FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO NATIVE SCHOOLS.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1865 Session I, E-03a

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FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO NATIVE SCHOOLS.

PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY COMMAND OF HIS EXCELLENCY. WELLINGTON. 1865.

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No. 1. W. Maetin, Esq., to the Hon. the Native Secretary. Sib,— Auckland, 6th May, 1864. In pursuance of a resolution of the Church of England Board of Native Education for this Diocese, I do myself the honor of addressing you on the subject of a Eeport made last year to the Native Minister by H. Taylor, Esq., then Inspector of Native Schools, relating to the school at St. Stephen's, Taurarua. The Board consists of the following persons —The Bishop of New Zealand, Archdeacon Kissling, the Chief Justice, Colonel Haultain, and myself; of whom all but the Chief Justice are also trustees of the school estate at St. Stephen's, Taurarua. This report appears to have been laid, together with other similar papers, before the General Assembly in the late session; but it remained wholly unknown to the Board until reprinted in the local newspapers in the course of January last, since which time it has until lately been impracticable to bring the members of the Board together. It was then found to contain a charge against the trustees of a breach of the trust which they have undertaken to administer, in which charge the Board by which the school has been administered must be considered implicated. But for this circumstance you would not have been troubled with the present letter. Ordinary mis-statements the Board would have been disposed to pass by ; but a charge of breach of duty, made and circulated in a sort of official way, was one which it appeared, necessary to notice. If the Inspector had, before sending in his report, communicated with any member of the Board, and informed him that he considered it a part of his duty to bring forward certain complaints against the managers of the school, such an explanation would have been given at once as would have in all probability removed the necessity of this correspondence. The Board and the trustees have from the beginning acted with perfect openness and publicity. Over and above the reports and certified copy of their minutes, which they are required to lay before the General Synod of the Church of England, the fullest information has been at all times readily given to every person who has asked for it. I am therefore instructed to pray that such precautions may be taken for the future as shall prevent charges against the trustees and managers of St. Stephen's School being circulated without previous notice to them, and without any opportunity of explaining the circumstances and defending themselves. Considering also the frequent changes of the Government, which render it possible that the Native Minister for the time being may have had no means of becoming acquainted with the facts connected with the foundation and management of St. Stephen's School, it has appeared to the Board expedient to subjoin to the above request a statement on that subject, which I proceed to make with all possible brevity. Previously to the year 1853 certain schools for the education of young persons, Natives or half-caste, had been founded and conducted by ministers of the Church of England ; also certain lands given for the most part by Natives, had been appropriated as sites, and as endowments for these schools. Crown grants had been issued accordingly. In every case, including that of St. Stephen's, Taurarua, the terms of the trust were as follows : —for the use of, and towards the support and maintenance of a school for the education of the children of Her Majesty's subjects of both races, and of children of other poor and destitute persons being inhabitants of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, so long as religious education, industrial training, and instruction in the English language shall be given to the youth educated therein and maintained thereat. In a letter dated 12th May, 18G3, from Sir George Grey to the Bishop of New Zealand, His Excellency proposed that a sum of £3500 a year should be placed at the disposal of the branch of the Church of England in New Zealand, provided the same were applied in conformity with the principles stated in a memorandum therein enclosed. The memorandum contained the following provisions : "All schools which shall receive any portion of the Government grant, shall be conducted as heretofore upon the principle of religious education ; industrial training, and instruction in the English language, forming a necessary part of the system pursued in such schools. " The schools which are aided from the Government grant may be of three kinds—Diocesan colleges, central schools, or primary schools. " Each educational district shall have at least one central school, to be made as far as possible the means of multiplying primary schools in that district." In like manner, the most promising scholars from the central schools will be eligible for election as pupils into the diocesan college of the diocese in which they are situated, where it is hoped that ultimately it may be found practicable to qualify Native teachers for holy orders. The annual grant to be made by the Government shall bo applicable to the following purposes, in such proportion as the Educational Board in each diocese may determine : — 1. To the support of existing schools, and the establishment of new schools. 2. To provide the means of educating in the diocesan colleges or in the central schools, scholars to be trained as teachers, who, in addition to other duties which may be given to them by the Church, may also act as teachers in the primary schools. 3. To provide for the payment of sums in part payment of the salaries of accredited teachers. The memorandum further prescribed the mode, which has since been altered, in which the Board of Education should be constituted. The Board being so constituted, met for the first time, 19th October, 1853. At that meeting the School of St. Stephens, Taurarua, was designated as one of the central schools.

FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO NATIVE SCHOOLS.

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All things remained on this footing until the session of 1858. In that session, August, 1858, an Act was passed to grant the annual sum of seven thousand pounds for a term of seven years, from the 30th June, 1858, in aid of schools for the education of the Aboriginal Native Race. This Act expressly required that instruction in the English language, and in the ordinary subjects of primary English education and industrial training, should form a necessary part of the system in every school to be aided under the Act; also every such school was to be in connection with some religious body, and to be managed in such wise as the Governor, in concert with the head or governing body of such religious body, should from time to time determine, and in the mean time should continue to be managed in such wise as at the passing of the Act. No alteration in the management of the Church of England Native Schools has been made since the passing of the Act of 1858, except in the coustitution of the Native Education Board. That Board formerly consisted of two persons nominated by the Governor, and two elected by the managers of schools acting together under the presidency of the Bishop. It now consists of persons appointed under the authority of the General Synod, which change was made with the approval and concurrence of the Governor. In December, 1860, Archdeacon Kissling, the principal of St. Stephen's School, was attacked by a serious illness. In the following May the Archdeacon and Mrs. Kissling announced to the Board that they were compelled to give up the domestic charge of St. Stephen's School, but were desirous of remaining in a measure connected with the institution by taking part in the tuition, and by way of advice when required. The Rev. T. Chapman was then requested to undertake the domestic charge of the school, which he consented to do ;in fact he expressly declined to undertake anything more than that. The Board then made the best arrangements it could, its funds being strictly limited by the Act to head money for the scholars, in order to supply such part of the instruction as the Archdeacon was no longer able to give. Shortly after the return of Sir George Grey, His Excellency proposed that young men of the Native race should be received into St. Stephen's School, who should be instructed in the business of the Survey Department, should receive regular secular instruction in a night school at St. Stephen's (which is now conducted by Mr. Glanfield, who was formerly schoolmaster at Awamutu, under Mr. Gorst), and be under the religious instruction of the Rev. T. Chapman. To this proposal the Board agreed. Other young men had already been placed by the Board on a like footing, except that the industrial employments were carpentering and printing. In respect of both classes of industrial associates, it was arranged that the cost to be incurred by the Board should be repaid by the young men, and that a certain portion of their earnings should be kept back by their employers for that purpose. This we presume is what the Inspector refers to when he speaks of St. Stephen's as partaking somewhat of the nature of a boarding house. But neither as to this, nor as to other similar matters of detail, do the Board think it seemly to comment on the Inspector's report, much less to enter into any argument respecting the lawfulness of the use which the trustees have made of the premises of St. Stephens, or respecting the application of the funds which they have received, either under the Acts of Assembly, or by way of special grants from the Government. For in fact all the funds administered by the Board arise not under the trust deed but solely from one or other of the two last-named resources. The trust property at present yields no income. Such questions, if they shall ever be raised again, may well be left to a tribunal really possessing that competency which the Inspector assumes to himself. The Board prefer to meet all misconceptions by a simple statement of facts. They have only to say that throughout the whole period from 1853 to this time, they have never lost sight of the original plan of Sir George Grey. They have endeavoured to raise up teachers properly qualified to teach the Native youth. This is all that has been professed or promised. Some are at this time teachers, others have so approved themselves as to have been selected by the Bishops of their dioceses for ordination, a result which was contemplated and expressly referred to in the original plan. The whole yearly cost to the Government has been on an average little more than £350. If it happens that young men who are sent up to this institution are already married, it is obvious that their wives cannot be properly left in the Native villages whilst their husbands are resident here. They are of necessity brought here, not as chosen pupils, but as being the wives of persons intended to be teachers, persons therefore whom it is desirable to raise as far as possible. But it has been impracticable to place these married women, some of whom had very young children, on the class of the recognized and salaried male teachers of the institution: and no better system than that which is noticed in the report has been as yet found practicable. Young children have been as far as possible, removed from the institution, and sent to the country schools ; where the elementary instruction which alone they were capable of receiving could be given equally well, and where the cost of keeping the children was about one-half of the cost in Auckland, Prom year to year the managers of St. Stephen's have gone on steadily endeavouring to attain the original objects of the institution. Throughout they have been labouring to carry out plans, not of their own making but proposed by the Government. With much difficulty and small encouragement they have patiently and hopefully worked on : Their own standard of a Public Educational Establishment is not below that of the Inspector of Schools. But if that Inspector had first made himself acquainted with the facts of the case he would probably have shared in their satisfaction at seeing that under all the circumstances the institution has been kept afloat, and some little good done. If the Inspector had conferred with any of the trustees before commenting on their administration, he would have found that they are not less desirous than ho of letting the land advantageously, so as to yield a good income for the school; that the subject has been much considered, and that with that view, a sum of more than £300 has been laid out, of which all beyond the sum of £25 has been derived from funds not supplied by the Government. I have, &c, The Hon. W. Pox, Native Secretary. ¥m. Martin.

