THE Mount Ida Chronicle THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1878.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 456, 17 January 1878, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1878.

The School U uLutiiklces are, after all, to be elected this month. Th» Education Board, a iittiu late in uie >iu.y, iias issued circulars intimating that Monday. tin* 28th,Jias been fixed as tho day up-n tin; even'ntr ot which the eie<:linns are to be lieid. lne iJuiiediii Committee having growlpd prorHgousiy at the its mightinesses will be put to under the new system of vntin<7. has quipfly accepted the board's instruction, and has wisely recorded a resolution, through its Chairman, that the law is even mightier than the Committee, ami must be obeyed. In educational matters the Dunediu Comittee is not quite in harmony with the authorities. .Not that it would rebel or be guilty of doing anything unseemly, but. in the person of its Chairman, it sought great things for itself, and found them not. Mr. Itichard Oliver and Mr. G. M. lieed of the ' Daily Times' were the Ministers' nominations as Governors of the Boys and Girls High School, and somebody else was left out. The acceptance of the Board's circular by the Dunedin Committee, which has been so cruelly used in its old age is indicative that all other Committees, none of whom have suffered such wrongs, will act in simitar fashion, and do their best to make the elections a success.

The great bugbear with many objectors to the Education Bill, who theorise without mercy for the benefit of the race and more especially of the raw recruits to secularism, is the principal allowed of cumulative voting. This renders votiug papers necessary, and prevents any ring voting. " You rote for me, I vote for you" has been verj common in minor elections in Dunedin of late years. It is now said, in accents of alarm, that, a few ignorant householders, utterly unlearned and otherwise incapable of theorising upon the highest culture of man in the progressive stage, can by common plumping set at nought the best laid schemes of the learned elect. Besides this, the concession to a minority, which cumulative voting means, is a concession to the Catholics, and is therefore the rankest denominationalism. So say the discontented. We need hardly say we do not agree with them. Ring elections, whether carried out in local governing Committees or Directorates, are odious, and cannot be too severely checked. Besides which, we believe that the so-called unlearned householder, with half-a-dozen children of school age, knows far better than all the theorists what education his child is getting, and what he should get to be of practical use to him in his career in life. He also knows the men who would bring the greatest selfinterest and practical knowledge to the guidance of the teachers in his district School Committees very often attempt little or nothing in the direction of guidance of the teachers. We know it is a common idea that country teachers have hard times of it; that their masters are uncultured, and are utterly regardless of the teachers feelings, and lead them lives to ivhich that of a costermonger's donkey would suggest faint dreams of paradise. On the contrary, we believe that teachers in the country are left alone too much. They get little encouragement and no open blame. Very seldom does any one take the trouble to visit the country school, while many parents openly boast that their children are merely sent to be out of the way. If disatisfaction exists it seldom expresses itself audibly. Of course it may be said that the salaries paid should evoke a feeling of duty from teachers sufficient to prompt them to do their best. It is to be feared that before this could be the case as a general rule human nature must change itself considerably. A teacher meditating on the general low value put upon his labors and filled with a supreme contempt for his masters of whom he knows nothing will not be prevented, by consideration of salary received, from fancying himself the most injured ot mortals. To such a man a grievance is a constitutional necessity, obscuring the more immediate duties of his position.

If the elections are conducted with any spirit the cumulative voting allowed will enable a freer selection of Committemen to be made, and may have a tendency to improve matters. The funds the Committees will have charge of will not be very great, but otherwise their duties will be most interesting and important. The State throws upon them the responsibility of seeing that all the children in each district are educated. At the same time, it would be a cruel thing for a Committee in the exercise of its power to take away a child from useful and perhaps valuable employment to send him under compulsion to a neglected school under its own control, where the tuition might be so bad that he would certainly learn nothing. The first duty of the new Committe will be a jealous supervision of the instruction given. This can be best carried out by frank encouragement to the teachers until it becomes evident that the deficiencies in the tuition they undertook to give are caused by want of ability, culture, or practical training on their own part, and are not caused by the bad management or the indifference of the members of Committees. Ivothing is so much desiderated by good teachers as to obtain and keep the interest of the parents and Committees in the work of the school.

