THE ' EDUCATION ORDINANCE— : THE 40th CLAUSE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1931, 14 October 1874, Page 2

THE ' EDUCATION ORDINANCE— : THE 40th CLAUSE.

[TO THE EDITOR.]; '; j Sir,— l believe lam right in assuming 1 the Westland Education Ordinance, 1874, i to have been intended by those who made i it law, as a fair compromise between 1 the ] advocates of National and Denominational 1 Education. It was passed by the people i through their representatives butashert i time ago, it has not yet been tried at all. c Surely then it is hardly reasonable;! to t attempt to alter it radically, for the people j cannot have changed then opinions a already. -i . . • i When you; advocated on Saturday last j the expunging of the; 40th clause on the c ground of economy, I think you < had hot given the matter the consideration it Jde- s served— your arguments had; reference "ii especially to Gfeymbuth ; you cannpt] be s ignorant that^here „is, only ; oneJDenbjni- fc nation at all likely to' take advantage ii

here of the 40th clause, for the representatives of the others were elected on to the Committee on the National ticket. It is always a principle of legislation in free countries to respect existing institu- • tions where these are salutary. The Catholic Denominational School is as old as Greymouth. ; its doors have been open to children of all sects alike. It has been free to all who could not pray., It is admitted to be efficiently conducted ; it has an average attendance of nearly 100 pupils under two -teachers (male and female), the present site and building have cost about L6OO, and a new site has to be provided inconsequence of river encroachment, at a cost of over L4OO. These two items alone sum up over LIOOO. The rates coming to this body by the 40th clause, under the most favorable circumstances, will not exceed Ll5O a- : year. .Now, suppose this school were closed, and the pupils went to the National School, additional . room would have to be provided, additional furniture,, t and -two additional teachers,, who could ° not be obtained for less than say L 350 ir per annum. .. : ;rSo do away with, the, 40th clause, and instead of Ll5O a year the Province will have to pay for the education of our children L 350 a year, without taking buildings, furniture,: &c.y into, con? > isideration. It would be only in sarcasm ithat this could be called economy. ■? ; Now, if there be so much saved to the Province on one school, what a large saving there will be throughout the Prof vince . (there being- three or four such ; schools in Hokitika alone), probably . not" leas than L2OOO per annum, and a likej isum the first year for the cost of building, these schools. ; In connection with the late election, one of the arguments which helped to defeat the Denominational candidates was that they, ;; intending to take advantage of the 40th clause, had no right to a seat en the Committee, but it ought to have been borne in mind that these LdcaTGom- 1 mittees elect the ; Central Board,, under the control of which all the 40th clause schools must :be. . . .;; : s It is a fact that more than one of the gentlemen elected declare themselves: to be at heart Denominationalista, and, taking all things into jcpnuideration, it is^^ doubtful if even in Greymouth there is £f^^ large majority against Denominational Education, evidently'not such ! a : 'majority as to warrant an attempt _ being made io .. coerce so large a minority of the ratepayers to support- schools they f f cannot conscientiously send their children to. Instead,; of .--endeavoring to-. reconcile : National and Demoninational opinion, a task which experience proves to be impossible, let us try to turn the" Ordinance to, the. best possible advantage by supporting existing schools where' efficiently .'conducted, and establishing .new schools where required. i; - = ■■'■'*-' -~ Those who haveSadf ocated the establishment of National aridvFree Schools in Greymouth have -scarcely calculated the cost. If they should unfortunately succeed in carrying put their views,'M6t $He ordinary^rate of E500:a f yea'r will suffice ; double/ aye treble that'-' sum 1 would°be . nearer the mark, •' , , . • , Instead of abolishing .the would it not be more prudent, anii'mbre in accordance with the circumstances 'of the Province, : to alter the 37th clause so as. to empower the Board to .fix : a ; small scale of fees to be supplemented by capitation, or by results f rom'ttfe ra'tes^ levied? Why should the ratepayers/of -rthis town, who are already heavilyj nay, enormously taxed," have, to pay for the education 'of children whose parents can ;well ; affordJit thernselve ? The other day I heard a gentleman remark that he would only have to pay L 2 a year for the education of- his children, though he had been hitherto paying f rom Lls to L 20 ,; and this gentleman is a type of a large class here. l *_ | In its ; main features we hive.copied-tlie Ordinance from Nelson ; why net then follow' the: example of that Province in'its administration ? The •• . Arots repeatedly praised theVworking of the Nelson^rdinance,' andit is undeniably the: mqst^successf ul educational measure in Australasia. Is there a man in Nelson that would accuse Father Garin of teaching sectarian animosityin his school?. So, far from it, the school is largely attended by children of other . denominations, , and,.the,ratepayers show their confidence' in' his ; : liberal *~"tfj views by electing .him annually^onHhe j Board at the head of the poll. .. ; . J"^ It is only by co-operation Yof r the :whple community that : the- . (Ordinance canTbe made successful, and if you import into it that worst kind, of intolerance— religiou» intolerance — how can you expect the cooperation of all denominations.? • Hopiug the importance of 'the-subject will be sufficient apology for troubUi^rou at such lengthj ; L , I am, &c, i .; . Dbnomin ATioiiiiLisT. • October 13. '.".i,v : : '-"": : :,"' ;:!0 "