MEETING RE SCHOOL MATTERS.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1662, 18 June 1879, Page 3

MEETING RE SCHOOL MATTERS.

A public meeting was held at the school* house, Eiccarton, last Mono ay, in relation to the case of Mr Wilson, master of the public school there, who rrcently received notice of dismissal by the Board. The Rev. C. Bowen, who convened the meeting in compliance with a requisition from residents of the district, occupied the chair. The Chairman stated that he had called the meeting in order to afford information in 'reference to the action taken by the Board, it being understood that in some quarters an explanation was deemed necessary as to the exact circumstances leading to Mr Wilson's dismissal. After detailing the circumstances which If d to the appointment of himself (the chairman) as a Commissioner, in the absence of a committee, which had not been elected, he proceeded to givo an explanation of the facts connected with the dismissal of Mr "Wilson, and here ho wished to express his deep regret that the adoption cf such a courie had become necessary. Ho thought they would bear him witness (and he had been chairman of the committee under the old Church system, when Mr Wilson was first appointed) that he had always recognised his ability and zeal in the school over which he was placed in charge. First of all, he desired to dissipate the idea which he understood to be prevalent in certain quarters of the parish that this difference with Mr Wil- < son had arisen out of any question of religious teaching ; in fact, the Board would naturally take no notice whatever of anything of that sort, because the religious element did not enter into the sj stem of school teaching as at present carried on. The unfortunate ■ cause of the notice being given was actually on the very socondary qucstioa of "drill," and he could not help feeling that Mr Wilson had been ill-advised in the oourse he had thought proper to adopt. He was not going to enter into a discussion as to the propriety of the Board's regulations, and he thought they would recognise that it would be highly improper for him to do 80, occupying as he did the position of the Board's representative. The plain facts of the case were these. Drill was being taught in the school before he went to England in 1865, his connection with the school did not recommence till the year 1868, and he did not know what had been done in the meantime. The first intimation he received on the subject was in the form of a letter from the Board, stating that Mr Wilson did not instruct the school children in military drill, and requesting him to inquire into the t matter. [Here followed the correspondence which had taken place between the Bev. 0. Bowen, the Board, and Mr Wilson.] The following letters from Mr Bowen explain the facts of the case and tho position taken up • by him:— Eiccarton, March 17, 1870.

Dear Sir,—l have, during the past year, received Beveral letters from the Board of Education respecting your refnail, conveyed through the drill instructor, to give instruction in school drill. I have hitherto postponed anj definite reply, in the hope that the verbal communications I have had with you on the subject, would lead you to reconsider yoar deiermination. But I can no longer defer my report to the Board, and I must now ask you to kiv« me your reply in writing to the complaint which has been so often •repeated and to which my attention has been again recently drawn. There can be no doubt as to your duty in this matter. I send herewith for your perusal a copy of the report of the Board for the period ended March 3lst, 1877, in which you will see, on page 61, the regulations still in force with respect to music and drill. It U there expressly required of masters and mistresses, reported competent by the drill instructor, that they shall .give instruction in drill and calisthenic exorcises for two half hours in each week. The committee fully recognise the_ importance of dae attention being paid to this branch of education by the teachers, and have already, through myself, as thnr chairman, conveyed to you the expression of their wishes in the matter. I trust that having had thop'ain requirements of the law thus fully laid before you, you will no longor hesitate to comply with its provisions, even should you feci inclined to disregard the repeatedly-expressed wishes of the Board and the committee. In conclusion, I would, in all friendliness, beg ■of you to consider the serious results to yourself and to the school which would foil w from a persistent refusal on your part to carry out the lawful requirements of the Board. I am, yours faithfully, Ckoasdaile Bowen, Chairman of school committee. To Mr W. H. Wilson.

Eiccarton, April 4th, 1870. Dear Sir,—l forwarded your letter in reply to mine on the subject of school drill, together with a copy of my own letter, for the information of the Board, and have received a communication to the effect that, after con-idering the correspondence referred to, the Board thinks it desirable to give you three months' notice. Before doing so, however, the Board wishes to know if I have anything further to say upon the matter. You will remember my warning that 1 feared it would come to this. I pointed out to you ■what I considered your plain duty in reference to this question, in proof of which I sent you the regulations cf the Board, and urged you to consider the oanseque ico of refusing to comply with its directions. You now plead " incompetence." You formerly pleaded " want of time and inclination." You could not_ surely expect the Board to seriously entertain either of these plea 3. As to the former, which you have lately put forward, the Board naturally concludes that you can do what other teachers in your position have qualified themselves to do, and what you yourself did aome time back to the entire satisfaction of the drill instructor, the committee, and the Board. The Board had hitherto delayed taking decisive action in this case, in deference to my request, and in their anxiety not to deal hastily with a teacher of old standing like yourself. But the question can no longer remain an open one, nor will the Board any longer allow its regulations to be wilfully disregarded. Unless, therefore, you will at once enable me to assure the Board that they shall henceforth bj complied with, there is no doubt the notice will be issued. I need not say how much I should personally regret such a termination of your long connection with the school and with myself as its manager. Believe me, dear Mr Wilson, Yours faithfully, Croaspaile Bowen, Commissioner Eiccarton School District. Mr W. H. Wilson.

