THE The New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENO. SATURDAY, 'DECEMBER 4, 1875.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4387, 4 December 1875, Page 2

THE The New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENO. SATURDAY, 'DECEMBER 4, 1875.

Within the next week we shall have some' very important utterances on political affairs, as the Hon. Mr. Richardson, Mr. Rolleston, and Mr. Reeves, are all to address their constituents. Mr. Richardson, as a Minister, may be expected to defend the proceedings of his colleagues and himself, and probably he will speak more definitely than Mr. Reynolds did as to the future, and set forth, the nature of the Local Government Bill which the Ministry will bring forward. Mr. Rolleston holds an important position as Superintendent of Canterbury, and as one of the leaders of the Opposition of last session, and great importance will be attached :to:liis opinions, especially on the question of separation. If the members of the Opposition from Canterbury decide as a body to go in for separation, the difficulties in the way will be materially lessened. Mr. Reeves was another prominent member of the Opposition, so that if we have not a programme of the policy laid down we shall be able soon to form a pretty good notion of the strength which parties will muster in the next Assembly. Mr. Bunny, member for "VVairarapa, is to address the electors on Monday, and the Press Agency forwards us information of the line he is to take. It will be remembered that Mr. Bunny was, if not one of the most important, at all events one of the most active of the Opposition. It was the impression that Mr. Bunny was in favours of having two provinces in. the North Island, but if the statement we have received is true, he ha 3 abandoned that' position. He has now taken-up the same ground as Mr. Hunter—another-of the Wellington members who voted against the Abolition Bill. He declares himself opposed to the further continuance of Provincialism, and opposes separation. Mr. Bunny and Mr. Fitzherbert generally act together, but of course nothing definite can be inferred as to the course which the Superintendent will take. la Wellington, separation would be regarded as bringing with it a direct and serious loss in the diminution of Government expenditure, and whatever may be the sentiments or inclinations of the Wellington members, they cannot stand against the strong public feeling.

In our yesterday's impression we commented on the action of the Harbour Board, which has resulted in what may almost be called a collapse of the grand project of dock construction which has filled our minds for years past. Everybody in town yesterday was disappointed and angry, and the members of the Harbour Board were abused on all sides. There is little use, however, even in investigating who is to blame, and we ought calmly to consider what we ought to do now. We are all proud of the maritime advantages of Auckland, and with Sir George Grey, glory in her splendid position for a great commercial emporium. We have been talking and writing about a dock for we can hardly say how many years, and when at length, by the persistent exertions of Mr. Swanson and others, and the very great aid given by Sir Julius Vbgel, a Harbour Board was constituted, and arrangements made to procure the money for a dock, every citizen of Auckland felt delighted. It seemed that the time had come, and the money, and when we imported Mr. Moriarty rom Sydney, everybody thought that we also had the man. Wo need not go back upon what has taken place since 'Tworo long to tell, and sad to trace, The steps 'twixt splendour and disgrace. It is quite unnecessary to give any resume of tho contests about site, and different sizes of docks, as the whole affair has broken down. Tho question now before us is, what is to be done in the circumstances ] We have, it would seem, somewhere about £90,000 to make a dock with, and to carry out Mr. Moriarty's plan would cost £130,048. We must say that we think our course is clear. We say, let us set about it at once, and get the best dock possible for the money we have to spend. And if we do so, and get our moneys' worth, and go into no extraneous or unnecessary works, and select tho site on which the dock can bemost economically constructed, we shall, for that money, get a dock amply sufficient for all our wants, and which will not be a burden upon the revenues of the port. If that were done, in course of time we should perhaps have cause rather to be thankful that Mr. Moriarty's plan could not-be carried out. That is the course we should advise. No doubt it would have been a very fine thing to have had hero one of the best docka in the Southern hemispheres, but it is apparent we cannot obtain it with the funds we have at command, and the Harbour Board ought not at present to attempt to borrow any more money. It would certainly be a pity to give up the project of a dock, and if it is delayed there is a great chance of this money, which the public quite understood was to be devoted to it, being frittered away on something else. We do not counsel the Harbour Board to send for Mr. Moriarty again, as we feel sure there are men here who can furnish good plans and give a closer estimate of the cost than he attained to. The enormous difference between the highest and lowest tenders on Mr. Moriarty's specifications shews that there must have been in them a great deal of looseness, which caused the immense amount of discrepancy in the tenders. Between the highest and the lowest tenders there was a difference of £43,113 12s 2d. We are informed by gentlemen of practical skill who have looked it the plans and at the proposed dock site, that a very large amount of the work which it was proposed to do was unnecessary, and would be merely money wasted. We believe that for the amount of money now on hand a dock could be constructed as good in every respect as that planned by Mr. Moriarty, but we think it might be now seriously considered whether the construction of such a large dock should be entered upon, and whether our purpose would not be served by a smaller one. For nineteen out of twenty ships which might require dock accommodation at this port a dock much smaller and much less costly than the one which it was proposed to erect, would be amply sufficient, and would unquestionably be a better paying speculation for the harbour authorities. The large steamers which occupy the line between San Francisco and Sydney would prefer these places for effecting repairs, and would not, except in case of accident, go into the. Auckland dock. A dock of 300 feet in length, or even of 250 feet in length, and with 13 feet depth of water, would probably require no pumping at all, and would accommodate any sailing ship that