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FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE

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No. 2. H. Tatloe, Esq., to the Hon. the Colonial Secbetaey. Sir,— Education Office, 25th June, 1866. I avail myself of your courteous permission to make some remarks upon Sir William Martin's studied defence of the Church of England Board of Native Education, first premising that it has failed in inducing me to retract a single exjjression from mv report which has been already laid before the General Assembly. On assuming office as Inspector of Native Schools, I was not instructed to hunt out obsolete official documents to guide me in discharge of my duties, nor did I myself consider it incumbent on me to do so. A copy of " The Native Schools Act, 1858," was placed in my hands by Mr. Sewell the AttorneyGeueral, with directions to see that its provisions were faithfully carried out; and in this Act I nowhere found mention of Diocesan Colleges, Training Schools, Educational Districts, &c, terms high-sounding and specious, and calculated to mislead ; but such terms were used as suited the educational status of the Native race at the time of the passing of the Act, and for the seven years it had to run; and it is, 1 suppose, because I did not allow my imagination to hurry me on to the advanced requirements of a highly civilized community, but took matters as I found them, that my ideas of a proper standard of a Public Educational Establishment are sneeringly reproved. It must afford me some consolation that the gentlemen who took part in the passing of the Native Schools Act have in like manner, I suppose, subjected themselves to the ridicule of the Native Education Board. It was under the direction of Mr. Bell, late Native Minister, that I examined into the terms of the trust under which the School Estate at Taurarua was held. The terms are enunciated in the Church Almanack issuing from the Cathedral Press, and quoted by Sir William Martin. In the copy of the deed of trust I nowhere found mention of any provision of any sort being made for the education of Native male and female adults at Taurarua, nor for the training of young men for the sacred office of the ministry. It was on this ground I stated in my report that the arrangements in existence at St. Stephen's, on the occasion of my visit of inspection, were not in accordance with the terms of the deed of trust. The land was given for a specific purpose, viz., for the use of and towards the support and maintenance of the children of Her Majesty's subjects of both races, and of children of other poor and destitute persons, &c, &c, but not for the preparation of Native adults for holy orders ; and Mr. Bell, I presume, in instituting the inquiry was anxious to devise some legitimate means for the education of this portion of the Native Race, and so remove all grounds of complaint against the administrators of the trust. I cannot, consistent with propriety, here quote Mr. Bell's opinion upon the merits of St. Stephen's as a Public Educational Establishment. That gentleman will not, lam sure, shrink from avowing it if called upon to do so in the House of Representatives ; but now that the Board has forced me into a defensive position, I may strengthen that position by quoting the opinion and testimony of Mr. Gorst, who had most ample opportunity for forming a correct judgment upon its merits, and who, when speaking his mind freely to me, as man to man, characterized St. Stephens "as a sham and a humbug." Many others, doubtless, could support me in this assertion, for he did not strive to conceal his opinion, and moreover gave the strongest of all proof of its defectiveness as a public educational institution, by his unwillingness to allow the youths he brought with him from Waikato, to be located there. And what is the grand cause of its failure ? Ido not hesitate to state that it is the assumption of authority by too many masters, and the want of a recognized head over the establishment. The Board of Native Education professes to its management. His Lordship the Bishop of New Zealand exercises perhaps an undue share of influence. The Rev. Mr. Chapman, in his unhappy anomalous position is vested with the semblance of power, and Government assumes to itself a right of interference and general supervision. These several elements do