OTAKI.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 100, 25 September 1878, Page 2

OTAKI.

[PBOM QUE OWN COEEESPNDENT.J A meeting of the committee of the. Otaki Library took place .an the ; 21st instant,: for the purpose of ascertaining, if possible, the causes of the number of subscribers falling off. The rules were found to be seventeen vj m number, and considerably "mixed,"Vso | ihey were reduced to six of a more liberal, and simple nature, and the, scale of subscriptions was made more' attractive, and r an entrance fee, "which seemed to be imposed for no other purpose than to prevent" persons becoming members of the. library, was abolished. An improvement, too* could take place m the supervision of the books introduced, for on glancing at the-catalogue-, I notice " Puck," "Father Come Home," and " Tickletoby^ iKthy. Papers "— a style of books, I am informed, of a by no means intellectualor elevating character. In my communication to you, about a month ago, I referred to.the first meeting of the Otaki School Committee, and pointed' out that the suggestion 6t one of the members Bhould, if poasible,be carried out, pl&.— that the Wanganui Education Board, instead of building a sehool-houae and residence for a teacher here, shall, if possible, purchase or lease the Mission College or school, either .of which would answer admirably for the purposes inquired; and I further pointed" out that the college was empty, and only ;"one Maori boy" was attending the school, thereby meaning to show that one. of_the buildings could be acquired for the European children without m any wise interfering with the Maori depar.tnie.nb.'; [jNow for this I am taken to task by a writer m your issue of •ths 18th instant, who signs himself " Vindex" — not! an inappropriate ending to such a production, if the reader is allowed to render it as his good sense dictates. Mr " Vindex "begins by saying^that, for the reputation of the place, my remarks m referenceto the state of the Maori school had better not have been made. Possibly !— but surely a painful truth should be exposed if there is a hope of a remedy ; :j better far *han cry T ] ing " peace, peace !" where- there is no. peace. He asks, " Was . it right cvr fair to) represent to the public that the present attendance; is « one child' wheu the lowest ' weekly average attendance for th& year is 4£ ?" Now this is a sample of what he js .an adept at— suppressing and distorting. What I said was " one Maori child, but he carefully cuts out the word "Maori;" and m giving 'the lowest weekly average as 4i,i he with equal care neglecsta to, mention th«*t : it includes European children, wheii he is perfectly aware that I am only showing-up the unsatisfactory, sf-ate. of the Maori attendance. I will go further than m my first statement,! and say that I have-'seeii-thev school breik-np and not a single Maori child ■present ; and is it not a fact that the schoolmaster has spoken of sending m his resignation m consequence of the non-attendiince of the Maoris ? Mr " Vindex " charges me with leading "the ignorant reader to suppose that i there is a large staff of teachers : the truth, is there -is ; but o/w. How the -school could be kept open with fewer perhaps he will kindly inform us? The « ignorant reader "will please obserrothat these last extracts are somewhat obsdurei and it is doubtful whether the. writer intended to convey that there is on© staff of teachers, or one teacher; but it can hardly be the latter, for surely he would not ask how the school could be open with fewer than one, unless indeed he has become confused m his calculations of the halves, quarters, and other fractions of humanity who attend school. My "remarks as regards the ministering power cannot be fairly construed into a "large staff of teachers:' what I wrote was—" The harvest of Maori children is indeed plenteous, and the labourers are not few," and two.ntinisters, a schoolmaster, arid a bell-ringer, backed by an estate' of the value of £10,000, ; to say nothing of a probable slice ai the i Government's^laab ■•grant of £13,000 to Maora schools, should show .something more satis-; factory than a weekly average attondance of at the loweafc, even if all .Maori; children. Not so very long 1 before the present Bishop" of Wellington left Otaki, there was a considerable number of Maori children— l believe about seveiity—wttendin» the school. What a falling off now! And yet because I call atteution to the fact, m the 'hopes y of a remedy being brought abbutj Mr Asserter says that' my "remarks appear so be made m an envious, greedy, fault-finding spirit." Such an assertion is . childish m the extreme ; and anyone with ordinary intelligeace reiuUnV m / wt?ll-

■intended remark^^w^iat once judge that I merely had m View the immediate formation of ; ; a school for the neglected European childrenin this Riding, and tho getting together of the scores .of half-naked Maori children, if only for a few hoars a day, from the scenes of drinking and depravity m which they roam, to where they could learn the rudiments of decency. It is satisfactory to hear .from Mr " Yindex" that "tho church is still standing, m perfect repair," and. I am. aware. that it has been receutly whitewashed j but the information is somewhat beside the question, as, also, tho still more startling intelligence that it has % " greater number : of -: communicants thorn perhaps any other church. Native or Europeau, m the couutry" — an announcement that will shock the thoughtful man acquainted with Maori life, and the "ignorant reader " will not view it with unmixed «ati«faction.' Remembering the injunction of Mr " Vindex," " to keep my counsel for tho future," I will write no more— to-day. ■