THE PUBLIC BENEFIT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2694, 17 October 1889, Page 3

THE PUBLIC BENEFIT.

TO THH KDITOH. Si k,l [ero in New Zealand when anyone a«liN "you to commit a sacrifice fur the public bmetit without enquiring into the cuse, you need not be afraid to say that he i* a rogue, and under the pretence of public benefit he is going to transfer so much money from yonr pocket or from the pocket of the country into his own. J''or years in New Zealand it has bem so. If a big swindle, such a liiakincr a railway or harbour, when the said railway and harbour are a thousand years before their time, or a small swindle, such as chancing a school from one j.art of the disti ict to another, ill the hope of .telling a farm ; in every instance, where those hip; or small swindles ■ire being done it is always under the pretence of public benefit. Now, when there is effect there must be cause, and we are so corrupt that I ain not wrong in saying our greatest energy, as a people, is over-reaching and grabbing. The cause of onr overreaching and grabbing desires are from the part policy of borrowing and squandering. It naturally follows that from pact ha! it it has bccomo second nature to us hi become grabbers, habit has acclimatised us to become overreachers ; it is now indigenous in us to be no. It is wondeiful how the doing of little and big swindles draw men together. Yon will find saint and sinner, Sunday s-jhool teachers, and sabbath breaker ; the happy chosen elect and the poor uufoitunates who iil'O doomed to old Clootie, all become alike. Mr J'Mitor, it is not often I take up your time with locil matters. I am a man of peace and dislike contention ; I would not now do so if it. was not that behind this question lies a luge question, and that great question is that we must, as a people become economic, fair, just and wise. The inhabitants of To Kore iiavc begged the Hdiication Jioard to remove their school from its present site to a site which they say would be more central. Their reason is that now, along and conjointly with JI ain pi pi, they have only a half time school anil that if their school was shifted and the llarapipi school eh s vi, with the scholar* they would get from 1 larapipi and I'atevaugi they would have. a< nnnv scholars as would support a full time, school. One does not know whether to be angi v or amu-ed at. the audacious reasons given for closing llarapipi school. What. would the Te li.ore people say if we ofllarapipi were t.i apply to the 15 aid t > have Te U'mo .--clmol closed, so that by their scholars coming 11 us wo in llarapipi houhl have, a full time school? ami vet ha us by far more reason on our side, to auk this than tliey of Te Rote have in asking for our school to be closad. I'ir>t, we have a teacher's dwelling-hous", which they have not. AVe would need no dwell-ing-house to he built for n--. We also do not want our schoolhouse shifted so as t > be. able, to take scholars from other schools. Second, wo would not want to put the country to the expense of shifting ; we. li.ee no \\ i-ji to do this to sell our farms. Te Roie is a small district surrounded bv .-cho'ls within teasonable distance. The .scholarsin Te Koie will not inciease. This present week a family of five children are leaving Te liore, in two or three weeks a family of three children are cluing to settle in llarapipi, the land iu Te Here disliivt is all taken up, and there is no room for more Battlers, whereas, iu llarapipi, there aie thousands of acres unoccupied, which eventually will biing population. With these changes one will be so that Harapiiii will have most .scholars. I call upon the Kducatiou Board, who are trustees of the. people's money, to rise to the occasion and put their foot down upon all such changing of sites of schools upon such pretences. The very fact of the Hoard of Kducati >n saying right is light and from that we will not swerve, would be educating the people up to the mark, and that the days of sham were over. We will never have a pure Parliament if the smaller public trusts do not show them an example. Road Boards, School I'oaid.s, County Councils, City Councils, &.C. must all do what is light, they must give up log rolling. It must be understood that any member of a public body, in point of honesty, is responsible for the public money, as much as for l.is own personal money iiiatfur.". If ninn lia.s in liia public capacity to do with the ratepayers' money, and he does not do fairly by that money, he is just as dishonest as if ■a friend had intrusted him with money to put to u profit, and he had diverted it ho as to help his friends and so eventually in an indirect way help himself. AVo will never have a pure Parliament till we become pure ourselves. Hauavu'i. Harapipi, October IBtio.