Riccarton Parsonage, Canterbury. N.Z., May 2nd, 1879. Dear Mr Wilson, —I fear I have to some extent neglectsd my duty in not having before now taken steps to provide a successor to you in the mastership of Eiccarton school. The truth is I have been exceedingly reluctant to take any irrevocable step in this # deplorable business as long aa there remaiasd any—even the slightest—hope that yom would yet, whilst there was still time, see your mistake in attempting to dispute the authority of the Board. Sach action, if persevered in, will be not only, as I fear, disastrous to yourself and your family, but entirely useless. It is not

13 of course open to any one to form bis own opinion), bat it is a question of obedience to lawfully constituted authority. It would clearly bo impossible for tho Board to allow each master to select what portion of its regulations he might think proper to carry out, and what he might not. May I not hop i that you will even now recognise the falseness of the position you have taken up, and that you will yet see your way loyally to carry out (under protest if you wish) the regulations of the Board with lospect to drill, which are it present the law of the land ? If you will agr. e to do so I have no doubt I can obtain a reversal of the Board's recent decision regarding yourself, and you will thus prevent a result which I fear may be fraught with misfortuno to yourself, and which I, in common with many others in the district, will deeply regret. I am writing this, not in my official capacity aa commissioner of the district, but out of friendly regard for one whom I have long known, and whoso services I have always recognised and valued, I think I have some Hclaim to ask that the advice I have given should not be hastily rejected. I know it is what would bo given you by the great majority of your neighbors, and that by following it you would rise in the estimation of all who know you as a man of sense and loyalty. With kind regards to Mr 3 Wilson, believe me to remain Tour sincere friend, Croasdailb Bowen.

Tho Chairman continued his explanation by saying that he received no response to the last communication, wfciob, it would be seen, was written in the character of a friend. Then followed the notice of .dismissal, which it was his unpleasant duty to forward to Mr Wilson. It would doubtless be apparent to the meeting that either one or two coursc3 had to be adopted under the circumstances, either Mr Wilson had to leave the school or tho Board resign th<?ir position. If there was a body in authority—no matter whether that body was right or not in the action it took —its authority had to be carried out so long as it existed, whatever steps might be subsequently adopted to tako its power away and substitute another in its place. As this explanation was necessary, ho was glad to see such a good attondar.ee. Ho wished to make it understood, however, that he declined to enter into a discussion of the matter with Mr Wilson, or to have discussed the propriety or otherwise of tho action taken by the Board. Mr Wilson said he was under tho impression that tho meeting was of a public character, at which both sides of the question should be discussed. The chairman explained that he was first spoken to about the matter by Mr Frederick Holmes, to whom he stated that he could not, as Commissioner appointed by the Board, preside at a meeting at which tho propriety of the Board's regulations were to be discussed. Mr Wilson said he was completely taken aback at the course given to events this evening, having been fully under the impression that the meeting was called for fully discussing the whole question. However, he would, with the permission of the meoting, state what his view of the matter was._ They were doubtless all aware that the simplest piece of mechanism required a motive power. Lat them lake, for example, a simple contrivance which waß worked by a spring from bohind. That he thought was precisely analogous to the case under consideration, and he would show them how the strings had been pulled in his case. Nobody there, he believed, could suppose that the question of drill was at the bottom of this affair. Mr Bowen here rose and said he had already told the meeting what were the grounds upon which the Board had thought proper to dismiss Mr Wilson, and he could not stay there (as chairman) and allow that gentleman to stato that there was another question purposely kept back, which was the real source of his dismissal. After some discussion, the chairman agreed to hear what Mr Wilson had to eay. Mr Wilson proceeded to say that the Education Act was based upon purely secular principles, religious instruction being carefully excluded from the ordinary routine work. Well, he might explain that on this question ho and Mr Bowen held diametrically opposite views. He (Mr Bowen) had, in fact, devised a schemo by which Buch instruction might bo imparted—that is, he had opened a high road by means of which he could drive a coach and six through the Education Act. Mr Bowen rose at this stage, and said he could not sit there to be openly insulted by having imputations of the kind cast upon him. He then vacated the ohair, after once more explaining that ho should be happy to answer any question that members of the meeting might put to him. Several gentlemen followed tho rev. gentleman out of the room.

