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No. 36. Sir?— Cook and other Islands Administration, Wellington, 11th June, 1909. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th April last, forwarding your report for the year ended 31st March last, together with statement of receipts and expenditure of" the Administration, and the Liquor Account. I have, &c, The Resident Commissioner, Niue. J. Carroll.

EDUCATION. No. 37. Sir, — Niue Island Administration, Niue, 19th June, 1908. With reference to your letter (No. 87) of the 2nd instant, in connection with the building of schoolhouse and teacher's residence, I have the honour to report progress as follows : — The site, which was covered with bush, has been cleared and levelled. As soon as the necessary material arrives—probably by the " Waiapu," due here in a week or fortnight —building operations will be commenced, and carried on as fast as possible. I have only one practical man here capable of taking the works, which will, be carried on entirely with Native workmen, and progress will therefore be somewhat slow. I expect the schoolhouse to be finished by about the end of September ; the master's residence, containing five rooms and outbuildings, will then be put in hand, and the whole should be completed by December. I think it would be wise to arrange for the teacher to come to Niue about September or October, if opportunity offers, as he would then have, say, two months in which to assist in the final arrangements, and make himself acquainted to some extent with the language and the peculiarities of the people before the school is opened. If necessary, I could make arrangements for his accommodation at the Residency until his house is completed. The Niue language is not easy to acquire, and he will be more or less handicapped through want of knowledge of the language for some considerable time, and it would be a great advantage to himself and the scholars if he could get here some time before the school-buildings arc completed. 1 will advise you from time to time as to the progress that is being made. I have, &c, H. Cornwall, Resident Commissioner. The Hon. the Minister in Charge, Cook and other Islands, Wellington.

No. 38. Sir, — Niue Island Administration, Niue, 6th January, 1909. As the present mail will afford me the last opportunity for some months of advising you as to the progress of the school work, I now have the honour to report that matters so far have progressed very satisfactorily. The school-building will be finished in about-two weeks. Of late I have not pushed the work on very fast, owing to the obvious fact that the schoolmaster could not reach Niue until April next at the earliest. The building is a very substantial one, and has been built with due regard to the climatic conditions experienced here. A very good job has been made of the work, and in consequence the charges on the Island revenue for maintenance should be small. The erection of the schoolmaster's residence will be commenced in about three weeks' time, and I anticipate that everything will be ready for occupation when the schoolmaster arrives in April. I have, &c, H. Cornwall, Resident Commissioner. The Hon. the Minister in Charge, Cook and other Islands Administration, Wellington.

No. 39. Sir, — Cook and other Islands Administration, Wellington, 15th March, 1909. Referring to previous correspondence, I have the honour to inform you that Mr. G. H. Malcolm has been selected for the position of teacher at Niue, and I hope that he will leave New Zealand by the schooner " Kereru," and will arrive at the same time as this letter. Mr. Malcolm is at present teacher of the Native school at Takahiwai. He has had three years' training as a pupil-teacher, and has been in charge of a Native school for nearly four years. Mrs. Malcolm has also had experience in teaching, and holds partial E certificate. The Inspector of Native Schools reports as follows : " His work at Takahiwai has given us every satisfaction. He understands Native-school methods well, is a good disciplinarian, and has won the