Address of His Honor the Superintendent.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 257, 18 April 1855, Page 4

Address of His Honor the Superintendent.

(Concluded from our last.) Amongst the practical difficulties which the inhabitants of the Province have to encounter, none are more severely felt than those arising from the slate of the law relating to roads and drainage, from &c absence of any machinery for keeping roads in repair, for altering lines of road which experience has shown to he inconvenient, and for laying out new roads through settled districts which have become necessary to the public. A measure to supply this want will be submitted to you similar to measures already adopted in other Provinces, and similar, so far as circumstances will admit, to. the law of England. . In compliance with a petition which I have received from some of the inhabitants of Lytteltelton, T have caused a bill to be prepared for the purpose of bestowing a municipal corporation on the town. It may be a matter of discussion as to what corporate powers should be intrusted to a town of so limited a population, and at so early a stage of its existence. In the bill to be laid before you almost all the powers are included which are enjoyed by Municipal Corporations in England. There are however certain matters of the greatest importance, such as the protection of the town from fire, and the adoption of an effective system of drainage, which can only be properly and efficiently accomplished by the townspeople themselves, and then only by the agency of a municipal body. Should a similar wish be expressed by the inhabitants of Chiistchurch, a similar bill will be laid before you, for bestowing on that town similar corporate powers. The next subject to which I shall request your attention is that connected with the affairs of the Canterbury Association ; and I earnestly hope you will be able finally to dispose of that question in the course of |the present session. The subject has now been so long before the public that you will, no doubt, be able to effect an arrangement which will be satisfactory to the Province. The question has now been cleared of most of the difficulties which at one time surrounded it. A Committee of your Council has investigated the accounts of the Association, and you can have no difficulty in ascertaining the amount of the outstanding liabilities, which the Province can, upon any grounds, be called on to assume. On the other hand, His Excellency, on the part of the Crown, has undertaken that no difficulty shall arise in respect to the title to the property which the Association holds, and is prepared to hand over to the province. The correspondence embodying the arrangement I was enabled to make with his Excellency at Auckland, is upon your table. Should there beany validity whatever in the doubts which have been expressed as to the title of the Association to its property, the Crown, as the owner of the land in the event of a delect in the Association's title, is the party directly interested. You will perceive however, that the Crown has undertaken to supply any defect in the title, should it be your wish to accept the property. Should you then determine that the Province care, without injustice to itself, and ought, us a, matter either of justice or honour, to undertake the Association's debt, it will obviously be necessary for the Province to obtain the absolute title to the Reserves. Such a title you can obtain by a joint conveyance from both the parties interested in the title, the Crown and the Association. On the other hand, should you refuse 'to entertain the proposal made by the Association, the Reserves will either remain absolutely vested in and managed by the Association,.or else will become a matter of litigation in lse, Courts of law. Whilst leaving this question wholly to your judgment, and being desirous to aid in effecting any arrangement which you may consider most conducive to the interests of the Province, I cannot avoid pointing out to you the great evils which would result from the latter contingency. The Province could not be but largely benefited by acquiring the absolute property in these valuable reserves, and by placing them under an effective system of management. On the other

