The Otago Daily Times. MONDAY, JANUARY 2O, 1896.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10572, 20 January 1896, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1896.

The Council of the New Zealand Educational Institute has just held its annual meeting at Wanganui, and, as usual, many matters of interest both to the profession and to the public •were dealt with. This body is, as the president termed it in his inaugural address, •the educational parliament, and it was almost unnecessary for him to express the hope that its decisions 'would be treated with respect. Happily, the teachers of the colony are almost invariably earnest men and women, and even when they do put their own interests forward the justifiable plea is available that their interests and those of education are^identical. An illustration may be quoted from the inaugural address :" We can still, however, love our work; and to be able to do so a teacher must be happy in the discharge of it. He should be free from pecuniary worry, or, in other words, he should be adequately paid. The pinch of poverty will take away the sunshine out of most men's natures." It is not to be supposed that the profession- of teaching enjoys a peculiarity in this respect. There are many callings where' perfect ease of mind regarding outside matters is essential to the efficient discharge of duty, but nevertheless few ; will be disposed to cavil at the president's dictum. Mr Dbmpsey's address was homiletic rather than pedagogic in its manner. It dealt almost entirely with the beauty and educational value of sympathy. So full was the speaker of his subject that he claimed for sympathy the power of softening even a school committee. The speaker said he had an experience extending oyer a quarter of a century, and from his remarks it will be . gathered that his lines have fallen in pleasant places, for we are sure there are teachers who would dissent from his opinion that " a teacher's treatment by his committee lies pretty well in his own hands. He should never rest until by his i«wh dianified and faithful conduct he has

gained the confidence and respect that his exalted calling demands." The injunction ' may be fairly commended, although doubts maybe felt as to the efficacy claimed for it. . No doubt the "proceedings" of the council will be collated and circulated as usual, and in such an event the presidential address may be commended to tho earnest perusal of teachers, parents, and committees as well.

The Executive Committee's report detailed the "work - done during the year.. This had connection chiefly ■with legislation. The attention of the Minister had been called to the necessity for a colonial scale of salaries, and for: a teachers' court of appeal. The first of these' subjects is almost beyond the control of the Minister under existing arrangements, and the second has eventuated in one of those legislative fiascos with which the public have become distressingly familiar. A Teachers' Courtof Appeal Act was passed, but in such a -way as to be of no valtie whatever except to those to •vyhom its value was of no consequence. A teacher who has been summarily dismissed may alone seek the Court of Appeal, but a teacher may be deprived of that right if he has had three months' notice of the termination of his engagement. This was no doubt due to a draftsman's bungle, and it will probably be remedied by an amending Bill next session. Legislation of late years attains finality by leaps and bounds—but the successive stages are indicated, by a series of " amending "■ Acts. Probably the most important subject, in vie**-, of existing and impending agitation, dealt with by the council was that of religious teaching in schools', and the consistent opposition of/the profession to formal religious teaching was emphasised by a unanimous vote condemning the present attempt to have it introduced. Speakers were careful to point out that their objection was not to religious education, ' but ,to State religious education, and some very candid remarks were made concerning the motives of those who are responsible for the present agitation. One speaker went so far: as to affirm that "the church" (he did not say which, but perhaps he meant the church generally) Avanted to provide itself with cheap curates, who would play the harmonium and do other church work. "We should be sorry to ascribe such sinister motives to those who are now agitating or preparing for' agitation, but while we admit the necessity for the recognition of the formal teaching of morality, tlie utmost caution is necessary to see that it does not go further and resolve itself into religious teaching. The pitfalls by the way are innumerable. The democratic tendency would inevitably be to revolt against anything that would even savour of a religious test to teachers. The same tendency would rebel against denominationalism, and yet, strange to say, it is the democratic tendency that may make these possible. The axiom that the people are always right rests upon the fallacious supposition that the right issue is submitted to them. A petition asking for the introduction of the Bible in schools would be signed almost unanimously from end to. end of the colony, but unless the effect of the request wero made plain 'to the signatories, the petition would not be worth the paper it .was written on, because conventionality would be responsible for most of the signatures. The obligation of formulating a scheme that will not even appear to trench upon private belief, or indeed upon the opinions of those who profess to be able to lind no belief, rests upon those who desire the. innovation. In other words, they must be able to say clearly what they, do want, and be able to prove that the concession to their wish would not violate any belief, before they can ask the public to open a gate by which disastrous floods may enter. Of course there is not space in a single article to traverse the entire business done by the council, but it would be improper to omit reference to the scheme submitted by Air Davidson, of Otago, for staffing the schools. Almost contingent upon this is tho proposal to institute a colonial scale of salaries. There are great anomalies in salaries and great differences in allotting staffs, and the efficiency of the service would be promoted by uniformity in both respects. Education in this colony suffers yet from provincialism. To attain the best results there must be uniformity of administration ; that need not necessarily mean the obliteration of individuality, which is in the last degree undesirable. Many other subjects of general interest were discussed by the council. Some of them were technical and some only partly so. The public will be interested to learn, for instance, that the teaching of the use of tools as a part of the primary school course was voted impracticable. Now, we hold an opinion exactly contrary. Technical training is already provided for in large schools, and in small schools there could be no more pleasing and profitable adjunct than a small workshop where intelligent pupils in tho higher standards might become acquainted with the elementary uses of the commoner tools, such as every colonist ought to be able to handle. It is to be suspected that the unwillingness of teachers to admit this arises from their own unfamiliarity with the use of tools, a condition which should be changed aasoon as practicable if means can be devised to that end.

