Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, MAY 30.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 81, 30 May 1871, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, MAY 30.

' i [ojjorance has had its advocates, as a ilisj agrceablo necessity, within the memory of ; some old colonists, lit parts of Europe ; even now there are to be met somo speeiI mens of the class who have outlived the age i of their principles. In later times it came j to be tolerated as a nuisance for which ] nature had provided no remedy, and ol i! which society had but little hope. Is'ow. ; | however, ignorance is felt to be an expen- : sire as well as a preventable evil ; and j the economy as well as the responsibility of education to the masses are beginning , to receive attention as the great facts ol ; the age we live in. A. generation growing ! up in wilful and voluntary ignorance car | have no other effect than to check the j spread of advancing civilisation. If there 111)0 one settled conviction common to al . I governing bodies, it is on the subject o: i the world-wide want of education. Igno | ranee finds no patrons now-a-days. Tin | chances'of an uneducated man corning tr ' j the front in the battle of life are becoming I ; more infrequent as society outgrows it; ' former standards of merit and demand:

now claims to confidence and competency. England has initiated a scheme of education worthy of, herself and of the times upon which she lias fallen,—a scheme the working of which will make persistency in ignorance an indictable and punishable offence. Germany lias long taken the lead in Europe in this matter ; and Italy,—which for j ages has lagged behind in knowledge,—to i put herself abreast of advancing Europe, i must uncover her ancient lights and reI vive the lost traditions of a hundred generations, and act worthy of the lite- y supremacy she enjoye'l when she gave faws and letters and governments to the world. New Zealand appears to be fully alive to its obligations and responsibilities on this great question ; and it may be regarded as one of the hopeful tendencies of all ruling j bodies in this country that it is so. If : hideous ignorance remain in our midst—to i bear the burden of its own incompetence, J to be preyed upon by artful and educated j villany,—it cannot be charged to the carej lessness or neglect of our rulers. The j mode of Government here is often referred j to as the clumsiest, the most complicated, | and the most expensive of all governments; 1 but all this, and more, can be forgiven ! where the vital question of Education is I placed en a right footing. | The above remarks have been suggested by the perusal of an abstract from the New Zealand Gazette respecting the appointment of a Board of Examiners, whose ! office it will be to examine all candidates I for admission into the Civil Service of the | Colony ; and— what is more to the point—{to examine all boys who may wish to submit themselves to the Board for such a purpose. The lowest age at which youths are admitted to the privilege is fifteen ; \ the highest twenty-three. The standard j of examination for the junior class will, it j may be presumed, come within the reach | of a large number ; and the names of all ■ who are found successful will be entered j upon a registration-roll and published in | the New Zealand Gazette. Boys who | shall show proficiency are to receive a : " passed certificate," the value of which | can hardly ba overrated. Even where j Government service is not the direct object Jin view, these certificates will form testi- | monials that will give weight to any appli- | cation for employment, whether it be for i a bank-clerkship, a situation in a mer- ! chant's oiiioo, or any other position in life ; where training and integrity are estimated jat their proper value. The boy that passes j the Board with honour will receive the | stamp of public approval ; his merit will i be known in his adopted country ; his reputation will be public property ; and a goodly roll of such will form the hope of the coming generation. To make this ar--1 j rangement available to all for whose benefit ; i it.was called into being, the examinations ;! ara to be held annually in some of the , j principal towns of the Colony ; and every ! facility will be given to boys whose conj duct ami scholarship shall recommend them ito the confidence of the Board. The small ! fee of one guinea is the only charge for the | certificate issued by the Board to the candidate. The standard of examination for ! the senior class is rather formidable, and !by far too lengthy to copy. But for the I benefit of the juniors, we can give the pro- . j gramme by which the Board will be guided ■_ | in their examination. 