STONY CREEK BRIDGE AND FALLS, CAIRNS RAILWAYSTONY CREEK BRIDGE AND FALLS, CAIRNS RAILWAY
STONY CREEK BRIDGE AND FALLS, CAIRNS RAILWAY
First Municipality Established.—Brisbane Bridge Lands.—Grant for Town Hall.—Consolidating Municipalities Act.—Provincial Councils Act.—Government Buildings not Rateable.—Brisbane Bridge Debentures and Waterway Acts.—Municipal Endowment.—Local Government Act of 1878.—Divisional Boards Act of 1879; Success of the Act.—Local Works Loans Act.—Two Pounds for One Pound Endowment Repealed.—Rating Powers Extended by Local Authorities Act of 1902.—Cessation of Endowment.—Valuation and Rating Act.—Decline in Land Values.—Unequal Incidence of Rates Levied.—Efficiency of Local Authorities.0
First Municipality Established.—Brisbane Bridge Lands.—Grant for Town Hall.—Consolidating Municipalities Act.—Provincial Councils Act.—Government Buildings not Rateable.—Brisbane Bridge Debentures and Waterway Acts.—Municipal Endowment.—Local Government Act of 1878.—Divisional Boards Act of 1879; Success of the Act.—Local Works Loans Act.—Two Pounds for One Pound Endowment Repealed.—Rating Powers Extended by Local Authorities Act of 1902.—Cessation of Endowment.—Valuation and Rating Act.—Decline in Land Values.—Unequal Incidence of Rates Levied.—Efficiency of Local Authorities.0
When Sir George Bowen proclaimed the establishment of Queensland there was only one municipality within the boundaries of the new colony. Brisbane had been incorporated just three months earlier, probably with the view of having the Mayor of a local authority to take his part in the inaugural celebrations. At that time the New South Wales Municipal Institutions Act of 1858 was in force, but it was quite inadequate to the needs of the country. Sir George Bowen, coming from residence among the crowded populations of Great Britain and several European countries, and recognising what powerful safeguards to public liberty municipal corporations had proved, publicly urged the establishment of local government in Queensland on every favourable opportunity.
In 1861 two Municipalities Acts were passed, one empowering the Brisbane City Council to build a bridge across the river, and providing for endowment in the form of grants of Crown land not exceeding two-thirds of the unsold town and suburban allotments of Brisbane; also empowering the council to borrow for the purpose of erecting the structure. The other Act gave extended powers to municipal councils generally. It defined the rateable value of unoccupied lands to be 8 per cent. of their actual capital value, but the minimum rate of any allotment was not to be less than 10s. per annum. It also provided that unoccupied land might be leased for fourteen years by a council when rates had been permitted to fall intoarrearfor a term of four years. It further empowered a council to borrow on mortgage a sum not exceeding the estimated revenue for the ensuing three years. As additional endowment, it was providedthat the Governor in Council might pay to a municipal council every year one-third of the proceeds of land sold within its jurisdiction; and where one-half of the land in a municipality had been sold the council were to be entitled to one-half of the proceeds of future sales.
In 1863 an Act was passed giving the Brisbane Council power to erect a town hall on allotment 4 and part of allotment 3 of section 12, with a frontage to Queen street and Burnett lane respectively of 99 ft., and a depth of 138 ft., to be granted by the Government on the passing of the Act. The council were empowered to borrow £20,000 for the purposes of the hall. The Brisbane Waterworks Act empowered the Government to grant a site for the proposed works on the heads of Enoggera Creek, but the Government were to borrow the sum necessary for construction, and to hand over the money to the council as it might be required.
In 1864 an amending and consolidating Municipal Institutions Act was passed giving larger and more specific powers to municipal bodies. In the same year a Provincial Councils Act was passed, empowering the Government to appoint such councils in the country districts, and place at their disposal money from time to time voted by Parliament for roads and bridges within their jurisdiction. But the members, not being elective, had no power to levy rates, so that the councils would at best have been no more than bodies delegated with power by the Works Department to carry out works with which the Government could not conveniently grapple. The only provincial council established under the Act, however, was one for the Peak Downs district, of which all the members were Crown lessees. That council had its place of meeting at Clermont, and on first assembling it resolved not to admit the Press to its meetings. This exclusive policy, combined with the class character of its members, made the council at once unpopular, and after spending £2,000 which had been placed to its credit by the Government it ingloriously collapsed.
