The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1834.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1395, 2 May 1884, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1834.

According to announcement a meeting of householders was held in the Council Chambers on Wednesday evening last to consider the present School Committee difficulty. It is understood that before the business commenced the Committee obtained a written legal opinion as to their attitude towards the Central Board, and were ad- .. vised that the position taken up by them was untenable. The meeting proceeded, however, to discuss the question, the Committee justifying their opposition to the appointment, and other speakers dissenting. Finally the following resolution was moved by Mr J. Steele seconded by .Vfr Barrowman and carried : — " That this meeting protests against the unjust action of the Central Board at Nelson in appointing Mr Burnham as head master Of the Reefton School, contrary to the resolution of our local Committee, and, further, respectfully requests the* Board to reconsider its decision, and forward the names and qualifications of the applicants for the situatiou, so that our local Committee shall have the liberty of recommending, according to the spirit of the Education Act, and that this meeting is of opinion that if the above plan is adopted the difficulty will be settled satisfactorily to all parties." We can hardly see that this resolution will mend matters at all It simply asks the Central Board to do a thing which they are expressly prohibited by the regulations from doing — forward to the local Committee the names ot candidates whom the Board of Examiners have pronounced to be ineligible for the appointment. We venture to think that neither the Central Board nor the Examiners have ■ authority to do any such thing, and very properly so to. It is beyond all question that the choice of the local committees in such matters is limited to the candidates whose names are returned to them as " eligible," and I the reason for this ig obvious. The State must have souiw guarantee of the fitness of its teaching staff, and this is secured, or at anyrate intended to be secured, -by the appointment; of a Board of Examiners for each district, who discharge the functions,., which otherwise would have to be exercised by the Minister of Education. This t is a reasonable and legitimate safeguard, and if the law were otherwise it is not hard to imagine how abuses might arise. The Colony pays largely for education, and it is only right that the Colony should keep a watchful eye upon the appointments of teachers. If it is to be argued that this object can be best attained by delegating tho right of appointment to local committees, then we have done. We sincerely trust however, that it may nev*»r come to this. It certainly never can with-, out an amendment of the Education Act, and this latter, in the direction referred to, is about one of the least likely of events. If, however, the, local Committee, or any of the rejected candidates have any fault to find with the Board of Examiners, or their finding, either on the score of inability or partiality, this would constitute a legitimate ground for complaint to the head of the Education Department in Wellington. Upon sufficient proof of such an allegation the Minister would no doubt institute an inquiry at once as to the oircumstances. We are not aware whether the Committee are prepared to go to this length, but if they are, and can show any reasonable justification for the step, they wonld deserve and carry with them the support of the community. But unless they are prepared to do this they will have to bow to the inevitable. In the face of these facts then, and with the knowledge now in their possession of the illegality of their action, and the utter impossibility of their request being conceded by the Central Board, if the Committee persist in further obstruction they will expose themselves to grave censure. The school has now been in a state of disorganisation for about two months ; no examina tion can be held for the current year, and it will therefore take qnite twelve months to l'ecover the ground lost during the interregnum. In view of the case we present to them, the Committee would do well to seriously ponder over the position. A circular has been issued by the secretary of the Department to the different pastmasters of the' Colony, enquiring for information of the whereabouts of the following " Misainc friends ":— John Jeffery, supposed to have come from the ■ Chain of Ponds, South Australia, and ■, last heard of at Christchurch. James i Foster, last heard of in Wellington, about six years ago Edward Goorge L'»tfr, sunpnßed to have come from Liverpool, England, and William Solomon Lawless, supposed at one time to have kept an inn ; or hotel between Ahaura Flat and Reefton. ] We notice that Mr W. Hobhy has com- i menced business as a mining engineer and surveyor in Nelson. i J We are afraid that Mr Caplea' task of i 1 pulling round men out of square holes is < feeing at the sacrifice of what- '

ever reputa+ion he may have possessed for accuracy of assertion or discretion. He talks about square holes and round people as though he possessed the patent right of judging in all such n/atters, and apparently is ready to annihilate anybody and everybody who fails to see with hia own distorted vision. It would be quite instructive to obtain from Mr Caples a full Hat of all the round people who, in bin opinion, (ill squaiv- holes in Reefton. Wu are inclined to think lhat it would show a most anomalous state of things, all the most snug square holes being filled with the roundest of occupants. But unfortunately perhaps for Mr Caple's peace lof mind rao : it every person keeps such a ; list of his own, and prefers it to Mr Caplos', or any other, and this is how it maj' arise that even Mr Caples himself is not represented ou every list as possessing ! the angularities suited to the requirement '< of every aperture. It is not what an en- \ emy can say of his antagonist that an impartial person will judge by, it is what he is able to prove, and the stronger his enI niity, the stricter must be his proofs. ■ If : Mr Caples happens to quarrel with his ! bosom friend, and seeks to embitter is ■ quarrel by proving his unworthine3S of the intimacy in the ruin of his opponent, ; lie must not imagine that others are to ' slide at once into his way of thinking. ' We have heard a good deal of Mr Caplea' I reckless assertions, and of his posing for

| popularity, but he has not yet made it ; quite clear that the hole he is now in fits him to perfection. He is at perfect liberty, of course, to pursue hia enmity of tha directors and manager, of the Walhalla Company to whatever extreme his I vindiotiveness may carry him, but if he >. wishes to do so under the guise of public virtue, he must be prepared with suir.ethiug more substantial than mere ; empty assertions, and slanderous insinuations.