Tire Waste Lands Board, according to the ' Daily Times,' hail unilcr consideration at its last sitting the application of Mr. Joseph Creighton to purchase his agricultural lease of fifty acres, and is reported to have approved of it. We do not profess to know what motives actuate the Board in these repeated attempts to dispose privately of valuable tracts of auriferous country. When in 1575 Mr. Creighton applied to exchange his lease for another on deferred payments the whole question was gone into, ami it was decided that the land was too near Nasebv and too valuable for mining purposes to allow of its sale. Going back earlier stiil, the lease itself was not obtained until after strong protest from people then resident at Naseby. It is a mystery indeed to this day lio-w: the lease- was obtained, after tlie repeated promises then made by the Government -that it should-"not be granted. The Mines Act, 1577, provides that- no'-person slijill be entitled to purchase his lease after" three years' occupation, if the .Governor chooses "to Willi ho Kl his consent. The Act of lfii66 throughout is framed to prevent the sale of auriferous laud, and there can be no doubt, we think, that. Ministers can refuse to endorse the approval of the Lands Board. It is hardly clear how the Board claims jurisdiction in the matter, as we are not aware that the land in question was ever withdrawn from the Goldtield. A strong representation was made on Tuesday to tlie

Minister of Lands, urging that the final isstie of the grant should be stayed until a memorial could be submitted. This was agreed to, the Chief Commissioner at the same time intimating that no such application was befiTe the Board. Tt is evident there has been some great mistake committed, which we still hope may be rectified. Our IntcM. information is that the "Waste Lin'!? Irive pos'poned the consideration of Mr. Creighton's application to purchase hi? auncuil ura] lense. It therefore caw not be approved, as reported.

Oub usual telegrams have not come to hand.

OS Thursday next, the 21th ir>?fc f Mr. dtf Lautciur will mset the electors a& fbe'Towrr Hall, Nnseby. '} here are no rumours yet o€ a reliable nature as to tha probable candidates for the seat.

The date and time of election for Wardens m the Kvcburn Hundred for the year is February 23rd., at 7 p.m. The meeting is to be held at Malloch's Hotel, the ranger, Mr Yalpy, presiding. '

A concebt and prize-::rn'n Sf i n connection with the Presbyterian Sabbath School, is arranged, so far as can at present be notified for the evening of Thursday the 31st. It is hoped that, the Rev. James Al'Cosh Smith and family will by that time Lave - reached Naseby.

A copy of the 'Provincial Gazette/ dated December 17th, 1573, arrived at Cambrian Post Olßce last week, after a somewhat lengthy passage fiom Dunedin of a little over four yeare. Considering the long transit, the interesting document has arrived m as good a condition as was to be expected, and is now doing well—in our office.

At the last sitting of the Waste Land" Board Messrs. Murray, Roberts and Co. ap - plied to purchase tiO acres of land, being (section 6 Block Till., Strathtaieri district, to complete property. Agreed to, there being special circumstances.— Messrs. Rowley and Hamilton alsg applied that a survey of lands on their run No. 204 might, be proceeded wit.h r in order that said lands might be offered at an early date. The Board decided that thfr lands, being within the Strathtaieri railway reserve contemplated, sale would have to be postponed. Mr. Joseph Creighton'a application to purchase Section 2, Block 1, Naseby district, was approved. The election of the new School Committees is fixed to be held at the district schoolhousea on Monday the 28th inst., at 7 p.m. Seven Committeemen are to be appointed. Full directions have been forwarded to each Commitee, which will easily enable the elections to take place without confusion. As we have lx:tore insisted, we again repeat that no more important Committees are appointed for any purpose during the year. The day ap. pointed for the first meeting of the new Committees is Monday, February Ist. The new Committees wil' have, as their first duty, the nomination of members as candidates for seats on the Education Board of Otago district.

