THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4371, 16 November 1875, Page 3

THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.

Colonel Haultain and Dr. J. L. Campbell, acting as a deputation from the Board, had an interview yesterday with the Hon. Dr. Pollen, Colonial Secretary and Premier, with respect to the portion of £50,000 appropriated for school building by the General Assembly to be allocated to the province of Auckland. Colonel Haultain having stated the object of the deputation, said the Board had been requested to furnish the General Government with a statement of its liabilities and probable expenditure during the ensuing year. To that requisition a reply was forwarded by the Board, stating what their liabilities were, what their probable income would be, and what would be the probable amount required; among other things, stating that a sum of £25,000 would be necessary for the erection of suitable school buildings throughout the province, if the present education system were to be carried out satisfactorily. The Board are, therefore, exceedingly anxious to know the intention of the General Government with regard to that building fund. The Colonial Seoretaky : All I can say about it is that the proposition was to appropriate £50,000 ont of the balance of one of the loans, I forget which, for the purpose of providing a fund for school buildings. But this was not to be applicable to the requirements of the province of Auckland alone but of the whole colony. But you come down upon us rather heavily, for, from what I can learn, we will be called upon to provide for the whole education system of this province. It has been explained to me that the rates for the current year will be barely sufficient to meet an over-draft at the bank. These rates are beiug now collected, and it will be the Ist of June next before any of the receipts from the next year's rates will be available. In the meantime, I suppose it will be expected that we should furnish the whole of the expense of your educational system, or about £25,000. ..-■ Colonel Haultatst :. The expenditure ■ on account of 'education is not £25,000. 'We

' estimate it at £20,000. We expect in the next year to get £8000 or £9000-from--the rate, -which, however," cannot be 'levied before April next I The Colonial Secretary: Just so. In the meantime we trill have to provide for your current expenses, the rate of the last year being carried to meet your overdraft at the bank.. , . . ~- .-.- --. ! Colonel Haultain : The Board of Educaition is assured that the .General Government !ha\rmg tftken the whole of these matters in iiand, it would not be necessary to wait upon them to obtain provision for current exjpenses. -It was intended only to ascertain jthe intentions of the Government in respect :of the portion of the sum voted to be given ;to Auckland for school-building purposes. ■The site of the old Supreme Court-house had jbeen set apart chieily for educational pur.poses, the hospital having at pre.int some lien upon it. The allotments have been leased, and I suppose that £10,000 or £12,000 imay be raised upon the security of the rents, of which the Board of Education would ; receive one half,' the other half going to the ; hospital. All we can expect during the year will be about £5000. We had hoped to obtain £10,000 from that source. You ■ must be aware how totally insufficient that ; sum would be to provide suitable school buildings.

The Colonial Secretary : This is our difficulty. When these propositions were first made, we were under the impression that the Abolition of the Provinces would have been effected by the end of this month, and that we would have the Provincial fund aud other means of providing for these educational establishments. We naturally looked forward to these sources to aid in placing the educational establishments upon a-proper basis. At present we have not any control over the Provincial funds. Provincial Governments have all the revenue they would have under the old arrangements, and in addition they get all the revenue [arising from the confiscated lands, so that for a period the province is better off financially tnaii it, was before, whilst tho General Government quo ad their scheme, and the means provided by it for these purposes is much worse off. If you tell us what sum—the lowest—you will absolutely require, we are prepared to hear you.; but you must not ;press too hardly upon us. We thought we might be called upon to provide about £5000 ; but now we are actually called upon fora sum of £25,0C0. Colonel Haultain :- The whole estimate on account of expenditure is just £20,000. - The Colonial Secretary : Yes; but you know how liable estimates of expenditure are_ to fall short of what will be actually required. . ' " Colonel Haultain : That was the estimate last year. ; The Colonial Secretary : The question is, what i '. the smallest amount you can do with for your buildings ? for, as I said, that building fund was intended, not for Auckland, but for the colony. Colonel Haultain : At the same time it should be recollected that tliere is no place in the colony so badly off as Auckland is in this respect. We really have no school buildings to speak of. I think that £5000 would cover the value of the whole of them. The Colonial Secretary : The money is to come out of the balance of a loan—Defence loan, but I really forget which at this moment—and if you can tell me what are your most pressing necessities—what is the smallest amount that will enable you to go on with—l will endeavour to meet you? For myself, I can say nothicg ; but I will see what the Colonial Treasurer may have to say upon the subject. - The money, after all, is the great point. Dr. Campbell: We have been hitherto upon starvation allowance, out of which to provide what is necessary for our schools. We have been obJiged to refuae-reosonable demands, because we had not the means of complying with them. The Colonial Secretary : What has the province itself undertaken to do ? Colonel. Haultain : The Bank has made an advance on account of the rate. The Colonial Secr:etary : All the rates now being collected are, as I unders|aj.nd it, • to go in reduction of your overt? raft. You are noi only out of funds, but jou have a large overdraft to meet. That is the position. Dr. Campbell : It is poor economy to rent. buildings ; the amount of three or four years' rent would often be sufficient to put up the building or purchase it. The Colonial Secretary : In point of fact, you have nothing. Then you ask us to provide for the next year; the next rate cannot be levied before April; that will also go. Colonel Hattltain : Ido not think that will necessarily be so. The Colonial Secretary : Will it cover your overdraft, and carry you over your liability? . Colonel Haultatn : Our present liabilities are £10,CCO, including an advance of £2000, against which we have about £16,000, including three-quarters of the next year's rate. The Colonial Secretary : We are bound to find you money for your current expenses, but what we will have to find is very much more than we could have expected, or that we could have been asked to find had the circumstances been different. As the money is not yet raised, we have not the money at the moment. What I have to ask you is what will be the smallest sum necessary to enable you to go on with between this and the next meeting of Parliament. Dr. Campbell : There are certain pressing wants that must be met; others might be deferred for a period. The Colonial Secretary : Again I have to point out tliat this loan is no.t raised, aud it may be some little time before we can get it. Let me know what is the smallest sum you can get on with decently, and then I will see what can be done. Dr. Campbell : In order to tell you that we would have to go through the whole list of our requirements throughout the different districts. Colonel Haultain : We would also, I presume, have to ascertain whether within any reasonable time we could get any of the money to be raised on the old Supreme Court site. If we could get anything out of that, so much the less ■would be necessary. Dr. Campbell : We have been staving off applications of every kind for a considerable time past. Colone?: Haultain : For several months we have had no funds, and we could not be certain that even current expenses and salaries of teachers would be met. The Colonial Secretary : If you will consider your requirements and inform me of the probable sum actually necessary to carry you on to the next session of Parli--ment, I will endeavour to assist you in every way. The deputation I'.ndertook to make the required estimate by Thursday next, and, having thanked the Colonial Secretary for his courteous reception, withdrew.