HIGH IDEALS

Southland Times, Issue 19823, 20 March 1926, Page 8

HIGH IDEALS

EDUCATION TO-DAY SPEECH BY SIR JAMES PARR ROTARY’ CLUB’S FAREWELL. The country cannot go wrong by spending liberally in the bringing up of children in the .way they should go The schools to-day are great character makers and they are trying to create a good citizen for you. Thoy arc trying to build a boy that will b; honert and decent and a g.rl that will grow into a wifely woman. That is what dur Education system is endeavouring to do to-day:. In these wonk Sir James Parr, Minister < f Education and Postmaster-General, concluded a very interesting address on educaiionel matters at the weekly luncheon of the Invercargill Rotary Club yesterday in the Federal Rooms. The Minister, who is -hortly relinquishing Ministerial rank in erder to assume 4he duties of High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, was accorded a very enthusiastic and cordial refer ion by a large and representative gatherof Rotarians over whom the President, Mr William Macalister, presided. In proposing the toast of Sir James Parr, who was the principal guest of the club, Mr Macalister stated that it was a privilege and a pleasure to be able to welcome Sir James who had dene great things in the w ‘.y of education for the Dominion and whose genius in administering the important portfolios which he had held was wellknown. No doubt the principle of Rotary ‘ he profits most who serves best” had been one adopted by Sir James himself, and had enabled him to carry on with conspicuous success in the past and 'loubtless would if continued enable him to perform still greater things in London. In common with the rest of the Dominion they heartily congratulated him on his appointment to the coveted position of High Commissioner and wished him every success in carrying out the duties of that important office. The toast was enthusiastically drunk with musical honours. THE MINISTER’S RESPONSE. Sir James in responding expressed his sincere thanks for the kindly friendliness and the genial warmth with which he had been received that afternoon. His appointment to the important position was another stage in his experience which he thought had been largely due to his good luck. There was still one ambition that he had not so far been able to realise and that was to be Rotarian, but possibly a politician in his sublime selfishness placed himself outside the aims of Rotary. However, he would shortly vacate the political arena and become instead rather a big civil servant. At that stage he had no intention of saying much about his new position until he had had an opportunity of seeing for himself what it amounted to. THE IMPERIAL SPIRIT. “In my opinion,” said Sir James “the wisest and the most prudent course is to say nothing. I must, however, say that I consider no High Commissioner is worth his salt if he does not do his best to maintain, to consolidate and to increase, if possible, the weight and influence of Imperialism. I think it will be an ill day for New Zealand, if ever she does, to go from under the wing of the Motherland. It thculd be the principal function of the High Commissioner to maintain in its entirety our present relationship, cordial and warm hearted as it is towards the Mother Country. SIX YEARS OF SERVICE. “May I be pardoned if for a few moments I refer to one of the positions I am about to give up?” asked the speaker. “As you are all aware I have been in charge of the Education Department for over six years and though I have held many Cabinet offices during ■that time I have put my heart and soul into it. Those six years of hard work have rather told upon me and I shall be glad to have a change of work. But let me say that Ido not think that my new position will be better work than that I am about to hand over. Certainly I have succeeded in obtaining a large amount of money from the Treasury but that again has been my good fortune. For instance in 1913 the expenditure on education was £1,400.000 but to-day it has risen to approximately £3,500,000. Is it too much and should the vote be reduced?” he asked. TOO MUCH MONEY.

