South Canterbury Times. THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1896.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 8425, 23 January 1896, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1896.

Mr Carnbll, M.H.R. for Napier, last session moved for a return of certain facts regarding the high schools in the colony. This has been published, and from it we learn that there were,last year, 24 such schools, with 136 teachers, and 2454 pupils, and that the expenditure for 1894 was £48,390. This expenditure gives an average cost per pupil of very nearly £2O. Another question was as to the numbers of pupils unable to pass Standard YI. This could not have expressed what Mr Carnell wanted ; at all events no one else wants it. It would have been useful perhaps to know how many pupils have been enrolled, say for one or two years past,af ter passing the sixth standard at the primary schools. Another question was: “What arrangements have been made for the education of children who have passed Standard VI ?” The replies from the schools were generally to the effect that the high schools have nothing to do with Standard VI. They take a boy as they find him even Standard \ I proficiency is variable—and do their best for him in their own work. The headmaster of the Timaru school, in his reply to this question added “ I would respectfully point out that, as the Sixth Standard is the culminating point for those who would be leaving school at fourteen or fifteen, presumably their scholastic education has been made in some sense complete, it is not desirable that those who go on until sixteen or seventeen should remain to pass'the Sixth Standard at the public schools instead of beginning their secondary work proper. Some years of experience of both primary and secondary education in New Zealand have convinced me of the error on the one hand of supposing that the secondary schools should begin where the primary schools leave off, and on the other of the great necessity for the proper co-ordina-tion of the two classes of schools. Quite a large proportion of our pupils benefit to only a slight extent by our instruction, because they come to us too late to allow time for doing the higher work thoroughly, and therefore profitably.”

What a farrago of a speech Mr Chamberlain must have made at tine Lamington banquet, if the cableman has not libelled him. A part of the Empire in danger through the incidents in the Transvaal, England’s misfortunes, hostility and hate of jealous rivals, and her love of peace, maintain her rigid s and fulfil her duties! The Empire was in danger of being scandalised by the Transvaal incidents, and nothing has been done to remove the scandal. The proper course would have been to assist the Boers to capture the Jameson filibusters, pay for the damage done by the trespass, and take the men home and punish them. The incidents generally are like nothing so much as the squabbles between two bad-tempered neighbours, such as we hear of sometimes in our law courts, where the owner of a trespassing cow behaves as if he were the injured party. Let England do the right thing, whether for or against herself, and there would be no need to talk about “outbursts ” against her.

Artificial rain-makers will be set off again by the news from Bourke, where on an intensely hot day—l2o in the shade—an explosion of dynamite brought on a downpour of rain. The information is not complete enough to guide future experimenters, as it is not stated how much dynamite was exploded. What was actually done with the weather was to create a strong updraft,—indicated by the the roof of the shed going up 100ft—the consequence being that the slightly moist lower air was carried up into regions where its degree of humidity was too great for the altitude. The unintended experiment does not appear to have been a great success, as it only rained for five minutes, and then, it is likely, the 120 in the shade returned, and the result of the explosion would soon be dried up.