The Evening Star. FRIDAY. APRIL 9, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3783, 9 April 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star. FRIDAY. APRIL 9, 1875.

Far too much seems to us to have been said touching the question submitted by the Education Board to the School Committees as to the desirability of permitting school districts to tax themselves, should it be thought advisable to do so. The matter was treated as a political question, instead of one of mere inquiry. Jt required merely the simple answer “Yes” or “No,” and really needed no such terrible bluster about it as was made by Messrs Cargill and Fish. The simple state of the matter is that although the Education vote of the Council provides for a certain]! class; of expenses, there are others that have to be met by School Committees, who are very often in a position similar to that of the Egyptians when required to make sun-dried bricks without straw. Because of the cramped monetary position of School Committees the efficiency of many schools is interfered with ; several very deserving teachers are deprived of trifling additions to their salaries, that, divided among the inhabitants of a district, would not be felt, but which are of great importance to them; and school buildings have to be allowed to stand in a damaged state through want of funds for necessary repairs. If application for assistance is made to the Education Board, the reply necessarily is “ We have no vote out of which we can help you j” and thus for want ©f perhaps a penny rate, which everyone would be glad to pay for police as remedial of vice, the preventive, education, is cramped and rendered incomplete. Time after time the Education Board has been applied to to know if school districts could tax themselves for these petty expenses j and had the law allowed it, such a local measure would have been gladly adopted in numerous instances. So pressing have needs occasionally been, that the very objectionable system of public entertainments to raise the wind has been resorted to. We have no doubt there are plenty of men thoroughly convinced of the duty of society seeing that means of conducting education are provided, who would willingly contribute towards defraying those petty expenses. We know no one more likely to do so than Mr Cargill himself; but voluntaryism in matters of public duty is a bad thing. It may be more blessed to give than to receive, but it is a mode of blessing that is limited to so few that it becomes very unjustly expensive to the donors, and tends to harden the hearts and close the pockets of those whs> do not appreciate that style of beatification. It is equally the

interest of the miser and the philanthropist that all children should be educated; although the feelings with which the duty is regai’ded are widely different. The one, if even he acknowledge it, seeks in general education security and advantage to himself; the other chiefly aims at conferring happiness on others. The one would limit the cultivation of the human intellect within the smallest possible range—to the three Us; while the other wisely would extend it as widely as possible. Voluntaryism, if all men were philanthropists, would require no legislation to compel fulfilment of our social duties. A very unassuming, yet very practical people are the Quakers. If their history and doings were known, many excellent ways of going about their work would be set before the world which it might profit by. On one occasion, some alterations or addi--1 ions were required to a meeting-house, and as the “ meeting’* were not of the Established Church of England or Scotland they had no public funds to apply to the purpose. So the leading members took counsel together and went round to the rest, with the simple quaint question, “To what amount does thou show thy love to the Lord T And one put down one sum, and a second another, and so on, each according to his means. The necessary amount was more than subscribed, and the proportion required only taken from each. But in this case all were convinced of the value of the object arm gift, and everyone was ready to do what he could. With regard to the question put by the Education Board, it appears people differ*. Messrs Cargill and Fish surely could not have reflected calmly on the nature of it when they so vehemently protested against the committee expressing an opinion. There can be no doubt of the truth of their theory, that the functions of Education Committees are purely administrative. It does not require a wizard to learn that. Everybody knows it without the necessity of a political speech on the subject; but many persons will be sorely puzzled to find out the logical connection between the office of administrator and having no opinion upon that which is to be administered. Deprive a School Committee of the means of carrying outfits objects, and its administrative functions are a farce. And, we would ask, what, in regard to legislation, are the duties of the Education Board and the Provincial Council? Are they to act without inquiry ? We have remarked that many school districts have asked permission to tax themselves; and to whom should the Education Board apply for information as to the advisability of giving such permission, if not to those whose experience justifies forming a practical opinion ? The terms on which the tax should be levied, the people who should decide upon the matter, the safeguards by which the public interest shall be hedged in, and all other regulations necessary to prevent abuse, do not enter into the question. Those are matters of detail, not of principle ; but even on them, though not asked to .do it, School Committees might give effectual aid to the Education Board. The simple question put was regarding the advisability of legislation giving mere permission to levy a self-imposed rate —not compelling them to impose it. If the committee thoughtit inadvisable, there could be no harm in saying so; if they thought people should have the right to tax themselves, as most people will imagine they have, why not express the opinion ? There is no occasion to raise a molehill into a mountain, nor to charge the Education Board with shirking a responsibility the Education Committee will not accept.