Referring to the expenditure on education the Minister remarked that a good many people held the opinion that too much money was being spent and that the country could not stand it. On the other hand the unfortunate Minister was being besieged from one end of the Dominion to the other to" expend more. The true position as usual was midway between the two extremes and the man who attempted to reduce the amount would experience a rough time. He was sure that as business men they would agree with him if for a few moments he quoted figures to show the exact position. Out of the amount contributed by the Consolidated Fund 81 per cent was paid out in wages and salaries to the teachers and professors. Would anyone say that at the present time the teachers were highly paid ? They were, however. reasonably and adequately paid and was impossible to do more than that under present circumstances. He believed ihat those present would agree with him that there was no other individual in the community who wielded a greater influence for good or ill than the teacher. He was the nerson who was building up the men and women of the future and making the characters of the children, who in a few years would be citizens of the town and their future masters. Consequently there was nn higher task open to men and women than the instruction of the young people of this country and, therefore, they should be well paid. As he had said they were reasonably well paid at the present time and he could say no more. Of the remaining 19 per cent of the total expenditure close on 11 per cent was paid out for school buildings and last year this amounted to no less a sum than £350,000 and covered all buildings from the university down to the small country schools. His personal opinion was that this was not too large a sum for such a purpose and if he had acceded to the demands of the boards and the councils the department could easily have spent over £1.000,000 per annum on new buildings alone. The fact that they had been able to do so much with the amount available reflected great credit upon the departmental officers and he ventured the opinion that the department to-day was erecting the cheapest and best buildings in New Zealand. Another 4 per cent, was paid out by way of grants to school committees and boards for reasonable maintenance, and the balance of 4 per ml In irtlil wtt W ” 11 ||>i I ’ " I absolutely nwwsary b WWW Nlll could they say that the department had been wasting money ? “MUST PAY FOR IT.” “You cannot have good education without paying for it” remarked Sir James, ‘‘and I believe that the country can well afford the expenditure incurred. At any rate I make no apology for the reasonable expenditure I have just enumerated which is about 1/8 of the total income of the State. It is not too much to pay for safety from revolutionary or destructive ideas. From time to time you and I have got to pay for sane thought in a young community such as we have in New Zealand. A great man a century ago said the principal object of sending children to school was to learn to think clearly. To my mind it is worth while for New Zealand to find substantial

sums each year as an assurance .against what has happened in Russia where through illiteracy the peasantry have fallen a pre}' to the tyrannies of Bolshevism. That is the price you have to pay for an illiterate population. The main aim should be to teach our children the force and simplicity of our English tongue.” “STOP THE DRIFT.”

“The great trouble to-day” said Sir James "is to stop the drift from the country to the city. So far as possible I have endeavoured to bring that about and to give the country children equal opportunities with those in the town. I have always had a warm spot 'for the country children because I myself came from a backblocks district and the lack of educational facilities there burned themselves into my very soul. Therefore I have endeavoured io help the dweller in the backblocks, who after all has enabled you and I to be here. And what have we done you may ask We have set out to do away with the old type of country schoolhouse and instead to provide an up-to-date school and staff with motor transport for children from several small districts. As a result the department has been able to give the children a first-class education. So far the experiment is proving a complete success and in the Te Kuiti district we have closed nine small schools and are bringing 180 children each day to a well appointed school. As a result the children are becoming civilised and are taking back into their homes in the more remote pane tne influences of the town. Consequently lam somewhat proud of the consolidated school. FURTHER PROGRESS. “Another departure is the introduction of the correspondence school. A few years ago it was found that quite a large number of children were receiving no education at all and to remedy the defect special teachers were appointed to supervise the work of the children affec.ed. To-day 597 boys and girls who otherwise would have received no education are being instructed in the various subjects and the opinion among the inspectors is that these children are holding their own with those more favourably- placed. ENCOURAGING THE SETTLER. “It is a good thing to have been able to accomplish something for these people in the backblocks” added the Minister, “and the future statesmen of New Zealand should use their best efforts to get the people to stay on the land. Our production must be doubled to ensure our future financial strength. We have got to keep the people on the land and consequently we have got to make their way happy and riot heavier than it has been in the past. One thing that has struck me most in the last six years about New Zealand education is the fact that no parent in the world has a greater love for his children than the New .Zealander, and he will make any sacrifice for his children to ensure them receiving a sound and liberal education. The people in the country, especially, do appreciate I am sure what we have attempted to do and I sincerely trust that my reply has not been unduly prolonged because I have tried to give you some information with regard to the activities of the department.”— (Applause).