HASZ.-\RD'b

.‘ (i‘.\7.ET'l"E. MARCH 25.

cotouxu. I.scIsi.a'rimr.'

Hons: or Assuau, SATUIDAY, March 18.

men EDUCATION Am‘.

Mr. Wiourimv. As it was known to him that considerable dissatisfaction prevailed in the country, on account of what wasconsldered the an . nail and imperfect working of some of the provisions of the Education Act; and. as many complaints, on that score, had been made. to him, by his constituents. he had undertaken to bring the subject before the House, with a view to the revision of the Act, and the amend- ment of one or two sections thereof, out of which the griei snces complained of b the poo- pl~- arose. He had, at first, intends to bring the subject at once before the whole House in l'l)lI|II|lll'-80; but he had since been advised to niove for a Special Committee, to re rt upon

Lin». w'oole, or upon such Sections oft e Act as slmuhl be found exccptionable, or faulty in their 0 eration ; such Lommittee to have power to sent for persons, papers, and records. This, on reflection, had sp red to him to be the more advisable course; as such a Committee could send for the School Visitor, the Head .\laiiior of the Acndemy,and any other individual who might be thought capable of making so gostioul for the improvement of the Act; an , availing themselves of the su stions and‘ pi-in-tical experience of such in ividuals, the Committee might be enabled to make such a Report as would materially assist the House in aim,-mling the Act. He, therefore, moved for the appoint-inent of a Special Committee, with the power, and for the purposes which he had it icizllitt .

‘Mr. Cuan. He would prefer the sub'ect‘s li--lug brought at once before the whole I ouse in Poiiiinittoe. It would, whenever it should lie. t.ilu-n up, occasion much discussion ; and he tlionglit it would behest to elicit the sentiments of too llousc, touching those Sections of the A01. the operation of which was complained of, hulorc any amendments should be formally proposed and submitted to their consideration.

"-1". the Ar-roii\'i:v Gic.\'sa.u. did not see that

it \‘.’iI!§ neecssai-_v to originate any thing, with a \‘li-,\\' to the amendment of the Act. in a Com- inin--o of the whole House. No fundamental or r-.i«iii-.il changes were contemplated in the sys- tem now in operation. It was more roposcd to :im-_-nd two or three Sections of the . ct ; and t'i.- In-st way of going iibout it was, he thought, to :ipp.iiut a Special Committee, as moved for

V I II‘. on. member, Mr. Wightman. All Petivi-iiis presented to the House, praying for al[i:I‘alfl\)!lB in the Act, mig it referred to tln-iii; mid, beside, they mi lit call before th.-oi. and examine such pndivi uals as could speak, l'rcui raetical experience. of the work- ing of the set; and, aided by suggellionli ulitillnfll from such sources, they might in their liv.-port, recommend, to the House, the ado tion oi".~iu«-h alterations in the Act, as might, to t em, t||I|IL'.ll' necessary for the rectification of the «lo-la-(‘K8 which had become apparent in the oper- ntiou of tliomeasurc.

.\lr. II. llxvii..mn.—It was not usual to ap- point a Coiiiiiiittec in the dark. Before grant- ing It (‘oniinittec, the House ought to be made a -oiiililc of the necessity of doing so. He hoped the lion. member. Mr. Wightman. would, therefore, point out to the House, the defects in the Act which required amendment. before pressing his motion for a Special Committee to I‘:-par!‘ tlicrcon.

