The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 27. CONTINUATION CLASSES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 119, 27 August 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 27. CONTINUATION CLASSES.

A good old stock maxim is, "Youth is J the time for improvement." The average i 'boy does not know what is good for : •him, and he would not go- to school at j all if he eould avoid, it. 'He is generally —and naturally—glad to leave school, and although his parents do not, one supposes, 'believe he has all the knowledge of the ages under his hat when he has passed the sixth standard examinaj tion and is fourteen years of age, it is frequently considered that he knows .quite enough to light the battle of life. , The longer a man lives the more im- j pressed he must become of his lack of knowledge. Peculiarly the boys who most frequently shine at school do not achieve the greatest results in adult life. In the race of life the specialist gets to the tape first. If it were possible to discover each child's speciality and to give it every opportunity to expand from the school-leaving age until manhood, there might be some reason for believing that "equality of oportunity" was available to all. Everybody knows that the j ■fourteen-year-old child who leaves school j is not "educated," that he has the merest J skeleton of knowledge, that the only j value of knowledge is in its useful ap- i plication, and that the parrot knowledge one may have acquired may never assist one in after life. It may be taken for granted that the State school child j in New Zealand is encouraged to learn | all that it is desirable to teach him up j to the ordinary school-leaving age, but j it will be conceded that he is only at the entrance gate of knowledge at that ' time, and must afterwards apply himself to real education if he desires to achieve success. The mind of the child is plastic, and it is while the youngster is in the evolutionary stage between boyhood and manhood' that the best can be made of the natural material provided. Admitting that nature varies every child . and the talents of all children, it is cer- j tain that the minds of some of them do not "wake up" as early as others. One knows so many cases where brilliant , children have become dull men and where dull children have become eminent. Emi- | nence spells specialisation, and it is almost impossible to detect great qualities, or the one great quality, in children of tender ages. The idea of continuation schools, to be explained in a Bill that will ibe brought before Parliament in a few days, is, on the surface, one of the most important conceivable in connection with education. The extension of the free and compulsory system, by taking children from the primary schools at the age of fourteen years and using the basis of knowledge they have gained as a foundation of real education, is practical, feasible and necessary. It is iknown that although excellent arrangements are made for technical and advanced instruction, that a mere minority of youngsters take advantage of tlie boon provided. The reason is, of course, that youngsters who are free from the trammels of primary schools are glad that school is over and will not further their iknowledge unless under a compulsory system. It cannot be said that-the discipline of New Zealand youngsters between school-leaving age and manhood is of the highest standard, and any means may be taken to improve it are to be welcomed. The youth who was bound by law to conform to the discipline of a schoolmaster up to the age of eighteen years, as well as to the discipline of a possible employer, ■would 1 be a much more desirable citizen than he otherwise would Ibe. We say nothing about the discipline of the home because it is barely visible. Any system that is devised with the idea of making every youth a walking encyclopaedia of general parrot knowledge must fail, but any system that takes raw youths away from primary schools and develops their specialities, their sense of discipline, their courtesy and their skill to do the very ibest that is in them for themselves, their country and their employer, is a good system. It is feasible that in the primary schools a boy may 1 come and go before his fitness for a given j occupation is found' out. It is certain that a large number of children are coerced into occupations that they detest and in which they do not succeed. A child of fourteen has not th® least idea of his capabilities for a special class of wo nit, and it is impossible for even the most observant primary teacher to discover it. Children are not allowed to develop specialties in primary schools, for it is on the general average of knowledge by rote of all subjects of the syllaibus that the success of schools is based. The dullest boy in a school may have a spark of genius concealed albout him that will never be allowed to shine. discover each child's spark and to fan it by continuation education should be the basis of educational instruction. It has Ibeen shown that the proposed reform cannot be inaugurated this session, but the serious consideration given to it by educational authorities and by the Minister of Education must help much to popularise the idea. iLaok of education means being left behind in the race of nations, and New Zealand must give its brains the best possible chance if the work of its hands is to compete successfully in the world's markets.

