THE EFFECT OF POVERTY AND POLITICS ON THE DEVELOPMENT . OF TASMANIAN STATE EDUCATION. .1.900 - 1950 by D.V.Selth, B.A., Dip.Ed. Admin. submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. UNIVERSITi OF TASMANIA HOBART 1969 /-4 This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no copy or paraphrase of material previously published or written by another person, except when due reference is made in the text of the thesis. 0 / la D.V.Selth. STATEMENT OF THESIS Few Tasmanians believed education was important in the early years of the twnntieth century, and poverty and conservatism were the most influential forces in society. There was no public pressure to compel politicians to assist the development of education in the State, or to support members of the profession who endeavoured to do so. As a result 7education in Tasmania has been more influenced by politics than by matters of professionL1 concern, and in turn the politicians have been more influenced'by the state of the economy than the needs of the children. Educational leadership was often unproductive because of the lack of political support, and political leadership was not fully productive because its aims were political rather than educational. Poverty and conservatism led to frustration that caused qualified and enthusiastic young teachers to seek higher salaries and a more congenial atmosphere elsewhere, and also created bitterness and resentment of those who were able to implement educational policies, with less dependence , on the state of the economy or the mood of Parliament. Thus politics, philosophy, emotion and economics are inextricably tangled in the story of the development of education in Tasmania. SYNOPSIS In 1900 nearly 40% of Tasmanian children were not enrolled in any school, and about half the others-Altended only inter- mittently. Schools were badly built and overcrowded. About 30% of the teachers had been trained as pupil-teachers; the others had received no professional training of any kind. Some of the non- state schools provided a good education for the children of the few citizens who believed that education was valuable, and this appeared to Many to decrease the need for the Government to. improve its own education services. The State was poor,t-Ilan.flulgentry established in Parliament refused to increase taxation rates to finance govern- ment services, and isolation bred suspicion of innovations. The gradual improvement of the State's education services began with the appointment of W.L. Neale as Director of Education in 1904. He was a man of outstanding ability, with a vision of an ideal education system directed by a strong central authority, but bitter opposition to him and his policies by most of the teachers and the politicians forced him to resign in 1909. Education received strong political support for the first time when J.A. Lyons entered Parliamentin 1909, and particularly when he was Minister for Education(1914 - 1916) and Premier (1923 - 1928) in Labour Governments, but the periods of Labour rule were brief and infrequent. G.V.Brooks, McCoy's successor, was a man of considerable enthusiasm but limited experience, and not strong enough to persuade the politicians or the public that greater support should be given to education. Until the end of the Great Depression the State's poverty and the lack of public support caused most politicians to give no more than lip Service to education. Educational development languished. Young teachers sought higher Salaries and a more congenial atmosphere elsewhere, and the well-qualified, more easily able to obtain other positions, were the first to leave. A.G. Ogilvie became Premier in 1934, and the Statels revenue was increased at the same time by the establishment of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. Thus Ogilvie wad able to assist education and all other state services. Area schools were established, with immediate success, and experiments in several fields were encouraged. Political support for the opinions of the senior officers of the Education .upartal2nt caused the University to abolish the Intermediate examinat- ions which it conducted, creating a bitter dispute between the Education Department and the Public Schools, which feared that the accreditation system proposed by the Education Department as an alternative was a first step towards political control of the Public Schools. The difficulties of war-time were considerable, but they were accentuated by Ogilvies successor, Robert Cosgrove, who for political purposes raised the leaving age to sixteen years before the State was able to provide sufficient teachers or even classrooms to meet the needs of the greater number of children in its schools. As a result, the standard of education in these schools was low and public regard for education fell. At the same time rising prices and the demands of post-war reconstruction caused