PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Issue 3238, 7 July 1873, Page 3

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Thursday, July 3,

THE GIRLS’ PETITION. The Hon. Major Richardson moved—“ That this Connell cordially recommends to the favorable consideration -of the Government, the prayer of the petition of the past and presentscholars of the Girls’ High School.” He did; not think lie need use-any argument in support; of the resolution, for it would simply bo wasting the time of the Council. Women were formed; to be the companions and counsellors of men. ; They were so now, and would be still better, counsellors did they enjoy, equal educational advantages. Hitman beings were made up of intellectual and physical organisations, but if the first was neglected in woman’s education, she could- not fulfil her duties as man’s counsellor. Ignorant mothers would bring up ignorant children, but where principles of morality and: religion were intelligently neld, the greater success would attend the training of children. Two instances illustrative of the aid women could render men' as counsellors were in his mind; the wife of Sir Samuel Baker, and that of the late John" Stuart Mill, who paid to her that beautiful tribute contained in the preface to his essay on “Liberty.’ l The petition needed no comment. It asked that the scholarships provided for boys should bo also open for competition by girls, a proposition to which no mortal man should object, as the intention was to enable women fitted for it so to cultivate their intellects as, where needful, to assist their family. What he proposed would render them governesses of the rising generation, and mothers of a future intellectual race. • The Provincial Secretary complimented the mover of the resolution upon his devotion 'to the interests of women, and coincided .with the views he had expressed. ; | Dr. Webster considered that at Home the education of women was leading them to adopt professions for which they were by nature unfitted, and to provide for them a high class education was striking at the root of doinestic arrangements, for it was an endeavor to reraovfe Women fromtheir proper sphere of mothers of families. He did not object to the proposition i; but before spending money on scholarships, he thought education should be extended to the outlying districts. Mr Oliver said although it appeared ungracious, he felt bound to oppose the motion.. Although he viewed with delight the high standard of education in the Colony, he considered it wrong to foster it by subscriptions, so long as gqvernesaes. were worse paid than cooks or 'hbiisemaids.' Were the motion to allow girls to compete with boys for scholarships already established, he should support it. Mr Reid thought that the course Mr Oliver proposed would be that which would be .adopted. It had the approval of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the conduct of the Boys* High School The difficulty was, there were too few scholarships established, 'and consequently preliminary examinations had to be omitted. This had a disheartening effect on youth, as it took away a stimulus to exertion. We should support the resolution that scholarships should be open for competition to both boys and girls, and that examinations should take place annually, Mr Fish opposed the resolution, for ho did not think the Province should be called on to provide education beyond that given in the grammar and district schools. The hon. mover proposed to confine the privilege to girls attending the High School, whose parents generally could afford to pay for a liberal education. He objected to the petition being signed by children instead of their parents. He objected to a large amount of money being expended for the benefit of a small section of the community. The higher education was filling the heads of youth with expectations they could never realise, and they were crowding into the learned professions in such numbers, that wo should soon' have a pauper community fastened upon us. He should have UQ objection to competition for scholarships being restricted to pupil teachers. Mr Lumsden opposed the motion. It was wrong to spend funds in that direction, so long as the educational needs of Southland were unsatisfied. He had applied only that morning to the Inspector, on behalf of thirty-five to fifty children who lived four or five miles from the nearest school/ The grammar schools throughout the Province were quite sufficient to Jit both boys and girls for their future social positions. If the career of the colonists was analysed, if would bp found tfiut the unsHcoesaful Wfel'-c generally the educated j and he therefore concluded there was a risk of our educating both boys and girls. The advantage* should not be confined to sons and daughters of the rich people in Dunedin, but extended to the poorer classes. Society bad not reached the point at which high-class education should be further promoted, to the neglect of that for which so many of the poorer classes were crying ° U Mr Stout considered the arguments qf the last speaker led tq the qquqlusiau that education was a bad thing, as, according tq him, only the educated were unsuccessful. As for the members for Mount Ida and Dunedin, who opposed the resolution, it was only charitable to suppose they had not read it. Mr Oliver, in explanation, could agree with the petition, if girls educated in all our schools were permitted to compete for existing scholarSll jylr Stout considered it evident they had not read the petition. , , . Mr Oliver thought it badly constructed, and no credit to the petitioners nor to the person who presented it, Mr Stout read the petition, and pointed out that all that was asked was' that their education should be so extended as bettor tq fit the petitioners to fulfil their duties. The opposition was based on the assumption that education was a bad thing.—(No, no.) If it were not a bad thing, the more that could be had the better,-(No, no.) If the higher education

