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185
expenditure, and the Taxes (in the form of Government Grants)
about 15 per cent., while the scholars contributed only about 10
per cent. The expenditure of the School Board is therefore
essentially a question for the ratepayers.
The following is a statement of the amount paid to the School Board by
the ratepayers of St. James's, Westminster, each year, since the
constitution of the Board:—
£
8.
d.
Precept for the year 1871
1,047
7
10
„ „ 1872
1,945
12
11
„ „1873
1,608
8
0
„ „1874
3,845
1
8
„ „1875
6,705
9
10
„ „1876
9,973
11
1
„ „1877
12,364
7
4
„ „1878
12,195
9
0
„ „1879
13,114
13
2
„ „1880
15,064
2
4
„ „1881
15,941
0
7
„ „1882
16,465
16
2
„ „1883
19,074
14
10
,, „ 1884
22,328
0
2
Total*
£151,673
14
ll
The School Board has, up to the 25th March, 1884, provided
354,925 school places, but many of these places are occupied by
children who would otherwise have been attending eflicienl
Voluntary Schools, under Government inspection, but not maintained
from the rates. Thus, in the Parish of St. James, Westminster,
one Board School has been erected (Pulteney School),
to accommodate 1,000 scholars, at a cost of £33,091 13s. 5d., or
more than £33 per seat, but, since the erection of this School,
the attendance at the National School, Marshall Street, ancl St.
Peter's National School, Great Windmill Street, has largely
decreased, there being at the present time room in these schools
alone for 611 more scholars than the average attendance. The
undermentioned Voluntar'y Schools, which, with the exception
of Craven Schools, were under Government inspection, and
* The School Board Rate commenced at ½d. in the pound on an assessment of .£19,970,983
and is now 8¾d. on an assessment of £29,025,534.
N