THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1901,

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 153, 23 May 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1901,

WE are in hearty sympathy with 'he effort now being made to induce the Waimate Borough Council to consider the question of obtaining an adequate waier-sup-oly for the town, and trust that those who have taken the matter up will not relax their efforts till these are crowned with success. ■Vith the proposal to spend more money on a professional report we are not quite so enthusiastic. There is in the pigeon-holes of the Council’s office a report, on the subject drawn no by Mr E. Dobson, M 1.C.E., -which report has never been thoroughly discussed by the ratepayers. It was set aside because the people.were not prepared to face the expense. The population was small, the town was scattered, interest was high, and rating was, of course, on annual value. To " meet the charge for interest and maintenance would have required a rate of at least 2s in the £. To the working man, who was already paying 10s to 15s a year, an additional 20s or 30s a year was more than he could’ he expected ■to vote for. Shortly put, the scheme was ahead of the times, but now the times have come up to the scheme ; some people think the times are now ahead of it. We know that Mr Dobson’s report is being pooh poohed to-day because it was drawn up some years ago. Mr Dobson’s investigations were made in June and July 1890 and the report was considered by the Council about the middle of August. That it was eleven years old might be sufficient reason for rejecting to-day phms for a mechanical contrivance, but scarcely for setting aside such a report as that we refer to, and which will be found in another column in this issue. Whatever scheme may ultimately be adopted this one should at least form an effective means of showing the feasability of-now procuring a water-supply for the town and of educating ’the ratepayers up to the point of voting for a loan to pay for it. We recommend to the close attention of all interested the data on which Mr Dobson based his report, and more particularly to the largest proposal which is undoubtedly the only one of the three it would be wise to adopt. We do not pin our faith absolutely to Mr-Dob-son's proposals, but repeat that they may form an excellent means of educating the ratepayers on the question. It will be seen that Mr Dobson calculated that his largest proposal would cost £II,OOO. This would provide power to drive machinery, give a splendid supply for fire prevention purposes, and supply thirty gallons a day per head for a population of 2600, or nearly fifty gallons per head for the presentpopulation. At the present time money can be borrowed at such a rate of interest that a charge of five per cent, per annum would pay interest on the loan and provide a sinking fund which would .extinguish the debt in thirty or forty years. Mr Dobson’s estimate was £II,OOO. But suppose the eventual coat should be £13,000, the annual charge would bo £650. Allow £250 a year for maintenance and we have a total of £9OO. At first sight this seems a large amount for such a small town to raise for a single purpose, but there are financial advantages iff the scheme which almost extinguish this charge of £9OO a year. Fire insurance premiums would be reduced, the ever re-curring-expense of cleaning wells and tanks, and of keeping up these would disappear, and a very considerable income would be derived for pressure to drive water motors. It would probably be difficult to arrive at ; the exact amount paid by the townspeople for fire insurance, but £ISOO per annum would be a low estimate. An ample high pressure water supplyvohould reduce premiums at least 20 per cent., that is £3OO. £2OO a-year would not be.a high estimate .for .the present v costsf

cleaning webs and for paying the j other expenses connected with | the present primiti re water supply i arrangements. At least £3OO a j year income could be depended ; on for supply of pressure to drive | machinery. In making these ! estimates it will be observed that | we allow an increase of nearly ; 20 per cent on the Engineer’s! estimate of the cost of the works, \ that is on the amount which it ! would be necessary to borrow, : and that we probably umlerestimate the saving and income ; winch would result from an adequate water-supply. It is, therefore, not unlikely that in actual realisation the scheme t would woik out in a decrease of expense as compared with the i present condition of things. Twt ; us see how the expense would fait j on the individual ratepayer, ■ taking nor figures. We have said ] the annual charge for interest amt i maintenance would be abort : £U0(). Rut’ £3OO a year revenue ! for power applied for driving $ machinery would reduce that tni £6OO. The present land value of the Borough, including a numb pof properties not taxable, may be - set down at £2(1,000. A penny.; in the £on this amount would! produce £IOO, therefore the water , '■ate woitlu be fid in the £ on the * unimproved land value. Thei owner of a section valued at ,-£2o' and with a house on it worth! £.150 would nay as water rates Oij in the £ on the land value £20,; that is, IDs a year. If the insurance on the bouse and contents is! £l5O, the reduction in insurance; would he about Is, and allowing! 10s a year for well cleaning, et«:.,| the abundant and pure water! supply would be cheaper to him! j than the present unsatisfactory j 1 arrangements. Inst year thei owner of this property paid 14s as general rate alone. Under land! value this is now ss. This, with! the water rate of JOs, would be! only Is a year more than general rate has hitherto been,.| But with the reductions whir-bl are sure to result from a water! supply, the whole taxation isl almost wiped out. There aral other advantages, some of which! we have space only to mention.! The exhaust water from mofoisl could be utilised to supply a| public swimming bith-and fori flushing the streets’. For a costl not exceeding that of the present! street lighting by kerosene, wo'! couldfhave the streets of the town! lit with electricity, giving a betters; light and the additional advantage! that the money now sent away fora kerosene would be spent in labour in the place. Then there is thei incalculable advantage to the! health and happinesss of the; people, resulting from an a bum: dant supply of pure water. There;; are sure to be still a number of’ cold water pourers who, quite! unconscious of the fact that here at any rate their labours are superfluous, will do their best too, show that the scheme will be the ruin of the town. They will point to (he shocking example of Oamaru, where the cosily watersupply has admittedly been adrawback. We can, however, triumphantly quote Timaru., which overestimated the cost of the work, and after paying foe everything, found it had some thousands of of borrowed money on its hands which it could not for years find a use for. Waimate can strike the happy medium and go in for just enough.