I I'ommenting on the probabilities of the next general election on the West Coast, , the West Coast Times thus remarks on the member for luangahua : — " Whether ; Shaw, the member for Inangahua intends to address the electors of that district is, we should say, doubtful. Not only is the , Wellington lawyer a bnisy man, but the Exposure of the little compact to which Major Atkinson, the hon. Mr Brandon, Mr Shaw himself, and the Man in the Moon wera parties, must have disgusted : any constituency which objects to be bought and sold in a shameless manner. It may be taken for granted that Mr Shaw will not press his services again on j the Inanyahua and if he does, there is ' not much chance of his being returned if j there is any self-respect among the electors."

! the angularities suited to the requirement '< of every aperture. It is not what an en- \ emy can say of his antagonist that an impartial person will judge by, it is what he is able to prove, and the stronger his enI niity, the stricter must be his proofs. ■ If : Mr Caples happens to quarrel with his ! bosom friend, and seeks to embitter is ■ quarrel by proving his unworthine3S of the intimacy in the ruin of his opponent, ; lie must not imagine that others are to ' slide at once into his way of thinking. ' We have heard a good deal of Mr Caples' I reckless assertions, and of his posing for | popularity, but he has not yet made it ; quite clear that the hole he is now in fits him to perfection. He is at perfect liberty, of course, to pursue his enmity of tha directors and manager, of the Walhalla Company to whatever extreme his I vindiotiveness may carry him, but if he ,>. wishes to do so under the guise of public virtue, he must be prepared with something more substantial than mere \ empty assertions, and slanderous insinuations. I Commenting on rhe probabilities of the next general election on the West Coast, ■ the West (oast Times thus remarks on the member for luangahua : — " Whether ; Shaw, the member for Inangahua intends t<> address the electors of that district is, we should say, doubtful. Not only is the , Wellington lawyer a bnisy man, but the Exposure of the little compact to which Major Atkinson, the hon. Mr Brandon, Mr Shaw himself, and the Man in the Moon wera parties, must have disgusted : any constituency which objects to be bought and sold in a shameless manner. It may be taken for granted that Mr Shaw will not press his services again on I the Inanyaluia and if he does, there is ' not much chance of his being returned if | there is any self-respect among the j electors." I Major Atkinson addressed an enormous ■ meeting at Christchurch, and was received with hisses and groans, mingled with but little applause. The Mayor requested the meeting, for the honor of. the city, to give the Premier a patient hearing. The 1 speech was a repetition of what he said at jHa wera and Dunedin. He defended the ! action of Government re railway rates, and condemned the proposal to manage j the railways by boards. He proved that Canterbury was not unfairly treated as '■ regards land revenue, and almost every ! remark for the first half hour called forth signs of disapprobation, which the Mayor vainly en«leavortd to suppress. Matthews the leader employed for the agitation, ! appealed for a fair hearing for the premier < but was groaned down. A scene of great confusion, with hooting and groaning, followed the remarks by the Premier about loafers interrupting, and order was only restored by Keece, the popular member of the County Council appealing to the meeting not by disorder to lose the opportunity of making a fitting expression of disapproval of the Ministers action. A motion of no confidence in the Ministry i was carried, two-thirds of those present "voting for it, and a dozen against it Wakefield was present and attacked Government. The meeting ended with cheers for Waketield and Grey. According to the Timaru Herald % Mr Postlethwaifce will not seek re-election for Geraldine. A rumor is current in the district that the Hon. W. Rolleston will oft'er himself for the seat. •In connection with the address delivered by the Premier at Dunedin last night the Otwio Daily Tinifs says : -The Premier deserves credit for coining to face the discontent with his Government in Christchurch and Dunedin, and we trust that when he comes political feeling will not prevent his being allowed a fair hearing. Whatever faults we may be inclined to find with Major Atkinson's administration — and they are not a few it must be admitted that he has served the colony faithfully for a number of years, and that n.wie of our politicians has shown a more sincere regard for what he considers to be the public welfare. The course he is pursuing in making a second speech to answer that of the leader of the Opposition would seem to indicate that he considers there is something to answer, though such a suicidal policy as Mr Montgomery proposed might well have been left to answer itself. Hitherto it has been a prominent fault of the present (including the Whitaker) Administration that they held themselves aloof from the people, about whom they talked so much. We are glad to see the Premier dismounting from his high horse, and showing a disposition to take the public into his confidence. We feel sure that he will not get off the platf >rm quite so eas\ly as he did this time last year ; but he shows to best advantage at bay. The Timaru, Herald says:— "The Premier's speech at Hawera is the weakest and wildcat, we think, that he ever delivered. It betrays at every point the feeling that public affairs have got beyond his control, and that all the shifts and compromises and intrigues that he haß reBorted to., during .tho l»St tw<KyearSj with.

the pitiful object of maintaining himself in office, have only ended in landing him and the country in a maze of. difficulties. Throughout the wholeof this long address, there is no helpful word nor any sign of leadership. It is a scalding, querulous, disputatious, defiant attempt to throw the responsibility of the situation on anybody and everybody but himself. It is full of blustering assertion and covert sneers ; but from beginning to end of it, so far as we could see, there ia not a single passage that is calculated to do anybody any good. There is nothing to show the people a way out of the trouble they have got into under the auspices of the very man who no*' tells them with one breath that they are iv no trouble at all with ohe next that they are in desperate trouble but that it ia all their own fault."

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