The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News. TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1874.

Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1339, 26 May 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News.

TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1874.

For;the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, ; And the good that we can do

The meeting to protest against the education rate last night was a success. The" meeting was a large one, well conducted, and unanimous in condemning any increase of taxation. It was convened for the purpose of protesting, and it has fulfilled its purpose ; but still we must confess to a feeling of disappointment that the practical results should be so meagre. The petitidn adopted expresses absolutely .nothing but)the antipathy of the petitioners against increased" taxation, and it tardly .required giademonstration of last evening, ■ we,'should imagine, to make/it evident that such a feeling is wide spread in this, as in any other cjo^ntry.. Failing any pradtioal recommendation "either in'favour of a property tax, school fees, or any other system of raising the funds riecessar^ to support education in the, province, j.we,.. cannot ' see in what way theiresolution of last'night,cah aid the Council in finding a satisfactory jsolu,tion of tihe question which they have to deal with. It is ;well enough to get rid' bjE the. rjdiffi&iilty by saying that peopiie can afford to educate, their own children without Govern-; ment assistaneej»lbut as appliedito the cQuntr^ _u'6h'astatementis contraryjtofact. Without a.very [large: amount' of Goverment assistance the' children of our country settlers Would-be condemned to ignorance.', The provincial revenue'is unequal to what is required of it for! this 1 .purpose, I arid until the General Government ''.art be made tp deal with education, /taxation in, some form -must be resorted to !in this province. . The position sfis"M Ghei that,,..oannot;Jbe evaded, and it was j through their Efforts- to' 'ignore it that- last^ ilight's v! meeting

failedij r TJiei.e were present many gentlemen who might havje beep not :ihei.eiy t(H :i]diM' in th 4 1 denunciation! of ,'wbis ; '.';Jj r a dmittedlyrbad« but to snow a better way. As it is, however, the Council is left as before to use .-_. own \< judgment, in £Ke7fnatfcer. That the, present/rate-is as

I unworkable as lit is., unjust-"there ds" little doubt, ana we shall, watch with interest the j steps taken by the Council to apply a remedy ■ that wJi; ; meet the requirements of the caae.

We have been requested td; publish the, following letter:—"To the Editor:: Sir- - Who is Mr Olphert? I see l_i moved thef first resolution last night at the «ducatio_^ meeting. Is this the man that tried to dance on the grave of Mr Cazaly in bringing in a verdict oifelo de se, so as to" deprive the widow and orphans of their means of livelihood, and insult and pain them in their sorrow. And will you tell me why he has not his own name over his door. Is it to prevent decent people getting their own. i think I remember the "Star" on several occasions referring to tht§ peculiar way of doing business. Is this the reason Olphert always takes a fling at the editor of the V Star ?" At next public meeting perhaps Olphert will tell us why he puts another man's name over his door.—Yours, Ed.ctca tion."— [Perhaps it is to aivoid the Education Rate. We should not be unjust in our suspicions. Ed. "E.S."] .

; The Kennedy concert of Scottish songs and. English glees was a. great success".ast evening at the City Hall, .vhich was crowded to the doors,- and the songs were sung by Mr Kennedy and family intheir usual finished and excellent style. Mr Kennedy's bidgraphical and explanatory remarks were given in a pleasant manner; and highly relished by the hundreds who listened to him. The " twa hours at hame" last evening was most pleasantly spent. The celebrated "Address to a Haggis," by, Burps, will be given to-night. We. understand, also, that the Scottish Volunteers will attend in uniform. '

We have-seen the beautiful oil paintings, chromo-lithographs, photographs, etc., which form the Art Union drawing to take place

shortly at Mr Wayte's, Queen-street. We notice that every subscriber of the fifty will receive a prize, and that there are no blanks. Asjvv orks of art some of the pictures are excellent, and all are interesting. The first prize, in oil, comprises two scenes 6f cattle drinking at a stream, elegantly framed. The other prizes embrace views of Alpine, English, Welsh, and Scottish scenery; also eight studies in oil of pleasant spots and shady places. The list of subscribers is nearly full, and the drawing will shortly take place.

About one thousand persons were present last evening at the Prince of Wales Theatre, and the charaoter of the performance was admirably sustained throughout. The feats of Airec and of the De Castro family were, among the chief wonders of the evening, while the.higbly amusing dialogues of Granny Chatterbox ftud Robin Rough, under the influence of Val Vose, the renowned Yjjht?. I6qhist, where charming in the extreme. Mr St. Vincent and Mdlle. Montebello, performed several duets in a pleasing and acceptable manner. The company, will be patronised by the Stewards and committee of the Auckland Baces this opening. An entire change of programme, will take place on Wednesday night, whfen the great illusions of the talking head and hand will be introduced; by Val Vose.