In 1865 an Act was passed dividing the Brisbane Municipality into six wards, each returning two members. In 1868 an amendment of the 1864 and 1865 Acts was passed enabling councils to forbid the erection of inflammable buildings. In the following year an Act was passed which forbade the levy of rates upon Government buildings. An Act of the same year enabled the Governor in Council to rescind any proclamation of town or suburban lands.
In 1870 the Brisbane Bridge Debentures Act and the Brisbane Waterway Act were passed. By the former the council were empowered toissue debentures, bearing 5 per cent. interest and covering £121,250, for the payment of its bridge liabilities. The preamble recited that a contract had been entered into with Mr. John Bourne for the construction of the bridge; that owing to alterations in the plan assented to by the Government the cost had been largely increased, and the work had in fact been suspended; that the bank overdraft, secured upon all the bridge lands and the rates, exceeded £100,000; and that Thomas Brassey, having supplied the ironwork of the bridge, had undertaken to complete the structure on certain conditions involved in the issue of the debenture loan above mentioned. The Waterway Act provided for the repayment to the council of the cost of certain waterways by the sale of lands specified in the schedule.
In 1875 another Act was passed providing for the payment to the Brisbane Council of the cost of certain drainage works by the sale of city lands specified in its schedule. In the same year the Rockhampton Waterworks Act, being the first for a provincial body, was passed. In 1876 an Act was passed for endowing municipalities to the extent of £2 for £1 on the rates collected for the first five years after incorporation and £1 for £1 in subsequent years.
In 1878 was passed the ponderous Local Government Act, adapted from the recent Victorian legislation, but denounced by the Opposition in the Assembly at the time as far too cumbrous save for town municipalities. It formed, however, one of the bases of the Local Authorities Act of 1902. In 1879 a new departure was made by the first McIlwraith Government by passing a rudimentary measure—the Divisional Boards Act—in which the Government took power to apply the Act simultaneously to all parts of the colony. It gave power to levy rates, and therefore excited popular anti-tax demonstrations. But much that was said against the bill proved on investigation to be inaccurate, and the endowment it provided of £2 for £1 collected in rates for the term of five years ultimately went far to neutralise the hostility expressed towards the measure. Also the bill provided that to give the boards a start an additional £100,000 should be divisible among them as soon as their respective valuations had been made and a certified copy of each had been forwarded to the Treasury. After a stern and protracted struggle in the Assembly the bill was passed, and immediately the Colonial Secretary of the time (Mr. A. H. Palmer) cut into "divisions" the entire area of the colony outside the boundaries of existing municipalities, and proclaimed seventy-four local governing areas under that name, each in three subdivisions with nine members for eachbody. Then every division was invited to elect its first members, and rather more than one-half of them did so. Within four months from the passing of the Act—on 13th February, 1880a—the whole of the members were gazetted, the Government having taken advantage of the power given to the Governor in Council to appoint the first members where no action had been initiated to elect them within ninety days after the passing of the Act. Thus the names of between 600 and 700 members were proclaimed on one day, and the new boards forthwith proceeded to put the Act into execution. In a comparatively short time valuations were made, and on receipt of a copy the Treasurer placed to the credit of the board, in the branch of the Queensland National Bank nearest to the division, an amount equal to 1s. in the pound of the valuation. This done, works were forthwith commenced in all parts of the country, and a few years later visitors from the South were wont to compliment the people of Queensland on the vast improvement made in their bush roads.
In the following year (1880) the Local Works Loans Act was passed, and attracted attention in different parts of the Empire as the first measure that provided for advancing local loans by a Government on the scientific basis of a term measured by the life of each work, and in accordance with an actuarial scale set out in a table in the schedule. The longest term was forty years, that being given for the most durable works, the rate charged being 5 per cent. interest, with 16s. 8d. per annum redemption money. Thus a council could borrow for waterworks on a forty years' loan, and redeem the principal as well as defray the interest charge, by payment of regular half-yearly instalments of £2 18s. 4d. per cent. during the term. This Act soon became very popular, and with slight amendments—one being the reduction of the interest charge to 4 per cent., and the half-yearly instalment in the case of a forty years' loan to £2 10s. 0½d. per cent.—it still remains on the Statute-book as part of the Local Authorities Act of 1902. Several millions sterling have since been lent by the Government under this Act, and scarcely a local authority has defaulted except for a short period. The principle has also been extended to sugar works and other loans not contemplated originally; yet with firm administration, such as the Government for several years past have insisted upon, the future losses, if any, will be slight, and the benefit of the Act continue to be great.
