EDUCATED MEN.D

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3602, 13 July 1880, Page 2

EDUCATED MEN.D

As aa example of the manner in which educated men are treated in New Zealand, the following from .the Auckland .Star may be commended to onr readers:— "The City Council hare reoeired thirty* four applications for the office of librarian to the city library, which will shortly be in full operation. The office is not intended to be a sinecure, nor the officer * expected to live luxuriously npon^ the meagre salary of "one, hundred a-year;" Only think of the tempting offer for a married man to officiate creditably. for such a salary, and yet, alas! there are thirty-four applicants for the libraru^s chair, and' the ehoien one must be a scholar, possessing a sound knowledge of general literature, be able to criticise, descant upon, and point out the special merits and demerits of. historians and novelists, devote all his spare time to internet persons and recommend books, to be able to distinguish between 'troth- and fiction, and to show elaborately the par* ticular functions of story-tellers in relation to progress and the people, while his wife or daughter, relying/or a joint livelihood upon the £100 a-year, will, have, to scrub, ' and otherwise assist in keeping the plaoe in a clean and orderly position. The accredited intelligence of the Auckland library, committee surely might have paid a better compliment to knowledge and literary ability than offering to a librarian wages of a bricklayers' labourer." Truly this is almost as bad as advertising :for a clerk " with a thorough knowledge of French, German, shorthand - and book* keeping, salary £50 a year," as many ' men do at Home. We hope the Auckland City people : will ' obtain their librarian at £100 a year, and that he will be as well qualified, jto/alfil the duties of his. office; as the committee expect. Really it has: come to' something when a wealthy , city like Auckland can only afford; two notes a week for a librarian "whose {characterand testimonials,must be unexceptionable."