EDUCATION BILL. — EXCLUSION OF CLERGY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 237, 6 October 1871, Page 2

EDUCATION BILL. — EXCLUSION OF CLERGY.

0 (From the Evening Post.) On Tuesday evening the House wept into Committee on the Education Bill. The debate on clause 5, providing for the appointment of a secretary to the Minister, and Inspectors of schools, was resumed; and the question of excluding ministers oi religion, a'n<i of those jirjMJ have been clergymen, from being able to serve as Inspectors, gave rise again to-a lively discussion, in whicli Mr. Andrew paid a debt to his profession by speaking up : plainly agaiußt the intolerance which this, provision would show! and ■ against the /supposition that ministers would hot 'bioriefctly' perform the duties of Inspectors. — Mr. Fox said that he hoped the- amendment would be carried. It was not intended as a slijir jupon the clergy, but was for the purpose of meeting the

jealous objection of the people to religious interference in the matter of education. — Mr.tßeeyes said Mr. Fox's speech had greatly, pleased'him, and he hoped it might (>e accepted as an indication that he would deal with the sectarian clauses in the broadest possible manner.— Mr. Fitzherbert said the objection to clergy as inspectors was not intended to give offence to the clergy. — Mr. Wakefield asked whether those who occasionally preach on Sundays, and wlio have therefore all the influence of ministers without ever having been ordained, would also be excluded. — Mr. Fox said the line must be drawn somewhere. — Mr. Stafford said he thought the amendment would cast a stigma on a class which all should respect. It would exclude those among us possessed of the highest education, from being able to examine schools. Probably the highest mathematical scholar in the Colony, Mr. Mules, a clergyman, was always invited by the Nelson Governors to conduct the mathematical examination of the Nelson College. — Mr. Reid spoke in favor of the amendment. — Mr. Johnston said that the question was not one of jealousy, and scarcely one of reason. The object of the House seemed to be to make the bill as popular as possible, and this amendment would do much in that direction. — Mr. Haughton suggested that as there was no chance of the bill becoming law this session, it should be withdrawn, and thus allow time for the country to discuss the matter during the recess. — Mr. Wakefield pointed out an inconsistency which might follow if the amendment were carried. Clergy were returned to the House, and might become Premiers and Ministers of Education, in which case a clergyman would have the appointment of inspectors, and thus have: far greater power than even the inspectors themselves. That part of the amendment, excluding men who "have been clergymen "from acting as inspectors', -was lost. • A division then' was called on the question of the exclusion of present clergymen, :with the following results : — Ayes, 30; Noes, 25.

A Crushing of 65 tons of stone from the Carrick reef, Otago, has yielded 2450z5. The manufacture of cloth has been begun at Mr, Burns' mill, in the Taieri district, Otago. Dr. Carr has lately been lecturing to large audiences in Invercargill on "Humbug and Spiritualism." A Civil Case which was being heard at Dunedin on Tuesday last, had to be adjourned on account of the ; death of one of the jurymen. Foot-ball Matches are the order of the day at Dunedin, as here. The next match contemplated is one between the University and High School, and the Cricked Club. A Steam Hammer— the first in the province— has been added to Kincaid, McQueen and Co.'s Foundry, Dunedin. The first work it was put to, was the welding of the broken shaft of the s.s. Maori. A Quartz Mine is now being worked at Green Island, a few miles from Dune-

din. Melbourne-made machinery is now on the ground, worked by a portable steam engine. Several miners working in Bracken's Gully, Wakatipu district, have had narrow escapes from being killed by stones dislodged by sheep from the overhanging heights. The woollen factory at Mosgiel, East Taieri, Otago, is now in working order. The first wool was carded on the 21st ult., and the machinery is working smoothly, and doing its work in first-rate style. The Cromwell paper says that an Anti-Chinese Association is about to be formed at Bannockburn. At Arrowtown a committee has been formed to complete arrangements relative to a monster petition on the Chinese question. The ironworkers of Christchurch have formed themselves into an Ironworkers' Association, " not only for the purpose of looking after the interests of the trade in a commercial point of view, but for tbe improvement of its members, both morally and mentally. ' The Guiding Star, which recently arrived at Otago from Hong Kong, with Chinese on board, among whom there was much sickness, has been admitted to pratique. The doctors say the disease is not contagious or infectious, but public opinion is against the release of the vessel, as four Chinaman have died since her arrival and there are now sixteen sick. An Anti-Provincialist. — During the discussion in the Presbytery of Dunedin on the proposed new Education Bill, the First Church incumbent, the Rev. George Sutherland, remarked '- that he would trust the people — the bone aud sinew of the province — iv deliberatiug the point, rather than the provincial representation, which was composed of so many scheming i politicians." The Hon. John Hall. — A Wellington contemporary says : — We are exceedingly sorry to learn that the Hon. John Hall is seriously indisposed, and tbat there is great fear that he will be compelled to give up his Parliamentary duties for this session at least, if not permanently. A fashionable Maori wedding recently took place at Wangarei, Auckland, at which, according to the Herald's correspondent, " the behaviour of the Maori ladies and gentlemen was unexceptionable and worthy of imitation by many pakehas." Judge Richmond on " Filthy " Lucre. — In the course of one of the criminal trials at the recent sittings of the Supreme Court at the West Coast, the filthy condition in which many of the bank notes at present in circulation are, became the subject of comment. His Honor, Mr. Justice Richmond expressed his surprise that the banks, who derive so large a profit by the circulation of their paper, should re-issue their notes when they were so begrimed with dirt that it was quite with a feeling of loathing that any person of cleanly habits could touch. them. He often shuddered to think In what strange places they had. been. It was still more surprising that the public should submit to have such paper put in their hands for money. His practice was to

