TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 138, 7 December 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

At last the fighters for the national system of education are A Spirited vigorously in the field. Protest. The clerical party, under the generalship of Canon Garland, has been very active during recent weeks, and has obviously a well-arranged plan for an agitation to secure a referendum. The Bible-in-Schools League includes many tireless enthusiasts who have persuaded themselves that the reading of Scriptural extracts and paraphrases in the schools will work miracles. We feel sure that this faith is not shared by the public, and ' yet the people are in danger of having the State system seriously injured, against their better judgment. Experience has proved again and again, here and elsewhere, that a persistent ehergetic hiinority, however meagre, has imposed its will on a majority which has not been alert, not quick to resist. By such meet' ings as the one at the Town Hall lalst night the people will be roused. Representative citizens, comprising the Mayor and Messrs. A. R. Atkinson, Robert Lee, J. ( Hutoheßon, Clement Watson, A. H. Hindmarsh, and John Gammell, all spoke strongly, *piritedly, in defence of the present secular system. Mr. Hutcheson took care to stress the undeniable fact that the Bible League was making the most of tho community's inertia. It is natural for humanity to be inert-Mill stirred up. Mr. Gammell put a plain question which the opponents 6t the peaceful non-sectarian system should try to answer— not in vague generalities. "Why," he asked, "was there need for changing the system? The people were not dishonest. The criminal rate had been decreasing for many years;, and the community was happy. ' Does the community wish to be unhappy? Is it eager for strife and unrest? The price of peace for the schools is vigilance and vigour in opposition to clerical interference. Wool prices received a good fillip at the Wellington seles yesHappy terday, it being estiWool Growers, mated that values ! were 2d per pound | better all round than they were at the corresponding sale of last year. The country wanted the. rise, for there was an unhealthy approximation of imports to exports that detnaalded serious consideration. For the twelve months ended 30th September laet export value* exceeded those of imports by the narrow margin of £1,009,304, and for the year before, 1910-11, the difference, was but £1,300,695, whereas for 1\)O9-1O, following the very trying period of 1909-8, the values of exports were £5,856,978 greater than import*. It is estimated that it the present buoyant state of the wool market be maintained the value of the clip for the year will bo a million sterling more than last year. when wool exports were valued at £7,003,203. As bas been pointed out, the extra wool contribution to the total values of all exports is timely. Further., it may in some measure have the beneficent effect of slackening the tension of the monetary situation at the moment. Another point that cannot be ignored is that as local selling has grown with such rapidity in Australia, and particularly in Sydney, so it has made great strides within the past few years in New Zealand. Whether it is better to ship to London in tho hope of securing larger competition and Wait until tho motley comes to hand, or to submit the wool to the bnhcl of buyers (gradually increasing) who come here lor it and pay for it within a fortJijght of the fall of the hammer, ;s a matter for grower*, with their experience of both mar koto to guide them, to settle for t hemsplvcK. One thing is certain, and it is this: That the Dominion a« a whole sharps indirectly with tho grower the increasod price he has received for his wool at the sales hero and in Napier, ond the money paid for the wool will all be in rirculation within n few tlav?. With our total exports of all produce amounting lo 202 mj'liun's sh'ili.ig, Ihu addition of another million to the national wealth at this time ifi a niattci for general tatisfactjAlu "

Teachers and pupils at the Clyde-quay School are well pleased Books with the library sysfor Children, tern (described in a news article today), which tho City Council kindly established, by Using the machinery, of the municipal institution. At its own cost, the corporation is assisting the State in citizenmaking at that school. What is to be the sequel? When books were lent to the Clyde-quay authorities, tho idea was to have an experiment. If the bookß were fairly handled by the children, and if the teachers observed a mental improvement f lorn the reading, then presumably other schools Were to be placed on the same basis as Clyde-quay. Why not? Yet the City Council may reasonably expect some co-operation from the State, which will have a fund to' spare by the cessation of the free text-book experiment. We believe it is an excellent opening for the Education Department to join hahds with the council for the children's benefit. ConfereWes of the Municipal Libraries' Association have urged the Government to set up an honorary Library Commission to assist in the distribution of good literature, especially among school children, but nothing notable has yet been done. The Education Department haß been very sluggish in thiß matter. After the manner of the Railway Department, it Beems to be more inclined to despair at diffi' culties than to rejoice' in surmounting them. The success of the book scheme at Clyde-quay should stimulate the lethargio department to make a stir for the advantage of primary school pupils throughout New Zealand. The politician's working rule is : "The people pay." He will The People Pay. glow about "humanitarianifitn," and he will be splendidly grandiloquent, heCause he knows that the people will pay. Sometimes the taxpayers perceive what the free-and-easy philanthropy of their representatives may cost, but more often they do not. The politicians them* selves mostly have the h&zieet notions about the ultimate results of ill-consider-ed experiment* with public money, and they try to hide up their ignorance in a jargon of empty phrases and a confusion of figures, which cft&hot bear critical ahalysie. A' staggering example of a thoughtless imposition oh the public can be eeen in the state of the superannuation funds (railways, public ' service, and teachers). A news article today showe that on two funds (public service And teachers) the taxpayers will be obliged to contribute ' £3,000,000 within a limited period. The funds ate not on a. sound actuarial basis. The position simply is that the main army of public servants (for every worker in New Zealand is a public eerv&ttt) haß to pay towards the superannuation of a special cl&es of public servants (those in the direct employ of the State). Among, this special claw the benefit scheme operates very unevenly, very unjustly, by the legislative blunders of the past. On top of these grievous mistakes, local bodies have been authorised to perpetuate the folly of a past Government. The Ha-rbour Board has resolved to go ahead with a echeme with euch defect* as those that The Poet ha* exposed In the State systems, and other local bodies may follow suit, unless the jpeople vigorously assert themselves. The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher has hinted at a scheme of pensions for invalids. Everybody ad« mik that invalids have to be aided by either public or, private generosity (or both), but before New Zealand plunge© into any more pension or superannuation schemes some "accurate stocktaking should be done. By the beginning of next session the Government enoulct furnish the approximate annual coat of all forme of relief to deservihg and undeserving folk,, by way of superannuation, ordinary old-age pensions, military pensions, hospital and charitable aid, and special grants. A commission of twd or three men (not a cumbersome Royal one) should be appointed to make the hcccbsary investigation, and try to work out some useful advice for Parliament and tho public.