A CORNER IN EDUCATION.

NZ Truth, Issue 133, 17 August 1907, Page 1

A CORNER IN EDUCATION.

Wor --down-right monopoly and aggregation 'of wealth the holy church is hard to beat when it gets the auhallest semblance of a chance .to jfay its sanctified paw on property ?(,hat, ought to be devoted' to public purposes. Forty, odd- years ago, Grey, the great pro-Consul, set nside 250 acres as an educational reserve m Wanganui for the establish-. Unent of. an industrial training open to the poor and destitute children of all races for all tome, and handed it over to Bishop ft>elw,vn, Anglican Bishop of New. 'Zealand. That endowment is the Wanganui College of to-day, and few j of the "uppah suckle" whose off- : wpring take advantage of the educa- j Jtiohal advantages of the seminary tare, aware that, legally, if not m (practice, the college is an industrial school. The original intention of the endowment was to teach the Vhree R's and the rudiments of useful trades to European and Maori •children alike, the claims of the Maoris being recognised because the Rand was originally a gift to the iJ'Jrown from the Natives for the puriposes of education. We have the authority of Ngata, M.H.R., for the jiitatemeiit. that forty years ago 3)oth Maoris and Europeans were j];aught m a ramshackle building on the reserve, but 1 the Maori element nvas. gradually eliminated, until the iseat of learning became a school deivoted entirely to 'the mental cramming of European children only, and as the holy Anglican Church has aiole control of the institution, it gradually developed into an academy for the propagation of the Anglican flaith, with a syllabus of secular tmbjects as ornamental side trimmings. * * * The original object of . 'industrial ■draining, was entirely ignored, ■ and Snstead of being used as a nationa\l school for the education of the (poor and destitute, it became year by year more exclusive, and acquired a beastly "tone," which was istrongly .objected to by democratic member Hogan m the House the (j)ther night. .The Governor's sons were sent there, and his aristocratic (patronage singled the school out as something above the common, and dedicated it to the use of haughty children whose parents didn't, have #o soil their hands m dirty indus&rial pursuits. Any poor or d'estittute child, who wasn't barred by (treed from admittance, found- an insuperable barrier iri the fee of £70 ■io £100 charged for tuition at the fichopl. These facts came out m the House of Representatives on Wednesday, when a former manager of the school petitioned. a bleeding country for a monetary consideration m view" of past services. Member Hogg, of Masterton, put the denomination fat m the religious fire by reading extracts from the evidence of a Royal Commission of enquiry, held 'last (/ear, to show that no pupil- who' was . not prepared to attend the Anglican services m connection with" •the school was. permitted to enter I,hc portals. Weslcyans, ■'Presbyter--,lans, Catholics, Calethumpians, [Atheists, Agnostics— all . pupils of the Jthe Churcfi of England brand— were Ineligible as inmates, and the memfter for Masterton animadverted iip<on the gross misuse of a national institution. x ■ ' f •/ - * Hardy, MfH.R., protested vigorously against the introduction of reiligious strife into the Chatnber, and 'otner members, striving vainly to foe calm, got up and said their piece. Hogan, the sturdy railway workshop mechanic from the ' place flhat lately went .mad over the sculler Webb,, gave some information ijibout the endowment, which served ito show that the rapacity and greed, of. the Church is only equalled by fite retrogressiveness and capacity for /mismanagement. v The Wanganui borSttgh conjprises 1000 acres, and of $us area the education reserve supplies 250 acres, and although property m Wanganui has risen m common with V'q progress of the district, the, school property might just as well be an ice-drift at the South (Pole, for all the use that is made »i it. James Allen, who ran Massey hard for the leadership of the attenuated Opposition a few years avgo, strove vainly to' suppress his agitation. He pointed out that the jftoyal Commission mentioned > by Hogg* of which .Hogg was a memSer^ i 'had recommended the continuation of religious instruction m the, Schorl, whick was doing great good fia an educational institution. This, '■2©«lili& .td Mr HoiSfttti W&* among'

a certain class— the well-to-do class. To which . member Allen retorted that the well-to-do class should be catered for. as well as ! other classes. "It was better . than i that they should be allowed to _deRenerate and fall m the social 'scale. The unspeakable "nerve" of ! the fat man's representative, who defends the robbery from the poor and destitute of this one institution for the acquirement of education, may have a parallel somewhere, but "Truth" cannot put its hand on it at the moment. But it is a common thing m New 'Zealand for the unfortunate taxpayer to pay for * the education of children of wealthy people, • Our high schools are subsidised by the Government and are patronised by .the moneyed class, who sniff at the primary school lad who succeeds m winning an entry to "the secondary institution by means of a scholarship. * * * The Wanganui College abuse was tackled last year by the Minister for Education, who introduced the Separate ' Endowed Schools Bill, by which common Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and others outside the Establisted Church arc permitted to enter Wanganui College and ignore the Anglican services thereat by means of a conscience clause. This bill was bitterly opposed by, Fat, who is represented on the Opposition benches, and the smouldering fires of sectarian hate and the rights of stolen property broke out afresh on Wednesday, when Minister Fowlds told the heated Allen that the bill was based upon the recommendations of the Royal Commission, and the interference of the Government was due to the fact that the , holy trustees had failed to comply with the conditions of the endowment stipulating industrial training as part of the curriculum. Minister Fowlds spirited and strong rejoiner deserve to be placed on record, if only to show that the Government is determined that there shall be equal educational facilities afforded to »the children of both rich and poor, Catholic and Protestant, and even Athiests: . The attempt of the Anglican "uppah- suckles" to effect a corner, m the Wanganui College seems to have succeeded only too tfeil. : It- now, rests with the Government to give ; the Separate Endowed Schools Bill full; operation. -- ; . ;--.. -. r-T— r— ~ — -■ \