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Hokitika Guardian, 31 December 1923, Page 4

gfH Guardian'.] 1 ON. Dec. 2' it l - :UI Z seriously stioii’ thin tun ojwti-nir schools brick ami stone ion e; : HH|Ki'r necessary. protv -t- - such change tijc policy of the Education Department as tlic lion V. .1. Parr lots indicated. “Apart from tli?; factor of n copious rainfall,” it says, “the idea cl attempting to conduct school classic without shelter trom the boisterous winds with which wo arc favoured at times here and in other districts i. ointo stagger the imagination. Wood is a suitable material for small country schools, hut the erection of wooden schools in the more important centres of population is opposed to economy, besides being open to objection on nilier grounds. The whole question of school accommodation evidently will have to be reviewed by Parliament next session, ft seems rather likely that a strong case will then be made out for augmenting the funds now made available annually for the erection and replacement of school buildings.’ Of (nurse Mr Pan never ha- contemplated carrying on tin* education system ol ilu* country without buildings, but be probable has recognised that many economies might be effected in this direction without in any way impairing the effieioncv of the system. NEED POP. ECONOMY.

That there is need for very drastir economy in the administration of the system is admitted by everyone win has made himself acquainted with the facts. During the last live or MS years the annual expenditure upon eon cation has been more than doubled, til* amount increasing in round figures.

from under L'l,TOO.0(10 to over C3,0()‘),000 and no one pretends to believe that' the results obtained to-day arc materially better than those obtained in 1!;17. Members of Parliament naturally are reluctant to impugn the increased expenditure. On the hustings they have found it acceptable to the electors to demand education, more education and si ill more education for the people, and in ihe Mouse they stand commit - ted to the Minister’s estimates inwards the attainment of that goal. In these circumstances Mr Parr’s frank attempt to check the rapid growth of the education vote is all the more creditable. It certainly is not a step any .Minister would take with the idea of augmenting bis personal popularity or his political security. Every politician wishes to be regarded as a friend of the most generous system of education niul the man who believes that equally good resists could be obtained at a smaller cost deserves to lie beard. Pr.KXTY OK MONKY. lint, judging from Mr Masses’s remarks to the ropreseiMjii ••?.., hf tin newspapers jiu4-4fce Australian Press jMugit4rrfiou in New York the other dav the head of the Government is returning to tin* Dominion in no cheese-par-ing humour. “New Zealand,’’ lie .’old these gentlemen, "is a vigorous young country and naturally requires money lor its full industrial realisation. Hut our strong financial position relievos its of all concern regarding the loan we are llnaling. If such a loan is made it will lie floated in London rather than in New York." The last sentence is little ohseurc, since in an earlier part of his interview uith the American ••jews-gatheiers he had staled that no had definitely arranged for vital money the Dominion required before leaving London, and that the operation was occasioning hint no anxiety. It is not

occasioning linn im anxiety. 11 is nut difficult tn imagine what Hie "skinflinis" .'if tin- early eighties would have thought of limb finance <u thi- kind, but the whole v*iirl<l Im.. changed hiiicf hods sun e those 1 ciinit.f (Joys .m l Now Zealand cannot all’ord to lag bo liiml other now countries in settlement and industrial development. At Iho same time it would lone been interests nor to the people immediately concerned laid .Mr .Massey told tlioni exactly wh.il lie bad done wiili the thirty odd million of loan nutliorilios lie carried to London. TAXATION AND TRADE. IH the course of an iiiteridew yesterday, Sir John Huberts, who returned from England this week and left for in - home in Dunedin last 11 itillt confessed himself as n convinced Protectionist. He was satisfied, lie said, that Britain should protect itself. Franco, Germany and the United States all were Protectionist countries, hut they took the fullest advantage of England's Free Trade, and flooded its markets with their goods. Wool bought- in England hv Continental manufacturers against British manufacturers, was taken to France and Germany, and sent hack as yarn or in pieces, ruthlessly cutting into British manufacturers’ local markets with disastrous results. It was regrettable that .Mr Baldwin had failed to convince the people of Great Britain of what he was honestly convinced himself, was the way nut of industrial troubles, the protection of British Industries for British work people. The political future was hazy in the extreme, ■Sir John said. He had been kept informed by wireless on the way out on the Athenie, hut he confessed he was quite unable to express an opinion on the situation, much less to prophesy. This is tiie cautious attitude of all the authorities arriving from the Old C’ount r v.