-minded persons living outside institutions,
whether with relatives or otherwise, the State should, in the interest
of both such feeble-minded individuals and of society, have the ultimate
right of supervision.

The magnitude of the task to be undertaken cannot be estimated unless we
have some indication of how numerous are those for whom special measures
must be adopted. The information given below must not be too literally
interpreted, but will serve to throw some light upon existing conditions
in New Zealand.

SECTION 5.--ESTIMATES AS TO NUMBERS OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES.

In the absence of a complete system of notification, which the Committee
consider is urgently necessary, any estimate as to the number of
feeble-minded to be dealt with must be largely a matter of conjecture.

From the annual report of the Education Department, however, interesting
information is available showing the ages of the pupils in the several
classes of the primary schools. The following table is considered worthy
of reprinting in this report, for from the figures it supplies some idea
may be formed of the number of backward and feeble-minded children
attending primary schools. Children of extremely low-grade mentality do
not attend school as a rule, while feeble-minded children higher in the
scale, discouraged by the unsuitable course of instruction and lack of
sympathetic treatment, tend to leave school early. Hence the number of
feeble-minded children in any community must be considerably larger than
the school records indicate.

The following table shows the ages of pupils in the several classes of
the primary schools. The numbers between the heavy horizontal lines
represent those that, beginning school under six years of age spend an
average of two years in the preparatory classes and one year in each of
the standards. The numbers above the upper heavy lines have progressed
at a greater rate than that indicated, and those below the lower lines
have either begun school later or have progressed more slowly.

The most arresting feature in the table (p. 13) is the large number of
children in classes lower than should be expected at their age. Thus the
preparatory classes had 12,693 pupils over the age of eight years. This
number is certainly a considerable reduction on the total for the
previous year, but it still represents no less than 18 per cent. of the
total roll of those classes. Particular attention is being directed to
the prob