THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1300, 8 July 1884, Page 3

THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

To SHE$ HE EpiTOB. J Sip,—While not surprised at anything which out tchool Committee may do, after their late exhibition of prowess and staggering achievements ) yet, the paragraph contained in your issue of Friday fast referring to their request to the Board of Education asking that another situation might be found for .Miss Barband, and that an enqniry might be made to find out tb* differences between the head master and mistress afterwards, was rather un- , expected. , t How, Sir, I should like to know whether this letter was concocted, or was it really the result of the Committee's labors at . their late special meeting held in obscurity stnd darkness with closed doors. If M> ~ be tba former it is evidently the work of

5 I a very smalt mind indeed. For, whoever heard of a judge passing his sentence first f and then hearing the case afterwards ? [ Now, Sir, it won’t do ; c'osed doors may be very agreeable to the Committee’s feelings, but it very evidently does not help their intelligence —or what they possess in the place of it. If be the latter, then I submit that the public had a perfect right to be the re if they chose, and to know what was going on inside ihe dark and shadowy p ecmcts. < therwise, the Chairman’s statement at the previous special meeting—held for .the investigation of a char e preferred against himself —that the meeting was open to the public, and that Mr Alcorn or anyone who chose might have been there, falls to the ground and must hare been a subterfuge of his in order that he might gain his own ends. For both were special meetings, wherein lies the difference ? Now, I.should like t ’ say to the common sense members of the Committee, that to be led by the nose too much will not do, as it might lead to a “distortion” of that organ, and that, together with a “distortion” of words, might really clew the whole matter up. And, instead of being found trying to sit on the mistress, the Committee might he sat upon themselves. Now, Sir, with regard to their request for the removal of Miss Harband, I fail to soe any consistency in it whatever. For to all appearances that lady comes out of the fire, so far, unscathed, while there are those concerned in this piece of business who do not, and who because of their prevarication, “distortion” and deceit in the matter, are yet ablaze like crackling thorns under a pot. Mr Scott is to be congratulated on the manner in which ho has so completely acknowledged that he was in the wrong, and it would show that there was a tinge of honor left in them, if others would manly confess the same. Now, Sir, I like your political meetings because they are “jolI,y” I also like your tea meetings, because there is some- : thing good to eat there, and lots of nice girls to look upon. Your Borough , Council meetings would be passable if they had another pair of “ brick walla,” but your School Committee meetings are * distasteful and nasty, so good be and i thank you for your space.—l am, etc., < Comjie il Fact. THE ASHBURTON ELECTION. To the Editor. Sir, —As I notice by your leader of last night that you propose at au early . date to analyse the policy of Mr W. C. ] Walker as shown in his speech of Satur- i day night, I beg to suggest for your consideration the three following questions, because I think they are of some importance, and also because I think they require some explanation: 1. What Did Mr Walker mean by saying that “to increase the duty on tea, i sugar, etc., would raise wages ?”

2. What did Mr Walker mean when he said “ the evil of large estates would cure itself in time if left alone and do you know any country under the sun where this evil has evinced the slightest tendency to cure itself ? 3. What did Mr Walker mean by the assertion that “ men with new ideas should not enter Parliament,” and is this one of his reasons for offering himself? I am, etc,,

Poor Slave,

Ashburton, July 8. 'Our correspondent seems to have paraphrased Mr Walker’s remarks pretty freely, but if he studied the report again, we think he will find that his interpretation of the candidate’s opinions is scarcely correct.— Ed. G.]