TIMBER GETTING, NORTH COAST DISTRICTTIMBER GETTING, NORTH COAST DISTRICT
TIMBER GETTING, NORTH COAST DISTRICT
In 1887 Sir S. W. Griffith passed an amending and consolidating Divisional Boards Act in which many defects of the original measure were corrected. About the same time he passed an Act to relieve the Treasury from the excessive burden of the £2 for £1 endowment, which had been extended in 1884 for a second five-year period. Under the amended law only such sum as Parliament might vote in each year was to be rateably divided among all local authorities. After that time the endowment diminished until in 1893 it reached a very small sum. Afterwards the amount remained at about 6s. in the pound until 1902, when, in passing the new amending and consolidating Local Authorities Act of that year, the Philp Government made no provision for continuance of the endowment. In 1903, therefore, owing to the embarrassment of the Treasury in consequence of heavy deficits for several years in succession, the endowment altogether ceased, and since that time the Government have steadfastly refused to listen to proposals for renewing the payment, on the ground that each governing authority should raise its own revenue by taxation or otherwise, and not depend upon endowments collected by any other governing authority. The stoppage of the endowment was in some degree compensated for by the extension of the rating powers of the local authorities, but the exercise of these has no doubt accentuated the drop which occurred in assessment values after the crisis of 1893. Some councils, through failure to make use of their powers of rating, have had an insufficient income, so that in parts of the country the roads are now in a less traffickable condition than they were a quarter of a century ago. In other cases, however, the local bodies have so used the powers conferred upon them that they make no complaint of insufficient income.
From the day of the presentation to Parliament of the Divisional Boards Bill there had always been an outcry, among the farming ratepayers chiefly, against the taxation of improvements. In 1890, therefore, after ten years' experience, the Government of the coalition, whose leaders had long been severed by difference of opinion on the subject of land taxation, perceived in a universal levy on the unimproved value, so called, a method of mutual reconciliation which would meet the demands of many true exponents of local government principles, and they agreed to introduce the new system. The "unimproved value" is by no means an accurate definition of what either the taxpayers or the Legislature at the time desired. But no one has yet discovered a more satisfactory definition, and therefore it stands.
Up to 1890 the assessment had been on the net rent a property might be reasonably expected to yield after deducting the cost of rates and insurance and the amount necessary to maintain the property in a condition to command such rent. This was, in short, the old basis of assessment in the mother country; but to meet the objection to the assessment of improvements the Government, in introducing the first Divisional Boards Bill, had modified the valuation clause by the proviso that the improvements on land should be assessed at one-half their value. This was a modification of the New Zealand assessment method, and it gave fair satisfaction for a time.
Country ratepayers for the most part approved the change to the unimproved value assessment; but speculators in unoccupied city, town, and suburban lands regarded it as a gross injustice. They not unnaturally complained that an allotment bare, or with a mere hut upon it, would pay as much in rates under the new system as the adjoining allotment which might be the site of spacious business premises or of a palatial dwelling. To this the reply was that the speculative holding of city and suburban lands inflicted gross injustice upon the man who wanted at existing value an allotment for his own use.
The Valuation and Rating Act of 1890 passed, however; and the law as it stands has the undoubted merit of simplicity in valuations. On the other hand, the rate levied under the unimproved value assessment upon vacant lands is sometimes oppressive, and appreciably reduces their capital value. Another unforeseen effect has also been realised. The value of a highly improved allotment tends to become depressed to the value of the unproductive and unoccupied allotment contiguous or adjacent to it. Hence an intending buyer is apt to ascertain the local authority valuation of any land he needs, and to regulate his price accordingly. In a buoyant land market this might not much affect the selling value, but for twenty years past the land market for city or suburban properties has been the reverse of buoyant. So the unimproved value mode of assessment has apparently assisted to make a substantial reduction in the market value of city and suburban properties. But that is perhaps a less evil than may at first sight appear. The speculative inflation of land values is simply a tax upon the user for all time; and the moment the income-earning value is exceeded the excess must be regarded as an unjust charge upon posterity.
