CO-OPERATIVE WAGES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1199, 22 February 1895, Page 18

CO-OPERATIVE WAGES.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l see a great deal written lately in the local newspapers with regard to the Government co-operative works at Hunterville and Eketahuna and Cheviot. We are told the men make ten shillings per day at Hunterville, and that the tax-payer is robbed. We are told at the Cheviot the co-operative workmen sub - let their job to a sub-contractor and subsisted on the difference between what they received and what they paid their servants. Well, now, sir, I worked a good deal on the co-operative works at Hunterville and Eketahuna and Porirua, and I never made more than 8s per day : which was good living wages. No man can make any more now on the price the Government gives (clay, 9d, lOd and Is), but a man has to wheel it three chains long for that price, so I think the Cheviot subcontractors won't get fat at it. What do we see r The Conservative City Council of Wellington pays Is 3d per yard for clay on the co-operative works in the drainage, and the men employed make 25 per cent, more wages than the men employed in the co-operative works of the Government at Hunterville or Eketahuna or Cheviot or any place in New Zealand. — I am, &c, Don Quixote.

THE SCHOOL COURSE. Sir, —I note that the Gisborne School Committee intend teaching carpentry and type-writing to the school boys, and cooking- is to be an accomplishment of the girls. Gentlemen, I pray you, pause. The towns are already overcrowded, and are in need of relief rather than fresh importations. New Zealand is agricultural, and the boys should be trained to follow the noble occupation of the farmer. The great defect of the present system of education lies here: that it directly encourages the scholars to enter so-called respectable occupations, such as the Civil Service, banks, clerks, insurance, &c. If a boy is a tolerably good writer, people consider, he is thrown, away if he learns a trade, rather than become a clerk. This occurred to me recently, and I took the opportunity of pointing out the fallacy of it. Now that the Government are openhig up country, and buying lands for settlement all over the country, it is nothing short of folly to neglect providing for the future population of the country districts. In Canterbury there exists an admirable institution called the Lincoln College, which is doing work that might well be supplemented in the Wellington district. As the Lyttelton Times recently pointed out, men cannot be transplanted from the towns on to country land and be expected to make a living for their families. A previous training is necessary in this as in all other occupations, although cases have been known of ignorant men becoming successful farmers. The Government who will undertake to make the city unpopular will earn the gratitude of the country districts, where land waits in vain for the tiller. Let us, then, cease to make boys clerks, typewriters, or encourage them to enter the Civil Service. We should rather commend to them the honourable occupation of the farmer, who is the backbone the country needs to so often replenish. If the aforesaid committee see that the boys become proficient at riding, driving, rowing, &c, they will do 1 better than teach them typewriting. —I am, &c, X.Y.Z.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —With reference to the letter of " X.Y.Z;," I shall be glad if you will allow me space for a few remarks. In the most advanced systems of education as taught at the present day we find the following points recognised as being the fundamental principles of true education :—(1) The chief factor in all education is the will, Which can be best reached through its corresponding bodily organ, i the ear, subservient to the will, but in a lower plane, being the hand. (2) The understand-: ingis reached through the medium of its corresponding bodily organ, the eye, but the understanding is always subservient to the will. To the will belong ends, to the understanding means. (3) The life of the will resides in delight. It is necessary therefore that the subjects taught be congenial to the tastes of the pupil; otherwise the will is not truly receptive, and no reproduction from the will is possible. As illustrative of these principles, we have the much more potent influence of music, as compared with scenic effect; of spoken discourse as compared with printed; and in the study of languages, histoiy, &c, the rapid progress brought about by Gouin's method, enabling the pupils to do more in six months than under the former methods they could do in as many years. From the standpoint of these principles I think that the action of the Gisborne School Committee in proposing to give a training in carpentry is a good one. I am sorry I cannot say as much for the typewriting. There is no doubt instruction in typewriting would have the direct tendency of leading boys to seek employment in offices, and having had seven years' experience at office work myself, I would like to say a few words about it. I have seen many enter into their work enthusiastically, the end in view being preferment, intended marriage, &c, but never have I met one who loved the work—as it ought to be loved—for its own sake. A man's occupation is, or ought to be, a life-long education ; and, from the above educational standpoint, I know of nothing more detrimental to the character than the work of an office. If a boy is gifted with an aptitude for, say, banking or insurance, then by all means put him into an office. . He will pass through the office in a few years, and, when the proper time comes, will be both able and willing to take an intelligent and active part in the management of the business. With no special aptitude, however, for the work he is engaged in, the boy, now a young man, must either change to something else, or — the only alternative become a mere drudge. With "X.Y.Z.," therefore, I heartily agree in thinking it would be wise for the Gisborne School Committee to substitute agricultural training for that in typewriting, in doing which they would be consulting the best interests of our colonial youth.—l am, &c Hamilton Hill. Wellington, 18th February, 1895.