difficulty is to get good men. 157. I suppose the salary is held out as an inducement to good I mean to say it is not very easy to find good men ; the difficulty is in these days in all secondary schools to get realty efficient assistants. I have proved it in Australia and here in New Zealand in consultation with other headmasters. 158. What salary do you usually give them?—£l2o is the head assistant's salary. Add to that board and lodging, and it is equivalent to £180 a year. 159. Does that compare favourably with what is given in other places for work of the same kind?—l do not know, as a matter of fact. 160. With regard to the Native schools, I think you at Te Aute, with the class of pupils supplied you by the Government from year to year, can tell pretty well whether any general advance is being made in the system of education as applied to the Native schools?—l have no hesitation in saying that that system must have improved very markedly, judging from the material sent to us. The boys are of a better stamp, and they come to us very much better taught than they did years ago. They come to us nowadays knowing how to pronounce the English letters. 161. Nothing has been said about the food, and I suppose Parliament would like to know something about the quality and quantity of the food given ?—The food is unlimited in quantity and plain in quality, and the results I think the Commissioners have seen for themselves. Our boys could not undergo the physical demand that is made upon them unless they were fairly well fed. 162. Talking about the improvements suggested—agricultural classes and technical instruction—do you think honestly there is any portion of the present curriculum that could be dropped out and replaced with something more useful ?—I think we might introduce technical instruction to the extent we propose—viz., two hours and a half per week —but anything more I should say would jeopardize our standard. 163. You told Mr. Lee that there was a system of classifying the students according to aptitude: is there a deliberate system of classifying?—l do not think I told Mr. Lee exactly that. 164. You said that there was a process of sifting going on?—lt is only a natural process. A boy drops out unless he has a certain aptitude for going on to the higher work. That does not mean specialising in. the sense in which Mr. Lee mentioned it. 165. The school is divided into the higher and lower classes, your fifth and sixth classes being the higher standards : could not some system of differentiation be introduced—say, between the Fourth and Fifth Standards —by which boys really not fit to pursue the higher branches could be turned on to something else? —If that does not take place in the sifting process I have just mentioned —and it generally does —then that is where a separate technical institution would come in, because at that stage the boys would have received a good elementary education, and they would be in a position to profit by technical education or any special lines to which they might be set. 166. What I understand is this: that when they pass what I may call the higher standard they go in earnestly for such things as Latin, Euclid, and algebra, which are absolutely necessary if they want to pass matriculation. You have yourself an acquaintance with the boys in the Fourth Standard, and supposing you get a proportion at the end of the term of boys who are unfit to go on for matriculation, and suppose the proportion happens to be one-half, would it be possible to devote the time usually taken up with Latin, Euclid, and algebra entirely to technical instruction if these boys remained on?— Yes. it would be quite possible; but you would have very few