The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1268, 14 August 1880, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Ot whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here sh.ill the Press the People's ripht maintain Una wed by influence and unbribed by gain.

SATURDAY, AUGUST U, 1880.

There are perhaps few questions upon which people find it more 1 difficult to agree than the allimportant one of education. During the last few decades no subject has, we think, boen^ so much canvassed, been so productive of heart-burning, and so powerful in, bringing forth the bad qualities of mankind, as this. When we consider what tremendous issues are involved in its settlement, that the most insignificant alterations in the laws affecting it may result in the giving to, or taking away from thousands the advantages of schooling, we need not be surprised that in the discussion of the education question men are more vehement, more earnest than in any other, if we except religion. Nor are we yet any nearer a solution which will satisfy all; the battle rages as furiously ,as ever. Unfortunately, too, it is not a contest between two parties. If it were we might look to a period of peace and contentment when one or the other should have conquered. But there are countless corps, each imbued with 1 some particular purpose ; each eager to b,and together with others until some common object is attained, and immediately on the accomplishment of this end to lift its hand against its companions in arms because they differ upon some other point. And so from year to year the conflict thickens rather than abates. What will be the position of .parties ten yeara hence it were .folly to forecast. Whether when that space shall have dropped into the past, the children of the laboring I classes will be in the enjoyment of

1 T-.^*v "tUe g^jofttional privileges which they o "at ' present enjoy ; whether those privileges will be curtailed or increased ; whether in those days the young will read their Bibles in the schools, or whether they will continue to be left, in so far as religious training is concerned, tq the-. +.f.mW ..jpl'ffl'.ttpd'j. . . of „ *li o* i ; parents, is altogether unknowable. Our educational system, iit .is certain, is by no means perfect, "there are many things which strike* us as being inconsistent, and even anomolous. But we do not, for the present intend cjbsdeal with ;tl»is Aspect of the ""ca§e : ' we shall tne rather consider? [matters as they at present stand, with a view to discovering to wfyat use the present system is turned by that class within whose reach it places a boon unatainable by previous generations. If we appear to confine our observations to the working classes, it is not because we fail &o recognise the benefits which a free education system bestows on those in better social positions, but for the reason that it is the former which fail to i appreciate the true value of tone, gift. So far as legislation has gone we know that it is now within the grasp of the humblest to acquire the elements of education, to be able to read a^id /write, to have some acquaintance ' with Jfigures, and a fair, notion of the distinguishing features of the wonderful planet which we inhabit, together with a knowledge, however slight, of the history of those of our race who have preceded us. These may, perhaps,, constitute all that it is necessary that a working man should know. We are not, however* believers in that canting creed which would fix a hard limit to the .knowledge of a laborer, we had rather any day have an educated man than an ignorant one. But even were these enough ' absolutely, how- many are there who permit their children to avail themselves of tnem 1 "WVare .afraid that the task of ' counting them would not be a difficult one. 'Will anyone tellus that' the fault lies with' the teacher or with the children themselves, because, only a miserable percentage, of children leave our public schools with education sufficient for even the ordinary avocations in life in a new country 1 Shall we blame the schoolmaster because numbers of the b iys are little less than larrikins ? What power indeed has the teacher at all over .the children 'outside, when we know that the slightest approach to severity inside the school is indignantly resisted by the parents, who regard every whining complaint of their offspring, with the tenderest solicitude, and yet themselves neglect to instil those very precepts of obedience, so necessary and so beautifully apposite to childhood, the right to inculcate which they deny to the teacher. We may be sure *»f this : that so long as the. parents stifle the consciousuess of duty which exists in their children the efforts of the teacher will be vain indeed, and the revenue of the colony will continue to be thrown away upon an unproductive department. The sole purpose which actuates many people in sending their children to school is to get them out of their sight. It matters little ''what they learn, or whether they learn anything at all. They have a sort of feeling that a child is perhaps better at school than playing about the streets, and so they send them thither; but whether they ever receive any instruction is a matter about which they exercise themselves very little indeed. Once out of their homes the children are pretty much left to their own devices ; the parentshave satisfied the voice of conscience in telling them to go to school, scarcely giving the matter another thought, unless it may be that their darlings have received some well-merited chaßtiseuaent. Then, and then only, in too many cases they interfere. When the children are old enough to wash their own faces they are kept away from school as often as the parents dare until the prescribed age is reached, when they are hurried off to win their own bread, all the knowledge they retain being but a cpllection of misty ideas. They believe that two and two make four, and are ready to assert that dog spells "dog," but anything above this they are little acquainted with. The visit of Mr Goodwin, assistant inspector of schools, has induced us to make these observations at this time. His visit to the schools of this district has been for the purpose of examining the children in the standards of education. Each child passing the examination in his or her particular standard receives from the Board of Education a certificate showing the standard passed. The object is to secure uniformity of w.ork, and the standards have been so framed as to guard as much as possible against the injurious system of cramming. If there is a time when parents should be particular in sending their children to school it is on an occa- ( sion such as this. But in numbers of cases this has not been attended to. How then can uniformity of work be secured? If the splitting of a few pieces of firewood or the digging of a rood of ground cannot be put aside ,for a day or two ; if the parents cannot exercise a little authority over wayward children arid send them to school ' during these two or three days, can we justly blame the teachers or the children if the letters' .pyogress be slow and jerky during the succeeding twelvemonths? It may seem