refuse such notes and ask for gold, -•"■! and' that was the only way to obtain clean ones. The Eiyai Mail Routes.— -The Australasian says: — A glance at the table prepared by the agent of. the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and. submitted to the Government, showing the different distances which must be traversed on each ,of the available mail routes, and the time occupied, assuming an average speed of 10 miles an hour, will prove conclusively to any person who has no crotchet of his own to advance, that for mail purposes nothing can possibly compete with the line via Suez: and Brindisi. In the first place it is 2,004 miles shorter than by way of Torres Straits and the Eastern Coast; 3,097 miles. shorter than the Californian , line, touching at Auckland;, 2;697 miles less than the direct . Californian line by way of Fiji and Honolulu; and 2,235 miles less than the Cape route. These are geographical facts that no sophistry can get over. Whatever improvements may take place in the speed of steamships, of course the advantage must still remain with the shortest distance. No doubt before many years are over we may have vessels making the voyage via the Cape in 35 days, which would be at the rate of 15 miles an hour, but when these vessels come to be employed on the Suez line, the difference in point of time in favor of that route would still be 6 days 5 hours. We should be as glad as any one to see a line , frr; pf first-class steamers established between -this country and England by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and have before now pointed out many of the advantages which might be expected to flow from it ; but it is useless to shut our eyes to the fact that for postal purposes it cannot offer us those advantages we at present possess. It appears to us, therefore, that it is the interest of Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, at least to continue the present contract with the P. and 0. Company, or with some other equally capable, subject to such modifications as to cost or speed as experience may ' have shown to be desirable. Queensland, of course, would prefer a line via Torres Straits, for not only would she be by such arrangement brought nearer home than in any other way, but she would then have a cheap monthly means of communication with her settlements in the far north; However, as she is not in a position to take the entire responsibility on her own shoulders, she cannot afford to indulge in this luxury at present. AIJSTRALA.SIA THE STOREHOUSE FOB India.— An up-country correspondent to an Otago journal makes the^follpwing remarks : — "With such a surfeit of eatables under which this country is now suffering, we are indeed the antipodes of Great Britain in another sense than a geographical one. Our position prevents us from enjoying to any extent the benefits of sending our products to the insatiable market, but could not we find one nearer for some of them at least ? I have been reading a few extracts from a Blue Book on British India, and will note down a few facts worthy of drawing some attention to that country as an outlet for some of our surplus wealth. Be it remembered, India is. only half the distance from New Zealand that Europe is, and cannot produce many things which have here but little marketable value now. She takes Ihem largely from home though, and the consumption is on the increase as the following figures show. According to the census of 1866, the population of Calcutta was 377,924. The town of Bombay in 1864, 815,562 ; of Madras, in 1863, . 427,771, The merchandise imported by sea from foreign countries in 1840-41 was £8,415,940; in 1860-61 it had risen to £23,498,716 ; and in 1864-65, it : was £28,150,923. The exports increased from £13,455,584, ib the year 1840-41 to £32,970,605, in „ 1860-61, and to £68,027,016, in 1864-65. The American war accounts for this last extraordinary increase. Raw cotton, opium, rice,: seeds, indigo, and jute were the chief products. The entrances and clearances of British vessels io 1865, at the posts of British India amounted altogether to 10,941 vessels^.of ..5*417,521 tops. In the jpear 1894-65, 2747 miles of railway were opened inlndia*. and conveyed 12,826,51 8 passengers. 17,117 schools and colleges were 'maintained or aided by the Government, the average attendance in pupils in them was ; 435,898.^ ■ M t Aiß,263 'was expended in the year upon public works, and 11,736 miles of Government telegraph lines were open. The number of European troops there in s r lß6s.iwas 71,880 ij of native troops, 118,315. Now here is a market for preserved -meats, hams, fruits, jams, pickles, cheese, and sundries, which bur^ Alisttaliftn cousins will not long overlook, and I am/Btronjgly t ;incU.ped to believe that if theße|cbuntjrieß are ever destined to rise to eminence, it jwitt be by participatipg largely in the benefits of commerce wi,tb Southern AM, rather than with Northern Europe.