Untitled

Bruce Herald, Volume XI, Issue 1078, 14 January 1879, Page 7

«, ||,e!loii Hob-r -it tit addr- ssed the •ecr r.- oi : nn c ectoi-s of Dun-.li-i in j.,. Que, 's lie., tie -. IV; y vuVg ■ .-..i1l O' :;).-< a 1 rs-ss >a - ivupi- i • . in- . v o!i ground, ii. \v icii i Me. .ijSo'.d Lii.it, ': aS lit , : •-11 cl no a 1. If ,j ia; was nofc true. The principal parts I of his speech were THB EDUCATION QUESTION. T for one, ha*e always support'd and shall suppoit the secul-r system. It. would he agr^it calamity in- th s O'louy if we could not have our scho > s free f om sectarian strife. I should have too >ght that a m in's aspirations —' man's eligVus belief's - were things fa* too sacred to l.c (".-..(.ff. d into and stalked about in po itical uieetn gs. Tln^e are things for himself \Ve. have n> righ, as a Colony, to take any n<>(ice of reigious opi-dons. If we idio, where would the thing end"? It l-would end, I say, in nothing but chaos and confusion, lam sorry to say there lha.s been a movement- a twofold moveIment —s-'et on foot amongst you just to wpfc what is c riled denominational schools ; or in other words, subsidies ior the various religious bodie.*. It means n thing more than foi the teaching cf what peculiar doctrines the State can afford to pay for. In auy British Colony it his been a failure. Ifc h-is been ttied in Yic-tn-in, aud failed. — (A. Voice: Go to America.) I can understand a person feeling strongly on this subject; but the creutleman who made the remark wil have the opportunity of questioning me hereafter Ihe other movement —fco get \ the Bible read in the schools —l will tell .you what Bible reading in schoo s means. |P]t means that you must limit your i|choice of teachers. I would like to fi||know bow anyone who wishes for Bib ep|readii)' T in schools would like a Jew to' Ptlteach the Old Testament, or a Free|tfthmker the New Testament— (Gi eat Apflfplause.) I don't think anyone would like ISlthat. Again, no oue would be eligible for Ilia school unless he was, to use an elegant jH_*cotch phrase, " sound i the farh." Try llfto enforce Bible rending in schools, nnd SHyou must necessarily have your teachers Hlfirs: examined hs t i what their views on 'ElUtlie Bilrle are. They would uot submit to Hlithat. —(Applause.) What does Bible reaiL aAu" in schools do ? Anyone who knows Itfknytliing at *-ll about teaching —and I fought to do, /bf I was a teacher about Ifflcine \ears —knows very w^-ll thafc be i its '!|Aivii.g the si-liolais a palming n.w nnd L^again, the trmclnrs h ye to see ihtt pupils j'lHu-e attentive 'o their h>sm*. Th cc >Vpfoiirths o' the teachers will tell }Ou th n ;vvt<aibinor the. Binle in s ho I has beer, and ■ Vfalways. wi'l be, a grea'. fa lure. But supIvpris^ yon did allow rhe Bib c to be tangh* V§in schools, what ver-ion w mid you use? Protestant version? Or perhaps we Iflniight have another version yet to come — 'MB : '' n' 1 know, there are so many things ■P!)ei g done. now. "We have heard a g-'e.'t reeled of Darwinism and Evolution, and you /wh> orj^efc to the reading of ihe bible could have an hour or so of Darwinism inFteid in the afternoon. 1 regret to se.thi' some members of a Church that in JScot ,n tl has st-od nobly up for this tloctiiue. that the State has nothing what, evei to do with religion, and who hive alwajs had this famous motto, ' Render into Lassar the things that are Ciesar's " — I legiet to see thafc the principles of Some members of this body have changed hche, and that, as a facetious friend of unne said, it seems all U P with them, feome of them stood nobly up in Scotland foi keeping the Church up independent cf the State, and ifc seems strange thafc in this Colony they should ask the aid cf the State in teaching religion. I was Sony to see thafc the Dnnedin Presbytery had passed a series of *' whereases," for this teas n that some of those whereases weie altogether wrong. They tell us, for instance, that the system in existence in Tictoni is going to decay. I don't think it.-(l beers.) Then they tell you this — WheieaB —(laughter, —in consequence of the godless character thus assigned to the pie cent national system, the feeling in fevotn of a denominational system has been gaining strength, so that the bill of Midi tis recently before Parliament was only lost by the narrow majority of six Totes in a full House." Now, I ask you if tbat is not a misuse of terms. —(''No," Mid " yes.") Very well, I am going to deal wuh the question fair y and straightfoiwaidiy Do you think there is any- ' thing godless in teaching a child grammar. -T (A Voice, emphatically : *' I do?') Ij am afraid, ladies and gentlemeu, that i ft* member of the Presbytery has come ■ heie by mistake. Is there anything godil|| ss 'D arithmetic, or writing, or tiding, or geography, or history, or sew Ills'* or