like feygjfjtiho -.aift>le isk steed halo^escapecivtd amnonisJP' parents now that the examination is over, but it is by our errors that we learn to be wise, fand'tyej hope? that before tho next yearly examination parents and all those who hav,e ,the cam Q,f phildren will profit by the lesson.

:Tiife statement * contained" irf the PufihV Works heport regarding the "Cambridge railway^ hats dashed to' the ground the hopes of many people. The report of the Royal Commission, the tone of" which was certainly an ' agreeable surprise,' aflersthe doitbtwßJol^ £a"d gained currency regarding 1 'its' probable import, caused the committee and the people of Cambridge to look upon' it as the' instrument which would remove any lingering disinclination to proceed with the work which the Government might have retained. , As sucfy indeed they had a perfect right to look upon it, and the surprise which Mr Oliver kept for them in his Statement is a cruel and unmerited one. That the question Of public works in this district should have come to a choice between a railway to MorrinsviMe is not at all surprising, when we take into.;ouy consideration the present financial condition of the Colony ; but assuming such to have been the case, the decision ought injustice to have been left to the Royal Commission. TII 9 members of that commission were all gentlemen of strictly impartial views, ana due weight ought to have been given to their conclusions.. If such is not to be the case we really fail to see why they were appointed at all. Tf the case is still to be decided, their mission here was a piece of folly, producing no other result than the wasteful expenditure 'of public money. We must not be understood in any to depreciate the construction of the Waikato-l'hames railway. We are sure that if carried out that work wduld materially help to forward the interests of this district, and anything which would tend in that direction would of .necessity have our heartiest support. What we contend is this : the schemes which have thus unhappily been paced in.antagonisn ought -to have been loft entirely to the judgment of the Commission. Apart from this, and independent, altogether, of the relations .which the two lines bear to each other, the Cambridge railway is one which on every ground ought to receive much more consideration at the hands of the Government than they seem at present disposed to accord it.

The following tenders have been received for the erection of a Good Templars' Hall, Hamilton East :— Booth, £21 10s ; M\irphy, £24 103 ; Evans, £25 10s ; Hill, £27. The hall, which will be 30 feet x 20 feet, will be erected on the allotment kindly given for the purpose by Mr Isaac Goates.

We are given to understand that some cattle, for the Lockerty Estate, Piako, were driven, on Wednesday last, through the Waikato Land Association's property ta Morrinsville, and therefore through the infected district. The Inspector is, we believe, taking steps in the matter.

''Cash at end of month," writes to us complaining that the Hamilton butchers " are playing into each other's hands, and because sheep have risen'are not keeping mutton, thus greatly inconveniencing their customers." We can only say that if such be the case, the Hamilton butchers arc displaying a very lamentable want of foresight.

At the R-M. Court, Cambridge, yesterday, before H. W. Noithcroft, Esq , R.M., two men, named respectively McLeod and Hicks, were convicted of cruelly ill treating a dog* until it died, and sentence! to pay a fine of £1 each, with costs £2. Several civil cases were disposed of.

The usual Monthly Meeting [of the Tan>ahere Road Board was held on Wednesday afternoon. Present Messrs If. Reynolds (Chairman), P. Leslie, C. C. Wood,, Wheelar, and Capt. Runcunan. After arranging to hold a meeting of the Board at Mr Leslie's residence next month re t^e stoppage of ru.'id-s it was resolved that the Board meet at Woodsbridge this day week and thence proceed to personally inspect the district in order to matura a scheme of works for the year, the Clerk to prepare by the next meeting a statement of the assets available

Dr Lemon the Superintendent of Telegraphs is at present on a viait to this district, on matters connected with his Department.