The Alameda, with the English mails (December 28), left San Francisco for Auckland on January 10 (one day late). The Mariposa, with colonial mails (December 28), arrived at San Francitco on January 16, her due date.

At the Police Court on Saturday a little boy about 12 yeara of age appeared to answer a charge of drunkenness* This interesting youth is living with Mrs Saunders, Anderson's Bay road. South Dunedin, his mother being at present in Australia. On Friday afternoon, during the absence of his guardian, he broached < a cdsk of that good lady's elderberry wine. Ha commenced operations by making two little girls speechletsly drrmk, after which, he drank himself into a state of intoxication, He turned out to be very rowdy when intoxicated. After smashing most of the windows iv the house, he weut outside and oqmmenced rolling about and . bouting out in the orthodox bibulous fashion. His behaviour, of . course, soon attracted a ciowd, and in a very short space of time he was followed down the street by hundreds of delighted urchins. Matters had reached this stage when Sergeant Brown appeared ou the scene. On seeing the officer the boy made off, but after a short pursuit he was captured, and with much difficulty lodged in the look-up. Mrs Saunders has apparently had some trouble with this " shooting example." He steals eggs, sleeps out at night, "plays the wag," burns his school books, and altogother behaves in an outrageous fashion. The Bench, in discharging the. boy, warned him that if he did not mend his waya he wonld come to a bad end.

A lantern lecture was given at the Technical ! School, Great King streot, on Saturday night, J nnder the auspices of the Dunedin Field Club, by Mr R. M. Liiog, M.A., B.Sc, of Chrintchureh, the subjeot being " Oar Nativo Flora." Mr G.M. Thomson, president of the club, . occupied the chair, and there was a good J attendance. The lecturer pointed oat that no flora known was more remarkable thiu that of New Zealand; its remarkabilifcy pre-smi- : nently consisting in tho large number o? en-J demic species, and the fine genera that it showed. There were, he said, 1900 species of native plants, more than, half of which were endemic. He proceeded to treat of tho different orders of plants to be found in tbe colony, i and* in referring to tbe varied nature of our [ forests, said tbat in Great Britain there were 35 native trees, while in New Zealand there were about four timei as many, and yet it was sometimes said that our forests were gloomy. Th. lecturer dealt more upon the picturesque, than upon the scientific aspect of his subject, his romarks being illustrated by , views projected upon a screen by means of a'■ m_gic lantern, which was manipulated by Mr Simms. At tho conclusion of the lecture, on the motion of Mr J. S. Tennant, Mr Laing wa. accorded a hearty vote of thanks. There is every reason to believe that the next winter show of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association will be held in a new agricultural hall. At a meeting held on Saturday, which was attended by the committee of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association and several other genilemen, it was resolved to raise the money required tc build a hall by the issue of debentures, ahd a com- j mittee was appointed to draw up a prospectus, eleot provisional directors, and report to a full j meeting iv the course of a week. • Tha project i h&s been taken up with enthusiasm, and before ! the meeting broke up a considerable portion of ; the sum required was promised, one geutle- j man alone promising to take £500 worth of , debentures. j Mr E. H. Carew, S.M., presided s.b the Por. ■ Ohalmeis Court on Saturday, "when Michael j Ryl wa3 charged with entering the Port > Chalmers Hotel on December 23, being then a j prohibited person within the m.auing ef ! section 167 of "The Licensing Act 1881," ! and contrary to Motion 26 of " The Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Aot Amendment* Act 1895." Defendant pleaded guilty, and • stated that he did not go into tha hotel to obtain i

drink. He was not aware he waa not allowed to enter a hotel to transact busiufs.. j Sergeant Geerin stated that about 11 a.m. oa J December 23 Constable Lawrence saw the defendant coming out of the hoiel, and, after , speaking to him, they both went inside and saw Mr Waters, the licensee, who said that he was '■ not aware Ryl was ia the house until he saw him in one of the rooms, when he told him he could not allow him lo rem.in, and Ryl then went out. His Worship, in giving judgment, told the d.fendsnfc if he had besu drinking or had gone in for the purpose of obtaining drink he would have teverely punished i him. His Wor.hip cautioned him not to go . again into any hotel. It beiDg the first case \

under the act, and as defendant might have been ignorant of the law, a fine of ss, without costs, would meet the case. -.