The French correspondent of the Tlnie's States Ithat a book lias just been published in France by the Abb 6 Baboisson in which. ho proves, from: the Book of Daniel,, that the Comteide Chamboi d, foe of the Beast with ten heads., i. c,, the German Empire, must come to the Throne before October 21, 1874. The proof would be as perfect as any of Dr Cumming's demonstrations of prophecy but for an unlucky eiror of the author, who has translated 'fim time, times, and a half tinie," as "a time, two times, and a half time," a statement not existing in the book he relies on. It is .said these prophecies have a great effect in France, but it is improbable it shonld be greater than the effect the legend of Barbarossa had in Germany during the war. Can, anybody tell us if there is any political prophecy in England believed by the common people ? We never heard of one, and Fleming's book is unknown to the masses, and Dr. Cumming alters his stories, too quickly, and/ia_too modeirn altogether,' to have any effect upon the popular mind, which seems to stand alone; attiring' nations in its inaptitude to leccive and retain that particular form of. rubbish! At the Queen's Theatre, Dunedin, last Saturday night week "Nick of tho Woods" was announced, but Mr O'Brien came before the curtain and stated that it would have to be withdrawn, consequent upon Mr Thorp, at the last moment, refusing to take the part for which he had been' cast. Mr Thorp then came forward with the intention of speaking, but the orchestra struck up and forced him to desist.

Among things not generally known it may be mentioned that during the March quarter of this year as. patany as 23,412 rabbit Bkins were' exported from Wellington, their value being £G4l. The only other port from which similar exporin were shipped was the BlufF, but there^tbe, number was only SCD, value£lo. ; ... . .., The towjer to be erected in'the- Centennial building at Philadelphia will*be 1,000 feet high. A central tube, thirty feet high in diameter, .the entiirie length, will be occupied by four elevators for the transportation of visitors. Around this spiral tube winds a spiral staircase for those who prefer to walk, wnile to ascend by the latter will require a fltfeady hand and a, stout hearfy ;j .A correspondent, writing from the diamond fields'of .Sputh Africa tothe .Cape Argus of February lOL says, witb resfeVenoe tothegold- , rfieldsef-fnlkWhat's to be thought about the gold-rfields ? i One man says that-nothing can be riche., another tells onu that everybody is returning ; disappointed.>...• The bne ;'fy!6f patent to ajl' the world'is'that the Gtildfields Mining Company is pulling a poor /face. They! sent up an experienced Australian as inafna^er, and it is not long since an. inexperienced directorJ)' dame ' down' from visiting the (scene of operations,, invested the whole affair in an'ktrhosphere' of rose colonr. It.sebms now that .the inexperienced director must have been wanting in observation tip in experience. The rain is still falling, and the house in which I write is threat-. ening dissolution of its parts. Most - othler' brick houses will r soon befunious heaps. The youth who,, tikes tbis' "letter to the Post,,office must bejprepared tpswim,; or perchance jwill requirel icr'be dug out of the mud after mucb struggling." .tamß&di 1 bat ,_eq«B ,ta> To the Editor: Sir,-—ln the charge preferred against' Mr O'Sullivan in the Police Court for supplying beeroto. my daughter, Eliza Olding, on a Sunday, permit moto state that neither I nor her stepmother knew anything of the _datter, J_s Jwe'wie_e away in the country atithej time. We, left t the child in the charge of a person in tHe'hduse in order . that b.er schooling might not be neglected. On the Sunday in question it appears that a lodger in the'hotj^Lasked.the child- to fetch' the beer^ which she had in-too kit when- met 1 by Sergeant Saunderson. '.She, informs me that," Joe Mjdr^w the beef,* and Mr O'Sullivan took 1 the money, and-d^andjed her the ;beer. I have endeavoured to'give' the girl the, best eduction in my power, have been careful to impress upon her the value ! df truth J and! do not believe^iie wo&ld tell i a'; falsehood, 'y M j the report is likely to injure me, if unco'ntradieted, I shall be obliged by your giving these lines a glaoer4n! 'the '"Evening Star," which sheds" it fight uponsp many dark spots in this ; city.—l;am, etc;, John Oldii.a.

