The Daily News. THURSDAY, AUGUST 3O, 1900. THE OPAKU CONFERENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 192, 30 August 1900, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1900. THE OPAKU CONFERENCE.

Fob reasons which will doubtless be obvious, considering the constitution of the late Conference which was held at Wanganui to consider the question of the disposal of the revenue arising from the 10,000 acres of land known as the Opaku Reserve, reserved for higher edusation in Taranaki, we have refrained from commenting thereon. There is, however, no doubt but that the gentlemen comprising the Conference are to be congratulated on having laid the foundation for much good work in the future. The Conference was, perhaps, unique in the history of education, as the three systems of education, or, rather, the three stages of t!ie system of education, obtaining in the colony were represented, i.e., the primary the secondary and the university. A great deal has been made about tlio greed of Wellington and the determination of the Council of the newly-established Victoria College to grab the revenues of the aforesaid reserve, and there is no doubt but that, .partly out of a mistaken view of the position, and partly out of zeal for the welfare of the University, the members of the Victoria College Council have claimed that the funds arising from the reserve should be administered by the Council. After hearing the case as put forward by the Taranaki delegates, the two representatives of the College freely admitted that the Council had neither a moral nor a legal right to the funds. They, however, pleaded poverty, and asked, iu the interest of university education in the Mi.ldle District of the colony, that some ass : stance should be given to them out of the fund from the leserve. They pointed out that Taranaki beiug included in that Middle district was deeply interested in the welfare of the Victoria College. The proposal put forward by the Taranaki delegates was one by which a syst m of Collegeships should be estab'ished, tenable for three years at a High School and three years a' the Victoria College. The objection to this on the part of the College delegates, and one which, from theii standpoint, is a very strong one, is thai this does not give anything to the College for four years. For instance, a boy winning a scholarship of sa £SO value, will, including one year spent in preparation, not reach the College for four years from now. During t!»t time bo will rmn |ISQ

[ while at the High School, and then another XISO while at the College. ; We must confess to having a good deal of sympathy with the College Council, and with their contention that it is to the advantage of Taranaki to help in every reasonable way to strengthen the financial position of the Council. Since the Conference sat a suggestion has been made of considerable value and one which would probably meet all the objections of the College Council. It would also get over the difficulty already referred to and place the Council, the High School, and Education Board on something of an equal footing at the start. The suggestion is that the proposal in regard to the establishment of scholarships should only apply to the annual revenue, and that the accumulated fund, some X3OOO, should be dealt with separately. The basis of division being one-third to go to the college, and the other two-thirds to be given, one to the High School Board and one to the Education Board, to form the nucleus of a scholarship fund to which would be added year by year the annual revenue of the reserve. We believe the adoption of this suggestion would bring about complete harmony between the bodies represented at the Conference and place the whole business on a satisfactory and business-like footing. No doubt many Wellington phobists will object to meeting the difficulty in this way, but securing the harmonious working together of all the educational authorities is worth some sacrifice, and the future welfare of the district from an educational standpoint should not be spoilt by the localism which is sometimes carried to extremes. The issues at stake are very important and must be dealt with calmly and judically and not allowed to be sacrificed by local prejudices.