.\lr. Wioirruv.-—’l‘lie 29th Section of the .-\.-t \\‘lIli'll authorises the establishment of new f"('l|l|:)l Districts. requires amendment; for it has l»:-on found that, whilst the Trustees of such Distrii,-ts are empowered to assess the inhabi- tants, hcing householders, in the sum necessary for tho erection and the furnishing of a School llous:-, and for a supply of Books ; and, whilst it directs that such assessments shall be re- mveralile, from any parties neglecting or re- fusing to pay the same, by suit and rosecution he-foio any Court appointed for the lecovery of small Debts, or licfore'any Justice of the Peace, it has been found that such suits and rosecu- tions cannot be legall sustained. myself know that parties refusing to pay such assess- ments liavc been sued for them before Small ])i-.ht Coinmissioncrs, and, owing to some ra- dical defect in the law, it has been found im- po.-lslble to compel pnymcnt.—By the Twen- tir-tli Section of the Act, the Trustees of a School District are empowered to assess the inuaibitants who are householders, in a sum to provide books, school furniture, and fuel with- out making any distinction between such as have children attending, or who might attend, the .'l1‘ll0Ol, and those who have none : and such assessin‘cnt. is, therefore, levied upon all alike. Now this indiscriminate levying of an assess- ment, for such pur s, is certainly unfair; nail is, therefore. with much reason, com lain- ed of Iiy parties who have no families to erive any benefit from the school. Such parties—at- least such as I am acquainted with—are quite willing to pay the general land assessment for the encouragement of education, but they think: it a grievance, of which they have good right to complain, and from which they conceive it will be nothing but a simple act of justice, on the part of the Legislature, to relieve them.- A,;,,;,,, by the 27th section ot' the Act, the School Visitor, on not finding the attendance of scholars in s School to amount to Thir , is directed to declare the shool closed, as far as rogiirds the Act. Now all must be aware that, from some casualty in a District, such as the breaking out of some infectious sense,‘ a number of scholars attending the school might be reduced for below the niinisium number, Thirty; and it would surely be very unjust to all concerned, if, when, om any such cause, the school was empty or nearly :9, the School

Viidtor should arrive, and declare it closed, and the annual allowance for the support of the some shoal cease. This Section of the Act, mp,-,-,fi,re, clearly reqnlrss_ amendment,--Ano-i ther defect in the Act, which ought to be rec- tilled firthwith is th smallness of the Toivcho .,-.' salaries. ft is a most, any it is quite, im-

.i|i|e'to secure as many roperly q'IIlIllfiOd

vowhogg, at the Salaries cl owed by t e Act,‘

amendments of the Act were required.

W1 h doiflit opinion that, in taking it up, he, as it member of the minority, was taking upon himselfa

jorit

in order to secure the services of dul qualified and respectable teachers, a few of t e inhabi- tants have n reed to In Salaries by

pplement the Legislative rding t ie Teachers, or making them an allowance l‘0l"Ill0ll' board This ne-

cessity for supplementing Tea iers‘ Salaries

bears heavily on many who are esirous of se- curing a good education for their oliildren. and. at the same time. almost e mill desirous ol seeing it secured to all the youth in the Colony 2 and I am of opinion that, from the present prosperous i-tats of our revenue, the Honin- may now very well entertain the idea of iii- crensing the Legislative Salaries of District Teachers. These are my views. and tho_ pro- priety of them will, I hope, he concurred in by every member of the ouse. _

on. the Coi.oivI/ii. Sncssnnr ex rei-sod lllli concurrence in the views of Mr. \'_iglitmnn. approved of the appointment of aspeeial Com- mittee, and of such a Committee availing them- selves of the suggestions of the School Visitor and of the Head Master ofthe Academy. A salary of £45 was certainly, he thought, too little, even for one of the very lowest class of teachers.

Mr. Yso, Many petitions having referepce to the working of the School Act were coming in from different parts of the country ; and he thouglit it would be best to defer taking up the subject until after they had been received. Mr. sssss was of the same opinion. They ought notto be in to eat a hurry. Many

ne was a provision for a third class of teachers, for thc benefit of such settlements as could u rocure the services of the best. The inhabi- tants of such settlements would account inferior teachers better than none Mr. DAVlES.—-The motives which induced Mr. ' tman to move in the matter were, no , good: but he (Mr. Davies) was of

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duty which should have been assumed by some lion. ineinlier in the majority. It was not to be expected that the majority would be pc_cu- liarly anxious to further measures proceeding from the minority ; and, therefore, he thought that.whatever amendments were required in the Education Act, they should proceed from the Government, or froiu the Government mn-

lllii. Wion'rnN.—He hoped he was not held in so low estimation, by the majority, that they would be unwillin to cooperate w him for the perfecting, if it were possible, so important an Act as that for the encourage- ment of education, or indeed for the attainments ofany other object of public utility. But, even were itlikely that, with respect to the amend- inents required in the Free Education Act, he should stand alone in seeking to have them effected, he would not shrink from the per- formance of the duty which he owed generally to the countr , lint especially to his constitu- cuts, with re erence to that most important of all objects, the general difl'usicn of education amongst the people. “ if." said the hon. mem- ber, " the House refuse to assist me, must stand alone; but, ifl do, I shall, at least, have no reason to be ashamed of my defeat."

