The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1885.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 3411, 2 September 1885, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1885.

The debate on the Education Vote m the House appears to have had the effect of " drawing out " the South Canterbury members, all of whom had something to say about it. The amount proposed by tbe Government for public schools was £'315,500. Captain Sntter moved that the item " Special capitation on 80,000 attendances at ss, £20,000," be reduced by £10,000. The Premier pointed out that if it were the desire of the House to reduce this vote, due notice ought to be given to tbe Boards, because they had made their arrangements on the faith of 5s being given for this year. If the item were reduced by £1 be would take that as an indication that the House wished it to be reduced next year, and he would give intimation to the Boards accordingly. Captain Sutter accepted thiß suggestion and accordingly moved an amendment for striking £1 off the rate. He thought from his experience m his own district that tbe Board of Education had too much money, and instead of supplying schools for primary education it was spendingmoneyinerectingdistrict high schools and m giving scholarships where, they were not wanted. One district high school, he said, was erected within twelve miles of the central High School, and they were simply starving tbe primary schools. Mr Turnbull made his usual stand on behalf of tho Roman Catholic population, who, he urged, were very unfairly taxed m this matter of education. He expressed his approval of the action of the Upper House, who introduced an amendment into Mr Steward's Bill providing that no capitation should be given on account of children under seven years of ago. By this alteration he believed a saving of £60,000 a year would bo effected. Finally, he moved the reduction of tbe vote by £50,000. Mr Fergus, on the other band, did not believe that the alteration would save £5000 a year to the State. At the present time, he pointed out, there were a large number of children attending tho schools of the colony under tho age which had been fixed as the minimum by tbe Legislative Council, but it required the full amount of tbe capitation allowance given for those children to enable Education Boards to support schools m Bparselysettled districts. Even tbe Premier turned upon his dovoted follower, and said the Honorable Member for Tiraaru seemed to proceed on tbe very peculiar argument that, because tbe House would not increase tbe vote by giving a grant to tbo Roman Catholics, therefore it should decrease this vote. If tho House followed up what the honorable gentleman proposed it would require £40,000 or £50,000 a year more by including the Roman Catholics. To this Mr Turnbull promptly rejoined that the Premier had misrepresented him. His argument was not that if they reduced tbo amount thoy should give it to the Roman Catholic schools,