Of course land values will eventually find their true level, whatever law of rating may be in force. It may be conceded that the unimprovedassessment has caused distress among landowners who had no means of improving their properties, and could only find a market for them at a heavy sacrifice. Still there is no disposition on the part of the majority of ratepayers to revert to the old annual value system, and there is not likely to be any alteration in the law in this respect unless for the removal of some obvious administrative anomaly. For, as the coalition leaders agreed nineteen years ago, the local rate has become a land tax pure and simple, and if it be held that more money is wanted for development the simpler course is to allow the local authorities to give another twist to the rating screw. This, as a matter of fact, most of them have of late years done, and in many local jurisdictions the rate is now 3d. in the pound, when twenty years ago only 1d. or 1½d. was levied. In 1884 the total local rates levied were £120,479; in 1908 the total was £452,052 for, it must be remembered, an identical aggregate area. A local authorities' rate has the distinct advantage in a young State like Queensland that, whereas a Treasury land tax would reach only the freeholders of less than 20,000,000 acres, the local government rate is levied upon 460,000 square miles.
The subjoined table is compiled from Statistics of Queensland for 1884 and 1908 respectively:—
Thus, since the unimproved value system came into force, the levies of the local authority rates have multiplied about three and a-half times. In 1884, when the first quarter-century closed, the divisional boards drew £2 for £1 as Treasury endowment, which, assuming the rates wereall collected, made their incomes from the combined sources £185,529 for the year. In 1908, without a penny of endowment, their successors'—the shire councils—rate levy totalled £214,153, or £28,624 in excess of both rates and endowment in 1884. In 1884 the city and town councils levied rates amounting to £58,636, which with endowment added should have given them £117,272. In 1908 the cities and towns levied an aggregate of £237,899, an increase upon 1884 of £120,627, despite the loss of the £1 for £1 endowment.
These figures are interesting in view of the agitation for a Treasury land tax. They show that in 1908, with a total of 53,948 city and town ratepayers, their rate contribution was on the average £4 8s. 2d. per ratepayer. At the same time 97,553 shire ratepayers contributed the average of only £2 3s. 11d. each. The wide discrepancy between the payments of town and country ratepayers seems anomalous, but when it is recollected that the urban councils, of which there are only thirty-five, undertake many public services, and that the entire area of incorporated cities and towns is only about 354 square miles, it will be realised that the circumstances widely differ from those of the shires, whose various jurisdictions embrace almost the entire area of the State, the official estimate being 669,901 square miles. This area includes 210,359 square miles of unoccupied country, much of which is traversed by roads, but which presumably yields no rate revenue. Hence no useful comparison can be made between the rate levies of town and country local authorities respectively. At the same time a local "land" tax—which ranges from the general-rate of ½d. in the pound in the case of shires, to 3d. in the pound, besides special and separate rates, in cities and towns, and which makes the average total contribution of town ratepayers more than twice the amount levied upon country ratepayers—may at no distant time call for rectification, especially if a so-called bursting-up tax should be deemed necessary to meet the wants of close settlement.
Meanwhile there is room for congratulation in the fact that every square mile of the vast area of the State—coastal islands alone excepted—is incorporated, and that 160 local authorities with 1,310 members carry on the entire local government work of the country. These men, unlike members of Parliament, are unremunerated by the State, even free railway passes not being conceded to enable them to attend the periodical meetings. The alderman or shire councillor gives purely honorary service, and relieves the State Government of a vast amount of worry and expense.
CAIRNS RANGE AND ROBB'S MONUMENT, NORTH QUEENSLANDCAIRNS RANGE AND ROBB'S MONUMENT, NORTH QUEENSLAND
CAIRNS RANGE AND ROBB'S MONUMENT, NORTH QUEENSLAND
One good effect of local self-government is the exclusion from Parliament of the pestilent road-and-bridge member who in former years made himself so troublesome to Ministers and so often twisted the decision of the Assembly on important questions.
