ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 109, 2 November 1863, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

'% W» ' p6':. NOT VHpLW ;;qWM^YB*^.B^jp ; (WSI^B ; ; I ■ -„FOlt T^ ; ;-^OTONS^KHJBMB^;*t :: OURf I jjTo the Editw}ofiike J^ercorgiUfi^a.yU I S!ib,— The indiffetence with which the public I *n< I^ 'tlieir' repreflontatites tlook i/iipbn;" all public I? td» ttera not immediately affectinff. thomselyes in. f thi • vital part was exemplified the -other night I da ring tke discussion of the Education Estimates. I Hi ich as has been said in the public prints of late I up on the Education^Ottlin«m;e, not- two, certainly , ill- V t three members of the. Council seemed to know fa*^&ythin>f abcufcit. MrTurltoa of course made |l tk «jharacteristic speech' upon : the subject, telling Wk vi- « great deal what we-knew -before, « great || dflal that kedid not lu^eto"Btee pushecl to it's I 1 W^itimate consequences, and a great deal it would. |l slot do to loiok more "closely into, arid rob of tlie|l (Jachantment^ distance lends to it. He-congratu-uited the present Government upon- the -successful forking of tjieirf own "Ordlnante, in w.pite of somertefects.H(B» yassaht, wbynot pm|)ose some remedy for those same defects ?) He '; Enumerated six' 1 schools at work, this year against' wne last year. It istrue^tbat Mr Tarltoa has ■{received £250^ or; £3oo ayear for' inspecting onej jschool for the greater portion of two years, but has ijhe six- to inspect now ? His catalogue includes jlnTercargill/Riverton,' South Riv'erton, TVaiauiwa, Irampbelltown, and Mavis Bush. Now I have (learned something about alt _of these, which I Mr TatltOD,accoraing to; the papers did not seem Ito be aware of, or .of course he would "not have suppressed anything, especially being no flatterer or jinythm? of that kind, (Walker !) \%t I'te Invercargill School Committee are at present at logger10■I heads with the same Mr Tar lton. 2nd. Kiverton, ill *f* r a l° n S series of heartburnings, has a school, |l and one of the Government importations, I believe, fil. quartered upon them in the'absence of one member |1 of (lie committee. 3rd. Waianiwahas one of the fa game importations, but no buildings, and no money, |1| nor any timnredia.te prospect of either, for the |a thing has been' found unworkable, and" the district |1| is to be exfrended'to : t«ke in one or two large pro- :-|| perties belonging" to -poor unmarried proprietors, |1 upon the principle 'advocated byTthe Southland il Ifetes, of making the richer in acres and poorer I m olive branches pay for those who are rich in the I latter, and fortunately irot-so : largely in for the for- ? iner, to the benefifciSf the landTevenue.. This will be I carrying out the principle called by the Inspector of f . Schoolff(taiary £350) and Provincial -Treasurer, selfI help ; I suppose synonymous^with helping oneself v 'to his neighbor's superfluities under- protection of ; the law, for wby should one man have more thnn ;, another in money, houses, or land? 4th. — At i 'Campbelltown 'anybody ''can see that no buildings :: we completed, and "a visitor may long search for £ tbe school said to be open there. The chief - difficulty has been > the money. SA.nd at the : long push it is well .known that one individual v. contributed his £100, which very much helped the* ? ni'tter. That was self-help. We must not sup-, t .pose for a moment that the Provincial Treasurer ■ ;approves gejaer&lly of Hhis.£riiiciple i wb.en we con- ' sider the ticklish responsibility of his position. ■; The only man <who spoke a^ensible word upon the. : Education Estimates was Mr Wilson, who, seeing! I : .; how unfairly the present system of assessment falls, proposed that the Government should pay the v whole cost ofnecessapy buildings, instead of half.' : This he said, -woald -give the schema a chance of ■'! working. Of course, Mr T. has no "interested me tives tor making things couleur 'de rose,- though ho openly accused a man ten times his superior of : I interested motives for-supporting a-vote-for a- cul- ; vert. The sum total' is, then— ls a bad ordinance •admitted such, and left for aeother.