but that if the reduction were made, as be proposed, tbe Roman Catholics would not be pressed for so large a contribution as they bad now to pay without getting anything m return. Mr Dodson also advocated the cause of the Roman Catholics. In reply to Mr Fulton, Mr Stout said the effect of the alteration proposed by the Legislative Council would be a saving of £50,000 or £60,000, but be admitted, iv answer to Mr Fergus, that it would also mean the closing of a number of small country schools. Mr Montgomery held a similar opinion, and said either a capitation must be given for children below seven or else there must be a higher capitation for those who were above that age. • He did not believe there would be any | saving, except perhaps m respect to the schools m towns. The school age m New Zealand, he declared, was already higher than it was m other places. In England and Scotland the school age was from 3 to 18 ; New Zealand, 5 to 15; Victoria, 3 to 16 ; Queensland, 5 to 15 ; and New South Wales, 4 to 14. ' He also showed that m all the Australian colonies, except Queensland, the , cost of education per head was higher j than it was m New Zealand. This again brought Mr Turnbull to his feet, and once more the bon. gentleman declaimed against the injustice of the present system. He believed that the children o£ the poorer classes left school at the ages of 11 and 12, while those of richer people did not leave until they were 14, 15, and 16 yeai'6 of age. It came, therefore, to this : that the poor people were taxed to keep at school, for three or four years longer than their own children could be kept there, tbe ( children of well-to-do people. This, by the way, it must be admitted, was an ingenious way of putting the case, ! but we do not believe Mr Turnbull is altogether correct m thi3 ' particular view of the matter. He forgets that a good many of the , ■wealthier people do not send their children to the primary schools at all, and he also forgets that on account of their wealth they have to contribute a proportionately larger share to the taxation of the country, and the support of the education system. The fact is the latter is probably the best return which the poorer classes get for their contribution to the public burdens, and we believe, as a rule, they are fully alive to this fact. To return, however, to the debate. Mr Ormond waß strongly m favor of maintaining the present national system of education, and expressed his regret that tbe Government had not been more decided m the matter. Mr Ross bad a sharp fling at members of Parliament who had free railway passes, and yet charged Education Boards, of which they also happened to be members, with railway fan's. This he very justly stigmatised as " a mean, contemptible, not to say dishonest practice." Mr Dodson thought parents should pay school fees, thus reducing the cost of the system. Mr Rolleston regretted that the Premier had not answered a question put as to the building vote. He xirged that the vote for attendance could be much more satisfactorily considered if it were known what was going to be done as to providing accommodation for increased attendance. After some further discussion Mr Turnbull's amendment to reduce the vote by £50,000 was put and lost, only six voting m its favor. A fresh discussion then took place on Captain Sutter's amendment to reduce it by £1. In the course of his remarks tbe hon. member declared that a great number of tbe children m the Timaru public school were not four years of age. Mr W. J. Steward, after mentioning that he was a member of an Education Board, and also of the Waimate School Committee, and therefore knew tbe practical working of the Act, urged that even the present capitation allowance was not sufficient, m very many instances, to meet tbe legitimate charges against the Committees, and special efforts had to be made to supplement the funds. He gave an instance of an entertainment which bad been got up by the Waimate School Committee, and then went on to say that those gentlemen who m various parts of the country had the working of the education machinery were ready to make sacrifices of time and even of money m order to carry on the education system, and be did not think they should be called upon to make greater sacrifices. Captain Sutter then declared, with characteristic warmth, that Tho South Canterbury Board wore spending money m such a way that thoy destroyed tho Erimary sohoola m keeping up a mongrel reed of other schools. They wore taking funds from primary schools to snbsidieo toachors m secondary schools. To this Mr W. J. Steward simply replied that the hon. member was quite mistaken. Tbe debate went on for some time longer, and m tbe end Captain Slitter's amendment was rejected on the voices, and tbe original vote was carried. The debate, it will be Been, was of an interesting cbaraoter, but tbe only practical result was to show that the large majority of the House are m favor of the absolute maintenance of tbe present system of education. ♦ We congratulate the Mayor of Timaru on tbe statement he was enabled to make to the Borough Council on Monday night m reference to bis recent visit to Wellington. While m the midst of tbe seductive delights of the gay metropolis, enjoying a well-earned holiday, His Worship still managed to keep an eye strictly upon business. The arrangement which he made for connecting the Hospital, Council Chambers, Railway Station and Courthouse with the proposed telephone exchange, will be a great publio convenience. The Mayor is also to be commended for bis energy m bringing under the notice of the Minister for Public Works the claims of the Harbor Board to an endowment, although we are sorry to Bay there is nothing very encouraging m the reply of the Minister. It is just simply the usual polite way that Ministers have of evading a troublesome question — nothing more. If the Government were at nil disposed to give an endowment to this Harbor Board, they have abundance of precedents for doing so, m not one of which precedents, by the way, can it be shown that the Government have reaped so much benefit as they have out of the Timaru Hnrbor works. The suggestion of His Worship that the matter should be taken up by the local bodies ib certainly a good one, and we hope it will be aoted upon. There is one point which particularly Btruok us iv the

Mayor's statement, and that is His | Worship's .evident pride m his native ! town. In Wellington the authorities ! have spent £100,000 m street improve- | ments, they have miles of footpaths laid I down with concrete flagging, and they I have wooden block crossings intersecting the principal streets at every corner. Iv spite of this, however, the worthy Mayor, full of affection for bis own beloved town, was unable to see that Wellington was any better off than Timaru iv respect to its streets. We admire His Worship's patriotism, and we will not dispute the accuracy of his observations. We will only ask that, m conjunction with his colleagues m the Council, he will not imagine that Timaru has yet attained perfection m regard to its streets, footpaths, and crossings. Let us have some improvement m this respect, and the next time the Mayor goes to Wellington he will be able to come back and tell us, with a glow of pardonable pride, that Timaru is far and away ahead of the seat of Government m regard to its municipal arrangements.