The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 93, 25 September 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1863.

How best to provide for the'education of the children and youth of the Proj vince furnishes a subject for the most \ serious consideration of our legislators. Those who have studied, iv ever so small a degree, the events of the last twenty years in Great Britain, in reference to this question, must admit without hesitation, that a satisfactory solution of the problem is not to be arrived at without more than an ordinary amount of earnest thought in planning, and energetic action in carrying out any comprehensive scheme, which has for its object the instruction of the young. Priest's, politicians, and philanthropists, have found themselves baffled by difficulties, which met them at every step ; nor is the question finally set at rest in the Old Country to the present day. One thing is certain, that no system will be permanently successful which does not recommend itself to the common sense of the people at large. With these facts before us, it is by no means surprising that Southland politicians should have utterly iailed in their first attempt at legislation ou the education question; and accordingly we find the two Ordinances to which the Provincial Council has given birth, by no means calculated to etteet the object for which they were framed. We recommend such of our readers, who have no already done so, to make it their busines to scan carefully the forty-three, clauses of the "Education Ordinance, 1862;" and we feel certain that each one who does so will rise from the examination with a firm conviction, that the whole fabric miist before long be reconstructed. For ourselves, we are totally unable to imagine any community in which this Act would be found to work well. In its introduction to the world, and its growth to maturity, it resembled a mushroom ; it was, so to speak, the work of a night, and no severe loss would be felt, if it were to wither in an equally rapid manner. The principle on which the measure is based is, that " the land pays for education.'' A rate is levied on the owners or occupiers of purchased sections, and the Provincial

I Government pay proportionafcelyfor the' i unpurchased ones. 'If this method oT providing school funds, were felt only , by the ' speculator br land-shai-k, we i might be inclined to look' Upon it with more complacency, but, -anfortuuately, such is not the case. it falls very heavily upon the "bona fide settler, whose laad may, as yet, be bringing him in a very small return. He has bought largely, perhaps, for the sake of "elbow-room," hoping to have all under cultivation in good time ; and this obnoxious ordinance adds another to the innumerable discouragements, meeting him at every turn. Let us suppose^the case of an industrious working man, who has saved enough from his wages, wiih perhaps 1 ' an advance from his employer, to buy a section of the usual extent. Before that advance is worked out, down comes " a wretch with a black book," and mildly insinuates that he has called for the Education rate. The framer of the Act appears to have studied with marked attention the laws relating tp "distress warrants," and so the unfortunate man must pay, though his only olive branch may be still in swaddling clothes. Again, the father ofa grown-up family, educated honestly at his own cost, without sponging upon his neighbors, will surely mutter " curses deep, but not loud,'' when called upon to educate the children of those, who may be far better off than himself. It is unjust and unwarrantable that he should be compelled to doso, in fact, it approaches very nearly to aa encroachment ou the liberty of the subject, or an act of arbitary* confiscation. This is the feeling of numbers throughout the Province, if not indeed of the greater proportion of the ratepayers ; and such being the case, we sincerely trust that some independent member will, in the ensuing session, bring the question prominently under the notice of the Provincial Council. Saying no more about the general principle of this Act, but leaving our readers to ponder over its gross and glaring injustice, we come now to the fact, that it is too expensive in its operation. As a step in the right direction, we would recommend that the Government pay for the building of School Houses, which will be continually multiplying, leaving only the teachers' salary to be raised by rat«. This would be a great relief, and very much improve the working of the Act, until some more satisfactory measure be brought forward. That such a measure will be brought forward at no distant date, there can be little doubt. Whilst population is scattered, all creeds ancl denominations must consent to act in concert, but as the country becomes settled, each sect will naturally wish to work separately, and on its own distinctive principle^, in the matter of education, both for the sake of peace, and also because of the more hearty spirit, which couid then be brought into action. We believe that eventually a system of grants upon what are called denominational principles, wiil come into operation. The past history, and little progress made by the present scheme, point unmistakably to that result. Meanwhile, those who take an interest in the subject, — who feel convinced of the absolute necessity for educating the children of the Province, should endeavor to make the present measure as little offendsive as possible. Large reserves for school purposes should be made in time, and though the adoption of an education scheme, calculated to meet the wishes and requirements of our settlers and towns- ! people can scarcely be expected to be brought to perfection in tlie course of a single night, it will follow in due i • i season, and rest upon a more solid foundation. There is one point in connection with this "Education Ordinance" which requires a little explanation, and we are sorry that we cannot give it. Clause 34 gives power to each school committee to select the teacher or teachers, as the case may be, for its own district, and we are given to understand that an intention exists in certain quarters to infringe this right of the ratepayers ; they will probably know how to treat any such attempt. There is another clause (30) which may become of great service; it provides that the Education Committee shall be empowered to grant moderate aid to privar.e schools "in districts in which from the scattered position, or scantiness of the population, or from other causes, no educational district shall have been proclaimed.*' This wili be the platform upon which the whole scheme wiil have to be recast. " WHERE is the money to come from?" is one of the most important questions the General Assembly will have to decide, in connection with the native war. And a very' serious question it is, considering, that undoubtedly a larpe proportion of the war expenses will have to be defrayed by the colony We need not console ourselves with the hope, that, after all, the amount will not be very great. The history of continental wars supplies plenty of evidence how, particularly in the early part of a campaign, the expenditure must of necessity be lavish. There is so much hurry and confusion — so many .sudden emergencies to encounter, that money is disbursed with little calculation, the only object for the time, being 'to supply, at any cost, urgent requirements. That such has. been the case in the present native war, there is too much reason to believe, and we question if any one can form an adequate idea of the expenditure that has already been incurred by the Government,—particularly when we remember that the Ministry have for several months had unfettered control of the colonial purse-strings. The raising of the ColonialDefenceForce, has already fai" exceeded in cost the limit allowed by the Act under which it is being

