THE OTAGO WITNESS. Dunedin, Saturday, March 6, 1858.

Otago Witness, Issue 327, 6 March 1858, Page 4

THE OTAGO WITNESS. Dunedin, Saturday, March 6, 1858.

When the tragic hero draws his flashing sword, and shouting his war cry, rushes to the assault of some frowning fortress, the uninitiated, like Mansie Waugh at his first play, believe in the terrible reality of the scene, admire the valour of the warrior,

and are ready to re-echo the inspiriting war-cry. The initiated, those who are behind the scenes, or who make a closer examination of the character of the hero, his war cry, and the obstacles with which he Thas to contend, form a very different judgment. They see, that stript of his meretricious ornaments, the hero is but a man, it may be a coward after all, that his war cry is got up for effect, and the frowning fortress but a pile of pasteboard. Our contemporary, the " Colonist," has, in his last week's paper, been enacting the part of the tragic hero. , " Amicus " (whose " Amicus " is he ?) sets up a point of attack, an announcement of His Honor the Superintendent's educational intentions. Straightway the " Colonist," furious as the bull at the matadore's red mantle shaken before him, shouts as his war-cry, "No tax upon education," and savagely slashing his steel (pen) about, attacks in turn His Honor and His Honor's educational intentions, His Honor's advisers, and those who ought to be his advisers, "Amicus" and " Amicus'" arguments: in short,everybody and everything that have aught to do with His Honor. Let us examine into the matter a little more closely, and see what all this outcry is based upon. "Amicus" (a friend) of the " Colonist," announces what His Honor's educational intentions are. Pray, who is " Amicus ? " What authority has he for connecting His Honor's name with the scheme which he announces 1 His Honor, according to the " Colonist," has not divulged his scheme even to his Executive. Who then is this nameless writer who, trusted with the grand secret, divulges it to the " Colonist ? " The " Colonist" affects to look on this letter of "Amicus" as a pilot balloon sent up to see how the public opinion blows. But the character of His Honor, even as sketched by the " Colonist," " a resolute will that brooks no opposition," so self-reliant that he looks "on the Education Board as a set of ignoramuses," such a character surely is not that which would look how the wind of public opinion blows. No ; whatf ever may be his Honor's faults, this is not one of them, to sail only with the wind. To a different class of politicians — a class especially represented by the " Colonist"— it belongs to trim their sails to the eddying breath of public opinion. We look on this letter of " Amicus" rather as a decoy duck sent forth to extract if possible a hint of his Honor's real intentions. It will be time enough to discuss his Honor's scheme when he propounds it ; and when he has, with all the assistance he may be able to obtain from any source, matured his scheme, we doubt not he will submit it to his constitutional advisers ere he lays it before the public as a Government scheme. Such a scheme may be better or it may be worse than that propounded by "Amicus;" it may or it may not contain the element of taxation for the support of education ; but we do maintain that, until " Amicus" gives his name as a guarantee for the fact alleged by him, we have no right to hold his Honor responsible for the scheme so anonymously announced. We may hereafter take occasion to examine into the intrinsic merits or demerits of the scheme propounded by " Amicus." Meanwhile, we merely deal with it, not as his Honor's, but as a very pasteboard affair got up for the magic hero to tilt at — an opportunity devised for raising the war-cry, "No tax upon education." But what means this sonorous war-cry, "No tax upon education." We have heard the watchwords of parties, " No income tax," "No bread tax," " No taxes on knowledge," and we could understand them. This " war-cry" has the sound of these, but is void of the sense. If a tax were imposed of Is. on every immigrant who lands on these shores we could at once see the meaning of a cry " no tax upon immigration." But if a tax of Is. were proposed to be levied on every man in the colony to be spent in the promotion of immigration, we would hold such a cry to imply in its terms a false statement of the intentions of Government, and therefore to be an absurd and a mischievous cry. No party has ever proposed to lay a tax upon Education ; the proposition has been just the reverse, to impose a tax to be expended in the promotion of Education. Take the Colonist's ' war-cry' in its true meaning and there i 3 no man who will not heartiiy subscribe to it ; but it is a very different thing to subscribe to a war-cry that would imply that we would rather want Education than suffer ourselves to be taxed for it. "No tax upon Education." It sounds well, and might lead some of the unwary and uninitiated to range themselves under the banner of the tragic hero who shouts it

But we warn such, that it is only a cry raised to mislead and delude the unthinking multitude, that it is a political dodge to enlist the prejudices of those to whom all taxes are alike odious, a war-cry raised for stage effect. Let our contemporary eschew such gaudy tinsel, such political clap-trap, such pasteboard shams, and address himself earnestly and honestly to the elucidation of the great question of Education, and however we may differ from his views, we shall at least give them a calm and candid examination. The " Gertrude," from Auckland, arrived in this port on Monday. She has brought upwards of 121,000 feet of timber, which was ordered by the Gdvernment for the purpose of erecting Barracks for the Immigrants who were at that time expected, and who have since arrived amongst us. Timber having, however, been, in the meantime, procured from other sources, the inconvenience which would have arrisen from the delay in executing the order has been avoided, and a considerable portion of the " Gertrude's" cargo will be disposed of by the Government. The "Gertrude" is under charter to convey the members of the Southern Settlements to the General Assembly, and will remain in Otago until the 15th instant. Dr. Menzies has been summoned as a member of the Upper House. By this opportunity we have Auckland papers to the 16th ult., and several Government Gazettes, from which we learn that various gentlemen in this Province have been added to the commission of Justices of the Peace. The appointment of the Chief Commissioner to various offices have been confirmed, but the office of Treasurer to the Waste Land Board has been divided from that of Chief Commissioner, the reason of the change as stated in the despatches on the subject being the passing of the Act guaranteeing the loan to New Zealand by the Imperial Parliament. Mr. Logic, the Collector of Customs, has been appointed to the offices of Treasurer of the Waste Land Board, and Receiver of the Land Revenues, and has received instructions to institute proceedings for the recovery of any sum which may be found deficient from the chest. There is no truth in the rumour that his Excellency the Governor had arrived in Otago. The whole of the legislation of the last session of our Provincial Council has come to nought, with the exception of the Appropriation Acts, and an Amendment on the Sheep Ordinance. Of the other Acts one was disallowed, as it was contrary, on one point, to the Constitution Act. The rest were assented to ; but owing to the disgraceful state of the postal communication between this Province and the seat of Government, they have all become null and void, as the notification of the Governor's assent could not be gazetted within the time required by the Constitution Act. We observe, from the Auckland papers, that Mr. Justice Stephen died at his place of residence, at 10 o'clock on the morning of the 13th Jan. The Council was in session, and had passed a New Waste Land Bill, which it was expected would receive the Governor's assent. The principal features appear to be — the allowance, in an indirect way, of purchases from the natives — the grant of lands to immigrants in lieu of passage money — the sale of land on credit — and the discontinuance of the sale of land until it has been surveyed.