TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1885.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2016, 9 June 1885, Page 2

TUESDA Y, JUNE 9, 1885.

Tjii: petition to the Minister for Education pr.iying that reserves for secondary education may be set apart in W.iikato, which we published in our last issue, states the case clearly and succinctly. In the whole of the large district known as the Waikato no provision has been made for the purpose indicated. New Zealand has adopted the principle of National Education, and is boldly and fearlessly putting it into practice. It lyis been decided pia.ctica.lly that henceforth the people of this colony, which is but the nucleus of a future nation, shall be educated — that so far us it is possible for the State do it, e\ cry individual in the community and shall have a fair start in the ra.ee of life. It matters not w hat particular set of men may rule us for the time being, no deviation fioni this plain rule can be admitted, lint in order that the piinciplo may be carried out in its integrity it is of course necessary that tie advantages of education in is vaiious branches shall be placed within the reach of all clas-.es and all sections. A system which would hold out its prizes to the people of one particular locality, while it denied them to those of another, would not deser\ c the name of " notional," and would soon lose public sympathy and suppoit. It is a sheer impossibility to bring the benefits of education, either secondary or primaiy, to the threshold of every home in the colony alike. None probably appreciate this better than those who have planted their household gods in desert places. But just as we do not e\pe< t the Government to build a school on every mountain top or in va cry inhabited valley, we do claim that whenever a reasonable prospect of success is held out its plain duty is to send its teachers there. Now, the Waikato is getting to be a big place. There are scattered up and down over its area a large number of young people to whom at present the advantages of secondary education are in a great measure denied. To send these children to Auckland is out of the question on account of the expense, and failing the establishment of an endowed school the vast majority must of necessity forego whatever benefit may >be derived from a higher school course. Of the value of such a course it is not necessary to speak. But this is not the only, though it may be the chief ple.i which could be put in for the establishment of a High »School in Waikato. We are stating merely the plain, sober truth when we say that the salubrity, the beauty of our Waikato climate is famed throughout the colony, and the fact has come within our own personal knowledge that many— not ono or two, but dozens of people - would for the sake of their own and their families' health, have taken up their residence amongst us had it been possible to obtain botten facilities for the education of their chiU dren than we possess. Again, there are numbers of people in the province, and particulaily in the neighbourhood of Auckland, to whom the absence of a superior scholastic institution in the Waikato ha^ been a source of much dissatisfaction. Nine-tenths of the childien sent from the Northern metropolis to the schools at Nelton and Christ-

church would be sent to Waikato were there a IFiidi School here. To say nothing of the difference in tho intuns of communication, and the closer proximity to homo, a more radical change of climate would be expei ienced, with ab"ttcr guarantee of health. Ft is, however, scarcely needed that we should dwell on the claims this district has upon the (Jo\eminent in the matter of Education To enlarge would be tantamount to an admission th.it the case called foi the seiviee of a special pleader. We are curtain that it requires no such aid. At the same tune, that whit h W worth havim; is uoith asking for , and a High School fur Waikaso is cert'iinly worth h-uin^.

