TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 19522, 23 May 1922, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

A defence of the Government against a suggestion that it has been starving education by stinting its expenditure upon the schools has been advanced by the Newsletter, which says:—“The Government last year spent nearly three times as much upon education as its predecessors spent in 191112, the last year in which the continuous Liberal Administration held office, and also expended in the same direction considerably more than any of the State Governments of Australia, while per head of population it was a long way ahead of any of the Australian States.” The writer quotes statistics to prove that although the population is smaller by 600,000 or 700,000, New Zealand has since 1919 spent more on education than New South Wales, and has for years, in proportion to population, spent more than any of the Australian, States. He quotes the following figures in support of this statement:—

These figures show conclusively that the Government is not “starving education,” but tehy also give rise to the inquiry as to whether the superiority of the New Zealand system over the Australian is proportionate to the differences in the amount of expenditure. The Communist rising in Bulgaria was not unexpected. For some time the radical elements in the country have been organising for the attempt and doubtless advantage has been taken of the dissatisfaction that arose from the peculiar dispute between the Minister of Education and the Bulgarian University over decree

to remove three lettera from the alphabet. The university faculty protested vigorously and the Government stopped the pay of the objecting professors, who thereupon attempted to appeal to the public. The minister, who is also the Censor, prohibited the publication of the university’s statement and the quarrel extended to the populace. Bulgaria is staggering under burdensome taxation, and is recovering very slowly from the effects of the war, in addition to which she has ben subjected to some extensive propaganda from Russia. The disturbed atmosphere and the popular feeling against the Government over these other matters have given the Communists their opportunity and it is evident that the outburst is of more serious proportions than the first cabled news suggested. There has been nothing to suggest, however, that the mass of the Bulgarians have any desire to copy the Russian experiment.

Per Capita Expenditure. State 1914. 1916 1918 192 0. s. d. s. d. s. d. 8. d. N.S. Wales 18 11 18 4 21 0 23 7 Victoria 16 3 16 5 17 6 19 9 Queensland 21 6 20 8 24 4 30 5 S. Australia 15 6 15 4 18 5 20 9 W. Australia 21 9 21 11 25 9 27 9 Tasmania 11 n 12 7 14 2 16 7 New Zealand 23 1 2o 8 31 7 42 4