TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4836, 21 September 1876, Page 2

TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

The condonation Bill introduced into the House of Representatives on Sept. 12, by message from his Excellency the Governor, is intituled an Act to amend the Civil List Act 1563 Amendment Act, 1573, and to remove doubts a 3 to the disqualification of certain members of the Executive Council, and runs as follows : Be it enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : —l. The short title of this Act shall be the Civil List Acts Amendment Act, 1876. 2. The fourth section of the Civil List Act 1863 Amendment Act 1873, is hereby repealed. 3. In addition to the seven persons mentioned in section seven of the Civil List Act 1563 Amendment Act, 1573, any person being a member of the Executive Council and holding any one or more of the offices mentioned in the third schedule tu the said Act shall be exempt from the provisions of the Disqualification Act, 1870, provided he doe 3 not receive any salary fees, wages, allowance, emolument, or profit of any kind in respect of the said off ces or any of them, or as a member of the Executive Council. 4. This Act shall be deemed and taken to have come into and been in operation on and from the 31st day of August last.

An important excision was made in the Rating Bill in committee in the Legislative Council on Sept. 8. The 38th clause as printed reads as follows: —"38. All land, together with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall be rateable property under this Act, except as follows:—(1.) Lands the property of her Majesty, not being held under lease or license, or not being under contract for the sale, leasing, or licensing thereof, from the Crown. (2.) Lands, including buildings and improvements thereon, held under lease, license, or other authority from the Crown for goldmining purposes, other than so far as the surface may be used or occupied for other than such purposes. This exemption shall only continue saving in the case of mines, so long as the law require * that a duty of not les3 thin Is. 6d. an ounce troy shall be levied on gold previous to exportation. (3.) Lands occupied for public purposes by the Crown, or the Government of New Zealand, or the local body of the district. (4.) Lands occupied by churches and chapels, or by the dwellings of officiating ministers of religion, or by hospitals or lunatic asylums, or by public libraries, museums, athenjeums, or mechanics' institutes, or other buildings used exclusively for religious or charitable purposes, or by Government schools or schools established by some religious body, or by colleges and universities. (5.) Lands over which the native title has not been extinguished, and lands in respect of which a certificate of title or memorial of ownership has been issued, if in the occupations of aboriginal natives only." Of the above sub-sections the 4th and sth were struck out. As to the 4th a march would seem to have been stolen on the usually wideawake Colonial Secretary. After the decision of the committee had been given, Dr. Pollen rose and said:—" Sir, this is an important matter"—when he was interrupted by Captain Fraser, who rose to a point of order, and Dr. Pollen found he was too late. Since then a portion of clause 4 was reinserted.

We observe that the prospectus of the Australian and New Zealand Steam Shipping Company, has been placed before the public, and we would bespeak for this new venture every consideration from capitalists of Wellington. For a considerable time past the intercolonial trade has been increasing iu value, and extending its ramifications to every colony ; and though Messrs. McMeckan and Blackwood have done very veil in coping with tho demands for tonnage and accommodation, and have had their reward, there can be no doubt that better could be done by a company witli a large capital, which, being raised in all the colonies, would divest the undertaking of anything of a merely local character, and enlist for it the sympathy and support of the mercantile community in each of tho colonies. This larger organisation the Australian and New Zealand company should supply. Glancing at the prospectus, we find the names of gentlemen who occupy very high positions in Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Some of these hold largely. _ For instance, the chairman of the provisional directors, Mr. Clark, one of the wealthiest men in the colonies, has taken up shares to toe amount of £15,000, and others have invested from £SOOO to £2000; and it is to be noticed that these gentlemen represent not only capital but mercantile influence and mercantile interest iu the several cities to which they belong. Their presence on the directory therefore imparts to the concern stability and everyprospect of great euiccßß. It is the intention of the company, we learn, to commence by building three or four large and powerful steamer of about 1200 tons register, with all the latest improvements in machinery and passenger accommodation, and of a speed of not less than 12 knots. With

such steamers of course the voyage will be considerably shortened, and the company thereby enabled to carry out their idea of. reducing freight and passage at least twenty-five per cent.—the increased facilities in due course increasing the at present large trade. The terms upon which shares are to be_ taken will be found in the prospectus, and it is to he hoped New Zealand will be well represented on the share register, for no colony will more beneHt by the establishment of the proposed line by being brought into frequent and speedy communication with the mainland of Australia.

