Rangitikei Advocate. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 8955, 22 October 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

IN our correspondence columns appears a letter from the Chairman of the Bulls School Committee with regard to the. funds required for the erection of a District High School at Bulls. The sum which still has to be subscribed, is only £l3O, and we trust that there will be no difii- • culty in raising it. As the Chairman j points out, it is most desirable to i

collect the money at once in order' secure the attendance of all tn pupils offering, who in the absence of suitable accomodation may dnt away into business and thus fail to secure the benefit of a secondary education. The larger towns have so many advantages in the way ot well -equipped schools and colleges that children who grow up.in the country districts arc often unfairly handicapped by the difficulty of obtaining a good education without leaving their homos, aud therefore it is essential that when an opportunity occurs partially to equalise the conditions as between town and country it should seized by all concerned. The host legacy parents can give their children is a good education, which will both render them hotter fitted t or the battle of life and provide them with that most to be prized possession, a cultivated intelligence. The value of such an acquisition cannot be measured by any monetary standard, aud we fool sure that the settlers m the Bulls district will not be slow to subscribe the comparatively small sum required. If ■ for no higher reason the money will he forthcoming in order to prove that the Education Board was not ill advised in choosing Bulls rather than any other township as the site of the District High School. The honour of Bulls is at stake, aud we know that the inhabitants will respond to the call.

IT is related, with great gusto, by some of the Ministerial journals, that the final passage of the Land Bill through Committee of tha House was the signal for a burst of applause. It is no wonder that a majority wore gratified, because it signalised the triumph of party over principles. Those who havo boon false to their election pledges and traitors to freehold wore no doubt highly pleased when the final stages of this measure were reached, and further dissimulation in regard to this measure became unnecessary. The Socialistic element, of course, was jubilant, because the Bill marks another advance in the attack on the property owners, and another stage reached in the progress towards land nationalisation and the serfdom of the users of the laud. The way is now clear for further advance towards complete spoliation of all those who possess more than their follows. Hitherto the thrifty man lias either invested his savings in laud, or lent his money on the security of laud, which has been regarded as the best security obtainable, and its superiority over all other kinds of security has caused the rate of interest on money lent on broad acres to bo lower than that lent on any other security. The laud legislation promoted by the present Ministry, however, will prevent such safe invest ment in the future, and will most certainly tend to raise the rate of interest. Tliis, of course, moans a heavier handicap on those who use the laud, and who may find it necessary to borrow to provide the working capital required, or to pay for improvements. We venture to predict that, the land legislation of this Ministry will havo even shorter existence than the Icaso-in-perpeluity, which the party recently, claimed had entirely and for all time solved the problems of laud settlement and and tenure.