THE Bay of Plenty Times. Wednesday, November 3, 1875.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 329, 3 November 1875, Page 2

THE Bay of Plenty Times.

Wednesday, November 3, 1875.

— & —, ——- In consequence of tho dilatory displayed, aad the obstructions placed in Mr Eoss’ way, by that intellectual local body, tho Town Board, that gentleman, instead of, os he ia Ik lirst instance intended, taking tb earth required for filling ia tho sit* on which the new buildings for tb Bank of New Zealand are boing erected, from the crown of Haringtw Street, has made arrangements y;iti tho Rev. Robert Burrows, SeofoUrr to the Church Missionary Society, u procure tho earth from lot 44, tb property of tho Society, iVlthough, I as will be seen by reference to os, i report of the last meeting of tho Tom h Board, permission was thea.g?udginglr given to Mr Eoss to take earth iron Harington Street, we are in a positron to state, that for some considerable time post, the matter has boon talked over by members of tho Board outside tho Boardroom, and it was pretty '* generally understood that there wai M strong feeling with certain of tho * members that any earth takon should be paid for, or, at any rate, that any earth taken from tho public street*, should bo so taken under.the supervision of tho Engineer to tho Board, who was to he paid In/ ike contractor. Wo understand that tho earth to bommoved f rom Harington Street would bt at least forty pounds worth of beneficial work without any cost to the tows, except the usual percentage tk Engineer- receives for his services, and tho Board has lost that sum to the ratepayers through its penny visa [ policy in attempting to got the laa farthing out of Mr Eoss; but, as a matter of principle, we consider it wrocf that the Board’s Engineer should k paid by any person except tho Board. It is a generally accepted fact, did tho man who pays is always considered to bo the person who is to he wtistied. It is therefore only natural that it the Engineer was paid by Mr Ross k would do the best he could for hie and would not bo as careful of ib interests of tho town as ho would il paid by tho Board. Wo • at a loss to conceive how a body of intelligent men (£# wo cannot consider them otherwise, a* they are our representatives) should on economical grounds, jeopardize 3 costless public improvement for tb sake of saving tho paltry -f of the Engineer. Tho evil h in this instance, already doaft and should be a warning to the po> sent Board, which, if it does a* take advantage of, will, wo hop®, result in an entire and comply change in the personal of tho Boad at the next election, and that the of new blood will again be eifectif*We leave tho members to ta# reflections, and have a hope, that wj* , consideration, they will bo and wiser men.

Tee action taken by the settlors * Qreerton and its vicinity in endeavo#' ing to obtain better means of odur- v tion for tlie young in those -locahk& the particulars of which app 6^ l b another column of this imno & - report of tho meeting held at ton on Saturday evening last, the cordial assistance of all those' terested in tho welfare of the resi in the integral portions of tlu* trict. A perusal of the report show that tho settlers before w.

tinned have, at length, come to the conclusion that their children’s education cannot he properly conducted by attendance at the District School on account of that school being bo far away from their homes, and judging froin the facts of the case, their conclusion appears to be a very just one. The District School is distant from Groerton, in round numbers, about two miles and a half, as the neighbourhood spoken of as the “ vicinity,” refers to the district lying beyond Greerton, it is, of course,* still further away from the present school The education of some thirty children is thus dependent upon the youngsters taking a daily walk of about live miles, and when all the circumstances adverse to the probability of their being able to tramp this distance with any regularity are taken into consideration, we cannot hut think that these children have a poor chance of receiving their fair dues under the present system. Among the difficulties to be contended against may bo mentioned the oftontimo wot state of the weather, the natural disposition on the part of the children to dawdle away their time during so long a walk, and last, but not least, the length of the walk itself, which is certainly rather a long one for children of tender years. The settlors of Groerton and the vicinity have, therefore, in a very sensible manner, and a very earnest one w ithal, decided to make application to Government for an infant school to he instituted in a central position convenient to their residences; the school to he presided over by some competent female teacher. As Greerton advances and the number of children increases and multiplies, as there is every reason to suppose will ho the caso," it will doubtless be necessary provide more advanced means of instruction, but in the meantime, the settlers will be content with what they now ask for, and, m an earnest of their desire, have subscribed a very respectable sum towards erecting a school-house —a sum which we have no doubt will he considerably augmented by subscriptions from the friends of those old residents in the district. Application will bo made to the Hon. Dr Pollen for a site of land centrally situated at Greerton. Upon the memorial of not less than ton householders residing in any locality or • district, not yet provided, or quately provided with the moans of common school education, praying for :ho formation of such locality into an Ah irational District, the Board of Education has power to grant such a request, and, as the settlers in and a bout Greerton evince a disposition to help themselves while ■ asking for the accessary assistance towards furthering the object they have in view, wo think it would be a pity if their efforts failed to receive the countenance of the residents in the district at large, and, above all, it would bo a matter of regret if any opposition was placed in the way of their obtaining their moderate demands,

“THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES SHALL TEACH ME SPET Km iom, act