THE EDUCATION ACT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5798, 29 October 1879, Page 3

THE EDUCATION ACT.

TO THE EDITOR Of THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, -In the matter of national education the economist is often tempted to weigh the puny efforts put forth by one nation as against the gigantic measures adopted by another in the endeavor to reach the true bottom of this much vexed question, after all only to discover that the machinery planned and reared by minds the moat active, enterprising, and unprejudiced among them, affect injuriously one, or other of the vitals of the community they desired to benefit, and must thus be classed in proportion to its costliness the enormity of the evils it produced with the more or less flagrant of national errors. An example of this latter case may be found in our own Education Act, which, though noble in aim, will, unless speedily purged of the many germs of mischief that infest it, sooner or later stand revealed in the full bloom of its imbecility. It is admitted on all aides that State education, where it is necessary, should to a certain extent be free, and so far compulsory, the one and only debatable (point being the extent to which the State should educate those whom it is called upon to instruct. Here it is opined that tho Education Act should simply be a complement of the statute which deals with destitute and criminal children. So that as the one makes provision for the bodily care of the unhappy child, who would otherwise grow up in misery, and probably die of neglect ; the other should provide that such a child does not prow up in ignorance, and probably in crime. These are duties paramount, and of primary importance. But for the State to go further than this and to act in loco parentis in the matter of education generally, and to undertake at the public expense to train up the children of those too selfish, indolent, or disolute to provide for the education of their own offspring, so that such children may compete on equal terms in the race of life with the children of others who discharge their parental duties without troubling the State, is a manifest injustice to the latter. Parents have a natural right to a voice in the matter of their children’s education, of which no legislation can deprive them, and there are many who conscientiously object, apart altogether from a religious aspect, to the contamination of a State school for their children, especially for their girls, and that section of the community (which is by no means inconsiderable) who entertain such objections, and are willing to discharge their parental duties —even though it be, and as is instanced in hundreds of cases at much self-sacrifice, instead of relieving themselves of all trouble, expense, and responsibility in the matter by saddling such duties upon the State, and consequently upon their neighbors, are surely not the least worthy portion of the community, nor the least deserving of respectful consideration. Besides this, the dangers arising from such a system saps all sense of self-reliance and selfrespect, and tends to encourage the individual to look to the Stats for everything, when he should be taught to rely upon himself. The system of public education of New Zealand is in truth nothing less than a wholesale charity, and aided by the many other charitable institutions of the land, will ero long demoralise and pauperise the population, by destroying all sense of independence in those who avail themselves of it. Indeed, in the matter of education, the State is as grossly unjust to the taxpayers as it would be were it to compel them indiscriminately to contribute towards a complete and luxurious system of maintenance en masse of all the children of the colony from the time of leaving the breast till fit to enter the lists in the general combat for existence, which would at least have this to recommend it—that it would have the effect of materially lessening, it not to altogether save, the enormous expenditure under the present plan of peopling these islands, since it may with safety be assumed that thousands upon thousands would be found to flock to our shores only too ready and eager to swear allegiance to a Government so parental-minded. Viewed next from a religious standpoint, the Act presents the direct opposite of what one ought to look for in a young and ambitious country. If our religion really is a fable, the sooner it were exploded the better it would be for humanity at large ; but whilst the majority continue to cling to the ancient faith, let them at least strive to foster a spirit temperate and just toward each other. Upon what foundation, I should like to know, does the faction which happens to rule the land base its right to frame laws oppressive to those holding opposite tenets of the faith, and with a malicious twinkle exclaim : “ Obey ! crawl! and go to perdition.” This is the tendency of our Education Act, and such tyranny in an age verging on the twentieth century, and in a land which but as yesterday was snatched from a simple-minded people, on the plea of its barbarism, stamps us as the most barbarous of the two. And what is the immediate result 1 The sense of a common wrong, which is more often a stronger tie than common faith, has

already disaffected our Catholic neighbors, and so much so as to ren-l'-r th- rSfhoiic vote a most important factor in eoi.o. -v:th any Parliamentary election, a re.-m.t v.-.-uch not only socially, but also on account of the dauber which accrues from it to the State, cannot be too deeply deplored. Laws of this kind to bo beneficial must be made to closely suit the nature and condition of the people for whom they are framed. In New Zealand, with a population heterogeneous, this no doubt would be extremely difficult; however, in the Act under discussion this principle has not received attention commensurate to its importance, and we find that instead of furnishing a means of welding the masses into a conciliated and content- 1 whole, this Act creates division throughout the length and breadth of the land, and sets one hostile and powerful sect against the other. These, then, are evils which seriously threaten the .State, and it behoves the State at once to apply a remedy in order to avert tho more serious consequences of its mistake. The only effectual means is a fair and honest division of the vote for educational purposes among the various sects. The State of course retaining the supervision of the expenditure, and ensuring thereby proper secular instruction. Such instruction should, as you yourself have repeatedly advocated, he elementary only, a capability to read and write and an acquaintance with the rudiments of arithmetic, is all that is necessary to enable a person to acquire further knowledge if desired. It is clearly no part of the duty of the State to go out of its way to do more than this. For the keenness with which every walk of life is contested is a sufficient guarantee for the rest, and in those high pressure days every child at an early enough stage receives an inkling of tho fact that in such a contest the ignorant must go to the wall. In this manner the State would be an immense gainer, as such a measure would encourage the establishment of private seminaries throughout the colony, and would further tho cause of education generally by the spirit of emulation which would he engendered by the existence of a number of such schools, the prosperity of each of which would depend upon its success, that is upon its merits. A great deal more remains to ho said on this subject and much on that of higher education, but I fear I have already exceeded all limits as to space, and can only hope to find excuse in the urgency of the case.—l am, &c., H. V. Blabamberg. October 23.