Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, OCT. 21, 1897. School Attendance.

Manawatu Herald, 21 October 1897, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, OCT. 21, 1897. School Attendance.

To day some parents have had an object lesson in the disadvantages arising from keeping their children trom school without sufficient reason. It ia a pity that the Carelessness of parents has made the appointment of a Truant Inspector necessary, and of course the necessity of one has arisen from the very general neglect >ver the Education Board District. Mr Easther is a gentleman who intends doing his work thoroughly and will visit Foxton once a fortnight, and intends to issue summonses for non attendance for each Week hat the average attendance doe 3 not come up to the requirements of the Act. These summonses will thus fall like the leaves of autumn upon parents and on settling up on court day the expenses will soon total high. The Education Act has always been termed a free and compulsory -lystem, and at last the compulsory •.lauses are being put into force. Under these circumstances we advise parents to do their best to see that their children attend school regularly, for though it niay be at times inconvenient to them, yet it will be a saving of expense to them, and at the same time it will be a matter, in tfter life, of congratulation to their young ones. No one likes to be forced to do anything, it hag anything but a colonial sound, but it must be remembered that we are all forced to pay the taxes which keep the schools going, whether we have children attending the schools or not, therefore it is only fair that all who can, by their proximity to a •school, should receive instruction. Instead of parents looking upon this action of being compelled to send their children to school regularly, as being harsh, we hope they will take the common sense view of the matter and admit that the greatest good to the greatest number is the best to adhere to. Regular attendance at school, as we have frequently pointed out, means far better instruction to all scholars, as they will have received equal instruction, and, owing to the average attendance being maintained it will secure the school being sufficiently staffed. If, by regular attendance, the scholars do not make that progress they should, then it will be very easy to point out where the blame lies, but at present the usual excu3e for any short comings on the part of the teachers is put down to the fact that the attendance is irregular.

Mr Whibley has already gathered a few vipe strawberries. To-morrow Messrs Abraham and Williams hold a stock sale at Levin. Mr Langdon has let 50 acres of loggingup to the Messrs Newth. The work is in the same paddock as the contraot they are finishing. The cows advertised by Mr Whibley have been sold. We understand that Mr Davidson has completed the valuation of the Borough. The Natives are keen observers of nature and can frequently foretell what the coming wetfther is likely to be. Lately they foretell fine weather because a c maH bird with a long name, the Pipiwharauroa, has been heard singing. This bird is thus heeded | as a herald of fine weather. Mr Henry Coley has oommenced his contraot for embanking at Motoa and has started a oamp at Mukaka hill. The Mepsrs Newth have almost ooneluded their contract of olearing on the Motoa Estate. The divorced husband of Mrs Langtry, who was recently found wandering aimlessly on a railway line and placed in the Chester Lunatic Asylum, has died there. They made a serious mistake. Eeports from Lagos state that several thousand Baribas, mistaking the Bnti«h for French troops, attacked Captain Humfrey and a force of 80 Houses. Captain Humfrey "harply responded, killing 300 of the natives. "I think my right honourable friend, since he has been to Cambridge, has got soft. I have noticed a difference since he came back. I think that his connection with the gentlemen at Cambridge has spoilt him." — The Hon. J. M'Kenzie on the Premier. Sergeant Wilson of Christchuroh has been appointed officer in charge of the Palmerston Police Station. The Rev. Mr and Mrs Earee- were entertained at a farewell social at Palmerston 'las . uigbt.

The Canadian 2£ per cent, loan of £2,000,000 or the extension of railways to the mining districts and the deepening of the canals along the river St. Lawrence ha 3 been successfully floated. The average price realised wis £91 103 sd, or 103 5d above the minimum fixed by £- Government.

A body of delegajpfli representing Jows in VarloUs parts of the world, have recently Wet at Vieni a to discuss practical pleasures for reconsfit.^g a Jewish state in Palestine-. The p.rdmbter* <*f the sSheme have taken the title of "Zionists." At their meeting on 31st August the programme for the re-acquirement of the Holy Land was unanimously adopted* From a letter received by the Soleil from its St. Petersburg correspondent, it appears that convention between France and Russia has existed since the time of Alexander 111. In addition to this formal and mutual engagement, the oorre9.poti.dent adds, the chiefs of the general staffs of the two armies recently drew up the main lines of a common plan of campaign to be adopted in the event of certain eventualities arising.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has been charged with unduly favouring ft prospective son-in-law o.f the Dean of Carlterbnry, who has drily been three years in fall orders, by appointing him to the important living at St. Mark's, Kenning ton. The appointment has given rise to 'a. warm correspondence, the Archbishop being addressed in very pointed language by a Curates' Union. The Union oonsidera the Archbishop is a trustee of the preferments in his gift and that he has not acted fairly to the large body of • Curates who have given to the Church long years of service Without reward. The appointment has strengthened the demand for a fairer distribution of preferments.