Hon. Mr. MAcsI:L.u'.—The lion. member Mr.

Davies appeared to think that more re .r_d would be paid, by the majority, to the in lVl- dual who introduced a measure, than to the

mcrits of the measure itself; and that they would rather withhold from the country the benefits ofa good measure, than allow a poli- tical opponent to derive any credit from its introduction and passage through the House. lie was happy. however, in being able to inform that honorable member that the majority with whom he (the Hon. Ur. Macaulay) was associ- ated were men of too much honor and principle,

much at heart, to be on b e of throwing any obstacle in the way 0 a good measure, by iviiomsocver it might be introduced. On c contrary, he rejoiced to know that they were predisposed and prepared to give their aid for the furtherance of every measure of sound policy, with wliomsoevcr it might originate, whether with a member of the majority, or of the opposition. When the slap-dash manner in which the Free Education Act was re red. and carried throu h the Legislature, it was not at all surprising tliatn very short experience of its operation had proved it to be a most defec- tive measure. On the contrary, it would have been truly wonderful had its working proved satisfactory to the public. The manner in which a revision of the Free Education Act, witha view to its amendment, had been pro-

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entitled his motion to the most respectful con- sideration of the House. He had not of him- self nrrogantly undertaken to remedy the ac- knowledged or alleged defects of the Act: but he had modestly proposed the ap intment of a Committee to revise the whole ct, with pow- er to call before them such individuals--for ex- amination, with reference to the working of the Act—-as, from their attainments an expe ' once, were so capable of nlirding suggestions for the improvement of the system. The course proposed by the hon. member was 'udicious and statesmsn like; and.he .(lIou. r. Macaulay) would, therefore, give it his I.

'1 - I

r. Daviss.—He was not, by any medns, o to the sp intment of a Committee to revise the Act, an to its amendment. hat he objected to was the subject's being taken up bys member of the minority. The measure was ori 'nnlly. n Governmentmeasure sand, to the an that the amendments which it had been found the Act required, might not only be so sted, but sctunlly made, any pro l for its revision and amendment shoal pr in t e Govprnment; and be scoountedn Government measure. A edge would thus benfiorded, to the House an the country, that n reotiflcation of the defects of the Act was fully‘ sanctioned and intended by the Government, 0, however, did not believe that it won the Vlshhaf Government to have the Act Olsen ,

as the country requires I Olldi 50 BM} Dll¢|‘l°Wi-

rather that it should tennis is stats quo.

n,,n_ M,-_ Mug-mon.y._..I¢ was not at all which had lately been cllbcted: in fact, such unusual for a member of the. ruiiiorily to inove assertions had been made plrcad_v.—'l‘lio course -‘or the appointment of a Special Cthllllllltltm, proposed was the host wbiph could he adopted. .or for the House to sccedeto such a motion Vhilst the Special Committee were endeavor- from such a uarter. Mr. Wiglitman, only ing to ascertain of what amendments the Act two days after t I8 commencment of the Session, was susceptible, tho or-limiry business of tho ‘ind iven notice in the Order Book, that ho House would be proceeding: and, when the won d, at an early day, call the attention of Report was prepared, the House could go into the House to the necessity of revising and Coiumitto upon it, without having lost time in amending the Education Act: and, if any in~,:n- the consideration of minor matters. her of the Government, or of the (lovernnient 'l‘lie llon. the Srr.-iiu:ii then put the question majority had afterwards come forward with ‘upon Mr. \\'iouriu.~i's Rcsolution;andt io same .u,-liuinorion, as that which -had just l)dnllflIIVll'I-_g been a es to. it was ordered. That made by that lion. member, hon. members in;Mr. Wlouriurv, llon. the Attorney (laneral.

