South Canterbury Times. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2989, 24 October 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1882.

It is a singular thing that while colonial people are always complaining of bard times it is impossible to look in any direction without seeing the outward and visible and most indisputable signs of substantial prosperity. The fact of the matter seems to be that people come to the colonies with the intention of making their fortunes, and unless they find themselves absolutely coining money they think there must be something altogether rotten in the state of Denmark, and that moderate merit never meets with its due reward. Lord Macauley, in his celebrated passage on the national debt, says that all hia life he bad heard of'notbing but ruin, and seen nothing but prosperity. It appears to be a characteristic of Britishers to grumble and flourish at the same time, and the more they flourish, the louder . they grumble. And perhaps the spirit of discontent has bad much to do with their wonderful success as a nation. It is not usually the contented man who accumulates wealth, but the man who is always reaching for a little more, and the goal .of whose wishes represents, as ,it were, a sort of vanishing point. Men of this sort are not of the moat philosophical turn of mind, and do not, perhaps, extract the highest possible enjoyment from life. Shakespeare foretells the time when each man shall sit under his own vine which he Plants, and sing the meriiE-aorH,fs aL

peace to all his,neighbors. But your enterprising colonist plants bis vines chiefly with a view of selling the produce, and as for singing the merry songs of peace, he would much rather hold a mortgage over his neighbor’s section. Individual cases of'downright poverty are to he met with in the colony, as indeed they must be in every country, however flourishing. Some of these are the result of misfortune, bnt a pretty large number of them may ;be traced to improvident habits. In spite of these cases, however, one needs only to attend any large gathering of the community to .be convinced that the general run of the population know little or nothing of absolute want of the necessaries and the ordinary comforts of life. We have heard it said by colonials who have visited the Old Country, that there is there a very marked difference in the appearance of a crowd in any place of public resort where the charge is a shilling for entrance, compared to what it is when the charge is half-a-crown. But in the colonies, let us be thankful to say, the comparative values of money to the various sections of the community cannot be guaged in the same manner. When a ploughman or a journeyman tradesman goes out for a holiday be wears as good a coat as his master, and in most cases carries far less weight on his mind. Truly, in the colonies the dignity of labor has full recognition, for it is difficult to find a man whose mind is so warped by old world prejudices as to think that honest labor, whether of the head or the hands, involves the least degradation. Generally speaking, the more highly a man is educated, the lees does he feel, inclined to despise manual labor. It is a point which cannot be too strongly impressed upon the minds of parents, and of youths just entering upon the responsibilities of life, that the education which is just now placed within the reach of every boy and girl in the colony, should not be regarded solely as a means of escaping, or rather of discarding, those employments which involve physical exertion. It would be a poor result of our elaborate educational system if it tends chiefly to produce a community of clerks, commission agents, and lawyers, A good trade is a more reliable stepping-stone to ultimate wealth and prosperity than any clerkship, and in the matter of personal independence, there is no comparison between the two classes of occupations. The anxiety felt by some parents, who have themselves been accustomed to manual labor, to see their sons engaged in “ genteel ” Hiaployment, is altogether a mistaken idea. It is not the profession which makes the dignity of the man, but it is the man who confers dignity upon his calling. If a lad has received a fairly good intellectual training, that training is all the more likely to confer substantial benefit upon himself if he is taught to dig, to build, and to convert raw material into manufactured commodities, to perform’ some work of vital necessity to his country, and to a new country in particular.

The battle of the Wairaataitai school sites appears likely to be a sharp one. We have ho intention of taking part in the discussion, but we are aware, from many sources, that there exists considerable difference of opinion as to the more advisable site of two which are available ; and we have just this one bit of advice to give the householders of the Wairaataitai School District, namely to attend the', public meeting, in full force. This is a question purely for their own consideration,’ ahd’.one with which outsiders have no right to meddle. It is absurd 1 to absent oneself from the| meeting, and then grumble at the steps taken in one’s absence, and it is an absurdity too often to be observed in connection with matters educational. We trust every householder who can by any possibility do so, will attend the meeting, and express his views, or at least'record his vote. After a fair and full discussion it will be for the defeated to submit loyally to the will of the majority.

The Borough Council, last night, considered the water supply question. After a protracted sitting, enlivened by occasional tiffs,” the Council adjourned, having really made no pro-gress-whatever. On the suggestion of the Mayor, it was decided that Mr Dobson should be asked to meet the Council, and satisfy all, enquirers as to the cost of the three works proposed, viz.—The leading of mains to the reservoir, suburban extension of the supply, add filter-beds. Had the Council confined its discussion as to the advisableness of one course or the other, taking Mr Dobson’s report as a basis, there would have been no occasion for this interview. But, as engineering details were freely discussed, and Mr Dobson’s plans called into question, it is desirable that that gentleman should be in attendance, to clear up all doubts, and place matters on their proper footing. This applies to the alternative of reconstruction or extension. In the matter of filter beds, which some Councillors propose as absolutely necessary, we are of opinion that the expenditure of something like £2OOO on this object would be a sheer waste of money, quite unwarranted. The water is not really impure, and the existing ■ means of clearing it are ample. This by the way, however. We desire to show the necessity that exists for Mr Dobson being brought down to meet the Council ; the more so, as it is proposed to entrust him with the carrying out of another highly important and expensive work, the drainage. In fact, resolving to have an interview with the Engineer, was about the only sensible bit of business done at last night’s wearisome meeting.