The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1880.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 457, 6 May 1880, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1880.

The 'Wellingtoii papers are full of a very able speech which Sir Hercules Kobinsqn has made on the.educational system of New Zealand. This system he admits is more advanced than that of the home country or. of the neigh:, boring colonies, but this premier position is secured at an outlay which is beyond our means, On the latter point His Excellency said :-r ■' The present Act has only been in opera ; ' turn for. the last, two yearn. • In 1877—the year before it came into effect, the number of public sohools was 730. The aver'aga daily attendance for the whole year in these sohoola waa 40,837 ;and the total amount paid by the Government to Education Board-r-exclusive of the proceeds j>f Education Beserves-was £204205. being £154,205 for ordinary expenditure,'and £50,000 for school buildings. In 1878 the "number of public sohoolß was 748,....The average daily attendance was 48,212; and the Parliamentary grants-exclusive of rents of reserves -amounted to £317,923, being £216,666f0r : ordinary exoenditure, and £101,257 for eohool bxiildings.' tn 1879 the number of public schools was,Bl2. The average; daily attendance for the whole.year, ..was .64,8091 and the Parliamentary grants—exclueive' of reserves-amounted to £268,457/ being £217,876 for ordinary, expenditure; and £150,581 for school building*. it-will be seen that the Parliamentary grantsjor primary education have .increased fiom £204,205 in 1877'. t0£817;923 in 1878, and to £368,467 in 1879—0r, in other wonk from £5 for every ,ohild in, average daily attendance 1 ui'lß77rto £6 12a -in 1878; and. £9l4s 6d in 1879. In estimating the pro-

bable expenditure for the future, it must be remembered that the capitation rates pail by the Government to the Boards fur otdi> nary working expenses and scholarships added to the subsidies for normal schools and Inapeotion, amount together to about £4 109 for every ohlld in average daily attendance, In these item there can be no, reduction, as the tendency of tlje'new standards wih be, 1 apprehend, to increase rather than diminish the ordinary expendi-' ture, But under head of school buildings some saving upon die heavy outlay of the last two years may pos«ibl» be effected. Having, regard, however, to the facta that' the population is irior^apibg,;apd ; the peroentajre ot atten'danVeVo'populatioffincreasing —also that : in .consequence, jqpommpdation for a considerable, number of additional children' will "be'^re 1 quired annually; and that there will besides be a constant necessity lor replacing old .worn-out' wooden buildin s, 1 T scarcely think thai it, will be found', practicable, -.-without impairing the elr'cicncy of tha system, to reduce the annual expenditure on buildings, much below £1 10s per head upon the average attendance. This, with £4103 for ordinary expenditure, would make the total cost to the country of primary'education about £6 for every child in aveiage daily; attendance in the public schools.

It may be a grand thing for the state to pay from- i2G to '.£3o per annum for. educating-'the family of a working man in tins Colony,'provided that it has not first of all to extract the money out of his. pockets. ' Unfortunately it-has to do this, and the burden ia not a light one. A struggling 1 man who can hardly earn thirty shillings a week ought not to be compelled to spend so large of.it oft tbe education- of his -''family/'" |t is' true' that the of; him by direct and -indirect, taxation/ but none-the less ishe impoverished..; We have always regarded "the educational system of "New 'Mand-a's' oiie"; made in the interests of tnVtmddle: rather than the lower'.. classes'. : 'Aj higher standard of- education i$ 'forced; upon the working classes; .ribt'becHUSo; they desire it or can, afford to-.pa'y for: it, but because the the law-; yer, and the doctor requires a superior • education for bis chjla!vea atjtHejr'Jii'ice paid by the working nian, : vWe Relieve! in every child in the .Colony being taught to read, write; and ciphety but this could be accomplished at;half the cost of the present inflated system, and. would be well within" our means? •. :