drawing, or rnu-dc 1 No. Ifc is a gpisuse of terms to say it. Anyone |||ho says otherwise either knows noHS'ns* o'education or does not know the of the word god'ess. Howevi r, l£re is another whereas. — (Loud laughter.) Ilphereas, if such a bib had passed into wf, many who would prefer a national Iptem, in which the Bible was permitted §|be read, would avai themselves o 1 the jlpvisious of such an Act m order to se||e for their children a sufficient oppor fflity of becoming acquainted with God's fikd and in consequence, the national jlieiD. would be in danger of being desMed. Now, I can only say, in referHto that, that those who <;alk in this !» °f Mr Curtis' bill can never have ll the bill. Why, M"r Cur is said in ?j§Ppech that he did nofc wish for deno'■O|tioiial frchools. I will state to you provisions of bis bill. There are ony '^jauses. The second clause provides %}f any 25 householders signify in y * ihe Education Board that they

*„:. i , par iec-- ii.n.ttnn. lh.it sep rate eoriinii to con ■! in-* a. pointed. Fist, the B 'ii tl was togive money or books io the commit t-e ; no books could bn read iv th.*c school without tiie sanction of the Hoard ; 'he i^acher curd not tin appointed nn'ess h held a <.:• r iticatt- under the ,p, a .d ; nd ihis so 1 oI - s'aUished i->y Mr jCo iis wa- pi:. ced in mX ctlv ihe Mini ■ I posi i ii na the pit- cut sell • Is are, ail ' not;, iug bu. .-i-culai- instruc Lion was to be given. There is no provision in this bill for any power to give religious instruction miring school hours. 1 t provided that during the hours set apart for school work it, was to be exactly the same as the pres-nt schools are. Th's is an adniis-ioi by 'he d-nomina^ionalists that religion need rot 1-e mixed up with school teaching But, suppose Mr ( urti.Vs Bill had become law, what- t : en would have, been the result'? Why, every 25 or more dissatisfied householders would have been ab e to have a lifcile peddling school of their own if they wanted, tho school- would have been injured, and the teacher would have had to be an assistant, to the clerg\ man, or if he r- fused to be come such he would be speedily got rid of. I am surprised that the denominationalis s should occept Mr Curfcis's Bill. E, doing so they admit that secular and religious instruction ought to be .separated, I ivvery much thafc fche Presbyterian Synod framed that " whereas, ' because it is not correct with regard to Curtis' s Bi 1. 1 say on this question of education I h ive never changed. I think in ihe Provinc al Counci' I was one of the few — one of the minority — who asked that, out of respect fco the religious teelings of tlie scholars, the Bible should not be lead. I don't care what opinions a man may hold, but. let him be satisfied th«t when his child goes to school, his re igion will not be j-ered afc and mocked and ridiculed, and that his child will le.irn reading writing, arithmetic and rani mar. TRIENNIAL PARLIAMENTS. And now I come to deal with some other things thafc I believe must be our policy for the future. Gentlemen, there was a Bill brought before Parliament 'his session that I fought for very strongly, and 1 regret very much that ifc was noc passed it was ca led the Triennial Parliaments Bill. 1 t.elieve. that in this Colony, where our legisla ion is rapid, where public questions aie changing, and new ones coutinually arising,, thafc there should be f.equeut appeals to the people, and I therefore be ieve that three years is quite long enough for any of our Parliaments to last. I also lielieve thafc we in this Colony are plae-d in a different- pi stion from pohti chins in the Unue I Kingdom. If you will read trr,y book on co sii' utmna.l aw it will teil you tllifc when > he. GroverituiPofc advises i lie Q'leeu io grant a d ssoltition itis almost always gra ted But in this Co ny we tin I-asin ihe c is.- of the Hon. ,",. \V. Stafford for instance that th--Governor «ill sometimes refuse to grant a dissolution, but force tbe Government either to abandon m^asutes or give up ihe reins of office That, Bill ought to become law, so thafc the people can b con suited on mailers affecting their interest.-, frequency. I hope we shall yet lit able to get an Rlecto m1 Reform Bill p -sscd that will be practically based on manhood suffrage. I need hardly speak to yon nbout the Redistribution of -Seals Bill. That is a most difficult matter fco deal with, iv fact-, very delicate and te ider y at first. If a Bill cf this description were passed we might gefc rid of some if 'he blots on our present svsfcem. We rui_.hi g^fc some of our districts that are nofc sufficiently represented additional representation ; and in future there should be a commission which should allocate, to the vai ions districts new members according to population alone. That, is ihe only p oper system I believe. Gentlemen, 1 am afraid it would take too long to touch upon all the subjects I have noted down here, and therefore I must skip over some of them altogether. THE CHINESE. On this matter I expressed the opinion of the House, aud I now express it, that, we ought to piss an Act similar to that which is law iv Queensland, redacting the arrival of hinese to this Colony. 