36

rapidly-increasing district; at River Terrace,
in Waimea-south, a master's house, very much
needed, has been built on ground which the
board has purchased; at Sarau, in the Upper
Moutere, the school-house and master's dwell-
ing have been finished on an uniform plan, and
the play-ground, garden, and adjoining pad-
dock fenced round in a complete and substantial
manner; whilst, at the Lower Moutere School,
a dwelling for the master has been added
to the school-room, which has been lined
throughout, and the original design completed.

In all these cases, whilst the Education Act
conferred upon the Central Board the power,
and consequently imposed upon it the duty,
of erecting all necessary school-houses and
master's dwellings, and of furnishing, main-
taining, and repairing them; and the education
loan has been placed under its sole control for
these purposes; it has been found practically
most advantageous and economical to delegate
these powers for the most part to the various
Local Committees, requiring, however, in every
case, such detailed information of the plan on
which the committee proposed to act, such
specific accounts of their proceedings, and
satisfactory vouchers for their expenditure, as
would enable the Board to assume their acts as
its own, and to take upon itself that full
responsibility which is laid upon it, and of
which it cannot properly divest itself.

Whilst, therefore, the limited amount of the
funds at its command, which were altogether
inadequate in themselves to meet the demands
made upon them, called for the strictest
economy in their expenditure, and rendered it
impossible for the Board, without an expense
which would have very seriously diminished
their narrow resources, to undertake the imme-
diate management and direction of the neces-
sary works, and made it necessary to transfer
this part of their functions to those who were
personally interested and resident on the spot;
it did not prevent, but, on the contrary, en-
forced, the necessity of calling, in all cases, for
such information, and receiving such assu-
rances from the committees and from their
representatives at the Board, as would justify
the proposed grants, and, in case of need,
serve as proofs and vouchers of the tran-
sactions.

It is the more requisite that this should be
explained and thoroughly understood, as the
nature of the relations which exist between the
Local Committees and the Board has been
occasionally misapprehended, and the character
and purport of its interference mistaken ac-
cordingly. Thus, it was thought essential by
the Board to call for statements of the last
year's expenditure in the various committees,
that it might know what had been, and what
further was still required. In the majority of
instances, the request was cheerfully complied
with; but in some cases no notice was taken
of the application, and in others the old com-
mittee, having retired from office, considered
its duties and responsibilities to be at an end,
whilst that which had succeeded altogether
declined to interfere with or take any cogni-
zance of the acts of its predecessor. Again,
the accounts which were received from the
various districts, and the reports of the In-
spector, showed a difference in the masters'
salaries, and in the relative advantages attached
to their situations, which proved that services
the same, or nearly the same, in all essential
respects, were receiving very different rates of
remuneration, and that, as now the payments
all came from one common fund, much dis-
satisfaction had very naturally arisen in conse-
quence. The proceedings of the Board, then,
instead of being looked upon as an unnecessary
interference, as they have sometimes been,
must be considered in the light of a joint
action of all the Local Committees, to ensure
that each shall have its own fair share of con-
sideration and aid, and no more, and as a
jury in cases of dispute, whose decisions are
capable of being applied generally, and with-
out distinction, to all in turn, and which,
therefore, offers the best guarantee which the
nature of the case admits of for its justice and
impartiality.

I have, &c.,

D. MONRO,
Chairman.

Central Board of Education, Nelson,
February, 1859.

REPORT