hand, it could not but suffer, either by their being vested permanently in a corporation in England, or by their becoming a subject of costly and tedious litigation. If therefore you should find that the Association's debt can be undertaken without entailing too heavy a burden on th^eifcProvince, arid that, at the same time you can obtain an absolute title to those reserves, I cannot but think sound policy would dictate an arrangement being made on the basis proposed to you by the Association. It seems right, and you will probably expect, that I should express an opinion as to the financial effect of such an arrangement on the Province. So far as I am able to judge of the amount of the liabilities, and of the value of the property, I think that by a proper management, and judicious sale of portions of the estate, the Province would not be called on to contribute any part of its revenues towards the liquidation of the debt. But even svere it called on to do so to a limited amount, the sacrifice would be far more than compensated for, by the general credit and character which the Province would establish in the eyes ol the public in England, by undertaking to indemnify from loss those private individuals who, without any hope of advantage in the success of the Settlement, nevertheless did not shrink from heavy pecuniary responsibility, iv the determination to save it, and those whose fortunes were embarked in it, from failure. Gentlemen, I hope I may be favored with your views on this question at an early period in order that any bills that may be necessary to embody the resolutions at which you may arrive may be prepared. But the question which in my mind exceeds all others in importance, as affecting the permanent welfare of the community, is the question of providing for the education of the people; and that not by temporary expedients, but by the establishment of permanent and liberal educational institutions. You will remember that in opening this council for the first time, I endeavoured to urge the importance of this question on the Province. The experience of eighteen months has only served to deepen and strengthen the views which I then ventured to express. The whole tendency of the discussions which have taken place throughout the colony on the subject of the Waste Lands, must have left the impression that the result of legislation on that subject will be to create possibly with great rapidity a very large class of peasant proprietors and small farmers throughout the Province. Those who think asil do that such a class will constitute the surest basis for the durable prosperity of a colony and the happiness of its inhabitants, have watched that tendency with the deepest interest. , ■ But it is impossible to anticipate without mistrust and alarm the increase of such a class in numbers and wealth, if their youth are allowed to grow up without that education which alone enn fit them to fulfil the duties which prosperity entails, and to exercise the great political privileges which our Constitution places in their hands- Institutions so freejas those which have been bestowed on this colony, will prove a curse and not a blessing, except in the bauds of an intelligent and educated people. You will remember the Government postponed framing1 a measure for establishing an educational system until the present session, and you were asked for a vote of a thousand pounds in order to provide for education temporarily, Tintil experience should have shown what might be devised as most applicable to the condition of the Province. Full iiccounts will be laid before you of the mnuner in which that grant has been expended. The difficulties that have been experiencedhave arisen from the limited supply of good schoolmasters, and from the impossibility of making permanent institutions on the frail security of a casual vote of the Council. In dealing with education there are two dis'tinet questions for legislation. First, that relating to the system to be adopted. Secondly, fAat relating to the means by which it is to be tnaintained. In establishing any system it is idle to disguise the difficulties arising from the connection between education and religion ; and the various views entertained on the nature and extent of that relation, in a country consisting of various religious denominations. The measure to be submitted to you endeavours to deal fairly with that part of the subject. But I desire to say it is not proposed in the expectation that it will, of necessity, solve a ques-

tion which ever has been, and will be, surrounded with difficulty. To contrive such a system, Gentlemen, I believe is not in the power of man. In a matter in which opinion and feeling enter so largely, the spirit in which any system is worked will mainly determine its success or failure. The most that legislation can do is to .establish a system which shall be fair to all, and shall distinctly recognise the. duties of all: and the principle in the proposed measure is this—~ that whilst no system deserves the name of edu-: cation which endeavours to separate secular instruction from moral and religious training, yet the duty of the State extends only to affording secular instruction, whilst the various religious denominations of which the State is composed are the proper organs for conveying doctpi mil instruction in religious matters. If the state then shall undertake to teach secular things and shall place it in the power of the teacher of religion to fulfil his proper duty, it has done all that it can do in the matter. But with the other part of the subject—the means of maintaining educational institutions, this bill does not propose to deal ; and in this respect it is manifestly inadequate to the object sought. T can never regard any system as satisfactory or sufficient, which is not maintained by a fixed and permanent source of income. The expences attending an efficient educational system are ?two-fold ; comprising,7 first, the cost of building schoolhouses and providing materials for the schools; ancVsecondly, the cost of maintaining the schoolmasters. The first of these demands is of a varying nature, and may be supplied as funds become available ; but the second is a permanent annual expence to be guaranteed every year. I am aware that it has been proposed to set aside a portion of the land fund or land rate for educational purposes. I should rejoice to see that proposal adopted. But the funds which may be anticipated from this source, are, in their nature, precarious, likely to vary largely from year to year, and not to be relied on for meeting a fixed annual liability. Besides if the education is to be made worthy of the Proviuce, if a system is to be established which shall command the respect of the people, I believe the funds arising from land sales will be wholly absorbed for many years, in the buildings required, and in the other expenses attending the first foundation of schools. The permanent annual cost will still be left unprovided for. I know of but four ways in which these funds can be raised. Jst, As the existing Ordinance provides, that is, by setting apart a certain fixed portion of, or per centage on, the Public Revenues. 2nd, by annual votes of the Provincial Council. 3rd, by paymeuts made by the parents of the children attending the schools. I will speak of these three before recurring to the last. An examination of the estimates will shew that .the present ordinary revenues are barely more than sufficient to provide for the ordinary expenses of Government; whilst the annual sumirequired for education would amount to nearly one third of the revenue;-.. Again, the sums derived from weekly payments by the scholars, can never provide more than a small part of the expence of a school, except in localities where, from the density of the population, the numbers attending are very large. In this country, with a widelydiffused population, that will never be the case. Nothing can be less satisfactory than grants in aid or votes of your house, virtually making the education of the people contingent on the political chances and party struggles inherent in a popular form of Government. The fourth mode of providing these necessary funds is by a rate on the whole population of the Province. I have calculated that a rate of ten shillings on every person above the age of fifteen years, and five shillings on every child between the ages of 3 and 15 years, would produce, even with the present population, a sum sufficient £to provide for the permanent charges of an efficient educational system. But with such a rate another great principle might be asserted, I mean, free education for all alike. That the schools should be entirely open to all the inhabitants of the Province without any charge, and that, not as a matter of charity, but as a matter of right. A tax so small to accomplish au object so great, would not, I think, be deemed a burden. Upon those who had large families it would fall most heavily, but to those very persons it would prove an actual boon, because it would enable such persons to educate their families at a less expense than if they had to make the present weekly payments. To those without families the charge would be too trilling to occasion com-