1 believe tbat the who'e of our civilisation mi^ht be inteifered with if they were to come in unrestricted numbers to our shores. I now wish to make one or two remarks in reference to THE LANO QUESTION, Gentlemen, I have had to do with the administration of our waste lands. lam as you are perhaps aware, the Minister for Lands. Since I have taken that oflice I have done everything 1 could to provide land for settlement, aud I think ifc em be said that there have, been more lands proclaimed under the deferred * ayment sys.. tern during the time that this Governient have been in office than was ever pro claimed befoie, and that more lands are b^ing provided for settlement in the interior clistr ets than have been provided! before. How was I met when 1 proposed to give due atfc ntion to the requitenienfcs oi" the interior districts in Otago ? What did I lind ? That, there wero many ilisirics — 1 d< sire to observe thafc I did n t and do not wish to see the pastoral tenants injured or ruined, but dealt, with fairly and honourab y — in which the people were urgently requiring land and there was none to give them. I also found tbi-> great difficulty : that the surveys were so much in arrears fchafc I had to send to Melbourne and Sydney for surveyors. We are now getting the work overtaken us fast as we poss biy can. and I intend to provide for settlement in the interior of Otago as quickly as the staff gets through its work. I c.-innofc speak at any length on the matter, bufc I have no doubt thafc if Mr Macandrew's grand scheme of interior railways were carried out, we should soon

se a different phase of things io tbe Colony. I believe a mistake was commit ted in making our lines too near the coisfc We shou d i*. ally have our lines penetrating the interior, and opening up. the lauds to be provided for settlement by the people In what I proposed I considered 1 iiavefair, equ'Uible, and due attention to the nqntr-ments of settlement, in this province, but how was I met in fchafc ? There came te egrams up to Wellington, warning the members against me. — [The Hon. gentleman here read the telegram signed by the Otago bank managers, stock and estate agents, and representatives of loan companies]. Gentlemen, T ask you, when you remember the line I have taken up on educational mat ters, when you remember the line I have taken up on vaiious other matters I have raeri'ioued to night, and when you re. member the line I have taken up on the land question — are you surprised that you see me much abused iv a section of the Press? It would take too lon^ for me to read to you the reply I sent to that tele-* gram, but gent emeu, I told tVm (irmly, ihat so long as I was Minister for Lin ds, I should opei up what lands I considered to be suitable for settlement, and that I did nob care either for bunk managers or companies. .Now I have (old you what our views are — thafc, so far as fche finances of the colony will allow, we intend to provide land for setting apart en the deterred payment system, so as to enable all classes of the community to obtain homes for themselves and their families. I tell you also that ihis land question is one that is not got rid of when the laud is ■■ 11 sold. We find after all that it is the ques tion of questions in old countries ■ and is even so in America. I say thafc it is our duty in a new country so to frame onr laws, so to provide by our statutes, thafc we shall escpe the evils of those old counties. What have we come to this new country for. if we have not some a-pirat : ons that we sha'l be able here so to frame our laws that we shall get rid of the evils that have overtaken older communities. We ought, in framing our laws, to deal with the laud so that we sh .11 nofc witness what has been witnessed in old countries - the rich getting richer, and the pom* poorer, which can only be avoided by seeing that our lands are properly kept, husbanded, and administered. I have told you that, we have passed a law in order to provide for the di.