The members of the Comus Dramatic Club will give the second representation of " £100,000" in the Oddfellows' Hall to-night, and if the weather prove fine they will no doubt be accorded a, hearty reception. .Since the last performance the members have been at considerable pains to perfect themselves in their several paits, and it may safely be assumed that the piece will go even more smoothly than the last, successful as that was. As there will be a moon to-night,' country residents will not be put to any inconvenience in returning 1 home. The Hamilton Light Infantry Band will parade the streets immediately prior to the performance.

A very impudent case of horse stealing occurred in the Piako on Wednesday night. Mr Payne, who had chai'ge of the large mob of cattle for Messrs. Morrin and Studholme, which passed through Hamilton the saint day, on arrival at the Nottingham Castle Hotel, left his horse, which was one he hadhired for the journey from Mr Mofflin, in the stable. On going to the stable next morning he found that horse saddle and bridle had vanished, the thief evidently taking the Waihou road. Mr Payne came into Hamilton and reported the matter to Sergeant McGrovern, and that worthy officer nas taken ouch stepg as will no doubt speedily bring the offender to justice.

It will be very satisfactory to the residents in Waikato generally, and move especially those in the neighborhood of Hamilton, to know that there is a probability of a heavy dog tax being imposed in the "Waikato County. Mr W. L. Martyn has given notice that he will move at the next meeting of the Council in that direction. Not only will the imposition of additional taxation, by reducing the number of useless curs in the district, lessen' the inconvenience and danger to which travellers are now cub. jected, but sheep©wners will feel moro se[

cure $»gardjlig tha.aalety o||ibe ejp j*k£ Tor some c6isBiderable/€ime x '£a9t, akijepworrying has been a periodically recurring nuisance. We have on several occasions referred to the great losses su-.-fcaiued 'by! i ]!&&& Jojly, Coates, and others. • his week Mr Coatea has again been a victim, a large number of sheep being worried and destroyed. Notwithstanding- ( every effort* he has not been ,able to trace the owners of the dogs. We sincerely hopff, in" the Interests "of the settlera, v that the remedy proposed by Mr Rlartyn'.wiU be accepted.

Mr Walter Scott, the Secretary of tho Cambridge" Farmers' Club, -wishes | us to state that the essay" to be read by Mr James Runoiman at the monthly meeting of the above Club, to be held on Monday next, will be on " Pig Breeding and Management," and not on "LaborSaving Implements," as previously advertised. ' .

A fire occurred at Mr Smith's No. 1 Cirnp on the Thames-Waikato Railway ott Thursday' night, by which the tent was destroyed. It appears that a young man named John Odium, engaged bjrthetcoftti'acto^s, fell' asleep, and left the" candle "burning;, which set fire to the fern. Happily, however, he awoke in time, and escaped with a few slight burns. Property to the value of £5 was destroyed.

A bridge across the Waikato at a spot called Aniwaniwa, about three mi led from Paevoa station, was commenced on Wednesday last by Messrs Maclean aud Co. The Waikato river here is contracted to the width of about 45 feet, and the water rushes through at a very rapid rate. The scenery is exceedingly pretty, the rapids adding 'to the effect. The bridge is being made of logs 70 feet long and weighing from two tons upwards, nine of which are now laid across. The engineer of the works is a Bwede, who seems' thoroughly to understand what he is doing. During the afternoon 16 natives arrived, amongst whom was Tioriori, the chief of the Maungatautari Maoris. Tioriori was specially invited by Mr Maclean to be present at the starting of the works, the others accompanying him apparently in oi*der to keep up his dignity as a chief. The bridge is being erected on the exact spot where tine Maoris, prior to the war, had a bridge made of two trees, and which on the approach of the troops were rolled into the river. One of , the logs lay stranded near Hamilton for a long time after. The Maoris will find the bridge of great convenience when travelling to their settlements on both sides of the river. The old track is still to oe plainly seen and was at one time greatly used.

