The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM PORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1874.

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 315, 21 May 1874, Page 2

The Waikato Times. " OMNE S OLUM PORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1874.

The Catholics in several districts of the Province have petitioned the Council praying that " Roman Oatholic and other denominational schools should receive aid from the Government on the understanding that they submitted to Government inspection of the secular instruction, and that the standard of secular knowledge should be satisfactory to the Government.'' We can feel very strongly for those whose consciences do not allow them to send their children to schools at which the dogmas of their churches or sects are not taught. The suggestion to grant aid to denominational schools on such terms would meet with our cordial support were we not convinced that in the country districts at any rate a system based on such principles is impracticable, and were it applied in centres of population it would have the effect of hampering financially those who have the nnnageraent of educational matters. Had a clause been inserted in tho preM j nt Act as we suggested before it passed, gi anting aid to sack, schools as at the time of its parsing hud a sufficient number of scholars to justify public money being gi anted for their support, the cause of complaint would bo much weaker. It is quite another matter to enacting that all denominational schools shall be assisted. If tin's were done schools would gain in number, no doubt, but would not increase m efficiency, and their multiplication would eiibul muuh greater cost on tho State. The Education Bill wan allowed to go into ommitteo on t,iie understanding that only tho clauses relating to taxation &bould bo discussed, nnd uonmlering that tin;

present Act Las only bi*cu in ioico twelve months, the decision was a wise one. The defects in those clauses are apparent ; in the first place the scale of taxation presses unequally ; and iv the second, sufficient money to carry out any scheme did not tlow into the Provincial Exchequer. A new proposition has been brought forward by the Provincial Treasurer ; he suggests that taxation shall still be on house-occupiers, but, as will be seen in another column, he nearly doubles the rate. The clauses in Mr Lusk's Act, taxing on a sliding scale, had substituted for them the uniform £1 household rate for the reasons that the cost of assessment would be very great, and that as an Act of the Assembly would in all probability shortly supersede it the expenditure would be unwarranted. The household tax is necessarily an unfair one, and the inequality of the tax is not in the least altered by the proposition of the Treasurer. The poor man pays more and so does the rich, and that is the only difference we can fiud. It will be seen by our telegrams that some of the members of the Council have expressed themselves iv favor of a property tax. We are inclined to agree with them, but if that mode of raising* the necessary funds be adopted, we think that school fees should be charged, otherwise the people who have incurred the responsibility of children and are not able, unaided, to educate them will not contribute their fair quota. The proportion of the population unable to pay moderate school fees is very small indeed. It is to be hoped that the religious question will not be discussed, because, wo are clear, that denominational education really means none at all for a considerable portion of the population.