It would be a bad thing indeed for Queensland if the local authorities, or any substantial percentage of them, became inefficient. There may be room for anxiety at evidences of decadence which at times come to the surface; but that local government in Queensland is a vigorous and living entity is fairly evident from the fact that with very few exceptions the 160 city, town, and shire councils are members of the Local Authorities' Association which annually makes itself heard in conference in Brisbane. Manifestly the spirit of decentralisation is not dead in Queensland. The manner in which the various bodies have survived the stoppage of the Treasury endowment, simultaneously with the thrusting upon them of many new responsibilities by the Act of 1902, must be regarded as a clear indication that local government in Queensland retains undiminished vitality.
Footnote a:See "Queensland Government Gazette" of date mentioned.
Primary Education: Board of National Education; Education Act of 1860; Board of General Education; Education Act of 1875; Department of Public Instruction; Higher Education in Primary Schools; Itinerant Teachers; Status of Teachers; Statistics.—Private Schools.—Secondary Education: Grammar Schools Act; Endowments, Scholarships, and Bursaries; Success of Grammar Schools; Exhibitions to Universities; Expenditure.—Technical Education: Beginning of System; Board of Technical Instruction; Transfer of Control to Department of Public Instruction; Statistics; Technical Instruction Act; Continuation Classes; Schools of Arts and Reading Rooms.—University: Royal Commissions; University Bill; Standardised System of Education.
Primary Education: Board of National Education; Education Act of 1860; Board of General Education; Education Act of 1875; Department of Public Instruction; Higher Education in Primary Schools; Itinerant Teachers; Status of Teachers; Statistics.—Private Schools.—Secondary Education: Grammar Schools Act; Endowments, Scholarships, and Bursaries; Success of Grammar Schools; Exhibitions to Universities; Expenditure.—Technical Education: Beginning of System; Board of Technical Instruction; Transfer of Control to Department of Public Instruction; Statistics; Technical Instruction Act; Continuation Classes; Schools of Arts and Reading Rooms.—University: Royal Commissions; University Bill; Standardised System of Education.
From 10th December, 1859, the date of the founding of Queensland, to 30th September, 1860, primary education was under the control of a Board of National Education appointed by the Governor in Council. That board consisted of Sir Charles Nicholson (chairman), Messrs. R. R. Mackenzie, William Thornton, George Raff, and D. R. Somerset; the secretary was William Henry Day. There were then only two national schools in the whole of Queensland—namely, one in Drayton and one in Warwick. The system of primary education obtaining in New South Wales was continued, but the subject of education was one of the earliest matters which received the consideration of the first Parliament of Queensland, and in 1860 an Act to provide for primary education was passed. The Bill was initiated in the Legislative Council by Captain O'Connell, and Mr. R. G. W. Herbert had charge of the measure in the Legislative Assembly. The object of the Bill was to provide primary education under one general and comprehensive system, and to afford facilities to persons of all denominations for the education of their children in the same school without prejudice to their religious beliefs.
PRIMARY EDUCATION.
The Act provided for the appointment of a Board of General Education to consist of five members, together with a Minister of the Crown who would,ex officio, act as chairman. The members of the first Board were:—Mr. R. R. Mackenzie (chairman), Dr. W. Hobbs (vice-chairman), and Messrs. W. H. Day, J. F. McDougall, W. J. Munce, and George Raff.
The scheme of primary education which the board framed was based generally upon the national system in operation in Ireland. Schools weredivided into two classes—vested and non-vested. The vested schools were unsectarian in character. The aid granted by the board towards the establishment, equipment, and up-keep of schools varied from time to time, and ranged from one-half to two-thirds. The board appointed the teachers. The salaries of teachers were supplemented by school fees, ranging from 3d. to 1s. 6d. per week for each scholar according to his standard in the school work. When the board took office there were 10 teachers, 493 pupils, and 4 schools—Drayton, Warwick, Brisbane (boys), and Brisbane (girls). The total expenditure in 1860 was £1,615 2s. 3d. School fees were abolished by the Premier, Mr. Lilley, from the 1st of January, 1870, and since that date primary State education has been free, Queensland being the first of the Australian colonies to adopt the principle of free public education.
