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Evening Star, Issue 3108, 4 February 1873, Page 2

Guilty as our contemporary the Daily Times has latterly been of most unwarrantable attacks upon public men, uc do not remember to have seen one more uncalled-for, or more groundless, than that which appeared in its leading columns yesterday morning, Not only docs it single out men for public reprehension, tor measures adopted by the Dunedin School Committee as a body, but it totally misrepresents the whole of the proceedings, and charges two, especially, with sanctioning the misappropriation of public funds,,on grounds udiieh exist only in the minds of the writers of the Times. Were that journal alone concerned, we should not have thought it worth while to notice its imbecile attempts at creating a grievance. This has been its evident object for some time past. Lacking wisdom to be -patriotic, it seeks to establish its popularity by the vulgar expedient of blackening men’s characters; and to this end sa orifices truth and all honorable principles. Its theory, as laid down in yesterdny s leading column is, “If you want to awaken a man’s attention to a subject on which'lie has been careless, let him feel it touch his pocket.” This is the common resort of all demagogues and stump orators: persuade men they are robbed by their governors and administrators, and they will follow Belial. On the other hand, we warn our contemporary that men in the aggregate love justice, and can resent an attempt to deceive them, when the purpose is unworthy. A difference of opinion may very fairly be allowed as to the value of certain services, and whether they should be honorary or paid for ; hut the limes has gone beyond that; it lias charged the Dunodin School Committee with systematically misappropriating money in order to pay .a Secretary —one of their own body. Now, here arc two charges: one against numbers of men, acting through a series of years, of wilfully and unlawfully voting a sum of money to one of their members for services which should have been rendered gratuitously; and the other against an honorable and upright man of receiving a salary which ho*knew perfectly well was illegally paid to him. If these he not the charges, wc do not understand what the meaning of “ misappropriation of the public funds ” means. There is a third charge that the “ School Committee had been in the habit of paying one of their number,” by which it is evidently intended to be inferred that they had wrongfully appointed a member of the Committee to an office, that, if filled, should have been, legally, occupied by one not connected with the Committee. We should feel equally disgraced with our .contemporary if we allowed these charges to pass without placing the public in possession of the merits of the case. We will do this in as few words as possible. We need not say that Mi’ Hardy, who has been so long connected with jthe Committee, is the person against whom this charge is mainly brought. Mr Hardy was first elected a member of the South Dunedin Committee in July, 1862, and again iu the following November a member of the tluited Committee. At that time there was an education rate which required the services of a competent man as assessor and collector ; and the year that Mr Hardy was elected, the Committee advertised for applications for a Secretary, who was to fulfil jthe duties of clerk, treasurer, aud collector. The Committee divided between Mr and Mr J. S. Weed, who was also one of t)ip applicants. The salary was to be £2oo’ apml#lfy. Mr Hardy was chosen; but, when tho School-rate ceased, the salary was reduced to half, or less than half, that sum, in consideration of which the Secretary has had t.Q provide office accommodation, stationery, to look after all the school-buildings, gee that they ar.e kept in repair aud properly cleaned, so that the .children’s health and comfort may be cared for; in addition to these duties—themselves requiring much time and attention—ho has to supervise the payment of the teachers’ salaries, and become the medium of communication between them and the School Committee. In fact, he is virtually the executive officer of the Committee. We have always had an idea that tho time required for the duo fulfilment of these various duties was poorly paid for at £BO $r £IOO a year ; aud instead of those being decreased, they have become annually more onerous, in proportion to the iimreflsc of responsibility. When first tic appointed to tho office, tho expenditure pnder control of the Committee was about £1,700 to £I,BOO annually. Last year it was £2,390 ; the number of scholars is more than double ; and this, we need not 6£.y, involves a considerable increase in tlm numb o .!’ °f teachers —which means more work, '4sfp are not placing these facts before tho public for £he purpose of commending Mr Hardy j for 1 any man who filled tho office of Secretary'to the Board, must have devoted a large portion of his time to its duties. The highest praise to the manner in which they have been fulfilled is the confidence placed in him by successive Committees. We do not see that tho public have any right to ask any member o£ a Couartiitixp to -per--1 form all the drudgery involved iu ‘ the duties wc have enumerated, without pay : aud of this wo are certain that, since gratuitous fccryiccs involve comparatively no responsibility, no man would he found to perform them con amove, pith tho prospect before him of being vilified at the of tea years by ths pailt/ Timet.

One word more on the charge of appointing a member of Committee as Secretary, and paying him, which is alleged io be a “ misappropriation of funds.” By the 16th clause of the Education Ordinance, 1864, it is provided:—

And every School Committee ill all be at liberty to appoint one of their own members or other qualified person to be their Clerk and Treasurer, who shall convene all meetings of the Committee, by causing three da;s’ previous notice to be given to each member thereof, and shall attend such meetings of the stid Committee and take minutes of their proceedings, and do whatever may be required of him in the execution of this Ordinance, and such Clerk and Treasurer shall receive such remuneration for his services, and give such secirity for the wine performance of his duties as skill be agreed upon and required by the said Coirmittee ; and the accounts of such Treasurer shall be rendered to and audited annually by eveiy such Committee previous to their retirement from office, and The balance of such accounts (if any) shall be paid over by such Committee to their successors.

Wc leave it to our readers to say whether, under this clause, the Dunedin School Committo have or hare not misappropriated the funds entrusted to them; no comment of ours is needed. We may say that there lias been an amended Ordinance, but it leaves that provision unrepealcd. Our contemporary advocates the division of the School District of Dunedin into separate districts, a plan that was found fraught with inconvenience, which, on the face of it, would tend to increase expense, and would inevitably multiply causes for discontent. We need not enter into a discussion on so visionary a project .