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 INSTRUCTION — OLD AGE PENSIONS — JUSTICE, ETC. 319

enumerated numbers of each of the principal religions in 1911 : — Episcopalian:^ 475,203 (including ' Protestant,' so stated, 24,116) ; Presbyterians, 234,553 ; Methodists, 176,662 ; other Protestants, 93,729; Roman Catholics, 286,433 ; Jews, 6,270; Buddhists, Confucians, &c., 2,572 ; others (including unspe- cified), 40,129.

Instruction.

Educational establishments in Victoria are of four kinds, viz., the University, established under a special Act and opened in 1855, with its three affiliated colleges. State schools (primary), technical schools or colleges, and private schools. Out of the general revenue the University received in 1910-11, by way of endowment, 21,000^., and for buildings, apparatus, &c., 17,357Z. It is both an examining and a teaching body, and grants degrees in all Faculties except Divinity.

Affiliated to the University are three colleges — Trinity, Ormond, and Queen's — in connection with the Church of England, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan Churches respectively ; also the School of Mines at Bailarat. From the opening of the University to the end of 1911, 6,647 students matriculated, and 4,461 direct degrees were conferred. In 1911 the students who matriculated numbered 283, the direct graduates numbered 243, and there were 1.220 students attending lectures.

Public instruction is strictly secular ; it is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14, and free for the subjects comprised in the ordinary course of instruction. In 1911 there were 2,059 State schools with 5,087 teachers, a total enrolment of 234,766 scholars, and an average attendance of 146,464 or 62 per cent, of the numbers on the roll. Amongst persons aged 15 years and upwards at the census of 1911, 98 per cent, were able to read and write. In 1910-11 the total cost of public (primary) instruction, exclusive of expenditure on buildings, was 842,281Z. — all paid by the State. Although the education given by the State is strictly primary, the Minister for Public Instruction may annually award 80 scholarships, each tenable for 4 years for facilitating higher education. In addition 40 teaching scholarships are allotted annually, each tenable for two years at a Continuation School. Secondary, education is for the most part under the control either of private persons or proprietary bodies, usually connected with some religious denomination. There were in 1911 587 private schools in Victoria, with 1,975 teachers, and a net enrolment of 51,032 scholars. Nearly one-fourth of these schools, about one-third of the teachers, and over half of the scholars were estimated to be in connection with the Roman Catholic denomination, the members of which do not as a rule avail themselves of the free education afforded by the State.

Under the auspices of the Education Department are 17 technical schools, a college of domestic economy, a working men's college, two agricultural colleges, and a horticultural college. In 3 911 there were 199 teachers attached to the technical schools, irrespective of agricultural and horti- cultural colleges, the gross enrolment of pupils being 4,311.

Old Ag-e Pensions, Justice and Crime.

On July 1, 1909, the Federal Old Age Pensions Act came into operation, and the State pensioners were taken over by the Federal authorities. The number in Victoria on December 13, 1912, was 24,673. Pensions are also granted to invalids, 3,578 being on the register on December 13, 1912.

There is a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and four puisne judges. There are courts of general and petty sessions, county courts, court.s! of insol- vency, courts of mines, and courts of licensing! The following are the criminal statistics for five years : —