THE HON. G. FOWLDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14144, 2 March 1910, Page 2

THE HON. G. FOWLDS.

VISITS MOUNT COOK. A BUSINESS TALK. The Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister for Education and Minister in charge of Hospitals, arrived in Timaru by the second express from the north yesterday, and went on by the evening train, to Fairlie. Ho was. accompanied by two ai his daughters, and his private secretary, Mr Crow. Seen by a "Herald" reporter, the Minister gave some information of general interest. In reply to a question as to whether he approved of the school cadets being Bent to the Kitchener camps Mr Fowlds said that as a general rule he did not approve of cadet encampments, but the Kitchener encampments were a special occasion and it was desirable that Lord Kitchener should see the character and extent of the cadet movement in New Zealand. It was but right that he should see the material for the future defence of the country. Speaking of the Boy Scout move-' ment, the Minister said that the Scouts come under him by virtue of the Defence Act of last session, and he was glad to see the movement taking on so well. The Scouts would be recognised by the Defence Department, but the details of the measure of recognition had not yet been definitely settled. The fact that a boy was a Scout did not absolve ]iim from the necessity of going through the junior Cadet training, but his training as a Scout, could to a large extent be worked in with his Cadet training. In reply to questions concerning educational matters, the Minister, referring to the diminished grant to Boards this year, said that the only money he had kept back was the grant earmarked for rebuilding. It was all bunkum for any Board to say or to imply that the grant for ordinary maintenance had been cut down, for it had not. The basis on which the money given to Education Boards had been allocated, was set out in a report from the Edu- ■ cation Committee of Parliament, which | report was adopted by Parliament in I 1903. The reason that the separate items of the whole grant were not specified under different headings, was that at the start of the new system sonl e Boards said they did not require j all the money which the Department had allowed for maintenance, and they contended that it was absurd to tie their hands or bind them down so that they could not effect small additions to schools, or erect porches when they had sufficient money in hand with which to do it. And so it was agreed that a small percentaga of it could be spent on new works What had been kept back this year was the rebuilding fund, and not the maintenance fund. Taking the Education Boards as a whole, they had only spent 59 par cent, of the money which had been paid over for rebuilding purposes. It was suggested to the Minister that it was hardly fair to make a calculation as to what the Boards had done as a whole, as some might require much and others very little. the fact remains," replied tne Minister, "that none of them have spent more than they actually received, on rebuilding, and some have spent a great deal less. Stopping the rebuilding grant this year should not affect the' ordinary work at all, and if any Board "desires to know how much of the total grant is for rebuilding, the information can be obtained from the report of the Education Committee of 1903. This gives the basis on which the rebuilding money and the money for maintenance is to be allocated." Continuing, Mr Fowlds said the money that had teen distributed this year was not quite tip to the basis of that set down for maintenance, but he hoped to make a further distribution, as was done last year, to bring it up to the basis agreed upon. He could not do this until he had ascertained the surplus available from various other funds which were in credit. Asked whether he approved of the action of the South Canterbury Board of Education in sending Home for an agricultural instructor, Mr Fowlds said yes, the Board had done the right thing. 'We had not yet produced trained instructors in the Dominion. We might have men with fairly good scientific attainments, but without training a§ instructor!. It tra* •

new tiling fox - New Zealand, and it was right that a good standard siioukl be sat by getting the hast men with the latest ideas and methods of, instruction. He was satisfied that some Boards had thrown away a lot of money through employing as instructors men who had had nothing but a colonial training. He did not wish to say one word in depreciation of colonials. They would be capable enough if they had the advantages "of training. Some of them had done very good work as teachers, but the majority had not the ability to impart their knowledge to others. An instructor without the faculty of teaching was of very little use. If they had been in the Training College and had afterwards taken up agricultural science they would probably have done all right. The South Canterbury Board had taken the right course.

Passing from matters educational to a part of his work as Minister for Hospitals, Mr Fowlds was asked concerning his "scheme for nurses for the back blocks. He explained that this is an experiment, and he was in hopes that it will turn out to be one of great advantage to those who are far removed from medical men. It has been decided to train nurses at the various St. Helens Maternity Hospitals throughout New Zealand. Those who come from country districts and. are recommended by Hospital Boards, will be trained free of charge, on condition that they afterwards practise in the country. The training course would last about twelve months. There was, he said, a scarcity of trained nurses, especially of those for maternity work. Special provision was made in the last Act, for Hospital Boards io place district nurses in outlying settlements, either on a guarantee or by some other arrangement. The salary and expenses of a nurse, about £2OO per annum, should be partly guaranteed by the settlers among whom she would work, and fees would be charged on a fixed sca'le. Persons who were not in a position to pay, however, should not be charged. Questioned as to hi? future movements, the Minister s/id that lie" would go on from Fairlie to Mount Cook today. He had not yet been to this popular tourist resort, and was anxious to spend a week-end there after all he had heard in praise of it. His visit would be quite unofficial. On Monday next he would go on to Dunedin to open additions to the hospital there—a new out-patients department and a dispensary—this function taking place on next Friday week.