MR VOGEL'S SPEECH AT WANGANUL EDUCATION.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 603, 1 April 1876, Page 5 (Supplement)

MR VOGEL'S SPEECH AT WANGANUL EDUCATION.

I will nowsaj a ttor words upon the question '«f education. I cannot giro you any absolute pledge upon the, subject, but the view of the Government it that it is durable to abolish the ■necial education rate which now exists 10 some BMts c^fche ' oolony— (applause.) It ii also our Tiew thX whilst there should be a general control ofer "education throughout the country, there should be a much larger amount of local control than l now exiiti in some parts ; and there should be large school commi tws, amenable to ichool boards somewhere ; and that generallT the management should be murh more £2 than it nowi.. I "behete fliv in .ddresnng thi. meetin X I am .peaking to those who have peculiar opportunities for judging of the d sad?antage. ot the want of local co,.trol over looal whooli-Capplause)., On the other hand we do not d..ire to destroy or upset .he special features of the educaUonal system, to be found in differ«nt parts of the colony.. As to the act.on to be taken on this Subject next session, some bill we mu.t introduce ; but whether it mil be a complete measure of consolidation I cannot say. Our Lire will be to abol.sh special rateß ; and to secure looal control and management ; and it will be not only our desire, btlt our paramont ' duty to eudeatour to secure that an educational rrstem should be thoroughly carried out from ■ one end of Jhe colony 'to the other We .hal .eck to insist that whilst we give local control there shall not anywhere be local neglect ; for w. are not willing to allow t^t m any part of Hew Zealand an uneducated population shall ' grow up— (applause.)

IMKIGBATIOBT AND RAILWAYS. ' Allow me to add to what I have said with renrd to railway" and immigration, that w cognise immigration as a inject of the greatest possible importance, and that it must receive the utmost consideration. IVe must continue to introduce immig- ant. as they are required, but we must take care that w. do not bring m more Than are required. In every part of the olonv there mait be the mo*t jealou. watchfulness as lo both these point! ; nnd with the fao.lu.es we now have for almost instantaneous commutucaSoowith Great Britain, 1 think we should not hare difficulty in getting all the fresh population we requ.re without the nsk of over immiaration into any part. It Is an cssentul porhon ot the policy of the Got rnment to continue .mm.aration in such manner, and to fuch extent as Say appear desirable; and we regard the tuition m one not for counties or boroughs, or liitricts of any kind, but as a colohial -question — (.DDlause). We are not going to abandon our wilway policy. We look upon it as our dutyproceeding more slowly, it may be, than hitherto Lto continue the construction of a trunk system through each iiland-(applause). We will not be content with fragments of linrt, we will com1 Diet, a thorough trunk system if the country % will support us in doing so. Som\ province* may say, "We have the nulw.ya we want and we do not care aboat the construction of mote elsewhere." , Brt I do not think that will be generally said or felt. IWe not found evident of any' such M lfi.hn fB 3, and the more . we recede from the protinciul system the more will mere boundaries ceaw to have force in men s minds, and the more will we find a readmes. to look upon questions a* affecting New Zealand as a whole, instead of as intereating only to parts 'of it. , . . -v _u.

ixi&nta vvmson un> ootntfx BOUUDABIBS. Of oourie, when one « "pe» k ' n g under a lBnM of neat r«pon»ibihtT, and haTing to go into many detail^ne , i» liabla to oTerWok i em»rk. lie intend! toWke; and I find that I have omitted to mention a mdit important matter, namely, 'that we do not consider that it will be either deiirable or neoeuary that the couatiei ■hould be 'coterminous with the FroTinowl boandariei. 'Wbihtin aome cuei the whole of » oounty maybe in an exiitin^ promce. we alio Me that in other cawt oountiei •hould extend OTereaohiideof the boundariei of a jwoTince. That rai»«i a>ery embarawing 'question, or 'father a queition that seeou embarawmg— that iir* 1 How are you going to 'dmde the residue of £• land 'rereoue: if the residue of the land rer.nu. fc to be divided, and the county over''•teM Ac boundary of the prorince, how »reyou .to apportion the reiiduei of the two pronnces? We tare thobght that .matter out. la ithe fiwt laataow. on what'prineiple woold you dmde the