'flu: English language, in its four great . branches.- is to have the first and greatest share of attention ; —such as Orthography, or the valuable art of correctly using the alphabet in the formation of English words —spelling accurately ; Prosody; or the art of giving the proper sound to the words | when formed—accuracy of accent; Etymoj logy, or the art of giving the powers and I pedigree of words a root-and-branch j knowledge of their history; Syntax; or .; the art of putting words into sentences. f j To a knowledge of spelling, pronunciation; .; and the kindredship of words must be . | added Composition, Arithmetic (including > | vulgar and decimal fractions). English »; History and Political Geography complete t the list that will form the range of articles f; of examination. , r It may bo hoped that many boys in this - j Province, and some in this district, will 1 f.Bel the prompting of a just ambition for / j the attainment of honours to be soured ;[ on terms' so moderate. AVe may atluL in f | conclusion, that the application of the c:\n- * I didato for examination must be accomi | panied by certificates of age from a "Regis- ?• ] trar of Births ; of health from a legallyo | qualified medical practitioner; and of cha1j meter from a clergyman. The books from f | which the texts of examination are to be i- i taken are not to bo unalterably fixed ; but 0 \ Morell's Grammar, Dr Smith's Epitomised :>; English History, Hughes' Geography, ami 1 BonnycastleV. Arithmetic are favourably s j mentioned in the abstract we have res | ceived.

A private day-school was opened at Bannookburu yesterday, under the management 'of Mr Simpson, a brother of one of the shareholders in Btnce and Go's deep-sinking claim. A small building, formerly occupied hyMrT. Hueston, and situated between Doctor's Flat and the lower portion of Smith's Gully, is to be temporarily used as a school-room. The population of Bannockbum is rapidly increasing, and it only requires a very small amount of exertion on the part of the residents to secure for the district the advantages of a subsidised Government side-school. We have no doubt that Mr Mackellar, if applied to, would readily afford all uoeessary information as to the proper course to be adopted. The Duaedia Tradesmen's Races were held on th& Forbury Course, on the Queen's Birthday. ~ There were about 1500 persons present ondhe-race-course. The first event—the Handicap Hurdle Race—of 15 sovs.—was won by' Pilgrim, beating Forbury, Lottery, Surprise, and Flying Chillers. The Maiden Plate, of 10 sovs., was also won by Pilgrim, beating three others. The Birthday Handicap, of 30 sovs., (distance, a mile and a-half) was the principal event of the day, and brought seven horses to the starting post. The result of the race was as follows: —Merry man, 1 ; Little Nell, 2 ; Tiger, 3. For the Butcher's Kace ef 10 sovs., three butcher's hacks came to the post, and the stakes were won by Mr Menlove's Sandy, beating Tommy and Ranger. The Selling Race, of 20 sovs., was won by Merryman; and the Butcher's Subscription Race, of 15 sovs., by Bismarck. For the Benevolent Asylum Hurry Scurry, fifteen horses were entered, and the prize money collected, (about £3l) was won by Pilgrim. Mr James Stuart, of Stuart's Ferry, has incurred a heavy outlay in making a new approach to the punt on the Cromwell side of the river. When the road has been widened at the point immediately above the coal-pit, (which i 3 now the only dangerous part of it,) the approach on the north side of the river will be quite as easy as that leading to Puchards's Ferry on the same side ; and the risk of accidents to vehicles will be greatly lessened. The Dunediu papers report the occurrence of a fatal accident at Half-way Bush, on May 23, to a carter named James Goodall, who was killed by a tree falling upon him. The erection of jkr M'Cormiek's new building opposite the Royal Standard Company's machine, B<timockburn, is being pushed on rapidly, and one or two less pretending structures have also been "run up" at the same place within the past fortnight. The nucleus of what will one day be a digging township of s tiue importance, has now assumed such proportions as to fully warrant the Government in laying off a township in this promising locality. 