ever came into Auckland. time when Mr. Moriarty's reports was laid- before the Harbour, Board, /CaptainsEllis, in answer,*; tp..-r,a-' Question from.- Mr. Boylah, ; : said':V thatV'. no vessel;- that had 'ever -come'--to : Auckland:-; had been 'of 372 feet in" length, except the Himalaya"..' TTe may say that.at the same meeting Mr. -Von der Heyde remarked that the dock proposed by Mr. Moriarty would not be finished in time, or for the amount stated. At' the time of the great dock discus--sion" the "hottest of the battle seemed to rage over the question of the site. We should have liked if that point could have been regarded as closed, but we suppose that as the whole matter has been re-opened, whoever is employed to look into the question will be at liberty to consider which is the best site to adopt.

The Thamed Advertiser, in a paragraph which we republished the other day, states that the education question is likely to come to the front during the pending Goldfields' elections for the House of Representatives —that the candidates have been privately sounded as to their views on this important subject—and it has been hinted that the Catholic vote will alone be given to the candidates who may be in accord with the views of that ecclesiastical body in the matter of denominational education. The " religious" difficulty is not a new one, either here or elsewhere, but it may not be uninstructive to notice the struggle which is now going on in the colony of Victoria, and in the United States, in respect to it, between the two contending parties representing the respective systems of national and sectarian education. Sir James McCulloch (the Premier of Victoria) recently addressed a meeting of his constituents, on seeking re-election, and, in the course of his speech, referred to the working of the new Education Act—a measure which has aroused in that colony the determined hostility of the Catholic hierarchy. " I find," said the hon. gentleman, "that the hulk.of the community are thoroughly satisfied with the working of it. It costs the country a large amount of money, but the object of its introducers was to provide that all classes of the community, even down to the very lowest, should be fully educated, and, if that object is attained, the pecuniary cost is a secondary matter." He announced that the Government had no intention of altering the Act, or retracing its steps, to modify the existing opposition—a statement that was received with cheers. Turning to the United States, we find the same contest going on, with the same fruitless result, so far as the success of the denominationalists is concerned. Lately, an attempt was made on the part of the Catholic parochial schools in New York and elsewhere to secure a portion of the public moneys for the sustentation of those institutions, but the movers were signally defeated. A New York journal makes the following remarks on the subject:—"The moment the public authorities recognise the right of a sect to public money, for the special purpose of holding its children together for sectarian instruction, they destroy the public schools, so far as any action of theirs can accomplish that end. Of course, no exclusive rights can be granted to any sect, and the concession of public moneys to Catholic schools would be the practical recognition of the right of every sect to educate its own children, in its own way, at the public expense—a thing that cannot be thought of. But would the Catholics be gainers, supposing their request were granted ? Here we touch the motive of the whole matter. The Catholic Church as a power, and the Catholic people as a portion of the free American nationality, are not the same. Indeed, to speak the simple truth, their interests are not the same. It is no slander,, because it is freely confessed, that the Church lays its controlling hand on every conscience and every life within its power. It can hardly claim that those within its fold are better citizens, finer members of society, purer patriots, or more intelligent men and women than those who belong to the different Protestant communions, and have been bred in the public schools without sectarian hands to shape their opinions. It would not be pleasant to appeal to facts, as they stand in this or other countries, and we do not appeal to them further than to declare that in no point of advantage to pupils has been shown that a Catholic parochial school is superior to the American public school. It has never made purer men and women, better and more loyal citizens, more independent thinkers, sweeter communities." In a colony like this, where men of all classes and creeds are thrown together, and performing in common the duties of citizenship, there can be no better method of destroying religious bigotry and engendering a tolerant spirit, than by making the public school a rendezvous for their children. To train the youth of the nation into the mysteries of worn-out creeds and wretched " isms"—out of the narrow grooves of which they are taught to believe "that they will be damned if they do not believe that other people will be damned"—is to make of them poor patriots and worse Christians. When the State, in its sphere, has taught the children belonging to it their duty to their country, and fitted them for its fulfilment—when it has trained them to respect for and sympathy with each other, and a common love of freedom and free institutions —it may fairly remit to the parents and the Church, in their respective spheres, the duty of seeing that the lesson is again imparted in a wider form —" Kender unto Caasar the things which be Cresar's, and unto God the things which be God's."

