The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1913.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3100, 13 August 1913, Page 48

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1913.) THE WEEK.

‘ Kunquam aliud natnra, aliud saptentia dhnt

I ”‘‘ Good nature and good sense must ever jolnropu.

The Minister of Finance is to be congratulated upon tlie presentation of a businesslike Budget—a document devoid of those sensational features with which, in the past, tne Sandal Statements of the Continuous Ministry wet. liberally itadded ter .pureh vote-catching purposes. Happdy with t e advent to power of the Reform the Financial Statement becomes vvhat its name designates a- plain sa ■- ‘ the finances of the othn -words, an attempt to place P “national the people the posiUon ot the Mt *S "" estimate for fup , in process, and the presentation ‘of any proposals for keeping the balance on the right side. Much to the chagrin of the Opposition, * . Statement contained no Bu n»“® b » . ordinary sources or avenue diowed a Gratifying increase, a testimony . . ' , bsJV s: cMr-W to be transferred at the close of the financial year is just sufficient foi the liabilities that have to be met m the Public Works Fund, winch is a eUlficientlv satisfactory state of affairs, i-ie Minister’s estimate of the revenue to the current year errs, if anything, on the side of caution, and there seems a probability, should conditions . continue favourable, thaj at the close of the year the balance of revenue over expenditure will be substantial enough to admit ot the Public Works Fund being materially aided, instead of being dependent upon borrowed money. Apart from its summary of the financial position, the budget discloses little of the policy measures oi the Government, and this should have the beneficial effect of perceptibly shortening the debate. W hen the Financial Statement is extended and enlarged until it becomes a resume of almost everything on earth, in sea, and sky, it opens the door wide to a deluge of talk which consumes much valuable time to little purpose, especially seeing that the Ground is all gone over again when the various policy measures come up for review. And indications already point to a protracted session, so that a brief financial debate will lie a welcome relief. Mr Allen wisely contented himself with bald statements regarding the naval policy, the Bill for the amendment of the Industrial, Conciliation, and Arbitration Act, and the introduction of an Electoral Bill, whilst the Bill to deal with the affairs of the Bank of New Zealand was not even outlined. The Minister, however, committed himself to the declaration that a further extension of the freehold policy will be proposed this session ; and this is eminently a step in the right direction. An indication was also given of the intentions of the Government in regard to the income tax. ‘ The new scale wifi be prepared on the same principle as the graduated land tax of last session, which provides that the increase in the rate will be uniform with the increase in value, so that for each £, of increase in taxable income there shall be a corresponding increase in rate. The smaller incomes will pay slightly less, but the loss will be made up by an increase in the tax charged on the larger incomes.”

A Busine K-like Bu stt.

One of the sentences in Mr Allen’s Statement runs, “I do not thins it will be possible to bring down this session a scheme for the improvement of the staffs and of the salaries of teachers in public schools, but proposals dealing with these two questions will be submitted to Parliament next year.” This sentence has been seized upon by the Opposition as a basis for an attack upon the Government which would be amusing were it not so absolutely misleading. -Mr Vigor Brown parodying, in fact, the wellknown Dickensism, “Codlin’s your friend, not Short,” in the name of the Opposition invited the entire teaching profession to believe that the Reform Government has no present intention to remedy the grievances under which manv of the teachers at present labour. dhe attack may be dubbed discreditable, on two grounds; in the first place, it is highly desirable that the affairs of the Education Department should be removed as far as possible from the melting-pot of party politics; since in educational matters, whilst there is plenty of room for reform, there is no place for the Opposition. In the second place, it is manifestly selfcondemnatory for the members of a party which had 21 years of power to put things straight, suddenly to discover that the teachers as a class are underpaid, and to charge a Government which has only just’ assumed control, with neglecting the teacher’s welfare. No one who has any know ledge of the present condition of affairs will attempt to deny that the salaries of many of the teachers are inadequate in view of the increased cost of living, and that this inadequacy to some extent militates against the quality of the education given, to the children. And no one who has any acquaintance with the history of education in the Dominion will deny that the present unsatisfactory condition of affairs has been brought about by the policy of drift and 'uddle persistently pursued by the

(iorornment and the Teachers.

Continuous Ministry. Fortunately Mr J. Vigor Brown’s .attack and the misleading remarks of the Opposition speakers who followed him sewed as occasion for one of Mr Allen’s most forceful and telling retorts. For the Minister • was able to institute a potent parallel between the policy of drift and do-nothing pursued by the*. Continuous Ministry, and the prompt and practical action taken b\ tue 'Reform Government so soon as it assumed office. Under the old regime Die Teachers' Superannuation Fund had been allowed to drift into such a condition ot unsoundness that it was the despair ot actuaries and a by-word of contempt. This unsatisfactory problem was prompt 1\ taken hold of by Mr Allen, with the result that the Government has already provide* a contribution of £IO.OOO for the fund, and for the next, three years will continue to pay £17.000 additional into the fund in order that the superannuation of the teaching -profession may be placed upon a sound financial hasrs and put into an irreproachable position. And this is onlv the first instalment of a series of exhaustive reforms which the Government proposes to institute lor the welfare of the teacher. Under the circumstances, the Opposition attack has done good, in that it afforded opportunity for the Minister of Education to exhibit in its true light the ridiculous posing of Mr Vigor Brown and his blundering confreres. And the outcome of the incident will, doubtless, be to discredit more completely —if, indeed, the process has not proceeded as far as possible—the criticism of a few ieaderless and policy lass do-nothiugs.