give the more settled and wealthier districts tiie lion* share, and leave the less peopled districts at a disadvantage. VVe think that woWd not be right, and wo propose to divide the residue and make half payable to the counties on the basis of population, and the other half on the basis of area. This 'will give recognition .to both area and population, and will do away v ith the difficulty It will be easy under such a'systemto ■ay, "Here" is a county with bo many thousand acres in province A, and to many thousand acres in province B, and also so many hundred inhabitant! in province A, and so many in province B. Then the share of the residue of the land revenue which the county will receive for area will be f-om province A, as the pr'op3rfcion of its area in that piovince is to the whole area df the province, so will be' its /proportion' to ihe half of the whole residue. Similarly will the area proportion m province B be decided, and by like rules of proportion will the population ' share in each province be ascertained. This is a matter I should have referred to before. I trust you will foigive me' for having "put it r»ther out of Us place. PROVINCIAL CHARGES *OB RAILWAY INTBBIST. There is another point and a very important one to which I must re f er We have found that the present system by which tho provinces, each continue to be responsible for deficiency of interest on which the cost of the construction of the railways withiu its boundaries is very unsatisfactory. "We have lo keep a separate system of accounts and seperate management in each province, in order'to tell how much is «o be charged against each. Thi« involve! so much difficulty that we propose to ask Parliament next session to authorise the' Coionial Government to take over the control and management "and liabilities of the railway in the country— (applause.) I may say apart from ' the financial aspect of the question which has to be dealt with, but which I do not propose to enter upon now, this ii one of the most important matters we have to deal with. In fact the Minister for Public Works bus put it in the strongest ma ncr, and sayp :— u lf lam to be asked to continue to manage the railways aithey are now, I cannot do it." If we want to take a railway from one province into another we have to keep separate accounts in each. In a few days the railway from Canterbury to Ofago will run acro«s the Waitaki, and we •hall hitve to keep two separate accounts of expenditure and receipts. It muit be remembered with respect to the provinces "being responsible for the railways in future, and whilst we can keep some accounts between the prorinces and the colony now, because they are distinct, these accounts will be almo«t imaginary when the provinces cease to exist, and the debt* from one to the other will have a very unreal oharaetpr. 'It would be as »f Brown and Jones being in Partnership should suddenly cill themselves Brown and Co, andJoues and Co, and should proceed to draw on eaci other and keep accounts of the tmn«nctions. I hope that in future We sh»U have such a system of 'finance that we shall not find the provinces with deficiencies which the colony ha* to make up, for the provinces, and which when they cjasa to exist 'can hardly be said to owe in money. However, Ido not wish to enter into the financial question to-night. In contusion, let me intite you to visit, in fancy, after the changes I have indicated have taken place, any part of the colony which ii now a province. The ProvincialisU talk as if there is to be a 'fearful change when the provincial system comes to an end, I think, however, that you may, after the end of next session, go through a province and not be aware that the Superintendent and his Executive have passed away. You may b? quite indifferent wnetherhhe police and gaols are controlled by a Superintendent or by the General Government. If you take up a morning paper you may miss the old reports of deputations that have waited upon his Honor ; but you may find consolation in reports of meetings of ouuty boards or road board* (applause). You may not stumble upon Superin ( undent* or Executives, upon, the expensive incidents and auxiliaries of Provincial Governments ; but you may find that matters relating to roads"and publio works are being attended to by local bodies called cjunty boards and road board*. You may not be greeted by, wrangling over the conflicting claims for aid preferred by chief cities, towns, and outlying districts ; bat the loss may be borne, when you find in operation local b'oiies with duties clearly defined, revenues ■eourelj "allotted, and powers of combination, but no 'grounds for covetous quarrels. You may not tea in contrast to schools fiooriibiog ift wn» pl*oei, children, runoiag

wild'in'olhers, because there are no schools to .which, they c*n be sent; but you 'may find everywhere a proud determination that the population of New Zealand shall be fen educated population — (applause). You will learn 'that the charge of harbours ia in the hands of the General Government ; but that local boards With funds 'lt their command attend to r the 'improvements 'of these harbours. , If you travel by railway and'pass from one former provinoe to another, you will dp indifferent whether your fare would have represented a profit to the defunct Government of the former or & loss to that of the Utter ; but you will no doubt learn that the,' railways of the country'are managed upon a comprehensive and liberal system. You may .find— for we desire that it should be so— that charitable institutions are subsidised, and that the General Government interests itielf in them as far as is necessary for seeing the subsidies are properly applied, but that otherwise the control and the management are local. I think tint upon •uob a survey you would not bo Hkely to regret the absence of anything that bad been prized as Provincial, when you found everywhere present evidence of the operation of a system of local government in the trues' and best sense of the words— certainly far truer and better than wf« ever attempted under the provincial system. I think you will rind the whole machinery of Government running more smoothly, and costing far less than before ; and that you will discover the colony to be ' much less disturbed by unexpected financial difficulties. 'I beljeve that, whether they havo been successful or unsuccessful, Provincial authorities have been aotuated by a public and disinterested spirit ; but "I do not believe that, under such * system as I have sketched, anyone will have reason , for even momentary regret that they have passed aWay — (applause). . „ „