-tribution of the land amongst the people I do not believe, that any country will be great that allows its lands to pass into the hands of a few people. If i had time 1 could read to you a most intersting extract from a paper by Pro' e- sor Clifford Leslie (Introduction to Lavaleye's Ptimitative Property), wherein he shows that the land question is after all tho question of ques- j tt ns for the peOj.de I can only tell you, as I do not wish, to re d this long extract, that he shows thar the Englis i land system has followed the system of feudalism, while that of France has followed the system of the people I believe that on'y two remedies can be provided in. dealing with the and in the future. There should not only be equality of political rights, but something like equal conditions | amongst the peopl- ; for, depend upon it, j it' you have a democracy which, instead j of preserving equality of conditions i brings the few rich face to face wi'h the many poor, the eed will be anarchy, confusion, and despot ism. There are, as I have said, only two ways to obtain the equality of conditions. 1 here is the French sy.-tem, whic'i says thafc a man shad not be allowed by his wi 1 to dis- | pose of his land as he plea-es, bit sh ill divide a certain proportion of it amongst the whole of his family. We see the re. j suit of this sys em. After the recent great war the French ua'iou were able to pay millions of mo cy — (a Voicr-- . E cling with the Commune.) I say that so fir as the French nation are concerned there ir nofc much Communism tin re. They wen; able to pay off the vast war debt, and now the people are prosperous and happy, simply throu h their subdivision of ilnland. You must have a modification of the French system introduced into this Colony, or eke you will have to adopt the other system, which has been proposed, of what is called a progressive land tax. This is a subject which, I think, the Government ought to take into consideration. On account of the lateuess of fche hour I shall have to pass over the question of railway construction, our local government proposals, &c, and will only a say few words in reference to THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. So far ns the Council is concerned I have always been, and am now, in favour of what is called tbe system of nomination 1 do not believe in an elective Council, because that would lead to the same deadlocks and crises that have taken place in Victoria. AValter B.igehot, i;i his work on the English Constitution, says we have under thafc constitution some cotneatable thing to put an end to crises and deadlocks, which can only be done by dissolution of fche Lower House, or the creation of members of the Upper House for the occasion The Government of the day ought to have this power of creation in their hands; if it had been the case in Victoria, there would nY have been so many deadlocks (here. In this Colony we are met with this question : Our Liberal measures can hardy be carried through the present; Upper House, where there is practically a majority of Conservatives Tbe consequence is that onr measures are so emasculated that we scarcely know them a." a in. I for one have been blamed for Iving obstinate and not yielding. If 1 bring in a measure which I consider to be a good one, I would rather give ifc up altogether than have it emasculated, or made a fool of by everyone who chooses to make an amendment. Here wo have this great dead weight. It is said

tha there is no party Government in ■• InUpper House, but that is the greatest farce. Do you think a man loses his party opinions because he is dubbed ML.C.I We have, as I have said, a majority of Conservatives in the Councd Now, we consider it to be our duty to pass r,ome liberal measures, to which end ifc is necessaiy that our opinions should Ire represented in tiie Council as well as in the House of Representatives. Thn only way to do thafc is tn's: to provide that the tenure of office of the Legislative Councillors should nofc be for life. Life tenure is altogether out of harmony with our institutions, and it is time that such a thing should lie put an end to. Possibly a tenme of office for seven years, or for ten years at the outside, might get rid of some of the difficulties we, at, present encounter. Theie is another question about which I have written, ;-,nd lnv. beeu a good deal pitched into for writing. I allude to the ELECTION OF GOVERNOR. I say that we ought to look Lack. Surely we are able to elect our ruler without the aid of the Secretary for the Colouies] All I cau say is that jf the gentleman who c ies *■ no " so loudly is nofc yet- fife. I hope he will so educate himsc f that when the ime comes when my proposal shall be carried out he will be aide to cast hi* vote prop- i!y. I repeat, we ought to look forward fco that, anil I believe the time will come when the c lony as a whol • will say we are fit to govern ourselves We will not lose anything in loyalty, or in any degree lessen our condition with Great .Britain because we elect onr Governor. We elected our Superintends, who were practically Governors, bufc were none the less loyal bee i use we did not allow some person in loudon to noininat ■ them fonts