Mails for the United .Kingdom''and' Australian Colonies'per Arawata''; close at the Bluff on Friday; 7th'inst.v.at'3p;m,: A meeting ofMr T. creditors will be held in'the Council' Chambers; this ahernoon ; to consider affairs of the estate, . . ■ ' '.■i:7«?i'v. . Mr H, H. Wolte'rs harbeen-jnstruqted to goffer for private sale'a Comfortable little property, consisting of three acres of land and house on the Taratahi Plain, The usual monthly.meeting;.of the Masterton Town Lands Trust take?; place to-morrow evening. : '"'■";:• The R.M. Court sits at Masterton. this morning. There.is a long liafc of debt cases, in which claims for land tax are conspicuous,

Mr Lowes, late of the Railway Hotel, is about to apply for a license for a new. hotel, which he proposes to erect opposite the Post-Office, Masterton, " •': ■ ;! The Foresters of Dunedin are about to! erect a monument'to the murdered Dewar family. ! R. G-. Williams, of Masterton, saddler,! has filed a -declaration of insolvency.! First meeting of creditors on the' 12th [ inst. Martin R. ABhwin, Upper Plain, far-; mer, has filed a declaration of insolvency,' First meeting of creditors, Monday, 17th": inst. ;.; A son of Captain Stevens, while bathing at Mechanics 1 Bay, Auckland, had a'nar- 1 row escape from a shark. A young man named J. Joyner jumped into the water; and attacked,.the shark with a knife, "and: drove it away. /' ' ' ■■■;•<, \ The Works Committee of the Bast: County Council will meet on Saturday next. ?■,'

In the case heard before H. S. Wardeil,; Esq., R.M.,at Greytown on Tuesday,; W. J. Salmon v. .Greytown Borough Council, for unlawfully entering premises and damaging property to the amount/of £l, Mr Bunny for plaintiff, Mr Beard for defendants, the first' witness called was; W. Pole, Inspector of Nuisances for the Borough, who deposed, upon examination by Mr Bunny, that the building in question was a nuisance from the badstate he had repeatedly found it in and the smell arising therefrom. After his Worship was satisfied, from the notices and war-: rants produced, that the proper course as to notices, etc., required by the Act had been served upon the plaintiff, and to the

Inspector, and his repeated calling the attention of the solicitor, for the plaintiff to tho fact that the question of a nuisance was not the one at issue. He at the request of the solicitor, expressed the opinion that, from the evidence of the Inspector and Constable urinal in, question was a nuisance, The real case was .then'proceeded with, and the clerk of the Council called to..prove that the Inspector hA been instructed by the Council to remove the building. The minute book was produced and the resolution read. Mr Beard then addressed the Bench-rvery ably—and reviewed the clauses bearing upon the matter in the Municipal Corporations Act; 1876. He held that the Council had full power to abate any nuisance by removing it, if the .•owner.of the property failed to do so after receiving the necessary and proper notices from the Council. The Council had given such notices and issued their instructions in proper form, aiid'as clause 231 stated the Council could abate any nuisance ip such manner as they thought fit, he held they had not exceeded their power in removing the building, Mr Bunny then addressed the Bench at some length, reviewing principally the evidence given ap to the. muißance. His Worship "then explained the meaning of a nuisance, "and pointed out that buildings of the kind—properly and conveniently constructed-r were now being erected in all large centres of population, and could not, .therefore, if kept .properly cleansed, be termed ia nuisance, The question, if raised some 'few years ago, would have been considered as very indelicate, but now such places were found a necessity. But, apart from, the nuisance, he did not think the'Aofc' gave the Council power to enter private premises and remove ja building. It, gave them power to see the "place 'was; "properly 'cleansed. He therefore thought the Council had exceeded its ,pow,er, and would, give; a verdict for plaintiff foil the amoiifit "claimed and costs. Mr Beard applied for permission to appeal, .bftlMthe it was not allowed, " ■ ■■,

In the R.M, Court, Carterton, the case against Mr-Barry;!of'miMy.-logging a boy, broke/dowri','.';;' t We .sjfaU'pubiish a full report of the edse^itour,next issue. We unde|stand'tl(e 'Rising Sun Hotel, Greytowh, Is about to change hands, and that Mr late of the (JreytownHotelj' is spokenof «B-Mr Salmon's successor'. \'\. ,/>'\ : ]""''.' . Tenders, were ppened;yesterday; at the County Engineer's ofh'ce.'fof tlie Mangataiiioke bridge,. but the consideration of them was postponed till Saturday; some important information not available that day being required before accepting any ~tender.;;,., •.-. •