A sciikme for tl^e settlement of the Native Lands of the colony seems to he as indispensable, to a Ministeri.il policy now-a-clays as the borrowing of sundry inillions'for public works. No Ministerial statement', in fact, is considered complete w ithout a reference to a Nati\e Laud settlement policy of some sort, and these schemes are generally ns \ariod in character as they are numerous E\ cry successive Government has a specific idea of its own bearing upon this important question. Some of these schemes are as comprehenshe as others are ridiculous, though taking them all through, the latter gonerally predominate. Whether a scheme be good or bad, workable or unworkable, successful or unsuccessful, every succeeding Minister for Lands seems to think that the country looks to him for .something new, something original— no mat* ter what it is, in fact, so long as it (tillers materially from that of hi.s predecessor. It is essential to his success as a progressive administrator that he should evolve something out of his own inner consciousness ; his reputation in a great measure depends on his originality, and so he endeavours to impro\ c what perhaps is already perfection, or as near perj fection as it is possible for colonial law to get. And so, .scheme succeeds scheme, the theoretical giving way to the practical, and the practical to the philauthropic.il. As soon as people begin to comprehend and understand the working of one, they are introduced to another, more complex if anything, which in its turn gives way to something else, and so this experimental legislation is carried on. During the coming session Mr B.illance has a pill for the House in the shape of an elaborate measure on this subject. As the advertisements say it is something on a "new and improved principle, and warranted to give satisfaction," though whether Parliament will take the same favourable view of the matter is another and entirely different tiling. In the administration of this measure — should it become law — the wily Kuropeau is to have very little to say, the whole thing is to be done by the intelligent and irreproachable aboriginal himself. Native committees, constituted by men of thoroughly unimpeachable character, are to be formed or elected, and the administration of the Act will rest with them. To prov ide against dissatisfaction, the great prerogative of appeal has not been o\ ci - looked, a board having been provided for this purpose. And these native committees are to ha\e a lot of other powers in other departments of public affairs, which at present are either exercised for them by somebody else or are not e\eicised at all. The policy of local self-government is in future to be as prominent a featme ill the native policy as it is at present in the general government of the colony. isut the conditions are far from being the same, and we doubt very much whether the success vvhifh is so confident!) expected from these generous .concessions will be commensurate with the remarkable liberality and thoughtfiilness of the Gov eminent in conceding them. But if the settlement of the country is tlio object which the, Government has in view, their attention must not be wholly and solely devoted to those large tracts of Avaste country over the boarder. As a matter of fact under the most exceptional prosperity, the land of the King country cannot possibly he settled for some years to come. The Government seem to think that as soon as the railway is completed the work of settlement will be vigorously advanced right through the countiv. Certainly a demand for land may immediately spring up ; as a matter of fact speculators have already got their eyes on a large portion of it ; but to think that the occupation by that desirable class of .settlers, the small farmer is a work ot immediate future is a great mistake. If the Government are earnestly desirous of promoting settlement, let them tuin their attention and energy to such districts ns this. At the present, time there are in Waikato suit able blocks of first-class land amounting in area to about a million of acres available for settlement. That tract of country stretching along the Thames Valley for many miles, with a railway traversing it from end to end, and which is at present held in large blocks by about five or individuals, must before many years support a numerous settlement of industrious farmers. Sir John Jlall, during a visit to the Aroha district some three years ago, spoke of the Thames Valley as about the best and most suitable pieco of country he had seen during his trip through the colony. Then we have the large blocks held by the various companies, all of which we believe rive available, and all of which nre j adjoining railway.*. U|«n these larvls consideinble impioveineuts have been effected in the vv.iy of diaining, clearing, fencing and cultivating, and no more suitable land than this could be selected for farming purposes. Capital and §nter-

prise have donp more in a few years in reclaiming the wilderness tli.m individual oftbrt could Invn eflected within the next twonty years. To tho settlement of these lands the (rovcrnnmnt therefore sliould devote its attention, a-> well as making provision for the dispo-.il of 1 md which is not likely, e\ mi under the most fa\ouralile ciivuiwstances, to he settled for inany^eirs to come.

M<mrs J. B Whyte and E Lake, M lI.R, Wiie p.|s,eilgiM I>V Vl^tl'lfl iv'fi tl.llll t" Vllckl. 111(1, I'll lotlte f'»l Wellington, to altiMifl t > then l'ai li iinent u y duties, 1 * | i

Some of the culverts on the Puk > iwuJ neir JcuKhh '.ire ropmted to bo in .in unsafe state.

The Cambridge Town Licensing Bt noli ni'-et to mouovv at tho Court house. No objections have been lodged.

The Cambridge Parliamentary Union ro assouibled for its second session List night.

The Rev Mr Gulliver, M.A., has l>u n invited to deliver n lecture at C.nn bridge on (Jener.\l (ioidon .it ,»n iMily date.

Mr Camp has abandoned his mti ntinn.of re erection the Tain.ihoie Hotel. Tin 1 license has accordingly bcin allowed to lapse.

The licenses of the Ohaupo Hotel .md the new Hotel at T.uiwhaic have boen 11 new t'd.

The Cambridge Town Board met yesterday afternoon, .vnd disposed of n <|ii.intity of business. Tho proceedings are fully reported m .mother column.

Heavy rain fell all over the W.uk.ito yestcidny. This air was mild, and tho weather possessed nearly all the char.ictenstics of spring.

We understand that Mr T, B Lovus, merchant, of Cam bridge, has- been appointed to tho Commission of the Peace. The district is ti> bo congratulated on Mi l»e,wis' appointment.

We observe from our Alexandra eoiiespondent's lettei tli.it tho well known \lton olnef M ij'U 'JV \\ In oio i- l>ingul at In-. residence in the Lower Wiiikatn. It will be ieinenihei(d th.it the M:i)oi Milfered fioni th<> English climate and 1. ft the Old Counti v mm nit i than he intended on th it account.