The Education Act of 1860 was superseded by the State Education Act of 1875, which came into operation on 1st January, 1876, and is still in force. When passed it was regarded as the most progressive Act in Australia. Its author was Mr. S. W. Griffith, the present Chief Justice of the Commonwealth, and he was the first Minister for Public Instruction. The first Under Secretary was Mr. C. J. Graham. On 31st December, 1875, there were 230 schools in operation, the aggregate enrolment for the year being 33,643, and the average attendance 16,887. The number of teachers employed was 595, and the total expenditure for the year was £83,219 14s. 9d.
The new Act provided that the whole system of public instruction in Queensland, formerly administered by the Board of General Education, should be transferred to a department of the public service, to be called the Department of Public Instruction.
The Act provided that one-fifth of the cost must be contributed locally in the first instance towards the purchase of a school site, the erection of the necessary buildings, and the providing of furniture; thereafter the State bore the whole expenditure. Thus the State defrayed the total cost of repairs and maintenance, renewals, additions, and the like. State aid to non-vested schools was withdrawn as from 31st December, 1880.
In 1895 a resolution was agreed to by the Legislative Assembly in favour of the establishment of superior State schools with a view to providing higher education for children in towns and populous centres where grammar schools did not exist. The ultimate result of this action was the passing of the State Education Act Amendment Act of 1897, which gave the Governor in Council power to prescribe that any subjects ofsecular instruction might be subjects of instruction in primary schools. The department immediately took advantage of this amending Act, and provided for the teaching of mathematics, higher English, and science in the fifth and sixth classes.
So far as the resources at its disposal have permitted, the Department of Public Instruction has done what it could to bring primary education within the reach of all the children of the State, and it may be safely claimed that wherever twelve children can be gathered together there exists a school. But where the children cannot be gathered into groups the department goes to the homes of the pupils. Itinerant teachers, fully equipped with buggies, camping outfits, school requisites, and other necessaries, traverse the sparsely settled districts in the far West and North where the establishment of schools is not possible. The travelling teachers look for the homes of the pupils, be those homes rude wayside inns, log cabins, or even tents, and an effort is made to visit each home not less than four times a year. Under this system the little ones are at least taught to read, to write, and to count. The itinerant teacher system was initiated in 1901, when one teacher was appointed. There are now twelve of these teachers, and the expenditure in this direction has risen from £411 per annum to £5,129 per annum.
In 1906 the department began to appoint trained teachers to the charge of all schools where the attendance exceeded twelve. By this process properly qualified teachers will soon be in charge of 90 per cent. of the schools of the State. One of the most difficult problems which has to be faced in England, Scotland, America, and also in some of our sister States, is the adequate staffing of small country schools by efficient teachers. Queensland has solved that problem, and it is doubtful if any country has done better in that respect.
Primary school teachers are officers of the State, and are not subject to the caprices of boards or local committees; they enjoy the protection and privileges of the Public Service Act, and the interests of no branch of the public service are more zealously protected by Parliament. They stand high in public estimation in Queensland, and that estimation is steadily rising. The pay on the whole is good—particularly that of head teachers, and the conditions of service are by no means unattractive.
In 1908 the total expenditure on education (including school buildings) was £393,378 1s. 8d.; the total number of departmental schools open during that year was 1,141, the net enrolment of pupils being 94,193, and the average daily attendance 67,309.
VIEW OF GYMPIE FROM NASHVILLE RAILWAY STATIONVIEW OF GYMPIE FROM NASHVILLE RAILWAY STATION
VIEW OF GYMPIE FROM NASHVILLE RAILWAY STATION
COKE OVENS, IPSWICH DISTRICTCOKE OVENS, IPSWICH DISTRICT
COKE OVENS, IPSWICH DISTRICT
The number of private schools in operation in Queensland during 1908 was 157, namely:—Church of England, 8; Roman Catholic, 61; Lutheran, 2; undenominational, 86. These schools are not subsidised by the State. The number of teachers employed in them during the year totalled 665. The total enrolment of scholars was 14,098—males, 5,934; females, 8,164. The total average number of scholars attending the schools was 11,928—males, 5,114; females, 6,814.
