MEETING OF COLLEGE GOVERNORS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4959, 13 February 1877, Page 3

MEETING OF COLLEGE GOVERNORS.

The ordinary monthly meeting of the Board of College Governors.%vas held in the office of the Education'Board yesterday at' 12 o'clock. There were present—Mr. Bunny (in the chair), Mr. Hutchison, Mr. • Jackson, and the Kev. Mr. Paterson. MINUTES. The minutes of the last meeting were duly read and confirmed.

FINANCIAL POSITION. Mr. Graham, the secretary, laid before the Board a statement of the financial position, showing that the overdraft at the bank was within £7O of the authorised amount. There was, he said, a considerable amount of fees outstanding,, and. estimates he had drawn up showed that at the' end'of 'the term the Board would be in about the same, position as at' present. The entire subiect 1 was' referred to the Finance Committee.

COLLEGE AFFAIRS. , The following letter from Mr. Wilson, Principal of the College, was read : The College, Wellington, January 31,1177. Sm,—l have the'honor to submit for your inspection a report-of the analyses of the.samples of water from. the College, which Dr. Hector has been good enough to have made at my request. .1 would venture to suggest that the Board should at once take measures to ascertain the cost of erecting a small detached infirmary and the best position for it, in order that, it may be put up. as'soon as ever funds will permit. If any more cases of infectious disease occur before this is done, the loss to the College will be most serious. 1 enclose a letter which.! have received from the master of the Government school at Fatea, asking whether boys from his school would be< eligible for the College scholarships. I do not iknow whether the Board has power to admit boys from any school outside the former Province of Wellington, but if it has, it seems to.me that it is desirable in the interests of education-in general, and of the College/In particular, to extend as widely as possible the benefits of these scholarships, which so.far have answered admirably. 1 ■ I have to call the attention of the Board to the fact that this term no less than sevehten boys have been removed without notice; This; practice, aeems to be increasing, it causes great inconvenience, and is both unbusinesslike and uncourtepus, -In, order fc check it I propose, with the sanction of the Board, to make a regulation that a term’s notice or half a term's fee must .be. given .before..the removal of a boy, from the school, to have that rule put on all prospectuses, and at once to send notice of it to the. parents of all boys now at the school, so that it may be strictly enforced. A special exception could easily be'made in the very few cases where unavoidable- circumstances prevent previous notice being given. T understand ’ from the Secretary that the fees are greatly in arrears, and that a large portion of the arrears is on account of board. Now, when the Governors took over the receipt of all fees, I was under the impression that one reason for their doing so was that punctual payment might b« enforced without the unpleasantness that was unavoidable so long as the money was received by the masters Individually. At any rate, when the arrangement was made.-that I was to pay a commission of 6*. for collection on 'all fees, I,expected that I ebonld. receive them regularly an i punctually; asitls, I never can tell, even approximately, the amount I am likely to receive any month, and I-have to wait considerably longer tban I should if I received the fees myself. This frequently causes me most serious inconvenience, and I would therefore respectfully ask the Board either to insist on the punctual payment of all'fees, or else to allow me to receive the boarding fees -myself. If the Board continue to permit such irregularity, they will not only suffer heavy loss, but will lower the character of the school.—l have, Ac.,

Kenneth "Wilson, M.A. To the Chairman of the Board of Governors

of the Wellington College. Dr, Hector’s'report, as follows, was read : Geological Survey Office, Wellington, January 11, -1877. Sir,—l have the honor to report the result of the analyses of the' samples of water taken by me at the College bn the 21st ultimo. , ' .

- 1. The mineral matter has not been estimated in detail, as it will not differ from that contained in similar samples previously analysed, and such matters have "no Influence on the purity of the water for ordinary purposes. . ■ • , -2. The organic matter contained in the waters has been estimated, and that portion which is easily oxidised separately determined, as it is this element which constitutes the dangerous impurity of water. 3. For comparison I have stated, along with the results obtained, the corresponding proportions of organic matter contained in several other waters, so that their relative purity may be seen at a glance. 4. Although in sample A, being that taken from the spring water led into the College by pipes, the total organic matter is somewhat high, still the proportion of it which must be referred to the deleterious class of impurities is not materially above the average contained in other waters in ordinary use. , Sample B is the water collected from the College roof, which is, I understand, that used for drinking and culinary purposes, and is remakably pure. 5. Hesui/ts. - -

James Hector. Kenneth -"Wilton, Esq.; M. A., ' Wellington College. ■ - The report was Approved of. Some discussion ensued as to whether the collection of ,fees should not be left with Mr. Wilson. It was suggested by Mr. Graham, however, that .he was entitled to some consideration in the matter, as he had been at considerable trouble already in the matter of collecting fees. Moreover, it was pointed out that there was a regulation by which children should.Bot.be admitted to the College with more than one term in arrears, an,d Mr; Graham stated that he had- repeatedly reminded the defaulters. Ultimately ;it was decided that Mr. Graham should use every endeavor to collect the sums due. ALLEGED SEVERE TREATMENT OF SCHOLARS AT THE COLLEGE. In regard to the case of Mr. Turnbull's children, who have been removed. from the College by their father in consequence of action taken by the Principal of the College on a recent occasion, the following correspondence was read. In the first place a letter was received from Mr. Turnbull, informing the Board of the fact that he had removed his sons, and communicating his reasons for taking that step. That letter was to the following effect :

Temple Chambers, Wellington, February 9, 1877.