Mr D. Strachaa, formerly a pupil in the Port Chalmers District High School, has received the appointment of first assistant master at Kumars, and loaves for the West Coast by the Corinna to-day. The Port Chalmers School is noted for turning out smart pupils. Sic Strachaa in 1889 was dux of the sohool, and iv 1890 and 1891 he headed th. list of pupil teachers in the district, tiking his E certificate wifchbonou.ableaien.ion in English, geography, and science,, and D certificate with honourable mention in school management and experimental science, while still a pupil teacher at the Port. He afterwards gained a Normal School exhibition of £60 per annum, tenable for threo years at the Otago University; and while attending that institution he. held at various times the following positions :—First class and head of tbe list in English -composition and rhetoric, junior English, mechanics, and constitutional history and law ; first class in mathematics, mental Bcience, and senior English. He took his degree of Bachelor of Arts, and won tho University Debating Society's essay prizas and the Macandrew scholarship iv political economy, Mr Sbrachau also sat for tho M.A. degree in iiouours at tbe examination in November last, of which tha results aro not yet to hand. Altogether Port Chalmers has reason to be proud of its young townsman.

At St. Joseph's Cathedral last evening special j prayers were offered for Dr Luok, R.C. Bishop i of Auckland, and the Very Rev. Father Lynch i made reference to a telegram, he had received j stating that no hopes were now entertained of ] the bishop's recovery. He also referred lo tbe great regard in which the late Bishop Moron bold Bishop Luck and the latter^ many kindnesses during tho late bishop's prolonged illness. The Ray. Father Kehoe, of the Auckland dioceae, assisted at the service. Father Lynch also made »v appeal ou behalf of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which, he raid, assisted the poor without distinction of race or creed, bat, connected as it wns with the church, it naturally followed that mors Catholics appealed to the society for assistance than i other*. The rev. gentleman urged the whole congregation to join the society, whioh was, in connection with other charitable societies in Ducedin, doing noble work, and he mentioned ' tbat he was in a position to offer a subsidy of lOi for every pound collected during the next mouth. Father Lynch also intimated that j a retreat, first for women and then ! for . men, would commence on the 2nd February, and would be conducted by the Very Ray. Father Maher, Vinoentian Father of Mr-Jvern, Victoria, who is at preaent giving retreat to the clergy of Christchurch. The Royal Burlesque and Gaiety Company i arrived from Invercargill by the southern express on Saturday night, nnd gave a"performance iv the Princess Theatre. There was a fairly good attendance. The entertainment I was of the variety minstrel tjpe, and notwith- ! stsmling that the members of the company must have been fatigued after their lengthy journey, and were further handicapped by I reason of the train arriring 40 minutes late, they went through their parts in a manner that appeared to meet with tho warm appreciation of the audience. The first portion of the programme comprised the usual comic songs and [■ ballads interspersed with jokes, while later oa specialties, dances, &c. were the order of tho j evenirig, the whole winding up with a farce. To-night the company appear at Oamaru.

His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to bestow his patronage on the performances of ".Blow for Blow," to bo given in the Princess Theatre on Friday and Saturday of this week by the Rosoius Amateur Dramatic Sooiety in aid of tbe local hospital funds. The performers have been, rehearsing most assiduously under the tuition of Mr Barrio Mnrschel, aad now feel confident of rendering a good accouut of. themselves. The play is to be mounted with every attention to detail, and those attending may anticipate a pleasant evening's entertainment.

The Craydon and Wosd Surprise Party, after a successful tour of the goldfields and inland towns, appear for two nights only in ths City Hall on Friday aud Saturday evenings. Besides Messrs Craydon and Wood, the company include* Miss May Malvino, Mis? Polly Rob.r-tsen, Messrs C. L. Naylor (late of the World's Trio), James R. Stapleton, Charles Brooks, Allan JC'rr (trick cyclist), andCharlesQriffen (gymnast and juggler). Tbe company leave for ths north after performing here.