EDUCATION V. IGNORANCE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10628, 5 June 1897, Page 4

EDUCATION V. IGNORANCE.

SIR,— If I ohoae to " answer q fool aooording to his folly," I might) at once eonoeda that to Bpeliere, card Bhatpers, swellmobßtuen, Damooratlo colonial Btatßß* men, and anonymous writers of the " Hfi»napcx" type, English grammar and the letter "H" are of no importance. These worthies conld attain eminence in thalt several lines without any cf tho knowledge necessary to m&ke a man fit for the condnct of responsible pub;lc business. "Harnepex'a" letter, how* ever, opens a question of vital importanoc, and I therefore proceed to treat lt> ierloußly, I contend that & man who hfte to represent n oolony should have the manners of a gentleman, <rad that legislators who uave to ftame laws should be able to framo them lv deoent English. I will Illustrate my moanlup; by an example. Some years Bgo, Rfter reporting an election " oration " by tho l&to Arfchnr Dosmoud (I prefix the word '.' late " beoanae ho is politically dead), he otime to me outnlde the Hastings Town Hall and Bald : " Mr Marrfoob, why do you ridicule mygranimor? You know the.b lam on!v a working man.' 1 I replied : " That's just it, Mr Desmond. If you were con" tent to remain a working man, it wonid ba mean and cowardly of anyone to ridicule your Ignorance of grammar. Bat when you net up to govern your fellow-men and to make iawa BfTooi'lDg their welfare, thay havo a right to Insist that yon ehall have suffiolont knowledge cf the Qaeen'o English to suable you to homo tness lawn 7n precise and grammatical terms." Here you havo the whole thing in a nutshell. Jasb aa a great many dabblers in ait imagine that "anyone can pnlnb a I ploturo," bo ignorant dahblors in politic*, clear only npon one point, viz., that they want the honorarium, think that they can jamp at once from builoek-dsbiuj,', I whieky-seliing, and lamp-Hgbting, into ] the Houbb. Thera they either become "dnmb dogs," obediently following any leader who will promise them a share of the "loot," or if they bring in bills, they frame them in such a way as to admit oi tha proverbial " coaoh and six " being driven through them, the result being Aobß whioh are the despair of lawyers and jodgoß, and the detriment of suitors, and whioh hare to be amended by other Acts each " intiknled " "An Act to amend an Aob." Let me not be understood as contending that no man of lowly origin should aspire to political positions. What Ido contend is that they ehonld first make themselves fib for it by a mastery of their mother tongue. Look at William Cobbetb; ploughhoy, soldier, j-mrnallßt, and member o! Parliament. Tlilb man taught himself grammar In a butraok room, writing on his bed with a fu/thlnt,' candle for ft light, unii surrounded by bis noisy comrades, and he wrote a better English grammar than has ever been written by M.A.'a and B.A.s All honor to him and to suoh as he,. Bat he was a very different sort of ma n from the ignorant catpat-bagßorn whose sole capital oonslsts in " cheek " and " ihe gift of the gab," who get iota the House by pandering to the baaeat passions of the ignorant, by JsolHng ola«s agMnsb class, and by representing the oapiballso as a "social pest," and who when they get there, show their publlo spirit by using publio money for elcotion pnrpoaes, secure power by bribery aud corruption, sack civil servants who ays suopeoted of nob being "the right oolor," and In various other ways Illustrate the proverb of < a beggar on horscbiek." Tbeso men may by fortuitous clrcumstauoesba pitchforked into positions of trauS and honor. Thay miiy even have honors showered npon them ; but they are regarded with contempt by all honsßt men and their unmerited "honors" are pointed at as badges oidisgraoa, L v " H , Brns P cx " Possess Ma <oul (such Mm 8) E? a . oe ' In thh DftMuoratia Millenlnm which seemi impenclinp such worclo m edunatlon, cnlture, maallness, 60( honesty will be eliminated from tha political fllctionary. nud the oa!y qmilifi. catlona for a legislator w'.U bo audacity mondaoity, a keen scoue for votes, ami a oynical contempt Jo* oil that makcij life endnrablo to an eduoated mlnoilty. And then writdis like "HDrcspex" will become a power in the land, and will (porhapa) not bo asbamed to sign thuir own nameß-to tbelr effaslons.— I am <Sre Hv 4th, 1807. H " Hl MUEDOOH> "