A settler at Churchill writes :— There is an old man, who gives hi-* n une as Pearce, wandering about this district in a destitute condition. As he is evidently, a pi'iMin of weak intellect, oithiT thiough lining leiched Ins dotage or from some other cause, I hope >ou w ill knidh publish tin-, in oider to <liaw the attention of the police to his case.

A sitting of the Native Land Court will bo held at Cambridge on Tuesday, the llith nist., at 10 o'clock. The business of tho court will Ik? to consider and m ike an older as to what poition of the cost of tho .survey of the M.uin^atautau Block xhall be paid to the claimants by the countei claimants, among whom tho land was adjudged by the court.

The following special messages to tho Press Association d ited London June 6th, have been published.—The official average of the Kew Zen land million and a-half Io.»n is £100 (h 3-I.— Obituary : Tho Yon. W. Chambers Horriti, M.A., Aichdeacon of Akaroa, Canterbury.— The Yen. Archdeacon J. Leslie Randall, M.A., of Buckingham, has been appointed Dean of Hoba.it.—Brett's Fin nicial Company is issuing €12") 000 worth of debentuios.—The Colonial Ti .lining Farms Y-tsociation has beon legisteied.

A Newcastle (England) paper has the following :—" The Tyne Lifeboat Tin* tees have had bequeathed to them a now lifeboat, together with boathnmo, Inuncli-' ing w.tjs, .md every modorn appliance. The gift is pait of a legacy of L' 2,700, set apart by the late Miss Bedford, of Poishoio, Woicestorshire, for providing lifeboats m various parts of the United Kingdom. The trustees rMVis decided to name the new lifeboat' The Bedford.' Sho will be stationed at South Shields." The donor of the above was, wo understand, a cousin of Mr B. Bedford, of Ohaupo.

The usual monthly meeting of the Hamilton Road Bo.ud w i* held on S iturday. Present :-Me-ni» Atkinson (oh.niniiin), Way, Riddlor, Livingstone, and Kxelby. A letter was received finni the seerctaiy of the Hamilton Domain Bond on the subject of jiiscicultuie. It was resohed to reply to the effort that on receipt of fuillier information ns to the cost A.c , the board will be prepared to join m the imdei taking. It was resolved tli.it the chniriuan be authored to sign the Railway Kofoiiu petition on liehalf of the board It was lesolvid to s-tiike a rate of /d in the A.' for the entiling year, payable on and after August Ist ISS"), A number of sin ill accounts were passed foi payment and tho boaid ro--e.

A special telegram to the Press Association, dated London, the lith inst., stites; Th'" following additional honours .unannounced. -Knights (irand Cross: - Tjord ('mngton ((4 ivenior of New South W.il< s), M.ijiii-Cenei.il Sir Y. Clarke (fornieily (loveuioi of the Sti.uts Settlements), Sir Anthony Musgia\o (<io\ernoi of Queensland), and Sir Frederick A. Weld ((iovemoi of Straits Settlements), KCMH.'i: MajorUe-neral Scratchloy and lion. Alexander Stuart (Premier -)f \>w South Wales). 0.M.0.'h: Hon. Lieut'uiant-Colonel F. T. Sargond (Minister of Defence, VictonaL .1. F. (Janick ( Vgont(iencial for <Jucensland), Miijnr(ienei.il Downo-", R.A. (commander of velunteer military force of South Australia), and Colonel C. F. Roberts (commanding the .utilleiy foicos in New Smith Wales.)

