The Globe. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1875.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 313, 14 June 1875, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1875.

A public meeting is announced to be held on Wednesday evening to discuss the Education question, and it is said that at this meeting a resolution will be submitted praying his Honour the Superintendent to disallow the Education Ordinance. It appears to us that the promoters of the meeting have shown but little wisdom in the steps they have taken. In all probability the Council will have been prorogued on Wednesday afternoon, and his Honour’s decision on the Education question given, before the hour at which the meeting is announced to take place. Why precious lime should have been allowed to slip past without any action being taken is a mystery. The Bill has been before the Council for many weeks, its provisions have been fully discussed by member after member, and the debates on the question have appeared at great length in the columns of the 'daily journals, and yet nothing has been done. But, even should the sittings of the Council not terminate on Wednesday, it is too late in the day to obtain anything like a decided expression of public opinion. It must be remembered that Christchurch is not Canterbury, and that the other portions of the province have a right to be heard in the matter, as well as the capital. But, although we regard the meeting as ill-timed, we admit that there are many, and weighty reasons why legislation on the subject of Education should be postponed for a year at least. If we remember rightly, no desire was expressed at the last elections for a change in the direction which the Bill now before the Council takes. The people of the province appear to be quite satisfied with the management of the present Board, and proud of the rapid strides that Education has made during the last few years under its able direction. But the Bill now before the Council is a virtual reversal of all the work of the last six or seven years, and should it come into force a most decided check will be given to the cause of education in the province. Again, the Ordinance proposes to place its management in the hands of a political officer, whose administration must be more or less influenced by political considerations, a condition of things which is exceedingly undesirable. But to our mind the most weighty consideration of all, is the fact that by the Bill the management of Education is placed in the hands of an officer, whose billet before another year has passed may have ceased to have any existence. In this matter the Council has acted as if its position was assured for an indefinite period. But it is absurd on the part of the members to ignore the fact that total abolition has been decided on, and will in all probability be carried during the next session of Parliament. They would have shown greater wisdom, and secured more respect from their constituents, had they set their house in order for coming dissolution. It would be too much, perhaps, to ask them to take any steps to hasten the end, but at any rate they should have abstained from any action which would tend to complicate matters when that time comes. And, by the Bill under discussion, education in the province will be in a most unsatisfactory position should abolition be carried during next session.

But although we believe the Council has acted most unwisely in legislating on the question of education at the present time, it is a serious matter to call on his Honor to exercise his right of veto. The bill is a Government measure, and is brought in by his Honor’s responsible advisers. It is not known that any misunderstanding has arisen between him and those gentlemen, or that they persist in holding office after having lost his confidence. If such is the case, it has not transpired, at any rate. It therefore appears to us that an appeal to the Council is the proper course to adopt. Agitation in any form is, we are afraid, altogether too late ; but if anything is to bedoneatall, it should be in the formof a petition to the House, setting forth the reasons why the Bill should be delayed for a year at any rate. If the Council could only be persuaded to drop the Bill for the present session, the public would then have an opportunity of discussing its provisions, and when the the annual meetings of ratepayers take place, every district in the province might give an expression of opinion on the measures. If, after that it was

still thought desirable to pass the Bill, its opponents would be satisfied, but we think the public of Christchurch will be urging an extreme step indeed if they petition his Honor to exercise his right of veto.