It is intimated in the * Tablet ’ that sometime towards the close of this month Bishop Moran will lecture on “ The Bankruptcy of Liberalism. ” A splendid ironstone reef is said to exist on Mr BrufFa run in the Catlin’s district, having a larger per centage of metal than any yet discovered British ore. Sir James Ferguason, ex-6overnor of this Colony, has become one of the London directors of the Emigrants’ and Colonists’ Aid Corporation. The nomination for the vacant Moeraki seat takes place on the 17th insfc. In addition to Messrs Murcott and Hutchison, Mr W. Moody, general manager of the N.Z. Meat Preserving Company, is mentioned as a candidate.

“The Octoroon” with Miss Foward as Zoe constituted the bill last night, hot the performance was an uneven one, mainly for want of proper rehearsal. To-night Miss Howard takes a benefit, when Robertson’s fine comedy of “School” will be played. A full house would only be a just acknowledgment of the beneficiare’s merits. In a raid made by the police of Melbourne the other day for the purpose of obtaining samples of the liquors commonly sold by the publicans of the city and suburbs, to be analysed, not fewer than 693 hotels were visited, and throe thousaud samples taken. These have been handed over to the Government analyst.

The Good Templars at Waikouaiti are evidently in earnest and mean business. There not being any store in the district but what is engaged in the liquor traffic, the Good Templars have determined to form a Limited Liability Company, with a capital of LI,OOO, and open a store on their own account, in which the obnoxious liquor shall not appear.

The Bishop of Manchester, in a recent speech gave an admirable definition of a perfectly educated, as distinguished from a perfectly instructed person :—“ When a rr>*n went out into the world, knowing when he did know a thing, knowing when he did not know a thing, and knowing how knowledge was to be acquired, he called him a perfectly educated man.” That is true wisdom, though it will hardly recommend itself to Manchester quite as cordially as to the Bishop, Our great cities are full of well I “ instructed ” men; but of “ perfectly edu- 1 oated" men they count, unfortunately, very few. f

We understand that Mr Bathgate, R.M., has appointed Inspector Mallard to see that the provisions of Mr Bradshaw’s Act, popularly known as “The Employment of Females Act,” are carried out to the letter Employers of female labor are required forthwith to notify to the Inspector the hours during which work is carried on in their establishments, and failure to comply with this requ sb will be immediately followed by legal proceedings.

A man named Robert Blacklie met with a serious accident at the Maerewhenua on Sunday last He was employed as a groom at Harris’s hotel, and after going up into the stable loft to put hay into the rack, while the trap ladder, by some means, missed his footing and fell upon his head the skull being considerably injured. He 'S 56 years of age, is now in the the Oamaru hospital, and the * Times' tells us he lies in a very precarious state.

Replying to our remarks on the Ocean Beach railway dispute the ‘ Tribune ’ says s —“The sffa'r opens up no question of Centralism or Provincialism, but one of general convenience, and it wa< impossible for the General Government to have acted otherwise than it has done, if the interests of the public are to he protected. No one had or has a greater personal interest in the forma tion of this little line than the Hon Mi* Reynolds, owning, as he does, a piece of land at the terminus, but the thing oonld not be done; and Mr Bradshaw’s attempt to extract a promise t« the contrary from that gentleman, as he hurriedly started by a train, was of a piece with a good deal more that has been done in this matter. Mr Reynolds, however, was not to be committed to any sack blander.”