In 1860, that is within one year of the founding of Queensland as a separate State, an Act was passed to provide for the establishment of grammar schools, in which was to be given an education higher than that which could be given in the elementary schools. The following remarks made by Mr. R. G. W. Herbert, who introduced the bill in the Legislative Assembly, are very interesting. He said: "The question of education might be considered under three heads as primary, grammar school, and collegiate. The bill introduced into the other branch of the Legislature was intended to provide for primary education, principally under the national system, and would make adequate provision for imparting fundamental instruction at a cheap rate to all classes of youth without distinction of creed or religious profession. The bill he now introduced was intended to provide for a higher order of instruction of a useful and thoroughly practical character by establishing grammar schools easily accessible to the colonial youth of all denominations throughout the colony.... It was desirable that the instruction to be afforded in the grammar schools should be afforded at a cheap rate, so that as many as possible might avail themselves of it, and that it should be such as would best qualify the youth of the colony for discharging the duties that would devolve upon them in after life."
Captain O'Connell, who had charge of the measure in the Legislative Council, said: "It was merely a sequel to the Primary Education Bill, and was designed to give those who might desire it a higher education than could be afforded by the primary schools. It was a matter of the greatest importance that a system of this kind should be established on a broad and permanent foundation, and therefore it was not difficult to perceive that the creation of primary schools such as were contemplatedunder the other bill would be found extremely useful in carrying out the great objects now proposed to be accomplished."
Under the provisions of the Grammar Schools Act a school may be established in any locality where a sum of not less than £1,000 has been raised locally, and the Governor in Council may grant towards the erection of school buildings and a residence for the principal a subsidy equal to twice the amount raised locally. An amending Act was passed in 1864 providing that when certain conditions had been complied with an annual endowment of £1,000 might be granted to each grammar school. Each school is governed by a board of seven trustees; of these, four are appointed by the Government, and three are nominated by the subscribers to the building fund; they hold office for three years.
There are ten grammar schools in the State—seven in Southern, two in Central, and one in Northern Queensland. The Ipswich Boys' Grammar School was the first to be established; it was erected in 1863. The last established was the school for girls in Rockhampton, which was founded in 1892.
Each of the schools has qualified for the annual endowment of £1,000; of this amount the State pays £750 a year unconditionally, and £250 on the understanding that the school will receive a certain number of State scholars per annum, the scholarships held by these pupils being known as district scholarships. Queensland has always been liberal in the granting of scholarships, and at the present time no less than 102, including the district scholarships, are granted every year; of these, 70 are available for boys, and 32 for girls. Each scholarship has a currency of three years. The State also grants seven bursaries to boys and three to girls. A bursary entitles the holder to free education at an approved secondary school for three years, together with a cash allowance of £30 per annum. The trustees of the various grammar schools also grant scholarships in addition to those provided by the State. In 1908 the aggregate enrolment of pupils in attendance at the grammar schools was 1,101, with an average daily attendance of 970; and of these pupils fully one-third were the holders of scholarships. Free railway passes to the nearest grammar school are granted to the holders of scholarships.
To assist the children of poor parents to avail themselves of the scholarships which they may win, the Government grant a living allowance of £12 per annum to the winners of scholarships, provided that the income of the parents does not exceed £3 per week, or £30 per annum for eachbona fide member of the family. This rule came into operation on the 1st of January, 1909.
It is generally recognised that the Queensland grammar schools do good work; the success of their students in the junior and senior examinations of the Sydney University abundantly justifies this conclusion. Each school constructs its own programme, but, broadly speaking, the curriculum of the several schools is designed to lead up to the Sydney University. As each school practically shapes its own course, the success of the institution depends very largely upon the personality, efficiency, and vigour of the principal. In addition to the State-endowed grammar schools there are several other secondary schools. Some of these are denominational, and others are conducted by private persons. Schools of this class are not endowed by the State, but the winners of State scholarships or bursaries may attend these institutions if the Governor in Council is satisfied that they are of a sufficiently high standard.
Queensland has not so far placed the coping-stone on her educational system by establishing a University, but each year she grants three exhibitions to Universities outside the State. The exhibitions are open to competition, and the test examination is the senior examination of the Sydney University. Each exhibition has a currency of three years, and is worth £100 a year. The winners may attend any University approved by the Governor in Council.