-year or so before 1 it is mended? -I am, Sir, 3Tours, *&s., "Common Sense. (To tlic Editor of the Invereargill Times.) Sib,— rises in your columns of "to-day a paragraph", stating that the Government have invited tenders for a Tug ef nob less than two hundred tons, and ' thirty horse power. "With the most delightful display t>f -innocence of the-subject they are treating, they do not say whether she is to be 200 tons register, or gTOSs tonnage. What on earth do' they expect to do with a vesasl of 200 toas ■with 30 'horse power? Swch a vessel would scarcely be able to drag herself along, let alone tow f \y vessel astern df her. vThe Aphrasia, the vessel all I iands complain abomt,.is under 100 tons register, il and over 50 horsefpower, which 'fact- will give youl§ to tie idea of the utility of such a f essel iia'tbat menJKifo ted in your paper. „What wa want here ii astrong built, light draught' (say sft:), paddle I eteainer, ot'«bout 90 to 120 tons register, with from 1 60 to 75 horsepower, of 'simple construction, really \ I good, such as would wear out two vessels. Wo can build vessels, but cannot-yet make engines. Such a vessel as I recommend could be brought out to this country within*6 months -from tkis date from the Tyne or Clyde for from £€500 to £5000. I hope for the sake of those who have the nautical interests of this province in their hands, that the 200 tons and 30 horse power will turn out- to be an error of the printer's devil rather than of the naval iirc'aitect. * -'I am Sac,, A Steam-boat Sallob . ♦ (To the Editor of the Invereargill Times:') Sib, — 1^ observe that a reading room is being '"built in- connection with the Athenaeum. When it is completed it will be found of immense use to the masses, as so fur as I 'have been able to learn there are no books worth mentioning to read in connection with it. There <is one small box df heavy literature, presented by his Honor the Superintendent, and there are a few^ odd numbers of Cornhill, JBlackwood, and the milksop little periodical called on 'the -lueus a iion lucendo principle, the Leisure Sour, but beyond these and a stray opy of -Punclt, the collection does not extend. Tbe furnishings of .simply a smoking-room are thus afforded, a smoking room without smoke, for I fear my cigar will'not be permitted in """the Reading Boom." 'Considering these things, I cannot help suggesting', 'that if the additions to the Institute are to be of a bona fide character, the Secretary should exert himself in procuring sub--1 scriptions for ; the purchase of a library, and a' so in inducing the public to give donations of books from the shelves of their pwn cases. If this be too much trouble or not feasible, I would recommend 'that the new -room be made serviceable for some other purpose, fhat is at any rate definite — say, a refuge for well intentioned barmaids, or in other vords, a vestibule "to the new 'theatre. ITiope the Secretary and Management of the Institute will take a hint, not unkindly meantfrom Yours obediently, Xenoshos. • ■ ■■- '(To the Editor of the Invereargill 1 imes.) Sib,— l was particularly delighted with one of your " leaders " in last issue, advocating the for-mation'of-a-volunteer-corps here. -Speaking from experience, I can confidently assert that no movement ever yet inaugurated ias-had a more benefi- . cial effedfc on 'the you£h ot a nation; and no language -that you or-any one can employ would over-estimateits importance. For boating, crickdting, and other out-door sports, I have the highest respect, and at different times have taken a keen part in them, but above all, commend me to -a, volunteer rifle company. Independent of such a I vital 'consideration as being able, in -concert with ■ others, to V : defend youthear.th and home," the rifle volunteer -enjoys all the advantages .which other exercises offer dn developing his physical and lporal nature. If he goes into it with'anytbing like spirit, many months will not-elapse before he finds himself ;•» -^narter > mati, moro. able-bodied citizen, and with a mind more clear than any other Recreation -I know df -ean -give; Foe -these — the lowest reasons— l would support it and only hope that some influential parties will soon commence the movement here. There mußt be no loss of time in waiting for Goyernment-appbiated Instructors, as I am certain there are not a few in Invereargill -able and willing to make a company or. two thoroughly proficent in the preliminary movements *t all -events, without tbe aid of "an Adjutant or Drill Sergeant. I am, &c., N. Late Color Sergeant, 51st L. V, R. I : ,