Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1890.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XV, Issue 4723, 18 July 1890, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1890.

A bittbb article on educational retrenchment appears in the Auokland Herald, Oar oantemporary says that " something son* riderable might ba saved by colonialißing all the endowments, etc., now employed In subsidising the High Schools, Colleges, and University of Otago, and devoting the proceeds to the redaotion of the vote for primary education, bnt there would be great difficulty in doing this. The howl that would ariße from Canteibnry and Otago would be enough to appal the stoutest' hearted statesman. They would probably threaten separation, and petition the Colonial Offioe to be erected into an independent colony. No Ministry has yet held offioe strong enough to face a united Otago and Canterbury opposition, and it would be united. Not a man would dare to vote on any question with a Ministry tint shonld commit such an atroolons aot of wlokedness as to lay their bands on the eduoation endowments of those two lucky provinces, and yet the extravagance with whloh they are administered is something shameful," This is the old core broken oat in a freßh place—a simmering discontent which oooaßionally throws the scum to the surface. Attempts were made periodically in Mr John Sheehan's time to secure the oolonlallsation of the reservesforsuperlor eduoation in the South, and even some of the Southern members, notably Mr Fish, advooated the absorption of these endowments in those set apart for the purposes of Primary Eduoation, The Herald's return to the fight Is, it may be assumed, the outcome of jealoußy because Auckland has not our advantages for the promotion of superior education, and not of a conviction that it la a national sin for the State to support Euoh education in the f aoe of the necessity to resort to increased taxation in order to meet the demands of Primary Eduoation,' If Auckland had enjoyed timilar advantages the Herald would not have advooated the abandonment of them, but would have protected them with a jealousy born of a zeal for the educational welfare of the nation, Bnt why has Auokland no reserves such as we have 2 It is because in the days of provincial governments her people were not so provident as those of the South, who saw that, by setting apart lands that had little or no value at the time, they would be able to faster a system of eduoation that would be independent of private benefioenoe. By retaining these lands the State has scoured the advantage of the increased value that would otherwise have been reaped by private persons. Auokland was, in those days, reeking with land speculation. Finanoial institutions, mistaking their vooation, enoouraged the oraze, and thus perpetrated a grievous and irreparable wrong to the country, bebesides courting their own ruin, The people of Auokland, with minds pre-occupied with present self-advantage, had neither time nor inclination to give any thought to the great problem of a national eduoation that would be perfeot in all its departments. We have not forgotten that Auckland was ourßed with a tedious native war and that land was not available there as It was in the South, bat was purchased or taken foroibly from the native owners. But the people of Auckland, notwithstanding tbis drawback, had a thousand opportunities for setting aside reserves for superior eduoation had they felt so inolined. They failed to do this, and now, after the fashion of the foolish virgins, they say to the provident Southerners, " Give us of your oil." That demand can never be complied with. Auckland's educational inability oonld never be rectified by bringing us down to the same level. The wisest and more honorable course would be to seek to have oonferred on Auokland, and all other plaoes similarly situated, meana of realising the benefits that our Northern neighbors covet, for what is good for one part of the Colony should be enjoyed by all. The question as to whether the administrators of colleges and high sohools are making the best possible use of their opportunities in the interest of the Colony 1b a matter that ought to be considered; bnt a proposal to deprive the Colony of these high eduoational advantages which are valued highly all the world over is neither reasonable nor practicable.