Parliament to withhold from the Educat- ion-Department t1- 3 financial assistance it needed. There was insufficient public demand to force the polit- icians to give education a higher priority. ACKNOMEDGMENTS There has been very little examination of educational development in Tasmania previously. Parliamentary debates are not reported and many records of the Education Department have been lost or destroyed. As a result far greater reliance than usual has had to be placed on personal recollections and on source material written -by interested parties for a particular purpose, or to attack Or defend particular causes. Great care has been taken to evaluate the opinions expressed, but the lack of precise information has been a considerable handicap. Nevertheless, those who have been able to help me have willingly done so. Officers of the State Library and the Launceston Public Library, of the Queen Victoria Museum, the Education Department and various schools have been generous in their assistance, and more individuals than I can mention have discussed with me their recollections and opinions of the various issues that have affected the development of education. To all of them, and particularly to Miss Anne Skerratt, who has prepared the typescript, I am most grateful. ABBREVIATIONS used in the footnotes and references Rep. Dir. The annual Report of the Director of Education to the Minister for Education. Ed. Rec. The Educational Record. Tas. T. The Tasmanian Teacher. C.Y.B. The Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia. Journals and Papers of the Parliament of Tasmania. The minutes of the meetings of the Association of Public Schools, formerly' known as the Association of Registered Secondary Schools of Tasmania. Ed. Dept, The Department of Education of the State of Tasmania. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. EDUCATION IN TASMANIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY 1 2. THE REJECTION OF THE "NEW EDUCATION" 32 W.L. Neale : 1904 - 1909. 3. THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF A POLITICIAN 82 J.A. Lyons in Opposition and as Minister:1909 - 1920 4. FINANCIAL STRINGENCY Political changes and Educational Stagnation;1920 - 1930 141 5. THE DEPTHS OF THE DEPRESSION 21 5 1930 - 1934 6. THE PREMIERSHIP OF A.G. OGILVIE 248 The Growing Significance of Education:1934 - 1939 THE COSGROVE PERIOD 320 The Effect of Politics on Educational Aims:1939 - 1950 8. CONCLUSION 369 APPENDICES PHOTOGRAPHS following page The Philip Smith Training College 44 Education Department Leaders at a , School Of Instruction, 1906 45 The New Launceston High School 108 The Old. arid The New ..- The schools at Pioneer and Ringarooma 115 Lyons and His Cabinet 157 Transport Facilities at the Area Schools 268 The Opposing Leaders 279 The New Schools 314 Robert Cosgrove 320 • 11 • CHAPTER ONE EDUCATION IN TASMANIA AT 'fhb BEGINNING OF lab, CENTURY THE ECONOMY Tasmania had suffered severe economic hardship during most of the second half of the 19th century, and although rich mineral discoveries alleviated the distress for a short time in the 1880's most Of the profit was taken by investors living in England and the mainland statea. The benefit to Tasmania was comparatively slight. Whaling, once a basic industry, was no longer profitable, farming methods were inefficient, and there was little demand for agricultural 'products, partly becauL:: Tasmanim,!:; Timittd p6pulation kept local demand at a low level and partly because Victoria's protectionist policy deprived Tasmania of its closest markets. Tasmania suffered more than most of the colonies during the general Australian depression of 1890 -94. The local land boom came to an end and a typhoid epidemic caused widespread mortality and loss of confidence in the colony's future. Tasmania's biggest finanoial institution, the Bank of Van Dieman's land, collapsed in August, 1891, bringing disaster to many; and the consequent further loss of confidence in Tasmania reduced its trade with other states. Widespread poverty resulted. The StatC:4 accumulated deficit in 1 894 was £455,128. By heavy taxation, rigid economy and the dismissal of many government employees, the deficit was reduced to 02,555 in 1900. It grew again to £212,856 in 2 . 1902 and remained above E200,000 until 1906, leading to constant demands that the Government should reduce its activity in all spheresa In 1900 2423 more people left Tasmania than entered the tate and Only three times between the start of the century and the outbreak of the first World War did in-migration exceed out-migration0 1 In spite of the copper mining and smelting at QUeenstown and the gold mining at Beaconsfield, the mining industry had passed its peak. The profitability of the silver lead deposits at Zeehan was declining, the end of the life of Mt. Bischoff was in sight, and surface tin was no longer Won in the NorthEast without expensive sluicing.