On Saturday afternoon last, as a young gill, hftcen years of age. tho daughter of a settler in the Rnngiriii flntnct, was leturnintr homo fiom Meicer, hlio was stopjied by a swiigmaii, who attempted to |»ull her off her horse. The girl's ncicams biought to tho spot two lads who happened to bo in the vicinity and the scoundrel mado off in the direction of Meicer, though he avoided tho township, and was peon afterwards going along toward"! Auckland. Tho father of the gu I eoiumunicitcd with Sept. Uilhes on Sunday, nml tho j.olico mo making sticnuoUß effoits to ariest the offender. He i-. desciibcd as a man sft S inches high, of fair complexion, sandy bushy whi-tkeis, light moustache and woie at the time faded dark clothes. Ho also caniod a watch. In another column will be found Messi.sT.andS. MoiiinandCoV. adveitisenieiit, concerning the Harden *4 St.v " Hiind < Jrenade, for tlioe\tinctii>n of incipeiit files. We lately published an account of tho public trial in Auckland, but in view of the gieat liability to fiio which exists in the Waiknto townships, the matter is sufficiently important to nieiit further notice. Kng-lish, American and Coloni-il ]>a)>eis contain testimouialK to the viitue of the " Star " (Jronade, which nppenrß to be vastly mipeiior to any other. Tho London 'J nnos sayrt :- "The extinction of incipient hieH apjniais toboieduced to its lowest terms by the Haiden "Star" Hand (Jrenado Fire K\tinguisher, a successful demonstration of whicli took place on Thuisday on a vacant piece of gioiind near the Farringdon road. The hand gienado consists of a gla««s flask of xomovvhat ornnmentnl appearance, which cont mis a jiint of the e\tingin«hing fluid. 'I his fluid, which is a chemical mixture, is of Mich a nature that on being distributed over a lire carbonic acid gas is generated, wheieby tho fire is rapidly extinguished. The cflieiency r»f the system lioa largely in its simplicity, as it is only neccsnaiy to have the bottles placed übout tho honno or building lendy f"r use, and to bo thrown on to a fin* at its outbreak. Tho content* are stated to bo perfectly hannlcen lither to flesh or fabric. At tho demonstration, firrH wetc lighted ni wood screens coated with tar and pnti oleum, and in each case were extinguislied in a few wcondß with ono j)int bottle of tho fluid. In one experiment a chimney on fire was represented by a wood shoot lift high, from tho top of which flames fieely issued, but were put out in about ten seconds with one bottle of liquid broken over tho impromptu fire grato. Tho invention is stated to be in large use in Ameiica," Hotelkeepprs and business men gcnpinlly, and, mdeedv idlhouseholdeis ought tokeep ft few of these grenades on hand. Mrs <iwynne, of the, Hamilton Hotel, has had a supply foi some tune, which is accessible at all times to tho,o staying in the house. We undi island that it ii tho intention of Mes rs Mori in and Co. to give public tii ils in the Waiknto. A sensitive Briton abroad sends from DiiMeldorf the following account of "tho British lion from a foieign point of viow":—Tho first is taken from m\ Aui-

trian weekly, tho Bmiibc, a publication somowhat similar to mil lllustiated London News. Units front page i-> a largo nil mred picture, in which Count Herbert Hininmck ih represented as u lion tumor, standing in :i huge cape, gracefully bow mg, c\idontlynt a burst of applnusc fmm tho spectators, for a sueces-ful exploit. At his foot is a frightened, whining, supplic itmg attitude, with its tail between its legs, crouches the Hntish linn—its face ii toler ably good caricature of th it of.MrClidst me. In tho baokgioiind aie seen tho head and shoulder* of the old Get man Chancellor himself, who is saying, " Splendidly done, Herbert, my boh! you havo turned him a* completely as your fither did before you." Heio is another pretty sketch, from tho llerhner Wospen. List weeks edition contained a lingo full page engraving showing Prineo Bismarck attituduing also as a lion tamer. The Chancellor is represented astrido a hon'.s back proudly waving his hit with cmo hind, while ho wields a small dog whip with the other, by tho aid of which ho lias apparently brought tho ferocious boast to a stito of abject submission ; foi the poor annual, which boro as usual the face of dndstone, with its foro paws bont and its head bowed to the ground, seemed utterly cowed and iMibdued. Abo\e thorn, with tho Hceptro and ball in its claws, flies the Piussian eagle. Tn the hackgumnd stands France as a sly but frightened-looking hy.ena. While the new railway time-table gives veiy general satisfaction, there is one m.ittei in connection with tho postal nr rangementH in Hamilton which deserves notice. I'ievioui to tho first of this month, the Cambridge mail was taken off at tho Hamilton West st itioii and norted immediately on arrival at the post offico.jonio half hour befopc the To Awamutu letters were received. Undei tlie pienent arrangement the Cambridge mtuls go on to Frankton Junction, and arc loturned to Hamilton along with those from tho Upper Waipa, so that nearly an hour elapses between the time at which the train airives at Hamilton and that at which tho lottors aro dohvered at tho post-office window. Again, mails for To Awamutu .and other places along tho main lino aro closed at Hamilton m tho afternoon at 3 o'clock, whilo that for Cambridgo romainu open until 4..J0 p.m. Tho trains by which thesj mails aro taken leave Frankton Junction for then reHpectivo destinations at 0.30 p.m. It may be neccssaiy, in \iew of the fact that the ollice closes at."», to close the Cambiidgo mail at 1..50, but the Te Awamutu bags ought to remain open until th.it hour also. Tho explanation offered by the local nutlloi itu-h i> tli.it tlio W.upa in.ills ha\e ti> be sent down to Kiankton by the X.2."» train, but it, is scarcely a good excuse, si>cmg that tho 'l)u-,o-> still continue to run to Fiankton. We tuist the depaitmont will gi\o this matter its .ittoutinu. The letters of Mr Frank Power, the Knglish consul, and The Times, corlespundent at Kh.utoutn, lri\c been published. They were sent by Mr Power to friends befoie tho siege. The Times concludes its notice with two biief extiaets relating to <Joulon. They arid little jiew to wh.it we already know of the man, but they .ire the independant testimony of one to whom he was a pcifect sti anger until he arrived at Khartoum: —" Cordon is a most lovable character quiet, mild, gentle, and utiong ; ho iho humble, too. Tho way ho pats you on the shoulder when ho says, 'Look heie, dear fellow, now what do you advi-e?' would m ike you lovo him. When he goes out r>f doois there are always ciowd.s of Arab men and women at the gate to kiss his feit, and twice to-day tho furious women, wishing to lift his feet to kiss them, threw him over. Ho appears to liku me, and already calls we Frank. lie likes my going so much among tho natives, for not to do soi,,i Himt.il sin in his eyes. T often sp \ik of you to (Jeneial (ionlon ; he says he must mike your acquaintance befoiti we p> to the Congo ; he would like a d.iy in I >üblm. He is Dictator heie. It is wnndei ful that one mm could Inve such an influence over 200,000 people. Xumheis of women Hook here every rtiy to ask him to touch their children to cure them ; they call him the 'Father and the Saviour of the Soudan.' He has found mo badly up in Thomas ,t Kempis, which he loads evoiy day, and has given me an Imitation of Christ. He is indeed, I believe, the gic.ite-.tand be^t man in this contiiiy." The second cxtrnct is loss cheerful in tone, and s 'ems to show a prcsigo of the end : — " 1 like Coidon more and more eveiy day ; he has a most lovable manner and disposition, and is so kind to me. He is glad if you show tho smallest d«sirc to help him in his gieat trouble. How one man could have dared to attempt his task I wonder. One day of lmwork and bothei would kill another man, yet he is «,o cheeiful at breakfast, lunch and dimii I ; but I know In Mitfc i-, f. .ufnlH fi..in 1..%v -j.ir.t-. T hear him walking up and down his mom all night (it is ne<<t to mine ) It is only his great piety caulks him thioiigh.'

