Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1872. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 223, 9 May 1872, Page 4

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1872. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

The case now °pending in the Supreme Court, relative to the right of the Provincial Government to cancel the pastoral lease over a certain portion of the Bellamy run, may justly be regarded as the grand battle between squatocratic land monopoly and the settlement of (the people on the soil of the colony — the battle between progress and retrogression. While the case remains subjudice, we of course must say nothing regarding its merits; but there is one thing in connection with it we feel it our duty to drawattention to. It is repugnant to British ideas of justice that the magistrate or judge before whom a case is heard should haVe even a remote interest in the decision. And we must say tha,t in this colony nothing contrary to these ideas has occurred. The case under notice is a peculiar one. It is a contest between two classes of the community; interests of great magnitude are involved, and its decision will effect prejudicial or favorably affect the value of pastoral property. It is therefore of the highest moment that no suspicion that class sympathies had any influence on the decision should be allowed circulation or credence. The judge before whom the Bellamy Run Case, as it is popularly termed, is being argued is, if we are informed alight, interested in pastoral property. His sym pathies are therefore on the side of the squatting class, to which he belongs — it would be unnatural were they otherwise.. Besides which, he may be said to be interested in preserving the security of the tenure by which runholding property is held. We- do not for one moment entertain the idea that thes& considerations will have the slightest influence on the decision on the case in question ; • nevertheless they may leave unfavourable impressions. on the minds of some. Confidence in the manner justice is administered is essential to the well-being of a country, and anything that would tend in any way to shake that confidence must be strictly guarded against.

L.AS'fweek a correspondent at Switzers wrote to us complaining of the action of the Education Board in reducing the subsidy granted towards the teacher's salary, Ac.,, for the Switzers School. "We have been at sottie.trouble.to examine into the par-

ticulars of the case, and must say th?t the step taken by the Board' in this instance is unwise as well as unjust. The Regulations, of course, are^jiot framed specially for any particular locality, and though as a general outline of the proposed system of subsidising schools they are in the main good, still the Board have unlimited power to make any exception they may deem advisable ; and we do not hesitate to say that Switzers should be made an exception on this occasion. Originally classed as a main school, though not actually entitled to that distinction, it has received hitherto the usual allowance of £100 towards salary of teacher, and £50 as allowance for rent. "With this assistance the Committee have since 1868 paid a teacher at the rate of £200 per annum ; but the office becoming vacant, a new teacher was engaged in December last at a salary of £125 a-year and school fees. This alteration was effected (our correspondent states) on account of the difficulty the Committee experienced in' making up the balance of the £200, and also to make the income of the teacher partly dependent on his own exertions. . The following extract from^the new Regulations will explain .the case: — Main Schools. — Teacher's salary, £100. Must have aii average attendance of fojl^ pupils at least. *^^^L Side Schools.— Teacher's salary, £75. S£? have an average of twenty-five pupils at least. It must be admitted by our correspondent f that the Swifzers Sohoal falls far short of the requirements of the Regulation, for we observe, on reference to the annual reports of the Boartl, that the average attendance tor 1860 wfis twenty-six, and for 1870, twenty-four. The report for 1871 is not yet printed, but we should not be surprised to hear that the attendance was even less, owing to the length of time the scarlet fever prevailed in that locality in 1871. Under these circumstances, it behoves the Switzers people to make out a special case (and we belieVe they can) for the consideration of the Board, showing why the rule should not be adhered to in their case. It seems that in a very short period the present teacher has succeeded in securing the good will of the community, and has materially increased the attendance at the schocl. That he is a man fully qualified for his position appears to be admitted by the Secretary of the Board, as they have made a concession of £15 a-year during his tenure of the office; but this docs not meet the case — even with £90 t'-year the Committee will receive less by £35 than they had a right to expect at the time they engaged him ; and it does seem singular that Mr! Ilislop, who was at Switzers and attended the Committee meeting on the night of his appointment, did not mention to the Committee that it was contemplated to withhold -from them tho usual subsidy, and that they then would not be able to. pay so large a salary. But instead of that he sanctions the appointment and confirms the bargain. There is a proviso in the Regulations that "the payment of salary, as specified above, will only be rigidly adhered to on the appointment of a new teacher, or when a falling off in the attendance is fairly and clearly attributable to the*ineffieiency or negligence of the teacher." This leaves room to rectify -any peculiar hardship which may result from undue stringency of the rules. In the same Regulations the Board express " their regret that in some districts the amounts contributed locally bear co very small a proportion to the moneys advanced to such districts from the Provincial revenue," and recommends that "strenuous efforts bi made that every school teacher shall receive from the district a sum at the very least equal to onehalf of the amount contributed by the Board towards such teacher's salary." An analysis of the Departmental Report for tn*e year 1870 shows that out of seventy-six schools established iv the province previous to that year, eleven only raised so large a proportion as Switzers of the expense of their maintenance locally. Th us. the aggregate amount raised locally for al? the schools in the province was "363 of their total cost of maintenance ; while for Switzers the amount raised locally was 431 of the total cost. In fact, the local contributions, with the fees' were to the Government subsidy as 3 * to 4. This is a very high proportion as compared with other districts, and shows that the people have' not been unmindful of the importance of ke«f - ing up. this institution in an efficient state. If tho gods help those who help themselves, Switzers deserves some consideration at the hands of the Etli - cation Board. The isolated position of the district; the scattered nature of the population, the utter absence of roads to or from any other place, tr - | gether with, the increased cost of living, on account of the distance from town, render it an. undesirable place for a gentleman to choose to locates himself and family; and it is not su^ prising that our friends at Switzers, having at length got a really good man in the place, should be chagrined ; t the idea of losing him so soon ; for it is not to be supposed that a teacher fully qualified as a main school teacher should remain at Switzers as a side school teacher any longer than would be necessary to look out for and obtain another and better appointment • While on this subject, we would suggest to the Education Board that in their departmental Repoita ifc