meant the cultivation of the moral, religious, and intellectual faculties, it would be hard to deprive a girl capable of receiving it of the opportunity of obtaining it. The whole system of scholarships was based on the idea that those accepting them were not able to pay the cost of their further education, and the proposition was to place all pupils on a level. So far ns the petition asking that the competition should be confied to High School girls, there was notaword of the sort in it. The request was to be placed on a footing with their brothers, and scholarships were not confined to High School boys, but were open to Grammar School boys throughout the country. They were the High Schools of the country districts, and in many of them mathematics, classics, and modem languages were taught. He was therefore at a loss to conceive how it could be asserted that it was proposed to confine the competition to the High School of Dunedin. He held very different views from most present on the duty of the State in regard to education, but if, as had been said, State duty began and ended with elementary education, all he could say was no State in the world ever .thought so. The Goldfields Secretary did not think they were justified in voting money for the purpose of giving for high-class education, and thought that in many instances they were foolishly educating the youth of the country. As chairman of a school committee he had been connected with education for many years, and had noticed that many parents, with a parent’s weakness of fancying their boys were very clever, had sent them to Dunedin to become learned in Latin, Greek, &c.; but in many eases he regretted to say those boys had afterwards refused to settle down and learn a useful trade. Instead of becoming useful members of society he knew of his own knowledge that many of them had become quite the reverse. , Instead of voting money these scholarships, which he regarded as luxuries,' he though the Council’s first duty was to provide necessaries; and he knew numerous places in the Province where for months in the year hundreds of children could not go to school for the want of.a bridge over a creek.,. The Hon. Mfijctt' Kichaßuson, ’in replying, remarked that he 'commenced the advocacy of this matter in a jocular strain; but at its conclusion had to speak with the deepest feelings of regret. He had heard from gentlemen who dught to know the value of eclucation, language he never expected to have heard in that Council. It, appeared to some that the great object of education was to cook and know nothing,'and fye really believed that had he advocated a scholarship fur cooks, he would have received inuch greater support.—(Laughter.) Education aid hot prevent cooking, as he affirmed, for he had ; received the best chop possible from the hands of a person who had discoursed most learnedly and eloquently on the scientific discoveries oftheage.—(Cries of “Name.”) He would have no hesitation in mentioning the name to any unmarried hou. member. —(Laughter.) The motion was earned by 18 to 4.

Friday, July 4.

EXPLANATION BY THE SPEAKER. Before proceeding to business, the Speaker made an explanation affecting the Superintendent. He mentioned that on June 19 there appeared in the Tuapeka Times a report of a meeting at Horseshoe Bend, where a Mr C. Nicholson said, in reference,to the Island.block sale, that “he,held in his hand the report of the. Commission of Inquiry, which he characterised as incomplete and grossly unfair. The fact of the matter was this:—A party in the district, in conjunction with several others, applied to purchase the whole , of the sections, .Then he (Mr Nicholson) made his appearance bn the scene, and, by applying for the boring-rods, endeavored to prevent the sale. But. the Government needed money, and at a meeting of the Executive, Mr Reid moved that the application should thus far be granted, viz., that the land should be put up to auction for sale. This motion was carried against an amendment from Mr. Gillies that‘the whole should bo sold in one block; but thanks fo the presence of several persons interested in the application being on the Committee, all this was suppressed in the report.” On observing that statement, he (the Speaker) wrote that, first, “it was a gross fabrication ; second, Mr Nicholson not being a member of the Executive, I ask who was his informant ? third, some, at least,, of the coramiteeo who examined and reported bn that : subject were'my bitterest political opponents.” On July 3 a letter appeared in the Tuapeka Times to-the effect that “ Mr Nicholson, at an election meeting held in Ormond’s Hotel, Roxburgh, on Saturday night, 21s li instant, declared that Mr Macaridrbwv had shewn him certain private letters having reference to the sale of Island block (which had not been published in the correspondence laid before the Council by the Government, and had also furnished him with a copy of the Executive minute referring to Mr Gillies and the Island block sale, which copy, .he declared, he holds at present iq his possession.”. If that statement wore true, his Honor’s action could not be characterised #a otherwise than highly improper ; but he was happy to say that the letter was a gross slander upon his Honor. He had waited upon his Honor, and shown him the letter; and he assured him that there was rio foundation for. the statement, and be further promised to send him a written contradiction;- « ' . The Speaker has furnished us’with'the following, which he receivedlrpM his Honor later in the day “ Referring to your consideration with me this forenoon, I, beg to repeat in writing what I stated to you verbally, viz, ; That I am not aware of any private letter either from you or from anybody else in re the sale of Island blocks. Most certainly none such has ever been in my possession or seen by me. As regards the statement that I have ever exhibited copies of Executive minutes either on this or on any other subject—the thing is so utterly preposterous and without foundation in fact, that it seems almost an insult to oneself to contradict it, which I do most emphatically. I write this ih compliance 'with your desirq; at the same time, permit me to say that I havq long ceased to take any notice of xriisreprejsentatioris of which I am 'constantly the subject, as otherwise I should have rather a severe task before me.” PETITION. Mp Ebid presented a petition from settlers in Seaside road bush district. WANT OP CONFIDENCE. Mr Tolmie : Before the House proceeds with any further business 1 wish tbi make a" statement, and it is this : That no sooner have we disposed of one want of confidence motion, than this morning we find another on the Order Paper.—(Hear, hear.) I may say that these notices of motion, these want of confidence motions, are very perplexing to the Government —(hear, hear)—they paralyse their efforts—(hear, hear)—the Government cannot tell the moment they will be ejected from office, and they do not choose to be placed in that position. —(Hear; hear.) They will take a stand, and they will carry on the business, or they will not.—(Hear, hear.) They don’t understand the tactics of the other side placing these motions on the Order Paper, unless they mean to carry but the intention indicated. The Government are prepared to deal with this motion at once. I don’t see .the mover (Mr Stout) present; biit I now njake this emphatic statement, that the Government will not go on with the business, so long as such a notice of motion appears on the Order Paper—(hear, hear ; and oh, oh)—and if the other side are determined to oust us, we call upon them to do it.—(Hear, hear.) At any rate, we will not proceed with any more business until that notice of motion has been disposed of; and with the view of giving the hon. member who has tabled it an opportunity of making up his mind, J\qd also with tHe view of enabling his supporters to* do so, I intend to move the adjournment of the House until seven o’clock this evening. The Government are not afraid to meet the Council. In fact, it is best that the matter should come before the House, because we shall be able to show that the action taken has been that of straightforward, honest men. —(Hear, hear.) If we fail in convincing the house of that, we shall not regret if we receive an adverse vote. —(Hear, hear,) As( the hon. member who tabled the motion is not present, I nqw move the adjournment of the Rouse until seven o’clock. Mr Reid expressed surprise at the motion. For his part, he was not prepared to agree with the motion, in the appearance of which on the Order Paper he had taken no part, being proceeded with at seven o’clock, unless there was at once laid on the table all the correspondence and papers connected with the case. He also complained of an act of discourtesy on the part of the member at the head of the Government. Having heard it stated that part of the defence of the Government was to be correspondence, between Mr Campbell and himself, which it had been said had been the means of committing- the' Province to the and .that the bhiy, reasqq why Qftvenwwnt i agreed tq the $M e W «qcqunt of some letter he g*vc to Mr Campbell, which would implioate'the Province; consequently he proceeded to the Provincial Secretary's office, but that gentleman was absent. He left a message for him that he desired his permission to peruse the correspondence that had passed between Mr 1 Campbell and himself (Mr Reid). He called at