It will thus be seen that Queensland has been fairly liberal in providing the means of higher education for her children. A comparison with her sister States of New South Wales and Victoria emphasises this fact. During the year 1906-7 New South Wales, with a population of 1,528,697, and a revenue of £13,392,435, granted £12,945 towards secondary education; Victoria, with a population of 1,231,940, and a revenue of £8,345,534, granted £5,874; Queensland, with a population of 535,113, and a revenue of £4,307,912, granted £12,909, this amount being exclusive of the £900 per annum granted on account of exhibitions to Universities. In 1908 the amount granted by the State towards secondary education in Queensland was £14,272 11s. 11d.
The system of technical education in Queensland is in its infancy, but no branch is likely to make more rapid and lusty growth or to have a more important bearing upon the industrial and commercial development of the State.
The Brisbane Technical College has been in existence as a distinct institution since 1882. It is only since July, 1905, that the Education Department has been closely associated with the administration of technical education. Previous to 1902 technical colleges, with the exception of the Brisbane College, were carried on in connection with schools of arts under the control of local committees, the State subsidising the colleges to the extent of £1 for each £1 paid in fees or subscribed for technical college purposes.
In 1902 a Board of Technical Education was created; the board held office until 1905, when this branch of education was placed under the control of the department, and a special officer was appointed to supervise the work. Endowment is now paid upon a differential scale, the distribution being based on the general and practical utility of the subjects taught, the subsidy ranging from 10s. to £3 for every £1 collected in fees. There were seventeen colleges in operation during 1908. The progress which has been made during the past five years is shown in the following table:—
The importance of a highly developed system of technical education has been fully realised in this State, and in 1908 a Technical Instruction Act was passed. It provides for the establishment of a central technical college in Brisbane which shall be maintained by, and be under the direct control of, the State. It is intended that this college shall be the recognised technical institute of Queensland, and it is hoped that it may ultimately be one of the most important institutions of the kind in Australia. The colleges outside the metropolis will be affiliated with the central college, but will remain under local control.
In addition to liberal assistance to technical education, provision has been made for evening continuation classes. These classes are to enable pupils who have left school before completing their primary education to continue their education; to assist persons to obtain instruction in special subjects relating to their employment; and to prepare students for thetechnical colleges. The classes are liberally endowed by the State, and very comprehensive regulations have been framed for their administration, the system being probably the best of its kind in the Commonwealth.
GULF CATTLE READY FOR MARKETGULF CATTLE READY FOR MARKET
GULF CATTLE READY FOR MARKET
BRIGALOW COUNTRY, WARRA, DARLING DOWNSBRIGALOW COUNTRY, WARRA, DARLING DOWNS
BRIGALOW COUNTRY, WARRA, DARLING DOWNS
HEREFORD COWS, DARLING DOWNSHEREFORD COWS, DARLING DOWNS
HEREFORD COWS, DARLING DOWNS
Schools of arts and reading rooms are also fostered by the State. A grant of 10s. is made for each £1 of subscriptions or donations, but the grant to any one institution cannot exceed £150 per annum.
The State subsidises reading rooms at shearing sheds, sugar mills, and meat works to the extent of £1 for £1, with a view to assisting to provide reading matter, and such suitable recreation games as draughts, chess, &c., for the workers in those industries.
The amount contributed by the State towards schools of arts and reading rooms is £5,000 per annum, and in 1908 there were 181 of these institutions.
The question of establishing a University has been under consideration from time to time for the past thirty-five years, and more than one Royal Commission has been appointed to inquire into and report upon the subject. In 1874 a commission recommended the immediate foundation of a University. In 1891 another commission was appointed, and made a similar recommendation. For various reasons, however, but principally financial stringency, no action was taken until September, 1899, when the Government introduced a bill for the establishment of a University. Unfortunately the bill did not become law, and Queensland remained without a University for another decade.
The Government programme for the first session of 1909 included a University Bill, but owing to the untimely dissolution of the Assembly nothing was done in the matter. When Parliament met again on 2nd November, the bill was the first measure proceeded with. Both Houses being unanimously in favour of establishing a University on modern, democratic lines, it was speedily passed, and on 10th December, the jubilee of the foundation of Queensland, Government House was dedicated to the purposes of the University by His Excellency the Governor, Sir William MacGregor, in the presence of a large and representative gathering of citizens. With the State system of primary education established on a sound basis; technical education placed on a firm foundation and progressing steadily; secondary education linked to the other branches, and all leading towards the University, Queensland will have a system of education which will place her on a level with the most progressive of the nations.