Tt is a carious circumstance that there has been daring the past year a decrease in the gold yield of the three principal gold producing Colonies of Victoria, New Zealand, and New >outh Wales. In Sew Zealand the yield of gold for last year was 376,388 ounces, or nearly 129,000 ounces less than that of the previous year. Still this yield, reduced as it was, was about 133,000 ounces more than the produce of New South Wales for 1874, which also exhibits a considerable decline as compared with its own former returns. The same thing is observable in Victoria, though to a less extent proportion* ally. While both New Zealand and New South Wales exhibit a decline of almost onefourth in each case, Victoria, whose production is considerably larger than both, shows a falling-off in the past year of only about one-eighth.

In his farewell speech Chief Justice Arney used the following words of encouragement in speaking of the junior members of the bar:—“ In ordinary cases the examinations have been passed satisfactorily. lam (juite certain that there are among these young men many who will yet be shining lights of the profession. I regret, however, that the examinations have not been public. There have been instances in which the answers have been absolutely startling for their proficiency. I could not therefore do otherwise than offer to the young members of the profession words of encouragement. I assure them, and I believe it sincerely, that when the Supreme Court of >ew Zealand shall hare become concentrated they will have risen to a learned, able, powerful, and influential body, remarkable for its intellectual attainments, general knowledge, and thorough efficiency in the practice of the profession. ”

In opening the criminal session of the Supreme Court at Wellington, Judge Johnston is reported to have said that he could not allow himself to proceed to the business of the day without expressing his deep regret afc the great loss which the Supreme < ?ourt and the people of the Colony had sustained, by the recent retirement of the late Chief Justice, and two of the other Judges. He could nob refrain from declaring, thus publicly, the great satisfaction which he derived from the retrospect of the many years during which he had had the good fortune to be associated, on the bench, with men who had discharged their dudes with such singlehearted zeal for the public service, and with so perfectly harmonious and sympathetic cooperation with their permanent colleagues, and who had b*en so deservedly rewarded by the respect and confidence of the community as the Judges of the Supreme Court had been who had now retired into private life to enjoy, he hoped, for manv years, well-earned leisure.

The * New Zealand Herald’s ’ San Francisco correspondent this month contributes a chatty article entitled “ The New Zealand Colony in ’Frisco,” in which he discourse!! upon the ways and doings there of some men whose names are quite familiar to us. For example, at Oakland “he met Messrs Duncan, Redmayne, and Cameron, from Dunedin They have purchased a large tract of land there, and are going in for sheep-farming on an extensive scale. I also brushed against U. W iSuttall, son-in-law of General Chute; built a sub-marine boat in D’din ; it would’nt sink worth a dime. Well, he was here the other day. He is a splendid talkist, if yon like. Antediluvian Cheeseman couldn’t hold a candle to him. Well, Nuttall has gone to Mexico—big thing in rail ways. San Francisco capitalists taken him by the hand; —make a fortune, sure. Just bis luck. . . . Do you know Hyam Josephs ?—was in business in Auckland years ago—cousin of David Nathan. Well, he is a big man here. Got away with 400,000d0L out of Consolidated Virginia. This is a fact. He was rich before, but he is a billionaire now. He wears a gold-headed cane. There was a big sale of land and a free lunch the other day. Hyam and myself attended—he to bid, Ito lunch. Hyam bid 340,00f)d015. for the block. Spirited for an old Aucklander.”

There will be no meeting of the Guiding Star Lodge, 1.0. G.T., on Monday. A meeting of members will, however, be held at Mr Pryor’s, at eight o’clock, to make arrangements for an official visit to the All Nations Lodge. Port Chalmers. 8 ’

Since Sunday last we leam that negotiations have been carried on between the Primitive Methodists of this city and of Timaru in order to secure the services of the Rev. Mr Ward another Sunday here. To-day it was arranged that Mr Ward should remain, and our advertising columns announce that he will preach on Sunday morning and evening in the Temperance Hall.