not harmonize, they sometimes come in contact, and facts might be adduced which prove a want of cohesion and unity of purpose on the part of the several managers and directors, and a decided lack of a well devised harmonious system which tends most materially to build up and strengthen any public institution, more especially an institution of an educational character. That the Board has failed in compassing that vast scope of educational labour which it originally projected is patent to all; that it was objectionable to the several managers of the schools over which it exercised control, I fearlessly assert; and that there was a something unpleasant or unsatisfactory to many of the members themselves, either in the composition of the Roard or in its method of conducting business, may be deduced from the fact that Mr. Swainson, a member of the Board, proposed in the Diocesan Synod in 1862 a series of resolutions, which, if acted upon, had a tendency to jeopardize the existence of the Board. The Rev. Mr. Burrowes, also a member of the Board, seconded these resolutions, and both these gentlemen, together with Venerable Archdeacon Maunsell, objected in the strongest terms to occupying a seat any longer at the Board. Their reasons they did not openly state, but I well remember the impression left upon the mind of myself and several other members of the Synod with whom I subsequently conversed, that they declined from a want of faith in the Board, or from some undefinable misgiving as to its efficiency and utility. The success which Sir William Martin arrogates for St. Stephen's cannot without a very considerable amount of reservation, be in strict justice accorded to it. The Native teachers and ordained ministers he refers to are not wholly the fruits of the educational training they have received within the walls of that institution, but are rather the happy results of his own private teaching and patient perseverance and devotedness in a noble cause. To him, and to one or two other gentlemen of equal zeal with himself, is by far the greater share of the credit due. I still maintain, however incompetent a judge I may be in such matters, that it reflects unfavourably upon the capacity of the trustees for the discharge of business involving a monied interest, that a property of such intrinsic value and so favourably circumstanced as those at Taurarua, should have remained so many years under their administration without yielding any income, and this too after an outlay of upwards of £300 for this special purpose; aud it is the more surprising that the Board did

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not exert their ingenuity to derive some income out of the estate, when they must have known (to quote the words of His Lordship the Bishop of New Zealand, the original trustee), that the lands forming the Native School estates were given by the Government upon the understanding that the proceeds of them should eventually relieve the Government from the necessity of making grants of public money as at present. Sir William Martin's suggestion that an Inspector, before sending in his reports to Government, should confer with the manager of a school when any impropriety or irregularity exists, is but the faint echo of the more outspoken preposterous assertion of one of the managers of a Church of England Native School, on whom I suppose I had not bestowed an amount of adulation commensurate with his desires, —that I was bound in etiquette to have consulted with him, and to have submitted my report for him to comment on before forwarding it on to Government. Highly interesting indeed and delicately tinted reports the Government might then expect to receive. I have ever considered it my duty, as an Inspector of Schools, to represent matters exactly as I found them, without respect of persons or fear of consequences. Sir William Martin must therefore pardon me if I decline to adopt his suggestion in the preparation of any future report I may have the honor to submit to Government. Thanking you for your courtesy in extending to me this opportunity of reply, and soliciting that it may be laid before the Assembly together with Sir William Martin's letter of 6th May, 1864. I have, &c, Henkt Tatloe, Inspector of Schools.

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FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO NATIVE SCHOOLS.