New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, AUGUST 9.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4489, 9 August 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, AUGUST 9.

The Government do not propose to deal with the education question this session, but promise to give their attention to it during the recess. Perhaps it is as well that it is so, because nothing could be more unfortunate than the initiation of a crude or partial measure. Our readers may perhaps recollect the Education Bill, introduced by the Government several sessions ago, and which came to such an untimely end. The Bill was a most wonderful bit of patchwork, equal almost to the Goldfields Act, and other scissors-and-paste specimens of drafting, or compiling, of which the New Zealand Statute Book furnishes only too many specimens. But it did not become law because it was a question on which there was an enlightened opinion, both in and out of Parliament; and notwithstanding the promise subsequently made, the Government wisely refrained from meddling further with it. The provinces had, on the whole, managed education “excellently “ well,” and there was no pressing need for a comprehensive measure ; —at all events, there was nothing to be gained politically by provoking a debate on the general question of education. But provincial abolition changes the whole aspect of affairs, and we are pleased to find that Ministers do not shirk responsibility in this matter. If not this session, certainly next year, we may expect an Education Act for the entire colony, because it is quite clear to any one that, in this matter of education, provincial boundaries cannot be recognised. There should, and there must be, uniformity of system ; there should, and there must be, equal facilities for school instruction in all parts of the colony. Teachers and taught should be placed upon the same footing, without reference to geographical position. Indeed, if a national feeling is ever to spring np in this country, the foundation must be laid in our public schools. It should be a national system, and not a combination of local systems. It is a fortunate circumstance, perhaps, pending the change of constitution, that this question should have attracted so much attention in Provincial Councils lately. In Auckland, no fault is found with the machinery, but the education tax fails to supply funds for more than six months of the current year, and the General Government, under the Abolition of Provinces Bill, will be compelled to supplement the tax to the necessary amount. Hawke’s Bay is able, this year, to meet its requirements out of revenue, leaving the education tax in abeyance. Taranaki is without sufficient revenue to provide for its old population, and cannot overtake the wants of the new arrivals, and in any case, whether the provincial system be abolished or not, we hold that the General Assembly should aid this heroic little province from the general revenue. Wellington, we all know, is crippled for want of funds, and the education rate is , a great burden to many people. Across the Strait, matters are no better in Marlborough and Nelson; and Westland is absolutely unable to keep up a decent appearance in the matter of schools. To' equalise matters, therefore, a large sum will be needed during the current financial year, irrespective of the pressing need for school buildings. In Otago, where the funds are ample, the Council, looking ahead a few years doubtless, debated the policy of an education tax ; and in Canterbury, an entire change of system was effected, notwithstanding the remonstrance of the Superintendent, Mr. Rolleston. This change, brought about by gentlemen in favor of provincial abolition, was anything but in accord with popular feeling. It abolished the Board of Education, and substituted a Minister of Education ; and it increased the contributions of householders towards the erection of school buildings, besides increasing the school fees. We shall not stop to consider whether this was a prudent measure or not ; but it had one good effect, namely, that of inducing Mr. Superintendent Rolleston to put his opinions on the education question upon record, that gentleman having transmitted a message to his Council, which is the most valuable contribution on the subject we have read for some considerable time. This message, wo think, should bo very carefully considered by the Government when framing their Education Bill.

Our space does not admii of reprinting the message, which is necessarily sOme-

what lengthy, but we shall touch upon a few of the salient points. The Superintendent of Canterbury writes : It appears to me that the principal objects to be aimed at in promoting a successful system of education are—first, a continuity of administration unaffected by political changes, but closely connected with the Government of the country: second, a certainty in its financial arrangements which shall render it as little as possible subject to alternations of parsimony and extravagance, xvhich so frequently obtain in politically administered departments, according to the fluctuating changes of bad or prosperous times.

These objects, it is quite certain, could not be secured under provincial administration. To a certain extent, the first object has been attained, but the second has not. Even in prosperous Canterbury, with an overflowing treasury, and the advocates of local administration in power, economy was first practised on the education vote ; and if this happened in the green tree, what may not take place in the dry 1 The history of the educational systems of the provinces tells its own melancholy tale. Mr. Superintendent Rolleston discusses the foregoing propositions with much ability. He remarks of the second : That the establishment and maintenance of schools should be largely dependent on the fluctuating revenue derivable from the sale and occupation of the waste lands must sooner or later lead to unsatlsfacfac*ory results, and an enforced economy very prejudicial to education. Moreover, the sudden curtailment of resources upon which the districts are relying for the maintenance of their schools, not only affects the future of education; it renders valueless much that has been done in the past. The stoppage of a road or bridge may only temporarily stay the progress of a district; but you cannot neglect or impede the progress of education and take it up subsequently at the point of hindrance in the same condition as it was previously. Not to progress is to go backwards. Such a system of annual appropriations of a varying revenue is too uncertain to depend upon in a matter of such vital importance to the community. Our best policy would, I believe, bo to make education free in all Government schools, and such a result is, as I think, but a corollary upon the adoption of any responsibility by the State in the matter of education. It is this policy which has made the people of New England "the most generally educated people in the world.” I venture to state my views on this point, though the province may not have full power at present to change the system in this direction, because I wish to explain presently my objection to any change in an opposite direction, and because I would gladly see the province, where it has not itself tlie power to effect a desirable change, use its influence to obtain it through the Colonial Assembly.

We shall add nothing to the foregoing extract. We agree with the Superintendent of Canterbury in every particular, and we give his opinions prominence at this time with the view of bringing them before the members of the General Assembly, now in session, to aid - them in coming to a sound conclusion on the subject. It is evident that Mr. Rolleston had in view a uniform educational system for the colony, although he was compelled by his position to apply general principles to his own province. Mr. Rolleston proceeds in his message;—

The sources of revenue for the maintenance of such a system as I have indicated would be —(1.) A proportion of the Consolidated Revenue, bearing a fixed relation to population, and distributed through the Central Board to the local authorities, under provisions analagous to those of the revised code in England. (2.) Rates to be raised upon the local rate rolls, and administered locally. In the future, the local bodies should also have the power of borrowing upon the security of the school fund, into which the Government grant and other sources of revenue would be paid, for building purposes- such loans to be repayable either by annual instalments or by the establishment of a sinking fund. At the present time, however, in the abnormal position in which the colony has been placed by the sudden influx of population, it would seem that there would be considerable reason for borrowing funds for the erection of schools, upon the Consolidated Revenue of the colony, and that such funds are at last as fair a charge upon posterity as the millions that have been raised for public works and immigration.

And here, again, we say that we agree with the Superintendent of Canterbury. Property and population should jointly contribute to maintain free public schools, which is what he suggests ; and posterity should bear some portion of the cost of erecting school buildings. We shall not further pursue this subject at present. It is, however, one which would bear much closer investigation than we can readily bestow upon it. We have said enough, however, to bring it fairly before the public, and we trust that during the coming recess it will receive the attention it deserves from constituencies and candidates alike.