the office on two or three subsequent and just before coming to the Council me g that afternoon, the Under-Secretary inf • him that the Provincial Secretary had lett instructions that he was not to be allowed peruse the correspondence, and . The Provincial Secretary rose to a point of order, but was at once interrupted by Mr Reid, who complained of being interrupted. After a somewhat irregular discussion. The Provincial Secretary explained that the member for the Taieri had (unintentionally, no doubt) misstated the facts. The Undersecretary asked him (Mr Tolraie) a question, and ho told him that Mr Reid might see any document he liked, but it was almost unnecessary, as he intended to lay the whole of »no papers on the table of the Council that forenoon, , , ~ Mr Reid did not wish the House to be satisfied merely with his statement: the member for Caversham heard the conversation. He complained that there was a great deal of Poetical business to be gone on with, but he did not find the Government very anxious to go on with it. If the Government were so certain ot their strength, they could afford’to overlook such trifles as the motion referred to. After pome observations by Mr M GLABHAN, the Hon, Dr Menzies, and Mr FISH, The Hon. Major Richardson said he thought when notice of Mr Stout’s motion was first given, the Government should have taken the course they were;then adopting. With reference to Mr Stout’s want of confidence motion, he might say that, so far as he was personally concerned, he had nothing to do with it; indeed, so far from that being the case, as he passed out of the door with Mr Shand, he said to that hon. member, “Do you intend—after I have asked you, and all the party have asked you to desist—do you intend to persist with your motion ? The Answer was, ‘-i do!”’ He (Major Richardson) then said if the motion were taken up and proceeded with, they would never bee him within those walls again. Individuals could not act just as they liked when they entered that chamber. The Council was an organised body, and no member had a right to place his party m jeopardy by tabling such k motion. With respect to Mr Stout’s motion he would say nothing at present, but if the _ party with whom he had allied himself, and with whom he was cordially united, had listened to his suggestion, they would have taken issue upon a different ground altogether. To his mind, there were grounds for refusing to proceed to business until the Government gave a decided and most unequivocal expression of opinion—k> be followed by action—that the rexnainingagricultural lands of the - Province should be- occupied by the people.- ■ The Provincial Secret ary said he-did not think an adjournment till seven o’clock that evening would be sufficient, and therefore moved that the HodAe should adjourn till Monday. The Council was accordingly adjourned till: Monday (this day), at 2 p.m.