The preamble of Sir G. Grey's Provincial Abolition Permissive Bill is worth reading as aperfeet specimen of the author's style. It runs as follows :—Whereas an Act of the Imperial Parliament passed in the fifteenth and sixteenth year of her Most Gracious Majesty, chapter seventy two, did create and establish within the colony of New Zealand a General Assembly and Provincial Legislatures, the latter consisting of a Superintendent and Provincial Council : And whereas the Queen, Lords, and Commons of Great Britain did by the said Act confer upon the Provincial Legislatures power to make and ordain all ouch laws and ordinances as might be required for the peace, order, and good government of each province, with the exception of laws on a few specified subjects of general and Imperial interest: And whereas her Majesty did further waive her prerogative, and grant to her subjects in New Zealand the great and unusual privilege that all laws passed by the Provincial Legislatures should take effect and remain in operation without her Majesty's assent to the same being sought for or obtained, so that their legislation on all subjects not of general or Imperial interest was freed from all exterior interference, and rested solely with the inhabitants of New Zealand : And whereas from time immemorial it has been the usage of the Empire that when Legislatures are created and established, and have rights and powers of legislation conferred upon them, such rights and powers, except in actual and open rebellion, are never taken away or destroyed, except under and with the authority of Acts passed by such Legislatures : And whereas the several provinces of New Zealand are guiltless of offence, and it is necessary and desirable that this ancient and salutary bulwark of freedom and justice should be respected and reverently preserved.

The following is a copy of the report of the Rabbit Nuisance Committee :—The select committee appointed to inquire into the rabbit nuisance have the honor to report that they have carefully studied the reports of inquiries into the subject in the Australian colonies, in New Zealand, and elsewhere. They have also examined a sufficient number of witnesses to confirm beyond doubt the facts of the case. The mischief already done is most serious, is increasing, and unless some effectual remedy be adopted is likely to increase. The committee recommend that a Bill should be introduced into the Legislature without delay to establish an inexpensive machinery by which the owners or occupiers of laud may be compelled to keep in-check the increase of rabbits on their holdings. The committee are of opinion that such a Bill might be extended so as to include pigs and other noxious animals. They further think that a grant of money for the purpose of introducing weasels as a natural check into the country would (if the object were attained) be of very great service. The committee call the attention of the House especially to the evidence of Captain Walker, Conservator of the State Forests, showing that forest planting by the Government will be useless expense if rabbits are allowed to multiply uncontrolled in the neighborhood of plantations.

In a recent issue we referred to the condition of the Thames goldfield, and expressed the belief, whilst its present condition was anything but satisfactory, that its prospects in the future were promising, and that prosperity would be revived through the medium of one of the newly opened districts, Ohinemuri to wit, from which great things were at one time expected. The Thames has not, within so short a time, become suddenly rich in finds, but there is nevertheless some good news from that quarter. Mr. Murray, manager of the Bank of New Zealand, Thames, has telegraphed to Mr. Macdonald, Mayor of the Thames, who is now in Wellington, as follows:—"The first gold from Ohinemuri was lodged at the Bank of New Zealand here this afternoon. 151 ounces of gold were obtained from 58 tons of stone crushed for the Welcome Company at Wick's battery, Waitekauri. A big battery of 40 head stamps starts on Tuesday. Prospects good." This information comes from a reliable source, and therefore the Thames people may be congratulated on the result of a test crushing of Ohinemuri stone, as the existence of payable stone in that district, where the reefs are large and well defined, will put quite a different complexion on the prospects of the Thames goldfield. There can be no doubt that the field has been somewhat neglected. Auckland has for a long time to a large extent depended on the Thames. Notwithstanding this, however, an adequate sum of money has never been expended on public works within the district. It seems a pity that such a rich field should be allowed to languish for want of good roads to open up the country, and thus give greater facilities for carrying out mining operations. Last year a select committee of the House of Representatives reported favorably on a petition from the Thames asking for a grant towards tho construction of roads, on the ground that the goldfield was on lands owned by natives, and that consequently a fund for such a purpose could not be raised by taxation. Possibly under tho new constitution the Thames will fare batter than it has done in the past; but what we desire to point out is that the district is capable of contributing largely to the prosperity of the colony— it is an important field—and that therefore it is desirable to render a fair Bhare of assistance towards the development of its resources.