Yet another evidence of the assiduity of the Government in regard to whatever makes for live development of agriculture is seen in the proposal to establish a Board of Agriculture. Mr Massev, on behalf of the Government took the opportunity of assuring the Agricultural Conference that the project is receiving favourable consideration lu the course of his speech the Prune Minister outlined the objects and dutiee of an Agricultural Board, which, besides being an advisory body, would watch over and promote the interests ot all branches of agriculture; encourage the cultivation of the soil and the development of the agricultural resources ot the State and devise such measures as may be necessary for the preservation, protection, encouragement, or improvemeu of agriculture generally.” ihe work ot the Agricultural Board will, of course, be supplementary to, and not in any sense antagonistic 'to, the operations ot the Agricultural Department. It will be the duly of the board to make to the Minister from time to time such recommendations as mav seem desirable, and it will be the duty of the Department to translate the reconlmendations so far as practicable into legislation and action. ihe main purposes of the board, therefore, will be to co-ordinate and. give cohesion to tne various forces at work for the furtherance of a For instance, the specialisation which iis part and parcel of scientific agriculture necessitates a separation between the various branches of the Department of Agriculture, which, while acTiieving one purpose, is in danger of defeating its own ends. It will be the mission of the board to bring the different divisions of the Department ot Agriculture into such close relations as shall maintain the highest degree of efficiency. The same applies in regal’d to the 'several Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in the Dominion, which, while maintaining friendly relations, are all acting independently the one of the other. The board is to consist of 1; members, eight of whom are to be elected by the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies and by the Farmers’ Unions as directly representative of agricultural communities. Without at present committing ourselves to approving of the two bodies referred to as being thoroughly representative of the farming community, especially Ln the South Island, it may be at once admitted Mr Massey's proposals are calcinated to keep the Dominion well abreast of the times. Whatever else may be argued to the contrary, the pith and marrow of this Dominion consists in its agricultural development, ami the future greatness of New Zealand depends to a large extent upon ability to settle the people upon the land. It is slowly but surely dawning upon the minds of men that 'the city is but a symbol of bondage —the scapegoat of civilisation. —and that if there is to lie freedom, and sanity, and sweetness, the people must be taught to live in the country, and that the aggregation of men, women, and children in towns and cities is the origin of all the ills underneath which mankind at present groans. But before this return to Nature becomes universally possible, the conditions of residence in the country must undergo radical alteration, and to this end science comes to the aid of agriculture. As one writer tersely puts it:—“The truth is that to enjoy the country pure and simple is not the easiest thing in the world; perhaps an art is necessary to-day to give scope even to our deep ancient instincts. At present men use town and country to set off one another, taking smaller and smaller doses of each.” And Richard Jeffries plainly says ; “If you wish your children to think deep things—to know the holiest emotions —take them to the woods and bills, and give them the freedom of the meadows. . . . Rut away their books

A Board of Agriculture.

and give them the freedom of the meadows. Do it at any cost or trouble to yourselves if you wish them to become great men and noble women.” And Whitman follows in the same strain: “Away then to loosen, to unstring the divine bow so tense, so long. . . . Away from curtain, carpet, sofa book. . .' . A wav thou soul . . . for one day and night, at least, returning to the naked source life of us all—to the breath of the greatsilent. savage all-conceptive Mother. Alas! how many of us are so sodden—how many have wandered so far away that return is almost impossible.” The universal cry to-dav Is “back to the country.” “back

to the land,’’’ “back to the Mother of all/’ And in so far as the Board of Agriculture will help to lend force to that cry, a beneficial purpose will have been served.

While in Wellington Sir Joseph Ward

struck a true note when The Remedy for referring to the signs of Degeneracy, degeneracy so evident on

every hand in the Homeland. He exclaimed: “We in the country should try to keep this problem away. We should try to prevent any paths ever being made which would lead to degeneracy and only have to be pulled up when the trouble may ha.ve already entered into the community. W e sJiould try to keep those paths that lead away from degeneracy and not pull them up by unwisdom in the name of reform. The Right Hon. John Burns placed his linger on one source of degeneracy in the Old Land when he' said there were too many childless women mourning over cats and keeping company with dogs. And there can be no doubt that many women, physically and mentally fitted to become mothers, deliberately evade their responsibility in this matter, leaving the propagation of the race to the unfit and inefficient. At the Medical Conference in London, where a number of the world’s most eminent doctors were discussing the question of infantile mortality, mention was made of Dr Truby King's efforts in Xew Zealand, and the London press commended the example of. this Dominion to the Motherland. The Government is following up Dr King’s efforts in. the preservation of infant life* by placing upon the Estimates a sum for the establishment of a girls’ special school at Otekaike, where, at present, provision is only made for boys. There can be little doubt that the enlargement of the method of segregation pursued under this special school system will do much to check the spread of lunacy, idiocy, and degeneracy generally, and the Government is to be commended for its action in this respect.