THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1869.

Marlborough Express, Volume IV, Issue 201, 30 October 1869, Page 3

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1869.

•• Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to rrgue freely according' to conscience, above all other liberties.’ —Milton.

There can be no doubt but that for want of a tolerable Education even, our sons and daughters are growing up without any knowledge beyond that of a merely mechanical nature, just sufficient to enable them to go through the drudgery of life ; while a large proportion of the population is quite careless on the subject, and especially so where it becomes necessary to pay on its behalf, or for its support. We know gentlemen of long standing and position in our midst, who hold the doctrine that Education in the ordinary meaning of the term, is rather a curse than a blessing; others again, prefer to tax the poor man as highly or higher than the rich, by means of the Household tax of £1 per annum, refusing to recognise the fact that while they by Education save the rising generation from ignorance and crime, they provide for the security of their own and other people’s property. We want men of spirit and determination in our Council to bestir themselves earnestly in this matter, and to save us from the stigma cast upon us by Mr. Stevens, who last session informed the Assembly that all the Province of Marlborough had devoted to Education for the year was £241 ! True this sum is so far incorrect ( being really for the year 1865,) that it only represents the amount paid to the Blenheim schools, and is not the sum contributed in this district aloim. There cannot need a greater proof of the necessity for Education than the fact that there

are numbers of people growing up around us, who have no idea of politics, or the use of a Government, beyond a mere strategy for the sake of getting “ billets,” still less do they comprehend that politics are a matter of pounds shillings and pence to every unit of the population, and of every class, as much so as any other profession, the “ billets” being incidental. It is not necessary however, or our place to write an essay on the uses of Governments, or their value. We would rather assume that they are good or bad things according as the majority of the people make them ; but in countries like this, where the franchise is so low, and truly liberal—whei-e men of every class may aspire to, and do obtain seats as honored representatives of their countrymen, in our Councils and Parliament—there can surely be no more important question than that of educating the rising generation—when we reflect that upon them ere long will depend the destinies of our country ; and that the use or abuse of the large powers entrusted to them will largely, if not altogether depend upon their educational training while young—we should need no additional incentive to spur us on to improve, and provide for it. This brings us to the present Elections, and the necessity existing for an entire change in the system of Government, and the necessary concomitant expenditure. It is argued, and we think justly, as we endeavored to shew several weeks ago, that the Land Fund should be devoted to Public Works, chiefly Trunk lines of Road, and the maintenance of the Bridges; leaving the various Districts to provide by local Taxation as much or as little as they choose for district or byeroads ; while the cost of Government, aids to Education, and the Sick and Destitute, should—outside such trifling sum as may remain from the Ordinary Revenue, if any—be produced by Direct Taxation, to which all classes should contribute a like proportion according to the amount of property they possess. One great advantage of this scheme is that important roads will be kept in repair on the one hand, while every individual will feel his responsibility to Government, and so keep the departmental expenditure as long as it can reasonably be done for. In respect to Education, let there be an incentive in the shape of something to be earned by the schoolmaster himself, and the schools opened to public inspection ; and we venture to think that grants in aid of the Sick and Destitute, sm ill as they now are, will be considerably reduced in consequence of the increase of work, and the spread of local industries.

It is of no use our trying to shirk these questions ; the longer they are deferred, the worse they will be to deal with. Taxation for Roads, Education, and Government departments we must have, and we feel confident that if a plebiscite, or vote of the whole people could be taken, there would be an overwhelming majority in favor of good Government, good Roads, and a good system of Education. We should not again see the anomaly which presented itself att he Tua Marina Election, when every man who went out of Picton to vote—having long taxed themselves for their own roads—voted in favor of two candidates who a few days previous had pledged themselves as opposed to Roads and Drainage measures for the Country at large.