EVENING SITTING.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11103, 23 October 1901, Page 9

EVENING SITTING.

"«5.y The House resumed at 7.30 o'clock. fs&* LEAVE OF ABSENCE. iJmf M* ' UeLAGHLAN was granted one Fw'W •'* " cave °f absence on account of seri&Sf&**- "loess in his family. Wjfr NATIVE RESERVE, BEPUTY-SPEAKKR ruled tliat the *^l4 anroa ativß Reserve Bill contained an p'fjJPPropriatioii cause, and must therefore be MCj|r l trcKluc*d by Governor's message. l'|svTae .third l-eatUng of the Bill was accordl^f ffy postponed. ' •' FACILITATING BUSINESS. MSkpH DEPUTY-SPEAKER announced °o and wfter to-morrow he would ttlBusi@ ,r i(i >c tak&n through all their ipPg« at (mc sitting. 001 - TEACHEBS , SALARIES. |^7 SEDDON xz-uved toe second reading

of the Piiblic School Teachers' Salaries' Bill. Hβ said in the interests of the rising generation ifc was necessary an improvement should be effected in the salaries paid to Dttbljc echool teachers, and in his opinion the country was rips for, and Parliament was willing to approve of, a national scale of salaries for members of the teaching profession. At the present time Government was paying an equal capitation -grant, but the distribution was not at ail fair or equrteto. That was not the fault of the Education Boards, but was α-ue to the different conditions existing in the various districts, and things had drifted until no system at alt existed. He went on to say that this Bill was an honest endeavour to meet the situation. Under the Bill thte salaries of women teaching children were raised to a standard that had ntver" before been reached in the history of the colony. The colony could now afford to .pay the increased capitation proposed. The Bill would enable a more considerate treatment to be given to both teach%r» and children in the outlying district*, and it cculd not be denied that the children of our pioneers should, receive every facility and encouragement to obtain proper education. The BU would not interfere in the slightest with! the general functions of Education Boards, but the Boards would hail with deaght the fixing of salaries by Act of Parliament. He referred to the inequalities that existed in the salaries in various districts, and said this state of things was due to the exigencies of the Boards. He paid a tribute to the work of the Royal Commission that had recently considered this question, and said the Commission in its report had placed the position in such , a way that the House, with confidence, could follow the ; lead it had given. He asked the House to pass the BLi, and aliow the defects to be remedied afterwards. He 'had known some female assistants to be equal to first male assistants. Mr HORNSBY—"Why not give them equal pay for equal work?" Air SEDDON replied,that he had cited exceptional Women were not phyeicallv equal to the work of male teachers. He then went on to briefly sketch the provisions of the Bill. He said the total of the salaries under the first scale of allowance to boards corresponded <£o a capitation of £4 on the total average attendance in all the schools of the colony. lue Government had been aeked to give a further increase, and that recommendation would ba given favourable consideration Under the second scale the capitaition would be £4 2s 6d per annum on the average attendance. He indicated that the reductions in salaries, which would result in some cases, would not come into effect for two years. The teachers affected <would, t therefore have time to look around. He. ' with confidence recommended the House to pass the Bill, and p&as it this session. It was his deliberate opinion that to postpone it till next session would cause heartburnings among members of* the teaching profession. Mr HOGG considered that under the Bill | the school teaching profession woul/i be 1 elevated, and made more attractive. The Bill would not weaken the powers of Jidncation Boards, but would take a great deal of responsibility off their shoulders, and' leave them freer in scope. jlr G. J. SMITH said , though, a majority of teachers wanted the Bill there were j objections coming to it from all parts of the colony. He hoped the principle -of equal pay for equal work would be given effect to when the Bill was in Committee, j Mr BUDDO complained that the uill ! d!<} not fix the minimum salary *«r teachers iof aided schools. The Premier had stated ! I that the Bill would improve the status of j back-block teachers, but .he (Mr Bud-do) contends*! it would not have any such effect, as schools in the baok blocks were invariably small aided schogki. ! Mr JAri. ALLEiN opposeP any impair-1 ment of the powers of Education Boards ' and School Committees. • He feared the Bill 1 was only a first step to taking away from the Boards something more than what the Bill already took away. The Bill . might,be a good one, but it should be deferred till next session, that its effect might be enquired into. Mr G. W. RUSSELL said the effect of the BUI would be to say to the Boards, "Open, as many new schools as you like, and wherever you like." Under the Bill j the Government agreed to- hand over to i the Boards the amount required for salaries i for any new echool established!. The Boarcta' present responsibility, which limited the number of. new schools, would we taken away, aaad the. effect of the- .Bill would be to greatly increase toe wimber of new schools and the cost. Jtxe traced in the Bill a future attempt to take away the powers of the Boards and centralise £he administration. Mr MASSEY considered the proposed , ! scale would be grossly unfair to. country j j echool , ?.' Even so, he would not oppose ' the Bill, bufc would leave the responsibility with the Government, axtd endeavour to improve the Bill in Committee. Mr LAURENSON said, the demand for j a colonial -scale had been almost universal, i Hβ was not surprised that the member for Bruce should oppose it, for Otago was the highest-paid district in the colony, and- if [ any district in New Zealand was to he' 1 prejudicially affected by the uniform appli- 1 cation' of a colonial scale it would' be Otago. - Hβ. {Mr Laureneon) oottgiiJered the failure to recognise anything : 'higher than I n. Dl certificate was one of the most, serious blots in the report of the Commission. The second reading was agreed to on the [ and the bill set down for committal next day. The Moose rose at 1,36 a.nu