Mr Bogue, at the request of several present, then took the chain Mr Wilson again came forward and continued what he was saying when interrupted. Some time ago he said Mr Bowen came to him with a proposal of this nature : that ho (Mr Wilson) might enter the school every morning, not as the schoolmaster, but as a disinterested person, and give half an hour's religious instruction, and then at a certain " tick of the clock" transform himself into the Biccarton schoolmaster, and commence the ordinary routine. He (Mr Wilson) declined the miserable subterfuge. He hated a doublebarrelled man or a double-barrelled measure, os be did not believe that any man could act honestly in a double capacity. Ho was either a schoolmaster or nothing. The whole thing (as suggested to him) was a miserable subterfuge, and ho therefore declined it. Mr Bowen then informed him that unless h* saw his way to perform this, the committee would take it in hand and find some person who would. The Eov. Charles Turrell (excitedly) —I don't believe it. The statement is false. Mr Wilson—Mr Bowen distinctly told me that unless I carried out his wishes in this particular, the committee would discharge me. Mr Turrell —It is perfectly untrue ; there never was a greater untruth told. Mr Bowen is incapable of acting so. Personally, I came here as Mr Wilson's friend, but when ho makes such statements — A Yoice -Lot the man speak, can't you. Mr Turrell—Ho will have his opportunity, but let him not mate a cowardly attack upon an absent man. Mr Wilson—l was anxious to mako this statement in Mr Bowen's presence, but Jhe went away. I |again as3ert that considering this—what I speak of took place only some six months ago—it tends to throw considerable light upon the present action of the Board. At this stage the proccsdingß began to assume somewhat of a confused and disorderly aspect, far from intelligible, owing to the efforts of a number of gentlemen to express a varioty of sentiments in a loud tone of voice at one and the same time. Order being again restored, Mr Wilson continued —He had hopes that Mr C. C. Bowen would be present to hear some other remarks he had to mako, as showing that ho (Mr Wilson) had been unfairly dealt with.

A Toieo—Where aro your instructions a 3 to teachihg ? Mr Wilson —Hero (producing a placard), and not a word in it about military drill. These instructions are issued from the central department at Wellington. But now about Mr C. 0. Bowen. I was in town with a brother schoolmaster, and met a member of the Education Board, we were talking about the action of the Board, which wo wore parfectly at liberty to do, and the gentleman I have referred to suddenly asked mo what difference there was between Mr C. C. Bowen and me, I did not know of course that there wss any difference until then, and I certainly did not know that any difference I had hid with the Rot. 0. B o wen was bringing upon me the ill will of his whole family. But I could see from what had been said that an undue influenco was being exercised against me in the Education Board. A Voice—Serve you right. You refused Mrs Bowen a seat in your school once. Mr Wilson—l am quite unaware of it. The same voice—Why don't you tell tho truth! Mr Wilson—So Ido as far as I know it. I say it was plain Mr Bowen could not get a hold upon me on this religious question, and so this affair about tho drill was taken hold of as a pretext. I never declined to instruct in drill on any other grounds than that I was incompetent, and besides the Education Act makes provision for a drill instructor. The Board has to be guided by the Act, which does not mako it imperative that I should instruct in drill. If Mr Turrell would ask Mr Bowen, that gentleman I feel euro would not deny the accuracy of my -statements. Mr Turrell—lf you had conducted your defence as a gentleman, and had not imputed mean and unworthy motives to Mr Bowen, the clergyman of the parish, I Bhould not have said a word, but I am perfectly disgusted with the manner in which you have acted. As it is, you have put forth certain facts and held back others.

all the correspondence, showing no grounds for the charges you hare made. Mr Wilson—l think there is ample evidence before the meeting in what I hare stated. Mr Hanson—lt appears to me you have never tried to meet the Board in this matter. When a man is employed by capital he must do what capit 1 demands. After some further discussion, during which Mr Blake and ethers pointed out that Mr Wilson had taken up a wrong position in attacking Mr Bowen, the Board being alone the responsible parties, Mr Webb put the question.—Supposing the Board desire to reinstate you, will you endeavour to the best of your abilitv to carry out their wishes, and learn to drill if necessary? . .. Mr Wilson—My answer to that is this: It I have bo long carried out my duties in a satisfactory manner, and now find that I am considered by the Board incapable, I am willing to sacrifice my position and go. I cannot accede to this point of military drill. This brought the discussion to a close, and the meeting dispersed.