men who had the well-bein of the couptry too ‘i

d by the hon. member (Mr. Wightinan)i

report thereon with a view: A t

the‘. but

rlioiiiiuoritv would not have failed to nv.iil

rim ooliiirnei-s of linking the sulijei-i out nfilie hands of the lion. member who h id been the first in propose legislative action thereon.

ll Mr. i.oiio.—It was very true that but luilr opposition was made to the Free lifduc-iliuii At-t, whilst it was in pi-onressihrougli Ilie llooi-e; liui it was equally so, and well known to the lion. and learned member for Georgetown. Mr. Mac- aulay. iliat. by some hon. members. now in the majority , who acquiesced in the passage of the ineasure—iioi having the msulincss in oppniie ll, openly in their place---die Education Am had i been ilecricil tliroiigb the cminIr_v, tor the purpose R of dcpriviiii; the hue Government and their pavlia-‘ meuiairy supporters ol'ths€r well-deserved popii|n- 1 -iiy. ll had been rspresrenuecl. innuncst Ilia’ people. that. although their taxes were increased by the Act. vs! the couoirv could derive lint veivl lnile benefit from it; and that it had failed Io. lcclllflplllll the object for which it was passed ; f for uni lialfihe School Districts had been sup- plied wiih ieachcrs. And. unfair and disingenuous as such repreaenlalioiis were. they had been, he was sorry In say, biii I-in successfully employed; for it was, in n LVYPIII inss-‘ore, uwin__i lu them, he fie-lleved. tlial, in the opening of the Session, the late Government found ilieinsrlves in a minority, in .Ilie A~'seinhl_v. e was, however. sorry to see that. not satisfied Willi their success at the elections. the party in lhc majority were loo much inclined to cuiiiinne party strife on ilie tlonr ofihe House, In the retardation ofthe business for the dcspslch nl which they had all been returned lo the Assciiiblv. That the lone Government and iheir supporters in the Asseniblv hsd foiilifolly and diviniere<tedl_v laboured to render the Free Education Act as efficient :i mexsnrs as ci-cum- stances would ndmii. was a fact which no lion. member could honestly dispute : and the reflections which had been cast upon them l)\' the lion. and learned nieinber for Georuslcwu, Mr. Macaulay. had been quite uiicnlled for.

lien. Mr. ltlxcaumv —-l am not a liord. nnd neither do I expect to be msdc a Lord by Act of Parliament: but no Lord can adhere with more independence of mind to his conscientious convic- lions Ihan I do; and I must. llierclorr, decline to‘ submit my judgment Io ilis dictation ofthe loidly I llltlillltlllill Wlm hill. just now. so arrogantly taken upon himself in rebuke ms.. l

. HAVILAND ——'l‘he hon. member, for Ihcl Third l)i<trict of Prince County (Mr, Lord) appears Io be strangely mistaken as lo the origin of the present altercation. Not a word proceeded, from this side of the House, In provoke it. The apple of discord was cast amongst. us by the hon. member for Belfssl (Mr. Davie.-), who has, most grsluilousli. undertaken to censure the Govern-

l l

I

H

faccordingly.

bed from our published Report of the De-, hate on the Resolution of a rant to the, Agricultural Society for the importation of Stud Horses.

