The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1908. TEACHERS' SALARIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 13738, 31 October 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1908. TEACHERS' SALARIES.

The -members of the South Canterbury Educational Institute at their-, inee-tinjC this morning a.ro to disetiHs a questioU of personal interest io collie of them, and of general interest to the electors as a light, upon the- ways of Minister?, und the necessity for strengthening powers of criticism of the opp<xdtio\t.. Hid question ts this : An amendment- of , the Education Aot» : passed vided • for an increase in the salaries of the lower paid teachrrs. /nd. .it was understood . that all lower t>a.lat-ie« .ot teachers m sole charge ot -.schools were; io-'b? ..raised at - once to a tninimum.df £9O a. year. Various branch. we believe. wrote and. telegraphed to-the Mimster for Education . their : thanks for thiA 'improvement, m tlijp pa v. of the : poorly-paid teachers'.of .'the email-schools. • Theae are usually fouud in out-of-the-way phcts. without resiileiiees, and the lowest salaries can scarcely. I 'amount to a living wage: • -. It now appears. that 'iJjevleWfJs sn« telegrams referred to were and that the teachers had reckohfdv'wutliout"lheir hft-t. In,all probability they had ,not seen the Hill, und were unaware of -some of i;s details. Even if.- they hu! ben awareof^them./ theyimiglit; construed it as Mr' Mnssey; evidently did - when ' speaking in' tha second' reading debate, on the measure.. At" the present time, I understand," said -v'Mr Massey, " tinder . the term ' sole , teachers' may ■be included ;the teachers-, referred' to -in what is''-called' - in thi,? Rill Cla>.«-0-,—the.teacher who! under t-sisting circumstances- would comment^';sonte'wheifc- with" ,a Salary .. of £4B—that, is to say, with pvpilf. drawing a capit#ttoH of • £6" per.yhwd from each. 1 ant glad 'to notice that' in the present Rill the nvininttun : salary will be £9O jvjt anhuln. and this, £9O imnut- 100 to commence With." Here- was ». plain opening. for a. eotjection 'bv •,tlic . Mniiter, if Mr ihwyls interpretation of Hie Rill was wrong, but no correction was offered, and the teatliers as well as Mr Maiwy were misled bv the Minister's, The 'f;lgns. in question is .clause 7, of which the first. Hub-chut-i* read's'" Subject to the provisions hereinafter contained iii this i-eetion, the salaries payable to teachers in public schools ."hall l>o the salaries of -.he grades and >ul> glades . . . ~ prescribed for' those teach?) s >n the second •ichedulei herotii." 'II ic salaries (prescribed contain no jninimum leifw than £9O ; i ve.tr. The Hill was passed, became an Act to Iw administered, a" direction to titv Education Department. On .Saturday last » question was raised ;i.s to the meaning of uub-elause 3 of clause i, >vh|ch reads:—'"A teacher who is employed in a public ichool at the comnuneemuit of thit- Aci .shull, so l'H>S as he remans in tlte same position, receive as from the ljeginninj* of < i aeh year annual increment of £5, in addition to the salary received by him ot the comnuncement. of this. Act, until his salary reaches ilie maximum for the gradeor»uligrado of salary at tacljed to 1 hat pnfil ion hy this Act." The question was whether the sm nu.il iiicremeni. wau to be made tljinn the -ytl.tiy rec«- : ved for 1908, or on the salary pre-icribed by thew-wAct. 'l'he Mitus-t-r, and thi> chief executiv<> offictr of the Department, Sir O. tJibbs, i»ay that tie' meaning is plain, and nay. in effect, thai: the words "Kilaiy received by him at the i-nmm.<jicenK-iit of ihi.i Act" refer to the u-ilaiy re<x-iv'-d Ixtfoiv the commeti«\-meiit of tie- Act. Th»; interpretation w based ufMit an ajiplii-aiioti of the wor<k in the first i,iilisrctinii. " tiubjef-t n> the provisions hereinafivr coniained i« this miction.' Thk;, to our mind, is a forced ami quite umiatural cumbitiation of two entirely die-tiiti-i provi"ions-. Tho fliist directs that the salaries tthall Imi th«m« pivsctibed iu the schedule, and 4IIW schedule hliowa muiimum maximum salaries, and annual increment. The third Hulxioction was evidently .introduced f«>r the fcole of defining Jiow the annual jnmwK'nt>.vt to lx- applied, and not to inaj;.- ;i new and rout radictoiy provivion a riling Kilaty to he paid apart from tin- im-reoient. Tlk nest »nlyyetiAn tvupj«ns,i this view, f<ir it distinctly prO' [ vide* tlKtf . very te.ic!i' <' njtjminied afi'-r the commesiceitwiit of tl»e Act- is to ivc<iv.the. minimum Hdary given in the schedule, therefore if the iniei-jirot.-ition of the ilm-isu-r and lr„ nfiVer is newly apjs.iiited t« .-u hers will, in M>me C36«>», reixiv.- r s.il.iri<-« lh.i« "Id oiieo. Teachetrt nr.- now paid under *ome ttaititory authority. Rut. fln> n-nr Aet njwals th.K particular atithonty and ireM<* » n.-w t<. i-o[ii« in!« on January 1.-.t. in xf : <-maiMjm-nily "the salary re-e.-iv. dby him file- tc.vherl the comm. tir limit of this Act." tmw rrfer t'« the «■ t. forth in I his Art to l« »c K-ivrd, iii>t t-i a MUrv «(<-fivc«l tiiuiT the rcj». ;d> d Ait. Scrtioit 4 eay* that " th* *..i).iri«i. payable t<> t'Milu-r* in |>uhl|.»chm.i« nr.- h'r.bv <)a«<utt<sl iu grade* :>isd Miti grader-." How the Mihi*i ,, 't- *od in* S». fetal v <:•!» wy tlw!i otlu'!' »»[»»•(<•« thin tiiif" thti". t )«£-.,died uiay le' paiil. *,liat. tiiuie of tf.uhUTi now in the y-rvnc the elaoxitli-«t«oti. which in the printipal fe;iltir« of this amending Act, U a ijur».tton whifh they ought to lie called upon '■<> -nmVer fully nod dearly, Mr Ma»>ry «;is 5 , re^anlfug tmM!"r at hi* mating la*t night,

.'and--be confirmed what he had said in >y' replying that he was very m'wV' 'tKat /the- adnurusirators of tbelVrt-hadloofced at id from a. different point self-aid oser raejabpys.