plaint, whilst it would constantly bring before the minds of all, the moral duty which belongs to all, to provide lor the education of the youth of the community. To make such a system complete it would be light that endowment should be attached to every school in the form of scholarships and exhibitions, by which children, living too far from the schools to take advantage of them by daily attendance, might be maintained as boarders without additional charge either to their parents or to the public. The creation of these permanent endowments would be a legitimate object to which to devote a portion of the land fund of the Province. At the same time the Government have not thought it wise to propose in the present measure any such plan as I have described. I entirely agrea with them in thinking, that a rate if adopted should be assented to by the population at large. I have therefore brought it before you in order that it may be fully considered by the Province. I do not share in the apprehension that a rate really expended in providing a good and free system of education would be obnoxious to the people : on the contrary, the time will, I hope, come when the people will demand as a right that the means of education for their children shall, at any cost, be provided ; and will justly charge the Government, which shall neglect to provide those meaus, with forgetfulness of its highest duties. Gentlemen, I claim your indulgence for having entered so fully into this subject. I have it too nearly at heart to forbear to urge it upon the Province. To create institutions such as these—to bestow on them the character of permanence—to establish for ever free schools for all—to enlist the sympathies of the people in their progress and management —Tins is a work which will be remembered, when all the ordinary subjects to which our attention is now directed will have been long forgotten, in the political changes of the day and the hour. I cannot conclude, gentlemen, without alluding to the great struggle in which our Queen and country are at present engaged. For although it has pleased God to cast our lot in a land far removed from the scene of war, the fearful interest of that contest is undimmished by distance. It will be for you to consider whether we may not give some evidence, more substantial than words alone, of our sympathy with a cause in which the liberties of Europe are involved. Whether we may not seize the opportunity of proving our gratitude for the gift of those free institutions which we so . long wished to enjoy, and now so highly prize. The finances of this Province will not enable us to follow the example oi' those Colonies of the Empire which have made grants of public money towards the expenses of the war; but of that in, which we are rich—our Waste Lands—l would suggest to you whether we may not contribute something towards relieving the necessities of those of our countrymen who may become sufferers in the conflict. With this object a supplementary clause will be introduced with the Waste Lands Regulations for making free grants uflaud to a limited extent to discharged soldiers and seamen, and to the widows of those, who may have fallen iv the present war, and who may be willing to settle in this Province. Gentlemen, I have alluded to the principal subjects which will be submitted to you by the Government. lam sure they will receive from you the most careful consideration. And for my own part, whilst laying before you my own views and those of the members of the Government, I need not tell you that it will be my duty, to assure yon that I will endeavour, to the best of my ability, to carry into effect whatever may be the ultimate result of your deliberations. It only remains forme to declare this Council opeu for the despatch of business. James Edward Fitz Gerald.