Gentlemen, —Having decided to remove my three boys from the College, I deem It but just to myself, and the interests committed to your, charge, to lay before you the circumstances in connection with the two younger boys that have led me to adopt such a course.

On Thursday, the Bth inst., Mr.' Buckland, the master of the class in which the younger, boys are,seeing that the class had been thoroughly drenched corning to school, told them to go home and get dry, and gave them as an exercise, to be brought to him next morning, some history and Latin.. The whole of the boys In the class then went home; my sons being under the impression that the class was dismissed for the day. Having partly finished their exercises, and the weather clearing lip, they got permission from their mother, late in the afternoon, to visit the All-England, Eleven cricket match, Here Mr. 'Buckland, who, strange to say, had also taken an hour or two's holiday, saw them, and reported them next morning to Mr. Wilson as having been playing truant. Mr. "Wilson on this flogged both boys publicly before the whole school.with a supplejack stick, and so severely that on my examining them I found every stroke of the stick plainly imprinted on their bodies, and this severe punishment was inflicted on slender boys of ten and twelve years of age, the youngest of whom had never been punished in his life before, and had an experience of the school of only nine days. On inquiry, I found that the children had no 1 right to have been punished in any sense, for ocer one-half of the class had not returned to school in the afternoon, clearly showing that, taking Mr. Buckland's own absence into consideration, he had when giving the children their exercises, to be returned in the morning, intended their absence to be for.the whole day; it was therefore a question entirely for the parents as to what they would permit their children to do after their return from the school, their master having no right to interfere with them in any sense after he had dismissed them. Holding, as I do, that Mr. Buckland had no right to report the boys; that he has been partial and unfair in the treatment of my son Joshua for a long time past; that the punishment administered by Mr. Wilson was not only undeserved,' but cruel in the extreme, and in the case of the younger boy simply disgraceful, I have felt that I can no longer expose my sons to such peculiar educational treatment. — I am, Ac., • Tnos. Tutinbom.. The Board of Governors, Wellington College. Mr. Wilson wrote to Mr. Turnbull as follows : The College, Fab. 9, 1877. Deaji Sm,—l have inquired into the subject of our conversation this morning, and I find that besides your own boys there were twelve absent from tho school on Wednesday afternoon; and of those, as far as we have been able to ascertain by careful Inquiry both at the time and again today, only two went to the cricket match at all that afternoon, and they did not go until after school hours. « Moreovor, they are neither of them in Mr. Buckland's class. You are therefore mistaken in supposing that any partiality was shown in the matter at all. After four o'clock I have no doubt many of our boys were on tho ground; but I think you will And that your sons wero the only ones who were there during school hours. It is possible, of course, that wo may have been deceived v/ith regard to one or two of the others, though carcfnl inquiry was made in each case; and if you can produce evidence to prove that that is the case I shall be extremely obliged by your doing

so. I can only say that the punishment was not inflicted hastily or without consideration, and that I took every means in my power to find out the offenders; and I think'yon will admit that when boys who have been excused attendance at school solely on account of the'-weather, are found-amusing themselves out of doors duriug school hours, it. lutely necessary that they should be severely punished. If X understood you rightly this morning your grounds of complaint were as follows : 1. That your sons had not committed any offence deserving of punishment. 2. That even if they had they had been unfairly selected for punishment, while others equally guilty were let off. ■' 3. That you disapprove of corporal punishment. 4. That the punishment was excessive in amount.