The Hope of St. Bath ans Lodge, 1.0.G.T, held its usual weekly meeting in the schoolroom on Tuesday, Stli inst. Bio. Cormack, .C.T., presided. A large number of candidates the largest that as yet have entered the lodge on one occasion, no fewer than e ight were initiated. The Annual Demonstration Committee handed in its report, from which it appeared that the receipts had been £3l 4s. and the expenditure £2B 16s. The lodge was asked to decide what was to be done with the balance, but it was deemed advisable to postpone consideration of th« matter. The W.C.T. congratulated the lodge on the success of the demonstration, and the progress the cause was making, as 6\ idenced by the accession to their ranks that night. The lodge passed a resolution to the effect that its thanhs were due to all those who, although not members of the Order, so kindly lent their aid in making the demonstration a sucess, special thanks being considered due to Mr. \V. I'yle and Miss F. Hanger, and the Secretary was instructed to convey the same in writing. By some inadvertence the name of Mrs. Wakefield, who had also taken more than ordinary trouble, was omitted from the number of those to be specially thanked.

Mb. Readee Wood, M.H.R., for Parnell, will shortly resign his seat in order to visit England.

It has been settled that the portfolios to be held by Mr. Ballance will be those of Minister of Education and Commissoner of Customs.

The 'Star' understands that Mr. Petrie, the present Inspector of Schools, is likely to succeed Mr. Hislop as Secretary to the Otago Board of Education.

_ The Hochstetter water race, at the Grey Valley, has been formally opened. It is 16| miles long, carries 70 heads of water, and has cost £IOO,OOO.

The ' Times' reports that twenty-four horses have accepted for the Dunedin Cup, twelve for the Publicans Handicap, and seventeen for the *Jockey Club Handicap. Last year there were twenty-six acceptances for the Cup, seventeen for the Jockey Club, and ten for the Publican's Handicap. Db. SoiiERViLLf, the Evangelist, and Mr. Charles Bright, the Freethought lecturer, arrived in New Zealand b_v the same steamer, and were speakiug at meetings in Auckland during the same week. They are, however, men of very different calibre, and actuated by very different motives.

Is future plates instead of bans are to lip used for the offertories in All Saint's Church. Some very irreverent persons have been in the habit of attending that church, as one of its officers stated last night that "lollies, lozenges, buttons, and every imaginable thing " were put into the bag. The 'North Otago Times' correspondent;-, at Duntroon reports ; "The public in Mae- . rewhenua district aie going to have a great boon conferred on them in the shape of a ' church in Duntroon. Bishop Nevill, in his late visit up the Waitaki. having made arrangements to that effect, and proceedings are to be commenced forthwith, the Hon. K. Campbell, I ciin s'ate on reliable authority, having granted a site with, the very liberal subscription of £SOO. A church "is badly needed here, there being a large and increasing population in the dift.net, and no place c-f ■worship, within many miles."

The ' Star' says a rumor is flyin? about to the effect that unless a compromise is speedily effected a cause celebre, similar to that iu which, at Newgate, lately, Dr. Baxter Langley was the principal figure, is likely to occupy the attention of the supreme Court st the next- criminal sessions. This refers to the recent sale of tlie ' Daily Times, 1 when it is now known that one gentleman, who held fifty shares, received about £IOOO extra as an inducement to favor the fale. The other shareholders are indignant at his action, but have decided to take a lenient view of the case, and will not prosecute criminally, but will, if fieeessaj-y,. have recourse to legal proceedings to compel him to distribute pro rata the amount received by liiui.

Messrs. Tn<lor .ind Georges quarterly sa'c at Hyde is fixed for I i'hi-u ;- v ;i]_ Parlies holding stock for s.il" should give immediate instructions to tie auctioneers.

lhe tim.'. for the receipt of tenders called for by tlie County Council for various road contracts, and also for the erection of offices, has been extended to noon of the 30th instant.

The 'lllustrated New Zealand Herald" for January contains a woll-cxecuted colored picture of home life. This paper continues to improve, and is well worth a place by every fireside.