MANUAL AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCT ION. In the above departments of education, and as far as Waimate ig concerned, can the local School Committee do nothing ? the Education Board do nothing? the Governors of the Waimate High School do nothing ? As we are not experts, and as, prior to discussion,, we do not desire to prejudice the question, we are not prepared, for ourselves, to answer yes or no. Still, it may be well to draw some attention to the matter. For a considerable period we have been hearing on all hands loud demands . for a kind of education that people'* speak of as “practical ” in contrast to “ theoretical,” as “ physical ” in contrast to “ mental and literary. 5 and which, as they deem, has a more distinct bearing on the active pursuits and remunerative occupations of the future. Other nations —Germany, America, Belgium, &c. —it is said, are paying much more attention to early training of this sort, and hence, for those nations the augury, by and by, of a better position in mattersindustrial and commercial than for British peoples. It cannot be said that ■ jtjhis Jhas .beep i

overlooked either by the educationists or Legislature of New Zealand. Some dozen years ago an Act • was passed legalising the organisation of technical schools and classes and prescribing the steps that might' be taken, the s dejects that might be taught, and providing some measure of financial assistance. In 1899 an attempt was made by the Government to introduce a measure of a more liberal kind, but for certain reasons it was defeated. In last session of Parliament, however, a Dill somewhat extended and improved was brought forward, and is now the law of the land. Summarising a few points, the Act makes provision for the following ; __•■)) The formation of certain

cia-.scs —school, special, association, college classes, Ac.; (2) the snbmanual, technical, literary, artistic, mechanical, A’C. —that m'ght be taught; (o) the persons cud bodies who might originate ami control snoh classes —Education Hoards, High School Boards, combinations of private persons, Ac. ; (I) the aid to be given towards buildings, furniture, ap-

paratas, expert teachers, i’cc. ; ff>) Deaminations, certificates, scholarships, ami so on. With to any movements througnout the colony coming under the heading of this article, certain c litres hero and there have been ]) ; iL'ving themselves —• Auckland. Vw Hington, Christchurch. Dunedin and .some other pieces. V» uh Feme nn mure of pique and dissacisfacv.i :n wo commend to ibo South Canterbury Education Board and to the various larger centres of the district the following, taken from the last General Ed. ication Deport to hand ; —During iHiH). under the bCmual and ilociimcal lustruci.-iou a et then iu vogue, but not nearly so liberal as tbs prasciC, there were some thirty-live recipients of money grants, including primary schools, special organisations ana Education Hoards. den oi Cm ihirteen Boards came in for nothing, and of the three dilatory : v;il mi fortunate ones —ours was o;jc- the sum thus .paid o\ or mummied to over ; E 18D0. Come fe v years ago, as it appeared in the papers at the Hum. tbo Bov. Cooree Barclay oii'lear. oui'cu t-0 move the Koiirh Oiinteroury ioo.uat hv;,) sum e degree of acti vi«y, and die c iuimictoos of the three Timani schools were invited to lose cii3 -({pr r.o and to cumint some >c' sea! suggestions. moth mg -nee of it: they would not move. 1.10,v tiie matter stands now appears to be iCi;-; Hume-I aw mom.Ls ago a large committee of persons, chioi.y resident in or near Timaru, and cm-mected with educational matters, was ap'pointed to go into the possibilities and prospects of manual and technical training in booth Canterbury—to devise something prompt and practical if iney coala and from time to time to report to the Education Board. VVe are not in a position to say that this committee is doing, or has done, nothing; but up to the present, as far as we .know, nothing tangible has been reached. -Ve repeat the questions at the outset of this article: Can this centre itself 'do nothing ? and could all the scholastic organisations around us make no attempt in the direction wo desiderate! Where is Mr Hamilton and bis team, the School Committee ? Whore is the suiil of the District High School and its chief, Mr Pitcaithly ? And where is that powerful, progressive, and not impecunious body, the Waimate High School Hoard of Governors ? In the lists referred to, in addition fcc bodies of the kind, we count thirteen primary schools, which, in respect of subjects of this kind, have received donations of varying amounts. Just recently a sum of £125 has boon placed in the hands of the Education Board, with a view to providing for the instruction of teachers who, further on, might be able to assist and train others. Could no share of this be obtained ? Is there no one at Waimate able to take a part in this office of tuition *? Nor is our only chief concern that some share of public funds should percolate this way. The matter of primary importance is that, in ; combination with other parts of the colony, our own locality should , contribute something to the general movement, educationally, .upward and outward, and that we should have a hand, however humble and subordinate, in raising throughout the country the level in respect to that kind of information which, to ; ourselves and others, seems so important to. the future interest of this colony.