A LADY "CHAIRMAN" OF A SCHOOL BOARD

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 72, 27 March 1877, Page 3

A LADY "CHAIRMAN" OF A SCHOOL BOARD

The third schedule of the Elementary Education Act of 1870 contains the following provision:— " The Board shall, at theirfirst meeting, appoint some person to be chairman, and one other person to be vice-chairman, for the three years for which the Board hold office." It is evident from the wording of this passage that, supposing a lady to be a member of the Board, that lady is eligible to serve in either of the above offices ; for the word " person contains no limitation of sex ; but it is equally evident that the officers to be elected are a "chairman" and a " vice : chairm'an." Now, on the school board of Cefu, in Wales, is one Mrs. Crawshay, the wife, we believe, of a landed proprietor of the district, and this lady the members at their first meeting elected to be their chairman. In the interests of grammar, or propriety,;

|br courtesy, a disposition was manifested I immediately after the election to speak of Mrs. Crawshay as the " chairwoman ;" but the parties were soon set right. The 'Act of Parliament recognises a chairman, but it contains no such word as " chairwoman ;" and it has, therfore, been found necessary in all official minutes, documents, correspondence, &c., to speak of Mrs. Crawshay as the Chairman of the Cef v Board. . Now this fair chairman at a recent board meeting made a short speech which for its form, expression, and originality deserves to" be quoted before a wider audience than that of a Welsh country newspaper, and therefore we make no apology for, introducing it here. The subject under discussion was the reading of the Bible in school board schools, and this is the speech of Mrs. Crawshay the chairman:— "I presume we are agreed that our children should be taught that. they believe th universe to have been created and to be still guided by an Intelligent Power; that the most.profound reverence is due from us to this Master of all worlds; that He is constantly showing us His will through the laws of nature ; that the more accurately the child acquaints himself with these laws, and when learnt the more implicitly he obeys them, the greater will assuredly be his happiness here, through which he may be destined to pass when the moment he calls death is over. Shall we not teach him also that long prayers and vain repetitions are to be avoided; that God is best served by a pure and useful life ; that work is prayer ; that while he does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God, he does, his part in the eternal progress ; and to the end shall he not make selections from the Bible which shall inculcate these duties, leaving all controversial parts to be dealt with by his parents, or ministers of their choosing? In trying to secure a future virtuous and enlightened race of citizens, it matters little to us whether to the fundamental truth I propose giving to our children be added, according to the taste of their parents, the information that the Great Power I have named is either to be worshipped under a fourfold aspect, as the Roman Catholics teach, or under a threefold aspect, as the Trinitarians teach. It matters little to us whether the priest shall be dressed in black or in white, in scarlet or in purple—whether sacramental cups or plates. shall be raised to a level with the preist's forehead or only as high as his nose, or whether, as some of us may think more sensible, to his mouth only. I venture to say that I hope you will all agree with me such questions are too puerile to occupy a moment's time of a Board pledged, as we are, to carry the lamp of truth, as far as_ we can attain to truth, into the dark night of ignorance which surrounds us. I shall now move that the religious instruction to be taught in the schools under the authority of the Board shall be limited to the learning the Lord's Prayer and reading certain portions of the Bible, from a selection approved by the Board without note or comment other than grammatical explanation ; and the singing of hymns by.the hymn-book, to be selected by the Board; and that such religious instruction be given before, the Other duties of the school." Many will conclude, on reading these observations, that the gentlemen of the Cefu Board did wisely in electing Mrs. Crawshay to be ,their chairman. There is a fine tone of ability and force of character in the speech which would be found valuable on many another School Board not so fortunate as to possess a lady chairman, We will say no more on the point at issue than is sufficient to set down the fact that Mrs. Crawshay's resolution was seconded by Mr. D. Watkins, and carried Unanimously.— The Illustrated Newspaper.