THE HAWERA EDUCATION TROUBLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 532, 12 June 1909, Page 6

THE HAWERA EDUCATION TROUBLE.

r Sir,—lt would appear that 'the Hawor* l scant of the Press Association and Mr. Uixon, member of the Wangauui Education 3 Board, are prepared to write to suit the , moment,, oblivious to the fact that written i words remain. The former writes in varioni i gapers.of June 5 that "Mr. Dixon' certainly ■' ' X Vlr m *> ""opting tho statement that , i the letters sent out on Mr. O'Dea's behalf ; were not sent,'as had believed, principally ito Roman Catholics." But Mr. Dixon . meaning to support his, friend, the agent! . writes on tie same date to .various papers. . , father Power knows that I never withdrew : i one syllabi©'of my complaints'at their tac- ' . tics, except, accepting Ins statement that ho : knew Bothing of the circular letter. Now, , both these statements cannot be true. Indeed, ttey resemble tho statements of cer- , tain witnesses whoso testimony did not agree S? a . E r nt ( > uotM from my lettei of April 22: "I regret to see that Mr. Wrxon s commentary is nothing like a straightforward apology. . . . He expresses no sorrow for having succeeded in ■ ncrcel y aronsing that bigotrv himself. Ho rushed to raisothe demon of bigotry that ho ! cannot now so easily lay." And then this' press _ agent asks'your readers to conclude that if I wrote these warm, words whilo Mr. • i j JL 8 *■?**?■ was Pfobably before (mo). 1 and the facts fresh in (my) memory" it must bo because I was provoked into doing so by Mr. Dixon's virtual refusal to withdraw his aUegation that a sectarian movement was afoot on behalf of Mr. O'Dca. Your readers WIU b° TUdsly shocked to learn that the' ; capital H"r after tho blank space in tho ' above quotation from my letter should be a small h," and that these words should be \ inserted, just in front of it."' Ho " (Mr ;. Dixon) is, glad'to! find that there was no"' endeavour,' on . the.part" of, Catholics' to stir ' \ up sectarian bigotry, bat. . .. "So that ' m JA C ™L, w , as m reality ah.acknowledgments ' of , * he withdrawal of tho charges against us,' wliilo the.warm words showed that tho with- > drawal might havo been .made' in a moro' ' > graceful manner, and also to bo a warnin» i to-wen who rush hysterically into' : print to' ; make wild charges,'which they havo to'' : withdraw after a littlo consideration*. So ' that' ■ onco again the. agent has been caught bup- • pressing the .facts; and not cleverly, but , stupidly. It is very distasteful to mo to havo i to show men up in this fashion in the pnblio i press; let mp, therefore, write no moro words i of my own, ,bnt produce tho documnuia: i _The first is a letter of "A Friend" to Mr Dixon, published on April 22. with flm orefaco by Mr. Dixon: "In the interests of W educational system I feel it my dnty to make this' information public." J-E Dixon, Esq., "Dear Shy--I do . not know whether yoa aw aware that a lotter has been reeonfly issued by a Hawera solicitor to a large number of Roman Catholics, urging them to attend meetings for tho election of school com- , mittees, and to endeavour to Dlace on the committees men who will be favourable to the appointment on the Board of Education of another Hawera solicitor. Were this merely a matter of tho claims of one candw' date against another I would not have taken any notice of it, but it seems to mo that much moro than this is involved, and unless somoimmodiato stop is'taken there will bo danger that partial.control of onr education system will fall into tho hands of those wh» are endeavouring to undermine it." The second document is made up of extracts from my lettcar in reply: "I am quit* satisfied that, any person of average intelli. gence who reads'carefully tho circular in: question will see in the commentary on it by Mr. Dixon's correspondent, endorsed to '. my surprise by Mr. Dixon himself, only an exhibition of that hysteria which unfortu-, nntely crops, up here at olection' times, which' appeals for want, of better arguments'to sectarian .bigotry, and which is entirely unworthy of _ those who aspiro to'a position that ' demand? imperatively the exercise of sound judgment. Tho causo of; education would be materially served by Catholics ambitionmg to sit ■ on schdol committees and education boards with their non-Catholic feDow'countrymen, and those who raise tho sectarian cry when Catholics become candidates for any ofßcq are wittingly or unwittingly the greatest 1 enemies of their country." ■, The third document Mr. Mt!arthy's refutation of the charge. "I admit' having through personal friendship for Mr. 0 Dea, apart from any religions motive, issued the circular to, twenty-one personal acquaintances (members of s'chool committees), whose names I am prepared to submit for your perusal.' On noting that a sectarian issue was sought to be raised, .1 looked throuch the list of names again, and now j find that only five out of tlio twonty-ona arc members of the Catholic Church. I have ' known Mr. O'Dea from boyhood, and consequently claim that I was justified in endeavouring to advance his. candidature.". Tho fourth document is a note from the editor giving his opinion that tho letters of Father Power and Mr. M'Carthy cover tho whole ground of tho attack mado by Mr. Dixon. ''We have received further letters m reply to Mr..Dixon, but we think tho foregoing adequately cover tho ground." The ground is now clear: wo have tho . charge made against. Catholics; wo have the words in which that'charge is challenged* the press agent dc.clarcs that thoro has not been a full withdrawal by Mr. Dixon ,but observe closely tho'next letter: ■■•■■ ■ Document five, extract from letter of Mr Dixon of April 2G:> "At;tl>« timo when I published my letter, I had reason to believe that a circular lotter was being sont around the district, 1 principally to a certain section of tho community, but lam fully prepared to ' accept Mr. M'Carthy's explanation and statement; and, m fact, I am very glnd to hear that the election is not intended to bo fought out m a denominational spirit, as I havo no desire or intention to the election on' that issue." This lotter has been suppressed by 'tho Press Association, tho libel against the Catholics of Hawera < hn* boon published m the newspapers of the Dominion, it is for the association to mako the next move:—l am, etc.; „ T B Y. P. I.'POWER. Hawora, Juno o. A number of letters havo been held over owing to pressure on our space. These will .appear in Monday's issue.