Wo observe by our special telegrams that the Suez mail arrived in Auckland yesterday. Mr Sheath, inspector of telegraphs, arrived in the Waikato last evening. We understand that the object of his visit is to open the new office at Hamilton. A pigeon match will take place at Hamilton, on Saturday next. There are up to the present lime 14 entries, comprising some of the best shots in the district. It is rumored (says the Guardian) that the General Government is pieparing a geneivil Licensing Act, retaining the most important provisions of the present statute, and eliminating its absurdities. A meeting of settlers is going to be held next Saturday at Whau to consider the extension of the Koipara railway to Auckland. This is a matter that we in the Waikato are much interested in. Railway communication will greatly reduce the cost of timber, an article very scarce in this dhtrict. Mr Vogel sent a telegram to the Superintendent of Taranflki stating that it is the intention of the Government to diccontinue free immigration. This it an admission that the officers entrusted with the conduct of this department have been found incapable of performing their duty efficiently. The stoppage of the system cannot on any other grounds be necessary. The fact that population is required is indisputable. The Oamaru Licensing Bench has laid down the rulo that one conviction under the Act snould be regarded as an act of misconduct on the part of the licensee, disqualifying him as holder of a renewed license. The Timaru Bench has resolved that only married men shall hold licenses, and the application of a bachelor publican has been adjourned for a fortnight, with an intimation that it will bo refused unless be gets married within that period. We understand that Mr Carter, the driver of the Waikato coach, is about to leave for Ai> erica. He will be a great loss to the whole of the travelling community ; his careful and artistic handling of the reins always inspires confidence in the most timid, and his jovial laugh and good temper will be missed on the road. We should like to see some substantial recognition of his worth tendered to him before his departure ; wo are confident that lnmdiedsof the Waikato settlers would contribute if some one would take the initiative. In the ten months ending December last the Australian Mutual Provident Society uccepted 2435 new proposals for insurances, amounting to £873,475, and 1076 were declined, withdrawn, some not completed. The new premiums amounted to £37,784, the single paymonts amotinted to £6579. Claims arose under eighty-eight policies, representing £46,570 a sum which included bonuses to the amount of £3870. The accumulated fund now stands at £1,293,302. The total number of policies the society had issued up to that period was 22,950, representing £9,206,621. All the Waikato member* of the Provincial Council waited on Mr Sheehan yesterday, with reference to certain alterations in the Highways Act, nnd also reapeeting the mating of main roads in Highway districts by the province. They referred, also, to the conditions under which licenses to cut timber on lands nt Waikato are still issued. Mr Shrehan replied that the question of making over the main roads in the Waikato was under consideration, and that the views or the Government would be made known when the estimates were beina dealt with by the Council. With regrad to the iasuo of licenses to cut timber, he said that that was a matter over which the Provincial Government had no control in the Waikato district, as all confiscated lands were managed by the Colonial Government. — Cross, Tuesday. At Wood's Point, in Victoria, a Justice of the Peace, in committing a, prisoner accused of larceny, » Jdressed him in the following extraordinary terms :— " You must remember that, if you break the moral law of God, you will be punished in all eternity, but if you break the moral laws of the realm you will be punished at once. We live under { a mercantile dispensation— a dispensation of insolvent acts and fraud summonses. You may steal, rob, plunder, defraud, or poison, by proper machinery, provided by the State for the purpose ; but when you attempt to steal without a storekeeper's license and a set of books, or if you attempt to poison without a publican's license, it is our duty to make you feel the full weight of the arm of the law." It may be interesting to Oddfellows to learn that a pre« sentation was made at Nelson the other d«v to ' the oldest Oddfellow in New Zealand,' P.P.G.M., C. P." Reams. Mr C. P. Kearns has been an Oddfellow for nearly 40 years. He joined the Order on the 28th June, 1834, and was then about 17 years of age. After passing through the different offices connected with the Lodge, he subsequently became G M. of the Strangers' Refntje Lodge, at Hyde, in the county of Cheshire, in the year 1841. On the 6tli November in the prime year, he left Liverpool in the Martha Eidgway for Nelson, New Zealand, in company with two other P.G's from the Hyde district, and arrived there on Sunday, the 3rd of April, 1842. The Te Awamutu Volunteer Cavalry met for their six days' drill on the 11th inst., under the command of Major Jackson. The subaltern officers were Lieutenants Kay, Cowan, Rutherford, and Weatherell. There were 60 noncommissioned officers and troopers on the ground. The fir«t day's drill was slightly interfered with by rain, which, as Eettlers, was welcomo to nil. The remaining five days were made the best use of by Staff-Sergeant Eraser, and the appearance and efficiency of the corps is such that the district is justly proud of it. On the 23rd the troop will go to Cambridge for the half-yearly inspection in conjunction with the Cambridge troop. The Cavalry Pistrict Prizes will then be distributed. We trust that the presentation will be public, as a correspondent vory truly remarks, " To tell a man to call at the office for his cheque may be very satisfactory and business like, but some of the young fellows would value the prize moro highly if presented in a public manner." Proposals were laid before the Council yesterday to amend the taxing clauses of the Education Act. The Government in bringing them forward disavowed nil responsibility. Their Act had been rejected, and they now brought down the clauses in accordance, with the expressed wish of the Council. The proposal is to levy a tax of £1 a year on all householders paying £10 rent, £2 on all paying from £10 to £50 ; £3 on all paying from £50 to £100, and £4 on the few paying over that sum. It is also proposed»to rrach the numeroui claw who escape at present, by a provision that all persons above a certain age — not being householders shall pny 10s oach per annum. Of course in raising a revenue for educational purposes, nothing can be more dilfi'-'ill i'<nn to make the imports bear evenly upon all s 1 '.' ■•!- homo ono will feel himself nggrieved as boing ' •■ >■ * handicapped than bis neighbour. For instance, a I or paying £10 a-yenr rent will bo taxed £1, or ten |u i .cut., while a man paying £12 will bo taxed £2, or 17 per cunt. How what is called the " Bachelors' Tax " is to be collected it would be hard to say. A single man may bo bore this week and absent tbo next, so that tho collection will be a grcnt trouble. And again, is the railway navvy bachplor, earning soven shillings a dny, to pay as much as the Government employee in receipt of three or four hundred ponntls a year ? We fear there will bo no end of objections nnd protests railed against the rating and capitation clnuses. If, however, «o arc to have public schools in tho province, these can only bo supported by people submitting to be layil. Snould the Council refuso to sanction tho rating clauses a* they now stand, or reduce them so that a sufficient i avenue will not be rawd from them, education must suffer, or Urn wliolo bill will bieak through. — Herald, Tuesday.