The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRIRO, AUGUST 26, 1890.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 2196, 26 August 1890, Page 2

The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRIRO, AUGUST 26, 1890.

j " Its an ill wind that blows nobody good " is a very old saying which is generally considered as worthy of all acceptation. But as there is no rule without an exception it may be that the reverse, which may be rendered " Its a good wind that blows nobody ill" is equally true. Most people imagine that the reductions in fares and freights which have of late been made could not fail to prove of universal advantage. The Oamaru people, however, do not seem to think so. True, the Oamaruvians always have some grievance to ventilate. They imagine that their harbor should be one of the chief ports in the colony, if not indeed the chiefest of all. They have certainly spent a lot of money, and contracted big loans, in their endeavor to transform an open roadstead into a harbor. So long as they, and other districts which have gone in for similar luxuries, do not succeed in saddling the colony with the burden of the loans they have raised for purely local purposes, well and good. The trouble with the Oamaru people now is that the reduced freights have injured the business of the port, and the Board has petitioned Parliament on the subject. G-enerally, the subject matter of the petition is that the competition of the railway has resulted in serious loss to the port, and is likely to dangerously prejudice the success of a loan the Board is endeavoring to float in London. It concludes by asking the House to prevent undue competition between the Railway department and the Harbor Board. The Board, it appears, is now only able to raise sufficient revenue to meet ordinary expenses, and pay interest on its bonds. Erom a local point of view the matter is no doubt one of vast importance, and local feeling is so strong that the action of the Railway department in the recent reductions made in freights is described as " making special arrangements to take away business from the port." This is going a little too far. The Commissioners have, ever since they took office been badgered by the public press and all the merchants and others interested in the colony to bring down the freights to such a reasonable figure as will encourage traffic. They have gradually been doing ao, and now just as they are beginning to give general satisfaction, they are met with a demand for differential rating on behalf of a certain port. And by parity of reasoning it will follow that if this request should be granted every other port in the colony which is in immediate proximity, or not at a very great distance from the railway, will demand similar concessions. Differential rating would then speedily result in such an almost universal reduction of freights as would render the railway system not only unremunerative, but positively bankrupt it. It is all very well to say that the railway competes successfully against the sea traffic to Oamaru, but the railway was projected, and constructed for a considerable part of the distance from Dunedin to Oamaru when tha breakwater was only just commenced. As a matter of fact, the construction of railways invariably for a time injuriously affects some wayside towns 1 which have been called into existence by other methods of traffic. Oamaru, if indeed it does suffer, is only one out of many similar cases in New Zealand. The only thing to be done is to patiently wait until matters mend themselves.

The Bible in Schools Bill has again come to grief. This time it was tried in the Legislative Council. Possibly the promoters thought they would stand a better show with the grave and reverend seigniors of that august conclave than they had previously had with the somewhat larrikin members of " another place." The bill managed to get through its second reading, but the question of committal was lost on the voices. The debate was rather interesting for a Council debate. The best speech was made by the Hon. P. Bucki«ex, who wanted to know what good could be derived by children hearing passages of Scripture read without any explanation being given. But the object of the promoters is undoubtedly something more than this. The reading is but the thin end of the wedge-^-once get that introduced, and the explanations would soon follow. And those explanations must of I necessity hare a denominational j

tinge. Denominationalisin is not in itself nn evil thing. Possibly it has in these degenerate days done as much as anything to sustain the vitality pf religion. But we do not want it, and must not have it in our publM schools. Even the Bible itself nity be regarded as a sectarian book among a people one-seventh of whom are Catholics. But, leaving that out of the question, we know it to be impossible for any religious teacher to explain it without disclosing his denominational prejudices and theological leanings. It is strange that the party which is at the bottom of bringing up this measure session after session should be so persistent. If they really want religious instruction to be given, and the schools made instruments for the furtherance of denominationalism, why do not they inaugurate a crusade against the whole system ; or, better still, _ why not advocate the granting of aid to denominational schools ? These constant efforts to utilise the machinery and money of the State to serve purposes of their own are contemptible to say the least of it. And if all the churches which want religion taught in the public schools diligently fulfilled all their own obligations, there would be no need for such a movement. The Hon. Dr Pollen raised another objection. It may not be a very serious one, but there is something in it. He said there was a time and place for everything, and that school time, when perhaps children were smarting under punishment, was not a time in which the Bible should be read. The punishment which the children have to endure in New Zealand schools is not very serious, but certainly the mixing up the Bible with the ordinary lessons is somewhat incongruous. The Hon. Mr Miller thought that the mere ceremony of reading passages from the Bible " had some mysterious and beneficial effect on the children." Very mysterious indeed. No doubt the Ereethinkers of Dunedin had the Bible read to them and crammed into them when they were boys at school, but its beneficial effect has been remarkably mysterious. Nothing can be more desirable than that old and young should read and study the Bible, and, better still, act upon it ; but the Bible in State schools is thoroughly out of place, and we congratulate the Council in once more throwing out the Bill for legalising such a practice. What is our miserable little pensiojhvlist about whioh ao muoh fuss is som^Ries made compared with that of the United States arising out of the Civil War? A statement recently made in Congress, by a member who like Oliver Twist was asking for more, showed that the grand annual total amounts to over three and a half millions sterling — pounds be it remembered, not dollars. Almost half of tbe Government revenues are devoted to this sacred purpose, as the ' New York Tribune ' calls it. The number of pensioners on the roll is about half a million, and it will be increased to 750,000 by the bills recently passed. The population of the States is about 66,000,000, and about one person in every eighty-eight is in reoeipt of a pension, the average amount. of which is £45 a year. And there are so many olamorons demands for more pensions that if they are all acceded to another four hundred million pounds a year will have to be voted. And all this arose out of the Civil War, the battle between North and South over thirty years ago. Not one penny of it was required to compensate heroes who fought against a foreign invader. A Press Association cablegram says that " The naval manasuvres this summer ended in a. fiasco." It is a pity that the agents of the Press Association do not confiae themselves to sending news rather than opinions. And supposing that the manceavres resulted in showing that the British navy is totally inefficient, is it right or patriotio to make the whole world acquainted therewith. The cablegram might have put it in English and used the word "failure" in place of the foreign term "fiasco." That the fleet bas proved itself inefficient nobody who knows anything about British naval affairs will believe. We await further details with much interest, but in the meantime holds to the ancient belief of all patriots that the British navy is at any time equal to any three combined navies of the other Great Powers. It has never been defeated yet, and so long aa the country places reliance upon it never will be. Should Britain ever have to haul down her flag after a naval conflict, the wretched pessimists will be solely responsible for the disaster.