We remind farmers interested in the state of the Waipoua River at the Pirau, Opaki, that in terms of'aresulution passed at the public "meeting held on Saturday l'astji number of them-are "to meet at the'jP.irau Pah at 10 W.Saturday next, for "the purpose of. drawing up a report and electing a deputation to West County, A correspondent has drawn our attention to the fact that the late Acting Inspector of Nuisances took out a summons against Mr Renall, J,P., for some alleged breach of- the Borough by-laws, and that the said summons was suppressed, If the facts are. as stated, we have in Mastertoti one law for the rich and another for the poor. This matter requires explanation, 83 in the administration of justice even'a suspicion of.favoritism should be avoided The ■ Americaus are :kind enopgh to acknowledge that in one thing at least the Britishers beat them, and that js in the

speed of our trains. The confession has been brought out by the- recent Gallican crow as to the speed of the Paris-Mar-seilles express, which, it appears iR beaten by several regular trains in Germany; but none of them, come .near' the flying Dutchman,-which is the "fastest train in the world, and, really 'accomplishes sixty ; nule? in one hour. Higher rates of speed iare common enough for short distances, and on down gradients, but for any journey that includes hundreds of miles, the the actual Bpeed is but little over fifty miles an hour. .Willi the long distances, and generally speaking, level roads which pervad in the States, there is every in-, ducement for the Americans to take the lead; but they, know, as some of our colonies are discovering, that their machine: made engines will not stand the wear and tear of high speeds. The Lancet says-*" The dangers which

the. sempstress, especially the young, undeveloped girl, incurs by prolonged stooping over her work have been exposed .by .us on more than occasion. Every practitioner will have been able to "trace cases of deviation of the spine, uterine 'corhplairits, &c., to the .bending-of, the back and the crossing of the legs for so many hours, day.after'day.. Our object' now-iB to record the successful attempt made by Dr Ma'herbe to avoid the melancholy cbnsequences of an industrious occupation. The new system'employed is' ; thiit ( of fixing, to the .edge -of air ordinary ;|atifr a sort'.of'cushi'on, the.work. .'c'au'be easily; fastened or spread out,'and represents v the. .sempstress'"knees.'.';• A framework of the description "admits of the raising or lowering, ot.this cushion, eo. that the work may be done either Bittifig' or standing,;,but in either.case the vertebral column is maintained 'perfectly straight, while the'facility tlf'us'give'n' to a change of position will tend to mitigate the fatigue a young person! would otherwise experience, Reqognising that. • example is more forcible than theory when' waging war against common routine, Dr. Malherbe at once sought:ah opportunity for making some practical' experiments,' He therefore introduced' his contrivance at the Communal School of Nantes,, and no objection was raised on the pari of the pupils. Two among them had a tendency, to malformation, which has been to some extent rectified'since the;intraductal of this reform in '■„ the,, attitude of sewing, Evidently the retiaedy to a great evil is eitia'ple, practical, and should be raa'de the subject of-more extensive experiments.'' Gurious-cpmments.by^a.'judge, even in' the.presence,of the prisoner,' though ex-' tremely'rare'; are hot.unpreceden ted.. Mr Justice Maule,.once; JddresVed a pheno-, monon of innocence ,in ( a,.sm.ock;frook in the following words.: i'.'-Trisoner at the, bar, your,..council' thinks'- you, innocent( council' for the' prosecution thinks you innocent; I think, y;pu : ;innoceht. But a