An aniateur eqpearfc Twill, b& Held.to-mor-row evening in the Choral Hall in aid of tlie funds for the. purchase of an organ for St. Mary's, Parnell. The programme promises a good entertainment.

H large meeting of the directors and t shareholders of the Bay of Island Coal Cranpanyis being held as we go to press. " All those-Yolunteers who have not received i their prize-money for the Auckland district prize-firing for 1874, are requested to call at , once and receive the same, as all moneys not j paid on or before the 29th instant has to be refunded to the General Government, and . some considerable time must elapse before it j can be re-drawh for payment. j

To the Editor : Sir,—With reference to your article on Mr Boylan's proposed new clause would you permit me to remark : 1. All classes may avail themselves of it, not Roman Catholics alone. 2. If any private " common school" do not come up tjo the Government standard of efficiency in secular r education it will have no claim to Government money. 3. It is pure assumption on your part to say that the secular ediicatidn in all the Church of England, "Presbyterian, Itoman Catholic, or Wesleyan, and Hebrew schools here or elsewhere is of a very inferior kind compared •Hfith that in Government schools. You were not warranted in saying or implying anything of the kind. " Board schools " are not acceptable to the majority of the people, though they are to many, probably to all in country places. 4. Roman Catholics do not wish to prohibit Protestants from reading the Bible in purely non-Catholic schools, or'in any way to interfere with the education therein given. 6. It is very probable Mr Boylan's clause will be rejected ; and it is equally or more probable still that the whole Bill will be a failure in every way, though the Executive have done their b&st to ensure success. The business of Legislation, especially on such a delicate question as education is a tougher job than any of the members anticipated I dare say. You are not yet through with thi3 job, by any means. *—A Roman CatiiGlic. [A Government subsidy to each of the many denominations elating in our community is a species of national education which we are not prepared for. Narrow sectarianism is widely enough spread without being fostered by Government bonus. Our correspondent's letter dees not show that the Catholic Church has Buffered in consequence of the secular system of education which has been the law in this province for years past j on. the contrary, ho will probably agree with us in the opinion that the bhurch to which he belongs has sufficiently demonstrated its ability to keep its children within its fold without Government assistance, and despite a secular common Bchool education. We do not desire to enter.into the question of the abuse in Auckland of Government money granted to denominations for administration, but the task would not be a difficult one. —Ed. E.S.]

We have another letter on the subject treated of by "a Itoman Catholic," but as his letter expreeses all and more than the communication withheld, and, as it is necessary to keep close guard on our space, we have chosen his letter of the two for publication. The letter excluded state?, as its chief argument, that Catholics cannot use the .existing Government schools. This is contrary to fact; they do use them 'O.iy writes aS follows .—"Sir, How apparent it is that in all our transactions and proceedings everywhere we do not know it ourselves that our opinions are governed by selfishness. In the measures now before the pttblic for the education of our youth this is very clearly shown. When we were taxed £1 a head to raise funds for this purpose there Was at first a good deal of cabal against this rate, but it gradually subsided, the public merely wishing to see tho tax not press so unequally, and desiring to see a graduated -scale, that the moro wealthy portion of the population should pay more. Then came a measure graduating the rate according to the rental paid by residents, taking tho very rational view that the rent of the house a man resides in is, on the whole, a good test of his ability to pay, and this graduated scale is made upon rents varying from £20 up to £100. Then comes a sudden burst of indignation and a furious uproar, and this from the upper-crust this time, arguing that this scale will press so heavily on all those who do not avail of the Education scheme for their own children. The clamour becomes much louder and more fierce than the cabal from tbe one-pounders, And to my mind is much more unseemly. . But one and all (excepting the victims themselves) agree in the uniform tax on bachelors, and consider this a most just and proper tax. But I presume we shall yet have the bachelors lament. 1 One beautiful feature of this little tax is that it is at any time to be shaken off by riiatriiqony—a soft and easy remedy—and is therefor© likely to be a popular tax withnnmarried ladies. Some have hinted at a tax on old maids, jif any such there be in the colony; but this would not be a fair tax, as they do not absolutely possess the same power as the former batch of our population. But it is clear that a loud growl will be uttered by any who,are affected; by a tax, be it ever so fairly distributed^ . an#: as in taking physic wry faces will 'be made for a time, and yet the draught bolted, and the desired good arise. But "hit high or low you cannot please everybody," as the drummer boy said when flogging the deserter. It would be well if all the grumblers at taxation of any kind wouldmeetin Auckland and fix a code of taxation of their own, which would at all events produce an amusing document.