By our Australian telegrams it would appear that political affairs in Victoria, as in New Zealand, are in rather a disturbed state. Sir James McCulloch is in office—the Acting Governor, Sir William Stawell, having refused a dissolution. This refusal has infuriated the Opposition, whose organs write in the following strain : —" It is of no use disguising the fact, however, that the Assembly is composed of men who are utterly unfit to be trusted with the privileges of the people—men without principle and without public spirit; verycannibals in their appetite for office or for pay, and ready to sacrifice anything or anybody that Btanda in their way of getting at it. We ask the electors to think for one moment who are the men who threaten to defeat their claims to a dissolution. Lot them take half a dozen of the most conspicuous of the traitors ; let them write down the names of Bent, Whiteman, Thompson Moore, Curtain, Young, and Stewart: and then let them ask themselves, is there is a. single one of these men that any intelligent human being would trust for a single instant with so important a matter as the representation of their opinions on any conceivable subject under the sun ? Is there one of them who has not shewn himself to be utterly destitute of every quality which entitles a man to the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens? What do the electors of North Melbourne think of Mr. Curtain ? And what have the electors of- Eaglehawk said of Mr. Thompson Moore ? That he is unfit to fulfil the high and honorable functions of a representative. And yet it is these men—the trimmers and land agents, the tools of the Boss-cockie and the creatures of any Minister who is unprincipled enough to nobble them—it is in the hands of these men that the rights and privileges of the people are vested. It is they who, at junctures like the present, really possess I the power of determining which way the issue shall go. They have only to cross the floor of the House, and not all the exertions of all the Higinbothams on the Opposition benches can prevent the people from being | sold into the hands of their enemies." Mr. Graham Berry, so.well known for his extreme protectionist notions, leads the Oppo- ■ sition in obstruction to Sir James McCulloch's financial propositions, while Mr. Higinbotham, like Sir George Grey, hits strongly at the Colonial Office and the Upper House. The telegrams state that it

is probable the Government will be able to carry its proposals, and" so far* have any sympathy, we mayfsay weJjopethey will. The programme includes the borrowing of three millioris.foi^ -public worksl

A few weeks'ago we published 'soirie information relative' to the temperance caiise in the United States,- and the defeatidf' the prohibitionists and practical repeal of the liquor laws at the late elections in Rhode Island and Massachussets. Snch a resul* was wholly unlooked for in the case of the latter State, in which, owing to its magnificent educational system, and the social and religious training of its youth, the educational statue of the population is higher than that cjf.any State in the Union. It would appear that the social reforms which the New England State rejected, have been adopted by one of the ex-Slave States—Maryland. An American journal gives the following description of the effect of the working of the " local option law" in some of the counties of Maryland:—"The local option counties are reaping its benefits, although the la sv has been in operation but about five months. Talbott county has discharged its last gaol inmate, and the gaoler has gone back to work on his farm. Caroline county has not a prisoner in its gaol. The bill of expenses due the gaoler in Worcester county for the five months previous to the taking effect of the law was 800 dol., and for fire months after was but 50 dol. The good effect of the law was felt by the entire community, and it is expected that its friends will carry the entire State at the next election."

The visit of Sir George Grey to the Thames seems to have been as productive of deputations as the visits of Superintendents and Ministers to the goldfields generally are. His Honor appears to have done the best possible under the circumstances, as his power, or his power of spending money, is exceedingly limited. The Thames has greater reason to complain of the action of the present Government than any other district in the colony. It has not benefited in the slighest as regards means of communication, and the whole of the lands in all the district around have been kept closed up quite unnecessarily. Sir George had apparently determined not to address any public meeting at the Thames, for he seems to have consented reluctantly when asked by a deputation. In all probability, however, his address will be of considerable general interest, as there are many topics which come naturally before him at the Thames which were not touched upon in his Bpeech at the Choral Hall.