jury of your own countrymen, in. the exercise of such common sense as; they posaess, which does not seem to be much, ; hkvejound you 'guilty 1 ; and it remains, .'that-Ishould pass upon ybu the sentence' of'the law. That sentence is that you be kep£ in imprisonment for one day;.and as thafeday was yesterday,, you may now go about your business;". The unfortunate rustic, rather scared, went about his business; but thought law was an uncommonly -puzzling thing. ;■ ; ~; A' correspondent, writing to the Auck-, and' Weekly. News, unier the.nonvde, plume of " Agrioola" Bay's':—SoW moatha ago there appeared in the Mine teenth Century a. lengthy and interesting.account of the wheat-fields of Dakoty and Minnesota'; in the northwestern'.part of America, that during the last two or three years'have been opened up. ...This won-.; de'rful and fertile region—rapidly being settled by thousands of induß.trio.u3 and enterprising farmers—has been called the '*' corn.granary of the world." So rich is Ihe virgin soil that from forty to sixty bushels' of wheat, and seventy of oats, have been obtained to the acre.' The productive power and rich character of the soil spe'ms to'. be almost inexhaustible", wheat having been grown by the pioneer settlers season after season from the same, land for a number •of years.' Indeed;.bo rich is the land that if the crops begin to. get lights by ploughing a little deeper new; and fruitful soil is brought .into cultiva-; ion," the 6rppa grown thereon being Up to • the average previously obtained.!■ . "'.

We learhjfrom .the.Timaru Herald that a vessel Jiajs, been laid on the berth at that town,' to sail direct fir Capetown,' and that a number of personam Tihiaru, Oamaru, and elsewhere, who are desirous of trying their fortunes in South, Africa) are about to take advantage of the opportunity thus presented to;them. J In speaking of the pospectß of the intended voyagers, our contemporary remarks:— "While we feel convinced in our own mind-that New-Zealand is superior to any of the South African States, we must acknowledge the belief that there will be a great scarcity of employment during the coming winter—in other words, that the supply of labor will ; be. considerably in excess of the demand. If, therefore, working men think they will have a better chance.of obtaining employment during the winter mouths at the Cape than would have here, let them go there by aTI means. If, after, giving South Africa; a fair trial, they''came'" to the conclusion that New Zealand is, after all, a better pla r c6, : w#aWl ,| b9"gla'd .to see them, back again, with as many friends as they like to bringV J ln'Me I meantime'their' departure will to a more or less extent, relieve the distress 'during :■ the ('approaching slack: months." > 70 :: '■: -ill JI:; ?:

According to the Cologne Gazette, the Finland wolves have been unusually bold this winter. In Vekirels tliey attacked a peasant in his sledge, taking possession 6f.it, so that the man only escaped : by jumping on to his horse's back) whence! he shot one of the brutes and jrighterjedj off the rest, At Kunito a wolf ienfere'ii' the village in broad daylight; and alarmed the inmates of a coltuge by appearing at a window and gazing.on thtjm, At Njstadt wolves have made some attacks ou wayfarers, but the worst case is one in which a child eight years was carried off before its parents' eyes, and after pursuit was dropped horribly mutilated and died. 1 The State Legislature of ■ California has adopted a somewhat novel expedient .to compel foreign residents to become naturalised American citizens, and at .the Bame time, to increase the revenue.;'-Un "and after Ist July next,, all foreigners, except travellers in route, foreign consuls and their attaches, 'or other persons exempted by the Constitution of the State, who have not become naturalised citizens, will be compelled to pay a monthly poll-tax in advance of twentyfive dollars, on pain of being arreßted, and made to work out the amount on the public works of the State.

. A family of eight persons have been murdered near Barcelona. A rich landowner, Fulgenzio A. Bercoznana, had in his service a workman named Manuel, who on arriving at the house for his day's work before daylight found his doors open, his wife and a maid-servant dead in their beds, and the master and mistress of the house and their three daughters,: aged 19,17, and 15, and a son, aged 9, all likewise murdered. Another daughter, aged 5, was sleeping quietly beside a mur-: dered sißter, having' apparently been : covered by the bedclothes and uriob-i served. The drawers'had all been forced, and everything turned upside.down. The murders had apparently-been committed with- a hatchet. Suspicion immediately fell on one of the other labourers, a swineherd, named Dominguez, who, with his two sonß, has been arrested,