The Waikato Times. UNKNOWN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1872.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 96, 10 December 1872, Page 2

The Waikato Times. UNKNOWN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1872.

Till-: inhabitants oif- tin: province of Auckland are to be congratulated. Tin; Education Bill lias practically psuwed, wjbli, only op.c material alteration from tho original draft. The direct taxation clause met with opposition,, more particularly from Mr Creighton. Wo cannot he.ip thinking that if that gentleman ha,] li iU l a. little- rnore to say on the quosiio.n Jt* Education from his.seat in the General A>-s,T..:i>ly, he conld.with better graae Uaye opposed tlu- locu'i bill. He suems. to ig-noi-o thr: fact that it: is the rly.ty ot' the State to provide efficient education fl'V the people, and contents himself with pointing - out that we in the r.erth have been unfairly dealt with, as. Lvgards land revenue.. Vke v,-ill waive this question, and admit that such has been the case, as nut being- the point, the. Council, had to of-nsidev. They had to deal with the question of rducaiion as it stood, not as it hare done under different circumstances, or if. a. greater modicum of justice* had. been meted out to us bv the (.iencral Assembly in reference to other financial questions. The point t'roai which the Council had to look :it the question \yag, '-Jf we are to. have rduir.tion at all we must provide the machinerv to curry on a system of our own,, and the means to p.oy Ibr it." Tho Council lias altered the eliding pcale of taxation proposed to one uuiform. rate of i!l per house regardless of. rental or value. This has removed one of the greatest obstacles to the f.ucre?slnl working of the bill, there will now be no jicivssit.y for asse.-sing household property, which C'Hild only have been done at considerable expense. ]l mny be urged that the tax pa it now stands will Ivar unequally on tho poorer classes, inasmuch as they will pay more in proportion to their incomes ihau thdir richer neighbours. It will bo rememberdd that the original proposition was to impose a

tax viu'vinir Horn 10s. to £:2 on hou>i'hokie- s uhi'striiimial re:;t varied from beW £20 to over £5 . It is true that, the payment \vi<l be la'gtr in j-ru-pm-tion to tlic presumed income, but, we mu.>l not. forget that u> a limited extent only the ruber classes will avail theniseLyea ot the schools esiab'-ished by tbo fund,, they, in most cases, w.ili send their children to hiprliur class schools, where the standard of education will n't thorn to boll a better [iofc.ilion in society. The c'ass, therefore, that derives the yi eutest. direct benefits from, nationa, tducation will justly pay a little more in proportion 10 their income towards the fund th.au the more : flluent classes v.ho. will derive little or no direct benefit. fr..)'.n. the expenditure of the rates. An j effort was,of course miide by the opponents of; the j bill to K',ir up the seeds of religious dissension, but j the mover voted by kiuisuif ia a very, thin house, j consisting , of only 15. This is an onifi), that when , education comes to be dealt with by the Coloni.il j hegisiature, the questian. ot religious teaching will i not be allowed to interfero with the passing , of a ; useful measure. The reading , of the Bible is objected j to by Catholics, and their prejudices are equally ; eniitkxl to respect as those who think that the book ! on which all our religions are based should be read I without comment: iNone can now cornphiin, 'hey | are all placed on an equal fooling , ; ;i.e ;i-Jv<r-nt'..-ri of n.'l;t;'i(;us teach ing have 111 <.- sati.--factiou.ot k•■ ■ j '.v: n ■..■ that if their own dogm-.s arc n<.t 'u '■>.' the minds of tlu-ir cliiidr.ni iii\ iL '-<j,,.:-\. iy i»: i> d open to receive. thu (eiichn;.;- ■■<£ lu-.-:r :-;;-u spiritual teachers. It is to be hoped ih.-.t :he.e is not a district iu the province in which the compulsory clauses will not bo brought into action. I Tho old and stale ;>.vgument that, forced education is an iiitei ferencG with the liberty of the subject is ; now well understood to be the cry only of those who object to paying' the cost of educating the poor, or of the poorer classes themselves, who, for the. sake of the small wages earned by their, qjiildreu. will, only send them to school when compelled. Our chil.ireu must be educated; if tho parent cannot do it after the State has provided the schools, the State must do it for them. Tho new bill exempts those from payment of the educational tax who fro,m their poverty arq. unable- to. contribute, their children are nevertheless to.be educated. If the compulsory clauses are vigorously enforced, in a few years the pitiable spectacle of young men unable to read and write will no longer grate the fe.el.in.ge of.those j who have tho welfare of the colony at Lear-fc. The-. Provincial. Incentive are entitled to the thanks o( tho .people for the l>lll they-introduced, and the firm manner in which they have carried it through the Council. The prophets of evil who predicted that the bill would be emasculated in Committee are i disappointed, there is more common sense and good feeling possessed by the members of our. Council than we gave them credit for. We are not fond of provincial institutions, as they are. called, but the passing of tho Auckland Education Act wii.l .always remain as an evidence ol their departed greatness.