organised, while tHe carrying out of the volunteer system iti connection withUhe confiscation pfogranome mustp-of necessity, be a most costly' measure. We may see signs of the reckless manner in which the public funds are being scattered in the utter lack -of strictly defined allowances to the persons', engaged iti' raising the We are informed by a correspondent of undoubted veracity, that the various recruiting officers are disbursing money in the most reckless We hear of individuals, en trusted, with the duty of enrolling men, spending money in the most extravagant fashion, by no means confined to the purposes of their mission, and -openly statingthat they had **' plenty more for the asking." This sort of thing is going on in New Zealand, and we may safely calculate that every man despatched from Otago, will, before his embarkation, cost the country, say — two or three pounds sterling. In Australia this sort of thing, no doubt, equally prevails, and every hundred men obtained from that continent will cost the colony at least athousands pounds or more in direct charge, to say nothing "of the incidental expenses. Tben there will be the pay and rations of all these volunteers before they can be of any real service in military operations. We may imagine the high priced contracts in a limited market, for the supplies required for the volunteers ; the chartering, at extravagant rates of steamers, "&c, for special engagements ; the construction of barracks ; and many other necessary adjuncts ofa new army. We question if the colonial war expenditure alone, is less than at the rate of two millions per annum ! The General Assembly may, by strictly limiting its votes to the value of the objects on which the money is expended, prevent a continuance of the present reckless expenditure but, under the most careful adjustment the necessary expense of the war must be enormous. Whence is this money to be obtained ? The war loan raised under an Act last session, must now be nearly expended. Three courses only remain for the Government to adopt— another loan; a further appiopriation of the Customs' revenue ; or an increase of the Customs'* duties on particular articles of large consumption. We dismiss, as an alternative to which the Middle Island Provinces would never submit, the disturbance of the present financial arrangement of the Customs revenue. Undoubtedly the General Assembly could empower the Government toabsorb the whole ofthe Customs' duties for General Government purposes, but we are certain such a proposition would never be listened to. Little less objectionable would be any increase in the tariff, although, undoubtedly, a slight increase in the duties on wines and spirits would produce a large addition to the revenue. But the objection consists not in the simp!e increase of the duty on particular articles ; it lies in the distribution of the revenue so obtained, and the unequal taxation it would throw ou the Middle Island. By loan, and by loan only, can the war expenditure bs defrayed, but what kind of loan is the question. Any further extensive exercise ofthe borrowing powers of the General Government in loans secured on the ordinary revenue of the colony, woulcl be a death blow to the borrowing powers of tbe Provinces. If a loan be secured by a further charge on the land fund, the injustice to the Middle Island would be still greater, for only the Middle Island Provinces have any land to sell ; besides the burden would , fall so unequally — for Southland would suffer the most of any Province, as possessing proportionately the largest area of unsold land. There is only oue description of loan which the Assembly would be justified in sanctioning for the purpose of defraying the cost of the war; and that is a loan secured on the confiscated lands of the Waikato and other rebel tribes. If confiscation is to be carried cut at all, it will be quite as easy to apply the measure to its just extent, as to limit its operation to a few localities required for military settlements. We have every reason to believe, that the Assem • bly will sanction the confiscation of the lands of rebel tribes, and if the measure is carried out, ample security would be afForded for a loan. The proceeding would, in every sense, be a legitimate one. Confiscation is the only punishment we can apply to the rebels, calculated to check the spread of insubordination, and the principle is quite right, and one which the natives themselves would appreciate, to make the revolted tribes pay for the cost of their subjugation. Under any circumstances, the Middle Island must protest against any unfair share of the war expenses being imposed on the already unequally burdened shoulders of the southern Provinces. Any other mode of raising money, but by the loan we have indicated, must, in the existing state of things, press very unjustly on the resources of the Middle Island, which even now pays three-fourths of the colonial expenses.