The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." WEDNESDAY, 31st JULY, 1912 THAT EDUCATION COMMISSION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5965, 31 July 1912, Page 2

The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." WEDNESDAY, 31st JULY, 1912 THAT EDUCATION COMMISSION.

Why was it appointed? We teelievo wn have discovered the secret. Was it because there was deep and widclv spread dissatisfaction with our educational system i Was it, as with; a former .Education Commission, oceans,, teachers were snlTeriiif; from longstanding 'disabilities, and had lieen rending the skies with shrieks for redress ? Was it because the public had been crying loudly for a reduction in the eost. of education? Was it because educational reform was a burning question during the lute general election ? W« say uo to all these questions. But wc think we know why the Commission came into being though we must, admit wc iudgu only by appearances. Wo fancy it must have bovu created because Mr llogben wanted to advertise himsi.lt and his ideas. Wko is Mr llogben '.' The Inspector-General of Schools, no l*s; moreover, the chief adviser to the Minister of "Education, and the pow« behind the educational throne. And th e Power wanted to get into tlio limelight. Seemingly it prevailed on th» late Minister ef Bdueation to appoint a ftoyal Commission t ( , probe the depth of its intellect. Just to satisfy the demands of convention the Commission afleets to take evidence from other pundits. But it has bean evident ever since it started its job that its "chief duty is to examine Mr Hogben. Accordingly Mr iloghen travels round with the Commission. Mr Hog-ben is photographed with the Commission. When work is slack Mr Hogbe'n is always at hand to keep the ball rolling to the tune of threr guineas a day. Mr Hogbcn has always ssrne now evidence up his sleeve. And we have been regaled for. weeks with choice items culled) from Mr Uiog.ben's speeehes before the Royal Commission on Education. Mr Hog-ben's opinions on co-education of the Boxes, Mr Hog-ben's views on reformed spelling, Mr Hogiben's peculiar pronouncements on juvenilo caligraphy ■&<*., <&o.. &c. Really the monologue is getting; too monotonous. 'And we are paying for it, too. Mr "Hpfjben's services are, no dpubt, valuable, and his opin-

ions on education arc worth having. I!ut then v,v. hod Mr liogljoii's opinions on education before tho Itoyal Com-missiou was appointed. Are they not contained in the, syllajbun, Hint fount of Iwisdom from which our teachers and children drink deepdnilv draughts of intellectual stimulants. And Mr Llogben has often held forth lo inspectors' conferences a nd {teachers' conferences, getting his speeches printed every timo ? "Why should wo have in addition a Royal Commission all to himself ? Wo. aotice the Education Commission has applied for a further extension of tin.e. What for '! To get more evidence from Mr llogbon '/ A perilous experiment f or „ eountry deep in debt. Mii fertility of ideas on educational matters is inexhaustible. Hie eloquence on the sunn! subject is lar more expansile than the revenue. Goodness l/|iows when the Commission will finish its contrad if its period is to lx. measured by Mr Ilogbeu's generosity In prosent lily evidence. We guess tli<- members of the devoted Commission must he ivisiled by direful dreams of a long procession of witnesses, like*. Mac bcth's phantom kings, wlicse line stretches out l 0 tie- crack of doom, nil bearing the fneu and figure of Mr Uogben. By the way it may bo noted flmt Mr llogben occupies a rather 'anomalous position, inasmuch as, though he, is Ins|>ector-Cre,e:al () f "Schools, l»n is not lleneial of School Inspectors. They are under the lilucation Boards. Mr llogben is general of a little arnrv pf only three, one of whom is Assistant. InspertorXivneral. Two otlicers and two privates. A. model little army ! But why is it kept up at the expense of tho country ? Perhaps the expectation of being asked to answer that question is tho true inward reason why Mr Ilogben is in constant attendance on tho rlducatiou Commission.

THE BRITISH SUFFRAGETTES. It may bo siimui-sixl that tile rcwnt outbreak ot suffragettes in Dublin vat maaut to be a demonstration •gainst the refusul of the Imperial Government ito include women within tho scope ot the lately introduced Vill for crauting inanhood smffragi-. Tlie cable has pot informed us of the details of the new measure, but Mr Aftjiiith i 8 reported to have declared lug dubiousness concerning the safety and expediency of adding, by a stroke of the pen, ten million voters .(• tie electoral Kills. %ii is jut*

the old British distrust of sudden in- I novations manifesting itself. Mr Asqiiith and the more Conservative of lis colleagues and supporters are no doubt afraid that such a huge mass i.f new votes could not 'lip successfully .manipulated a»<J brought uidcr control by the party organisations, Experienced politicians and wire-pullers shy clear as long as possible from new dis- j turbing factors oi the problems they ' have to solve in the struggle to maintain themselves in power. At the same time the militant suffragettes have been doing their cause a great injury by affording their opponents in the Liberal Party an excuse for withholding the franchise from women more sensible and better balanced than themselves. Sober and staid Britons may well hesitate to grant more privilege* and greater power to educated women who are so deficient in judgment and a sense of proportion a» to think their slight grievances justify outrages against property and security of lift', which can hardly be thought excusable when perpetrated by mobs maddened by starvation and oppression. Because rask-rented or evicted Irishmen have occasionally shot landlords some of the suffragettes assert a Fight to burn down theatres and throw aie* about in order (to call public a tten : tion to their disabilities. We anticipate that in the dictionaries of the future ths word " suffragette "'will be defined as a dangerous femah- lunatic," or " a female anarchist." The great English middle-class must be c*ming to & pretty pass when sections of its femininely are prepared to commit arson, or " Bathe in brains the imirdmous tomahawk " simply because they are denied the right to scratch out secretly a person's name. Howeve», there can be no doubt that the supporters of women's franchise have a just case, as we in New Zealand have long ato acknowledged. And it is quite likelv that, if the militant suffragettes would only exercise the sweet feminine virtue of patience, and ccaso from committing irrational outrages, the good sense of British politicians of all shades of opinion would finally. •without much anore delay, triumph over tradition and prejudice sufficient ly to pass a measure establishing universal adulli suffrage. That such a law cannot tie long postponed is evident on study of political conditions in England. Universal male sufftasre is os-ly a step to universal adult enfranchisement. The jyorkers will all be ready to have their votes doubled.