(a) Representations made by the Institute to Parliament.

Your committee does not intend to present in detail all the statements that have from time to time been submitted to both Houses of Parliament. It will be necessary to instance the action page 15 taken by the Institute when it was proposed by some to raise the school age to six and by others to seven. The Institute, in tabulated form, showed the result of any such action on the smaller schools of the Colony owing to the reduction of the capitation allowance, and made a comparative statement showing the school age in other countries and the Colonies, giving also a table showing that teachers' salaries were lower in New Zealand than in the neighbouring colonies. A printed copy giving additional reasons against the proposal, was sent to every member of both Houses of Parliament. The statement was read in the House and the facts and reasons appear in the pages of Hansard. It reached members at an opportune moment, and according to the testimony of the members of the House, was largely the means of preventing the school age being raised. Your Committee wishes to call attention to the financial results of this action of the Institute. Had the age been raised, teachers' salaries would have been reduced by a sum of £10,000 had the age been raised to six, and by £20,000 if it had been raised to seven.