“FOOLS AND LAWYERS. ”

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2133, 27 May 1920, Page 3

“FOOLS AND LAWYERS. ”

SCHOOL PIANO INCIDENT

The last echo of the Eoxton piano incident sounded in the educational halls at Wanganui on Monday night, savs Hie Manawatu Times, when the secretary ofj the Education Board solemnly intoned a legal opinion of two solid foolscap pages

as to ihe rights and wrongs of a certain alleged trespass. Tim crux of the matter appeared lo he this; When the rumour got round Fox ton that the British piano in the school had German “tixins’,” a committeeman, Mr J. K. Hornhlow, and two others visited the school to investigate. One (dass was in progress at ihe lime, and the tcaeher in charge made no objection to the inspection. In the course oi the investigation something was left on, or off, and the cosmopolitan instrument promptly went; on strike. The “trespassers" went hack later and did something to the lid, or something, and ihc melody was restored —hut not the harmony,'because the headmaster reported the incident to the Bonn!. The latter somewhat artlessly allowed itself to he persuaded into consulting the law. Whereupon the “opinion" aforesaid from the Board's solicitor, who, inter alia, said; “A committeeman lias no individual powers of action apart from such authority as may be given to him by the committee in meeting assembled. But a certain amount of latitude must he conceded in.such mailers if business is to he carried On efficiently, and interference with the activities of energetic and. /.(ations committeemen might he harmful. 1 do not think that Mr Hornhlow’s isolated aid ion in tins case would render him liable to an injunction, but a persistence by him in vi.-'its to the school during school hours in such a way as to intaviarc with ,-i-hool won; would, i think, he --11 i: if ■ i.' jl l to iasiifv Ihe wme of an injunction. Ido not think that the provision ; of The Police Offences Ad imposing penalties on persons unlawfully on premises could he invoked to meet such a case. Nor do J think' Mr Hornhlow’s action renders him fable to be convicted Far wilfully disturbing a school under Section 157 of the Education Act, HIM-."

A broad .'mile crept over I lie faces of while Ibo wheremm and whereases of this portentous document- were liein',;' deelmmed, ami I hen :‘dr Vehdyre, himself a Dpm! li'j-iil, <> , ul up and mildly protected that it was a piiy I hat the Board's funds should have been wa -dad over sr.ah a trivia lily, “Fools maim •lawyers," was I lie cryptic rejoinder of the chainna)!. and then .he ad.ded somewhat ciuj'ma!’madly, ‘‘and if it were not fur miiiu! kinds of fools some hinds of lawyers wouldn't he aide to live’ 4 ’ Thai seemed conclusive, ami !he Board passed on lo (he iu• i he

1 It is ju he hoped llml tins is th.e las! act in Ihe wreiehod piado immness. Win n (lie bead teacher made a complaint to last yea v ’s Umumd-

ire the visit of inspection to tin piano, Mr , Ilornbiow explained tie

privileges of a committeeman, but tiio Committee decided to pirns the matter on to the Board for an opinion. .Mr Ifornblow made it unite (dear to the Committee that be would not be so foidish as to dislurb the class work of lh<( school. The

sling of the whole filing lies in the . exposure of Ihe .fact that Ihe alleged al!-Bri!ish instrumenl (urned out h> conlaui German internals. Although Mr II inddpw asked the thou chairman to allow his statement of the visit to accompany the head teacher's letter, this was not done, but despite litis the legal opinion vindicates Air Horn blow.