, A NUMBER of Maoris have recently presented a petition to Parliament upon a variety of matters. The following extract, which has relation to the Native Schools Act, is exceedingly interesting, as evidencing a will on the part of the natives to have their children well taught, while some of the suggestions are worthy of every consideration : —" We desire that the Native Schools Act, 1867, should be amended to thi3 effect :-—Let there be two classes of schools. First, for all children knowing only their own Maori tongue, also having a knowledge of all Maori customs. These should be taught to read in Maori, to write iu Maori, and arithmetic. Second, all children of two years old, when they are just able to speak, should be taught the English language, and all the knowledge which you the Europeans possess. If this plain and easy course be followed, our children will soon attain to the acquirements of the Europeans. With reference to the first proposal, that only three things should be taught to those who can only speak Maori, we explain our reasons. First, the extreme difficulty of teaching them the Englinh language; second and most important, even if tho youths were to attain to tho acquirements which are taught to them, after they have long been speaking nothing but Maori and observing only Maori customs if they were to return to their Maori kaingas, it would not bo long before they fell away and became as those who had not been to school at all, or a good deal worse. This is a great waste of public money and of the land of the parents of the children ; also it is a waste of time. Wo have an example set us in this respect by the results from mauy former schools ; those who did not attend them are better than those who did. Here is tho case of a boy at that time educated at the Roman Catholic school. He was afterwards taken to Rome, and educated further in the colleges. Ho attained to high acquirements and knowledge of many languages—Latin, Hebrew, Greek, English, French, and many other foreign languages. He was ordained a priest, and came back to act as Roman Catholic clergyman amongst tho Maoris, of his place, Hokianga. After living with the Maoris of his tribo for two or three years, he abandoned his office and relapsed into his former state. Those children who did not go to Rome became superior to him. The time and

money of the Boman Catholics expended upon him might as well have been thrown,into the sea ;'and all {the -schools in. which our children have hitherto been educated have only had the Bame, result, • and thinking will anticipate only the same thing in the future; Had. our children received a good sound'education, it would have been for the benefit of-both races, and there would have been a return for ...the, public,, moneys, spent, and. also for the lands of the Maoris given and the time spent in the eduatien of the children. It is very distressing, lest it be like unto the man and the schools above referred to ; if so, the expense incurred, the endowments and the time spent, might as well be thrown into the sea. With reference to the second proposal, it was thought that the little children should be taught English, &c, so that the first language which they might be able to speak should be English. They could at that age pick it up very easily ; and when the child was ready to take to school, he (or she) would go speaking English, and thus there would be no confusion with the teachers. It is important to consider, that should these children acquire knowledge, it would be of a permanent character. It would be very difficult for them to pick up again the Maori customs from which they had been separated when quite little ; they would have to be taught those customs in a school for that purpose, if they wanted to learn them for their amusement. This system would repay fully all the outlay. You should bear in mind this proverb, 'lf you want to pull up a kauri tree, you must do it when it is little ;' so with the education of our children, they should lie taught when pliant. This system has been tried by one of us—namely, Hirini Rawiri Taiwhanga—during the last five years; and his younger children display great aptitude and quickness in learning English. He had fourteen children, eleven of them Maoris, and in addition there were three Europeau children, who taught the others to speak English. There are now seven left, two having died, two have returned to their parents, two have been sent to European schools, and one white child has been sent home. The children taken to the European schools belong to Heue Mohi Tawhai and Honi Tuhirangi. The latter's child gives great pleasure to his teacher, for he had a good knowledge of English when he went to his school, and it is very clear that if children were taught in that way at school and could afford the expense they would soon acquire European knowledge The teachers for these schools should be persons with three or four children, so that the children would do to teach the Maoris; or if they had none of their own, let them take some in as Hirini did. There should be two schoolhouses, about two miles apart, one for the educa;ion of the youths; the other should be occupied by the schoolmaster and his wife partly, ar.d partly by the children and their mothers, uitil such time as they should become domesticated and sociable with the teacler's children, when they could go away. There should be one or two women to assist tie schoolmaster's wife in domestic matters. There should also be a general playground for the Europeau and Maori children together. There should not be a word of Maori allowed io be spoken in the school, and the master, his wife, and children should be persons altogether ignorant of the Maori language. The schoolmaster should teach the big boys the three subjects which I first stated; and if they are sharp, they could then be taught more. The schoolmistress could teach the little children their letters, &c, and the girls sewing, music, &c. If the Parliament would consent to embody these suggestions in an amendment to the Native Schools Act, 1867, it would be certain that in twenty-one years' time the Maori children would be on an equal footing as regards their education with the Europeans ; but if the present system is to be continued, if our children were to be taught under it for a thousand years, they would not attain to what is called ' knowledge;' and in laying before you these seven subjects for your consideration, we, your humble petitioners, will ever pray."