THE Marlborough Express.

Marlborough Express, Volume VIII, Issue 545, 18 October 1873, Page 4

THE Marlborough Express.

" Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to urgtao freely according to conscience, above all other liberties —Milton.

SATURDAY, OCT. 18, 1873.

ANOTHER MIS-STATEMENT. When we so recently took our contemporary the new editor of the Examiner to task, we little thought lie would again bo soon commit himself by jumping to hasty conclusions. In an issue to hand this week, however, we find a leading article which we reprint below m its entirety. "We notice that this " new light" seems to have a fwichant for attacking this Province, the reason for which, seeing his present surrouo dings, is not hard to discover ; therefore we purpose bestowing a little more care m looking after such a •■ daring promulgator of false assertions.

Here is his latest: — " Ffrom a return lately laid before Parliament, we find the amount of the revenue of the various provinces of New Zealand, and the sums spent m them respectively for the purposes of education. -They present a strange contrast, and m this matter, at least, place Nelson m <% very favourable light. The income of this province last year, for example, was £74,028, and the sum spent oh the ins traction of youth was or m round numbers a ninth of the whole. The greatest offender as regards the, instruction of the young people was Marlborough, which received £W,747,and spent nothing on ' the scJtoolmaster. Westland stands . next on the black list, having centributed for education only the 133 d. part of her revenue. A fiftieth part only was given by Wellington ; a thirty-ninth by Auckland ; * thirty-second by Canterbury ; a twentyeighth by Hawke'a Bay ; a twenty-sixth by Taranaki ; and a nineteenth by Otago. The total sum thus devoted to education for that year was £44,673. It is a common saying that there i s nothing more fallacious than figures, and here we have an instance. If every District or Province chose to keep their accounts m the same form, then a comparison of their statistics would be more fair and satisfactory ; but here we have a gentleman who arrived m the Colony but a few weeks ago, and without any hesitation or enquiry, jumps to an absurd conclusion to suit his humor or that of those who guide him. We regret that we are unable on the instant to confute him with exact figures m all respects, but we can show sufficient to prove that his vauntings are a fallacy, that Nelson is not such a grand model and exemplar as he would make it appear, and that Marlborough is neither so poor nor so mean as he states. "Where he gets his figures we do not know, but on a reference to the Provincial accountSjaspublishedintheNelson^rasie^we find that the total receipts for the last financial year were £63,llß only, and not £74,028; therefore, if the question depended upon the accuracy of his figures, we should claim a verdict on this blunder of £11,000 at the outset. The same applies to his as to the sum of £8,009 being spent m the education of youth. In the annual report of the Inspector of Pmblic Schools, as published m the Nelson Gazette, we find the following passage : — ' ' The income of the Board is at present almost entirely derived from the annual grant made by the Provincial Council, the revenue from all other sources being under £250 per annum. For the last two years the amount of this grant has been the same, £7,200, a sum that when the revenue and resources of the Province are considered may fairly be termed munificent.^ !1 — Here is another blunder, evidently caused by tacking on to Education the grants towards public halls, Nelson Colleges, &c, but as we do not intend to take into account this class of expenditure m Marlborough, we shall prefer the Inspector's figures, who evidently knows what he is writing about.

We turn now to Marlborough, which Province, the editor tells us, has a revenue of £10,747, but spent nothing on the schoolmaster. Let us see how far this statement accords with the fact. From the published accounts we find that the total receipts for the last financial year was £9,493 only, out of which we spent £926 on our Schools, irrespective of rents of reserves, and besides the education rates and school fees contributed by the public ! Eot want of experience, we presume it is, that our boastful friend looks only on one side of the account, but however that may be, there stand the words as distinct as print can make them. We have no means short of an application to the several Boards for ascertaining the amount of revenue from other sources, inasmuch as the Reserves are vested m the Board, and as with one or two exceptions they do not publish their accounts as required by law, a reference is nofc feasible. Prom three only of the number we find that during last year a sum of £165 was derived from some of the Reserves. In like manner we have traced an amount of about £450 paid for Education rates. The item of school fees isistill more difficult to get at, but judging from some we know of, we should not over-estimate the amount if we average the eleven schools at £50 each. Nat withstanding our imperfect information as to our contributions to the schoolmaster, we have the following sums : — Provincial Revenue £926 i Rent of Reserves (portion only) ... 165 Rates (portion only) ... 450 School Fees, approximate 550 • £2,091 — Or equal m proportion to one-fourth of the Provincial revenue ! In the Nelson Province the Government levies a Household Rate of £1 per house, and makes it Provincial revenue, voting ! every year a grant for educational purposes. In Marlborough we have a different system. The Education Boards are elected by the ratepayers, and are empowered to levy rates and school fees, which are sup-

piemen ted by the Provincial Council, who devote to this object the amount paid for Publicans' Licenses, and have made from time to time certain Reserves. Besides which an extra vote was granted last session of £400 m aid of Education.

Thus the boasted liberality of the Nelson Province has proved to be less than half the proportion contributed by Marlborough, and we have no doubt whatever that if anyone took the trouble to make the investigation, it would be found that the Editor of the Examiner had departed from the principle involved m its name, and without any examination departed equally from the truth m regard to the other Provinces.

We feel sure that the action taken by the Blenheim Education Board m regard to the Borough School Committee, as detailed m our report, will meet with the approbation of the community. We trust it will be followed up by a strict and impartial investigation into the affairs of the late Committee, and that no false delicacy will be allowed to interfere with the interests of our Schools. These are paramount, and from the well-known business habits of the gentlemen who have been appointed, we have no doubt but that a speedy reform will take place m our Educational arrangements. It is rumoured that the late Chairman has refused to recognise the Committee, or to transfer the books and accounts to its Chairman, bnt we can scarcely think that anyone would act thus foolishly. If it should unfortunately turn out to be true that the exChairman has been so ill-advised, we feel confident that the public will uphold the Education Board, and through it the School Committee, m taking any legal steps that may be necessary to obtahva settlement. The Board meets again on Tuesday evening, when it will be seen what the next stage of this extraordinary business will be.