The long and fiercely-waged battle between those who arc in favour of the clasHieK as an indi-.pen--.ible feature of higher education and those who would make them inoiely optional, is plainly going to decided in Ameiica, (writes the New York correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald) by the vittoiy of the latter. Harvard, which is one of tin; thieo great hintoi',c Ameiicin college, and which for two centuries and a half has insisted on leaching boys Latin and Ciouk, whethei they likod it or not, lias formally taken down hercolorw, and now plac*.^ Cr'tk in her curriculum as a merely *' optional" study. Yale and Princeton cneigeticidly dcclnie that they at least w ill never descend to mich weakness ; but tho pressure of public opinion will, in tho end, bo too much for them. For a dozen year.s p\st the grent prizes of life havo been palptbly awarded to tho men who havo been educated in the more liberal and technical Hchool. In the one calling of the ministi y — tho worst paid and the least popular of intellectual pursuit-. —proficiency in tho classics has been serviceable ; but in all the others the man who has not begun in youth to master the established factsand pi inciplcs of modern scienco has been fatally handicapped in the rate for distinction. K\cn lawyers find familiality with mechanics and electricity of far more pmfehsional line to them in these times, whoa tl.o courts are so largely occupied with patent and Himilar caxtfs, th.tu an apt quotation horn Hoi nee. Tho question of the v.iluo of tho two cuiiicub as means of intellectual discipline lcnKiiiih unsettled ; but in Atueiic.i the belief pievails that there is no longer timo tomastti classics and science both, and that the former l-i tho loi-t nulispensvblu. None of our colleges aie iich enough to Mibi-ist without tho support of voluntary student*, and theso can only bo attracted by a coin so of study that seems to them the most desirable. Yale, m a few jnars, will follow tho lead of Harvard and Cornell, or will lose its populauty. The end of it all will probably bo the relegation of Crock, and possibly Latin also, n« a necessaiy part of education, to tho puiely thoologic.il seminalics, most of whom, even, now, exist onl> by chuitablo conti lbution--, and sue abandoned by neatly all young men who have money enough to pay fees for tuition.