'Cue sites at present occupied are held under the residence area system, and as under the Gold Fidds Regulations each holder, of a miner's right is entitled to one acre, it is quite clear that all the ground available for building purposes will soon be taken up. If the Government can be induced to act upon the suggestion above thrown out, we would suggest that the tiwaship be ca led " Quartzville," a name at once euphonious and appropriate. There is reason to believe that the 2500-acre block of agricultural land, recently surveyed on the Hawea Flat, is at last about to be made available for selection and settlement. The following telegram was received by the Mayor (Mr Sinitham) on Saturday last, in reply to an inquiry made by him as to whether the Government really intended to open the block for application : —" Proclamations signed; will appear in next Gazette. The land will be opened in due course.—C. E. Haucjutok." The block in question will, we understand, ba disp ised of uuiler the Agricultural Leasing Regulation. Mr W. J. Barry held an auction sale of young horses—mostly thoroughbreds from the stations of Messrs H. Campbell and H. S. Thomson, Wanaka Lake—on Wednesday, the 24th insfc., at Marsh's Yards, Cromwell. There was a good sprinkling of buyeis from distant parts of the district, who were doubtless induced to attend the sale owing to the wellknown excellence of the horse stock bred by the above named gentlemen. The animals offered comprised several unbroken colts and fillies by Elswick and Grey Camden, and these realised from £l9 to £2O a head. There was a large amount of speechifjealion at the Liberal Banquet recently given at I awrence. Mr C. Hiokey, M. P.C. for this district, is reported to have spoken as follows : He said that, twenty months ago, he left the Tuapeka district for Cromwell, in quest of his fortune, and his fellow-miners had now called upon him to reoresent them in the Provincial Council. The Cromwell district was the richest and most influential in the Province. He was going to the Council piiroly as a mining representative, and he hoped that his extensive experience as a miner would give weight to his opinions on the various goldfields subjects. The cold export duty was an unjust tax, and must be abolished : he would use all his influence to bring that about. There was a question creating considerable anxiety among the miners in his part of the country,—he referred to the increase of Chinamen in the Cardronaand other districts. It was very evident that if they continued to increase as they had been doing, the European ponulation would be completely displaced. The difficulty had assumed a serious aspect, and it must be grappled with in some way or other. f .An Auckland telegrarri, dated 20th May, says :—The Caledonian Coniparty (Thames Goldnolil), banked 17,235 oz. of gold dust in six days, and expect to pay for the next fortnight a dividend of £4O, . Shares have risen to £2lO. Shares in the Thames Gold Mining Comapny have risen to £42, in the Belfast Company to £6, anil in others in proportion. The excitement is tremendous. The General Government have called for tenders for the construction of ten miles of the Clutha Railway, at the south end. Fredrick Ricllaid Bird, a cattle-dealer and storekeeper at Okaritoj was drowned between that place and Kokjtika, on the 22nd Inst. His body has been picked up on the beach two miles to the north of Hokitika,

The Resident Magistrate's and Warden's Court* will be held in Cromwell to-morrow,when the adjourned car;c of Sinitham v. Marah will be heard. The Queen's Birthday was observed as a general holiday in Cromwell. The "weather was fine, and a good number of adults and youth of both sexes wont out to the pic-nie and sports at the Round Hill. Vehicles plied during the day between the scene of the sports and the town, and those present enjoyed themselves. A little pigeon-shooting diversified the day's proceedings. Wot the least attractive among the Sports was the Apple race, got up by Mr Lachmau, who generously gave a prize worth one guiue?. There were six entries, but Master Joseph Wright, who accomplished the feat in 1 min. 58 sees, was declared tho winner. Mr Norman and other gentlemen assisted materilly. The members of the Mining Commission were entertained at dinner by Mr C. F. Haughton, on the evening of Friday, the 17th in3t., at the Shamrock Hotel; Dunediu. We are informed that the next clean-ing-up for the Heart of Oak Company will prabably take place on Saturday, the 3rd proximo. The sale of the Reefers' Arms Hotel at Logantown, held by Mr Barry on Saturday last, resulted in the property being bought in by the owner (Mr James Beare) at £IBO. The reserve price was £11)5.