is more inhuman after his wife has hauled him to Court than before. In the case of a summary separation, the woman is no better protected than before separation. What happens generally is that the "inhuman monster" returns to his wife's house and continues the assault and batterj- where he left off. A separation order does not make a man less of a brute or give his wife immunity from his attacks. The man who uses force can only 'be punished in one way: by using brute force on him. In a ease like the one mentioned, it is fair to assume that the "inhuman" monster will return to

the attack, that if he nearly broke his wife's nose, forced a paper down her throat and threatened to shoot her and the children, he still harbors the same kind of tender thoughts. It is, therefore, necessary in the present stupid state of the law that in the first place the man shall commit another assault, and that his wife shall give him in charge for asasult before the police dary handle the "inhuman monster.'' If he —as is usually the case with '•inhuman monsters" does not pay maintenance charges, the police may collect them, and he may go to gaol. If he goes to gaol, which is, of course, the only house he should inhabit, it is impossible for him to earn the 30s which lie is ordered to pay. When he is punished in the way he deserves his wife and children become a charge on the country. As the Magistrate suggested, divorce cannot be made too easy in such circumstances. ,

AN ARMY OF PEACE. Militarists both in Germany and Britain foresee war between the two countries. They probaibly foresee it because they desire it. Peace means mere "rusting" to an eager soldier. And perhaps it is because of this that general militarism •lias its disadvantages. There are forces at work in both Germany and Britain to fight for peace. A unique "Army of Peace" exists in. the Old Country, its goal being the establishment of lasting peace 'between the two nations which are related and which lean so heavily on each other commercially. This peace organisation is entirely clerical, and in Germany and Britain the Church wields an enormous influence. Iu 1908 the German Christian Churches sent delegates to London, and a resolution was passed in favor of the promotion of peace between the two countries. Last year representatives of the Christian Churches in Britain journeyed to Germany and a similar resolution was passed. The value of the organisation that has been formed as an outcome of these visits lies in the fact that the Churches in both countries are pledged by every means in their power to promote friendship. The Church of England is represented by its two Archbishops and many of its Bishops and clergymen. The Established Church of Scotland and practically every Nonconformist community are included in the organisation. The Roman Catholic Church, too, has given its strong sup- ! port, and laymen of many denominations ■ and of widely different views in politics have joined! in the movement. On the German side the movement is equally representative. The organisation there is presided over by Dr. Spiecker, who made a great impression when he was in Britain in 1008 and again last year. Another of the leaders is Dr. Dryander, the Court chaplain at Berlin, a great orator ' and a member of the Prussian Upper | 'House. There is also Prelate Kleineidam, i one of the leading Roman Catholics in ' Germany. On the other hand, the organisation includes iDr. Faber, the leader of the Lutheran Church in Prussia, and, in fact, many of the leading men in religion and philanthropy throughout the German Empire. This clerical movement, which is wholly for good, has already spread far and wide in 'both countries, and the promoters' desire is that it will spread even outside the two countries. Germany in commercial relation with England is as the petal to the flower, and any means that can be taken to assure peace between cousin countries must gain the applause of all real friends of either Empire.

THE MONEY MAiRKJET. Financial conditions in New Zealand continue easy (states the 'New Zealand Trade Review). The Government is obtaining from outside sources the money required for its own purposes and for such advances as it makes to local governing bodies and through the Advances to Settlers Office. The profits arising • from the realisations of the produce of an unusually bountiful season are thus left available for use in the Dominion. Evidence is seen of this in the bank returns and in the returns of the Post Office &vings Bank. The figures for the latter are instructive. The very heavy excess of deposits in the latest quarter represents undoubtedly the funds of small capitalists awaiting investment rather than the savings of the thrifty worker. In spite of the fulness of the supply of money, however, there are not in evidence the signs of energy and enterprise that we should like to see. There are general ccfthplaints of "want of confidence," but opinions differ as to the cause of this condition. One reason suggested to explain the feeling is the heavy death duties recently imposed. It is quite possible that this factor may result, as is alleged, in the withdrawal of large sums of money for investment elsewhere, but tliis would not in our opinion explain present conditions, which are an ample supply of money and little inclination to utilise it. Other observers lay the blame on the labor conditions of the Dominion, not only the legislation on that subject, ibut also the unreasonable, arbitrary and reckless temper of those who, too often, sway the actions of labor organisations. Many of these are Socialists, whose aim is not to improve present conditions but to entirely change them. We are inclined to think that there is more in this than in the matter of the death duties.