The Daily News. FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1918. A MISTAKEN NOTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 April 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1918. A MISTAKEN NOTION.

•Some of our public men have a mistaken i notion as to tho position education should occupy in time of war- At the last meeting of the Stratford County Council, the chairman is reported to have stated that ''though he recognised that education was a highly important matter, he could not support a movement to worry the Government on tlie ' matter at present. The children of the country should* make a sacrifice as well as tlio grown-ups." Pretty much the same view was expressed by Mr. Trimble at the last meeting of the New Plymouth High School Board. It is an entirely wrong idea, and should be. controverted. Education of the young is. just the one thing we cannot afford to neglect in war or any other time, whatever else we sacrifice. Instead of reducing our educational expenditure the occasion calls for increased grants, for more highly skilled teachers, for a vast improvement in our entire educational system- Things are not going to be the same after the war as they have been and living is not likely to be as easy or as comfortable as it was in ln . e . war 'lavs. We will be loaded with an im-

nwnse war debt, ami the moncy to pay interest ami capital will ] lave to be found by the people H lelnae , VM- Hw w tlie revenue to be raised? There is only one way, and that i, w tl'« development of 0 „r resources, whicb "" er ™ i,nn,e,lSo neUL Bcience mturt ''«-■ ««<=<! ... to assist i„ this necessary 7* '; «« lesirud re sults aro to h [ A start must be ,„ at , 6 in the "took, and more attention than has -n g .ven in the past bestowed on the *«""»* of the children. To 0 thD W ° rM "" »*u re be -'-than toNewZeal;lml J '>■ *?« in this highly^ Provwce thought it necessarv T tu ™«*»of the fertility they LvebeT

atieally test the herds and grow special crops. New Zealand is studded with

| mineral wealth. Except in regard to coal, little or nothing has been done to exploit tlio valuable mineral-;. We have mountains or iron ore of the most valuable hind, we have, right at our doors, iron sand in inexhaustible quantities, ready to be converted into pig iron. Yet very little, so far, has been done to utilise those deposits. Tt is the same with our oil deposits. We have neglected all of them in the past, ehiefiy through our ignorance and complacency bred of comfort. We have boon too well off to worry about anything out of the ordinary requiring Ihe application of science. But the war's burdens will force us to sit up and take stock, and see how best we can meet our liabilities. Heavy as the latter are and will bo before the war is cleaned up, they need not alarm us. We can face the future with a confidence that few of those engaged in the war will be able to, providing we turn to account the immense natural resources with which Nature has endowed us, and pay the necessary attention to the education of the young to fit them for the new conditions. First of all, wo must spend more, not Jess, on education, for the obvious reason that it will pay us to do so. The children should make a sacrifice in time of war! That must never be. More attention than ever must he bestowed on their education and training. The war is costing Great Britain more per head of population than any other belligerent. Compared with tfew Zealand's war expenditure, Britain's i s more than double. Yet* h as it ever 7, s "^ csted that Britain; should reduce the educational vote ; or ask her children to make a sacrifice'| -Vo. On the contrary, we see introduced ; » Britain, ,„ a timo of alleled financial and human stress, and Passed unanimously, an Educationa , m 0f to-WMliing importance involving the expenditure of over twenty-five Per cent, more than i n ,ny ~,,-warVear , I , ncluded "Pod-making change*; inted, lt revolutionised the whole of the educational system of Groat Britain -tf ; y ; B «-'e of the defi"ciencie,s ealed by the war and the necossitv epa ; mgth6W caused by th'e *«• It turned at educating all cl.il- .*«, without exception, between t e ■»» of five and fourteen; it e Z -ught out the children who had ,o reM ; a, "" fa ** »Pto e !Se o 10, ami made it compulsory , OT ; hem to attend schooUor part of'thei tt fo ; l r years - «p-vided -ntr MMaMlij H rr . set( (he °f teachers, and provided fw , ! Salar, f- A »* «Br itein can do fhis -annotwe? 0 f course we ( ,„ and Sl '°* <>% the other day the,, -"oftheTaranakiKducatici:; how unpossible it is to get ,ffi ™ n malU *«*«■ I'- yea,; «£ a been a steadily increasin „ (] , inc]ina '^ownhy Q u ryounffmentoo l T 8 r; ofession ' and *• ean Jt be wl ulst such mi »'«neration is offered, T l.e P | m «t is not consistent n "" fwi™ " ofl ers cadets --as much in other deponents he t e , le to t]|at | ;^h asnorta „ eofmale | MB- are aHowed to remain as th no be a male teacher i„ tlle sm i ce -this would never he wen, ti to the value of!, t C ° lmtry >aiue of education. Tt |« offer such inducements a s won |a tract the best and brightest brains!! he mouldlßg Qf the ammgo the young we cannot affor h-- other than'the ablest men i„ h teach, ng vank , The ° mary -"deration, for the finMt , . vestment Zeahnrf ~„ , is tI,P m an " lakc to -'hiv the mo)l ey spent in ; r ;,nc. r i„ tileeducationofo:reiii](] ;