Mr. ll. ll.u-n.s.vo.——'l‘he latc Government and their supporters were. most certainly. entitled to no eculiar merit on account of the grant of .61 made. last year. to the Royal Agricul- tural Society. It was not a (iovornnient meas- ure, and neither did it originate with any of their party. Lot merit be given to those to whom it is due. In that case, it was due to the Agricultural Society: for. although the grant was made by the Assembly, their hav- ing voted it was attributable to the Memori- al sent in by, and presented on belialf of that Society, praying for a grant to enable them to import suitable stud horses. and setting forth the great advantages, wbicli their doing so would confer upon our farmers and the Island in eneral. The measure. as ho had already sai . was not a Government one : and neither was it advocated or l'F4'.l)lllll'l('DdC|l with any such peculiar earnestness. by them. or any of their party, in the House. as could entitle tlioni to take moritto themselves on account of it. On this side of tho llcuse, however. said the hon. and learned member, there was not a disentient voice: but, on the Government side, it was opposed by Mr. Mooney, who is also opposed to the motion for a similar grant this year. Why he should be so,I am at a loss to understand. He represents one of the largest in icultural constituencies in the Colony; and i he took a right view of their wants and in- terests, he would see that the Assurnhlv could not ssibly do anything which would be more like y to serve them than providing tlieui with means for improving their breed of horses. Last session, be asserted that the grant would not benefit the many, but the few; and, now again, he does the same, insinuating also that an undue preference has been given to the rich over the poor. Bnt nll know that the benefits arising from the importation of good horses, e ually divided amongst the three counties, could fail to be experienced by none, but such —ifany such could be found—-as they who de- clined the advantn cs therby ofl'ercd to them :— and,iis to any un no preference having been given, defy the honorable member to prove a

R. H. lsvixo, Reporter.

jg.-

‘ on. Mr. llaviland, i\lr. Fraser, i\lr. Beer, .\lr. . rhcniselvcs oftlio opportunity to expatiote up-in 'Clark. and Mr. Davies do compose a Committee to success run

The following Speech was accidentally omit-;

900 to 1,000; on other six battallions or iii;

Foot Guards from (‘#0 to Ft!!! riinlr and me,

The lfith depot under the command of Major Coppiii er. have been most nctivelv engaged in recruiting throughout this country for the past fortnight. and have enlisted Ii vast number of _vminiz men in the towns of Westport. Newport, Bnlliurolie. and liallinii. Mayo Conuilulian

The “ Home news" is not of deep import— the second readiii of the Reform bill will he proceeded with on the 27th April.in the Coni- mons.

No doubt can exist that the country

will give a lieartv and zealous :-

_ upport to the Government in its contest with Russia. Everything essential ‘st carried out, and to readiness with which the House of Commons

,voted the estimates is in perfect harmony with

the nations w

In the meantime, however, a final cflort is to be made to solve the question peaceably.

The Funds had undergone little or no linema- tion. Bank Stock—3 per Cent. Reduced Annui- ties, 925 ; 3 per Cent. (‘nnsols Annuities. 915; Console for Account. 9l.«l

Poiirsimrrn. March 2,—Vice Admiral Sir Charles Napier and Real Admiral Corry were tr-legrnplied up to the Admiralty yesterday. and have not yet returned. Rear Admiral Chads is practising the fieet morning and afternoon in gunnery, and the tiring is ma ificcnt. A con- tinual cannonade is going on rom mornin till night. and Spithead presents a picture w ich few artists could do justice to. The ships at Spitliend are all manned. we believe. and rim) or two have more than their compliment. The Prince Regent. 90, Captain Hutton. Rear Ad- miral Corry's Flag Ship, is one of the most perfect men-of-war in the navy. Her lower deck tier are entirel on 38 pounders. Admi- ral Corry has not the least wish to exchange her for any other shi .

In consequence of” the increase ordered to the establishment of the infantr regiments, the standard of men recruits is owered to5 feet 5} inches.

(The European Timer.)

Another chance for backin out is to be given to the Czar. which of courscfiie will treat as he has treated all others—with contempt. Monday last couriers left for St. Petcrsburgh, bearing a summons from the English and Frence Governments, calling upon the Euiperor Nicholas to give an engagement within six days from its receipt. that be will evacuate the Da- nubian Principalities by the 30th A ril; and, in the event of his refusal, war wil then be declared against him. The couriers will take Berlin and Vienna in their route, and from the feeling recently manifested by the German Courts. it is not improbable that the summons of the Western Powers will he backed by the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia. No doubt can exist that the last named Poten- tates have completely broken with their northern ally,—a fact which n varict of circumstances have made manifest at St. etcrsburgli. This quadruple combination must have a material influence on the contest, both as regards the ultimate issue and the time over which it will