LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14148, 25 August 1909, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

BUTTER-SHIPPING FACILITIES. Sir, — is surprising that greater efforts have not been made in the matter of direct loading to ooean steamers, instead of .sending butter via west coast steamers, and transhipping to Home steamer at Wellington. We ship from Auckland in the height of the season up to 15,000 boxes per fortnight, the freight on which runs up to £2000, for the whole season about £20,000. Surely wo are entitled to more consideration, at tho hands of the shipping companies. Common sense tells us that the journey to Wellington, with double handling and exposure to sun, etc., cannot improve the quality of tho butter.

Instead of any improvement, however, wo are drifting from bad to worse, for tho Union Steam Ship Company now propose to load butter at Onehunga on-Fridays, instead of Saturdays as heretoforetherefore a day make (say, 1000 boxes) .will be shut out each fortnightly shipment, perhaps in itself not a very serious matter. Home steamers depart from Wellington on Thursdays, but it takes from Friday to Thursday to get the butter to • Wellington, far too long. Taranaki butter ' will leave Isew Plymouth on Mondays or Tuesdays for same steamer. '

It seems to the writer that our Southern friends know better how to work those points they appreciate the value of, combination. "

Tho time has arrived when the shipping companies should arrange to make Auckland a final port, and despatch steamers fortnightly, as at Wellington. It would be interesting to know what steps (if any) are being taken by the managers of tho dairy associations and factories .n connection, more particularly with the change from Saturday to Friday, with regard to west coast, steamers. Concerted action, Unfortunately rarely heard of here, should have good results. - • 'Dairtuajt. PROMOTION OF TEACHERS. Sir, The need for some system of promotion of teachers has for long been manifest to all who have been in any way connected with our education system, or who have come into intimate contact with any number of our teachers. From within the body of teachers a cry has gone forth for a classification similar to that of the Civil Service, and at - last, failing such greater scheme, our Education Board has taken the matter in hand. Mr. Purdie has elaborated a scheme which has received the approval both of his fellow members on tho Board and' of , the Teachers' Institute.' The schema provides that classification shall.be by marks, allotted as follows Efficiency, -70 marks; literary attainment, 20 marks (E-4,.D-8, C-12, B-16, and A-20 marks); •' service' (one mark for two yjars' service), 10' marks: total, 100. During the past month the Board's inspectors have been engaged in classifying our teachers ostensibly on lines provided for in the scheme, and within the next few days each teacher will receive notification of the number of marks he or she has been, awarded.

For the past year or more promotion? have been made from names submitted by the chief inspector and taken from a—to the 'teacher—mythical list compiled' by the inspectors in conferenoe, and which the Board considered it couid not legally publish by placing it. in the .hands of teachers.-?, Any teacher might on -application ascertain own classification expressed, in terms, good, etc., for i certain .grade, of school; but without knowing that of his fellows. This was almost useless as an indication of his chances of promotion, partly the felt need of change mentioned in my opening! Now, under the new scheme it as'proposed to notify each teacher of his own number of marks, but. how can this mead matters? Are : not two of the most important" avowed . Objects of this scheme to satisfy teachers'' of their ordar of promotion, and that all the qualifications ' that make for ; success as a teacher shall be recognised to secure suclj promotion. Hero I consider that \vhil9 the scheme may be good in its application it will fail in the first 'of these particulars. Again, in appraising our teachers' qualifications the inspectors : have, obtained from the Board's'records', the length'.of "service and certificate of' each'teacher, and ascertained what marks accrued from these two sources. Now, sir, in view of the fact that a promotion list drawn up 'by the "inspectors, and setting forth their estimate of the efficiency of teachers, was already in existence, was-it reasonable to suppose,that t they would i urn round and draw up a list at variance with this. The Board's instruction to its inspectors should have been to award efficiency marks (1 to 70) to each teacher, irrespective of length of service and certificate. Then the clerical .staff from the Board's records could finish the lists and thus give effect to the spirit of the " scheme, whicsh recognises '"length of service" '• and ; "certificate" apart from "efficiency." Here, again, in its application' the ■ scheme, even if it does not fail to recognise the three factors provided for, will yet fail :to satisfy teachers that it has done so. • , '

I have in the foregoing dealt, solely -with the application of .the, scheme, but consider ihat its recognition of certificate as' a 'deter.mining 'factor is -wrong in principle and inequitable in :■ practice. It is certainly necessary that a teacher should attain a recognised standard of education. If it is asked why give marks for ; certificate? The reply is, either " because it must make for increased efficiency," or, "heightening the literary status, raises the prestige of tho profession." If the former, and if it is correct, then you duplicate these in, your • "efficiency" marks, which is wrong in principle. If the latter is the- reply then we have in small schools in the back blocks and elsewhere, teachers holding certificates denoting high literary attainment, and yet who in many cases under, this or: no other scheme will receive monetary ' recognition, of that lustre which they have added to the (profession— is inequitable. The " true - method of recognising and, encouraging increased literary attainment/ as has been pointed out before, is by bonus on certificate. ,: August 21, 1909.;'' . . P.Mi . MORE - PROTECTION '• WANTED. Sir,ln your issue of August 21 appears a telegram from Dunedin, which reads as follows:—"A deputation of boilermakers waited on Mr. Millar to-night to invoke his assistance in preventing the importation of articles which could be made in tho Dominion."' Iron and brass foundries, boiler and range makers are at present protected to the extent of 20 per cent., plus 10 per cent, for "landed cost." In 1906 the workers in these industries -- produced manufactures worth £877, and these manufactures cost the people of New Zealand £193,123 more than they could bo imported for. .The number of hands employed was 3936, so.that each worker got a bonus of £49 for the work he did that year, and yet they , ask for 'more I write more in sorrow than •' in;' 1 finger sorrow that these foolish men cannot see that they are trying to kill the goose ; that lays the golden egg. . There is hardly anything produced in the Dominion that does not require steam power for its production, and they propose to raise the cost of production of all our produce. Do they suppose for one moment that they would be allowed to levy a tax on all the industries of tho Dominion without any f retaliation? The effect would be to raise the cost of -every article manufactured by the exact' amount of tho tax these boilermakers, had levied, plus a further amount for increased profit due to the increased cost of the article produced. The rest of the workers, jointly with the boilermakers,' would have to pay increased prices, and consequently would want increased wages. The result -would be that these foolish boilermakers would find that they could buy rather less with their wages than they could before; the increase. If one could only get into* the heads of ' the workers that it is not the amount of the wage, but what a wage will buy, that constitutes wealth, then, I think, they,, would be all, like myself, free traders. Sandspit, August 23. Fbank Colbe;k.