A preliminary meeting was held on Monday last, the 9th mst., re the opening of a iicav branch in connection with the Hibernian-Australian Catholic Benefit Society in this district. After a good number of enrolled members had paid their proposition fee to the Hon. Secretary, and a few other minor matters had been disposed of, Mr McOarrigle was voted to the chair, and the following resolution, proposed by Mr Crosby, and duly seconded, was carried unanimously : — •'That Mr E. McGarrigle be authorised by this meeting to communicate with the officers of the branch in Auckland, and to carry out all the necessary arrangements required for opening the branch in Hamilton." After a short discussion of a friendly nature, re securing a hall for meetings, it was decided to leave the matter in the hands of the Chairman to arrange. A vote of thanks proposed by Mr Jones, and seconded by Mr O'Connor, to the Chairman, was carried unanimously, and the meeting was declared closed. It is uuderstood that the branch will be formally opened in about a month, but of this due notice will be given in the business columns of this paper.

A deputation of the Cambridge Town Board — contesting of Messrs. Campbell, Kirk wood, and Wells — waited on Dr. Lemon, Superintendent of the Telegraph Department, on Tuesday regarding the insufficiency of accommodation at the Telegraph and Post Offices at Cambridge. It was ultumtely arranged tha 1 ; a room should be built in front of the present building 1 having a more imposing frontage. Double the number of private boxes will be available, which will be a great boon, as many applications have been made of late, and noue are to be had. The request to pay a proportion of the expenses of curbin { and planting Victoria-street with trees was favorablyreceived by Dr. Lemon. Pl.iiis and specifications of the above additions to the Post Office are to be drawn up by Air Hoskings, and it is earnestly to be hoped that ere long the Cambridge people will be enjoj'ing the much-needed improvements. A supplementary mail by the steamer was also urged, which would be a great boon, and will in all probability become a fact if the subsidy is low.

The usual weekly debate in connection with the Hamilton Chess and Debating Club took place last evening in tho Court-house. There were about thirty members present, and amongst the visitors wore about fifteen ladies. The Chairman (Rev. W Oalder) announced that he had formed a Committee, consisting of Mr Park (Treasurer) and Mr A. 0. Field (Secretary). After the usual preliminary busine a s, the three ordeis of the day advertised meeting with no opposition, questions were all carried on the voices. The Treasurer moved, "That the detention of the Maori pri>otiers is an infringement of the rights of British subjects, and coutrary to tho Treaty of Waitangi." This was productive of a smart debate, lasting up till ten o'clock, when the adjournment of the debate was carried on the motion of Mr K. Hill. The leader of the Opposition (Mr McDonald) gave notice that on the conclusion of the debate he would move a vote of want of confidence in the Committee.

Support Local Industries.—Measr.«, Ridler and Dalton, Kiwi Mills, are producing the best of flour from Waikato grown wheat. For prices, see advertisement in first column, page two. —[Auvt.]

They Will Sometimes. — A gamekeeper, who is an "original," and often, exp-xesaed himseif very incisively, was recently in a cover with a clergyman who invariably missed everything he aimed at. A pheasant got up, the parson blazed away, some feathers flew, and he exclaimed in a voice of natural exultation, "I hit him that time, Cox, and no misstake." The man's reply was characteristic. "Ah, sir, they will fly into it sometimes !"

A special meeting of members of the To Awamutu Debating Society takes-place this evening at Te Awamutu. Mr John Arnold, butcher, Cambridge, makes an important announcement to his customers through our advertising- columns. The first meeting of creditors in the estate of John James Trctheway, of Ngaruawahia, will bo held in the Court House, Hamilton, on Tuesday, the 24th inst. Mr John Hunt calls on the owner of lots 81, 86, and 93, parish of Te Rapa, to do a share of boundary fencing. Mr Edward Waytc announces that he is offering 1.7,000 worth of stock at reduced rates. Mr Alfred Huckland announces that the first Cattle "Fair of the season will beheld at Rorauera on September Bth. Entries should be forwarded not later than September 2nd. Mr Sargent, "Watchmaker and Jeweller, of Cambiidge, has removed to his new premises in Dukc-sticct. Mr John Buchanan, of Custom-honsc-strect, Auckland, announces that the first shipment of this season's feas is expected per s.s. Killarney daily. Samples may be obtained on arrival, Mr Isaac Coates wants ten good swampers, Mr J. S. Buckland holds a sale of horses, cattle, and sheep at Ngaruawahia on Friday, September 3rd. Tht 1 Sons of Ulster are summonol to meet on Tuesday evening at half-past seven on important busings.