To this my reply is—1. That if the boys could go to. the cricket match ■without injury, they could equally well have come to school; that therefore they were playing truant—an offence for which every boy in the school knows that he is liable to be caned. . . 2. That careful inquiry was made into the case of each boy who was absent, and that year sons were the only ones who were found to have been playing, tru&nt. a That although I very seldom make use of the cane, I consider there are circumstances under which it is the best method of punishment. 4. That I only gave eight cuts to one boy and five to the other; and that having got one of n»y colleagues to give the stick used a fair trial on my own back, I do not consider that it was at all too heavy for.the purpose. Of course, if you disapprove of our system of instruction and discipline, you are quite, right to remove your sons from the school. My object in writing is simply to confirm the assurance that I gave you this morning that no unfairness or partiality.- ■ has. been - shown 'in the matter, :but that I-simply ; carried out a well-known rule of the school—the object of - which is to teach boys that work is to be (lone always at 01l hazards before play Is thought of. If you remove your.sons from the school now you will be doing your best to teach them that work may safely be neglected when it. is-more pleasant to play; and In so doing it will be You and not we who are guilty of cruelty. —l am, Ac., K. Wilson. He also wrote as follows in explanation to the Board;—

■ The College, February. 9,1877. Sir,—Mr. Tims. Turnbull called here this morning to [tell me that he had removed his three sons from the College, on the ground that two of them .were unjustly -punished on Thursday last. ■ I have therefore the honor to report the circumstances of the case for your information. The morning of-Wednesday the 7th' Inst, was, very rainy,, and a great many of the; boys came to school wet through, I therefore gave orders that all who were likely, to suffer from sitting in their wet clothes should return home at once—two of the Turnbulls being ■ among the number. Tl>e' afternoon was comparatively fine, and moat of the boys returned. The Turnbulls however did not, and. being asked to' give a reason for- their absence, said that -their boots Were not dry; I found however on inquiry that they had both. becn looking .on at the.-cricket-match. during school hours that same aftornbohj and I accordingly punished them both for being absent without reason, and the elder one also for giving an excuse that was not straightforward. Ido not think anyone can accuse me of being fond of the cane, or of any punishments : but I think it is clear that if!-am to be responsible for ..the discipline of the school, I must have the power of enforcing regularity of attendance., I enclose a copy of' a letter I have written to'Mr. Turnbull on the subject.—l have, Ac., Kenneth Wilson, M.A., Principal. To the Chairman of the Board of Governors . of the, Wellington College. : Mr. Turnbull also sent; a letter to Mr.Wilson, of which the following is a copy : ' Temple Chambers, Wellington, . February 9,1877. Dear Sir, —I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated thla day. and have to express, my sarprise at its contents. The question as not what boys were at the cricket match, but whether’ the * boys in Mr. Buckland’s class were dismissed for the day. The fact of his giving them the exercises for the day, , to be brought to him next morning, coupled with thefurther facts that the majoritydld not return, and his own absence from school during the afternoon, clearly proves this. If the weather cleared npj and the whole of the class had gone to the cricket match, Mr. Buckland had nothing to do with it His control over them for the day hod ceased when be dismissed them.. As to your request that I should furnish you with the names of the boys at the cricket match,: it is without • exception the most impertinent suggestion that lever, had made to me. Scholastic work must entail strange notions of honorable conduct. I exceedingly regret to learn that the punishment inflicted on my two boys was "hot done hastily or without consideration. 0 I had partly excused you in my own mind on the ground of haste : but to tell me now that two tender boys (one of them little more than eleven"weeks at school, and who had never been punished in his life), are to*be beaten black and blue with/a' supplejack stick, deliberately and in cold blood, is‘ to convince me that you share your subordinate's tendencies. I am obliged for the information that to''test the strength of the stick, one of your colleagues gave it a fair trial on your back, and that after mature consideration, you do not think it too Heavy for the purpose. It is a pity, however, that you did not give notice of the experiment, so that a deputation might have been present to see fair play and supply any deficiencies on the part of the operator. I myself would very much like to have been there.1 now learn that much indignation has been felt by other parents at the punishment of their boys for absence from the school, and othermatters, even when such has formed the subject of a special written excuse from' the parent to the teacher. ‘While I have every desire to learn my sons that honest and steady work has to be done at school, as well as in the battle of life, I have also a desire to learn them tohate oppression and injustice in every shape; and believing that my two younger sons have suffered these at the ’ hands of the masters of the College, 1 remove them without regret.—l am, &c., . ' . . , Thos. Turnbull,

, Kenneth Wilson, Esq., M.A;, the College. " In the course of reading the above correspondence, Mr. Graham. mentioned, on behalf of Mr. Buckland, that the latter had left the school on the day in question in consequence of finding only two of the boys of his class present. The Rev. Mr. Paterson said it was pretty clear- to him that the prevailing impression among the boys was- that they were dismissed for the day. Mr. Graham : But would that entitle them to go to the cricket match ? -Mr. Bunny : Why not ? How was it to be known that-the other;absent boys were not out boating, or engaged in some other pastime ? ’ But he should like to have a more complete investigation into the circumstances of the case, as to whether, for instance, the boys had been beaten on the same day, which would probably show whether action had been hastily taken, and whether or not the master had made proper enquiries. I Mr. Graham pointed out that Mr. Wilson stated that the after part of the day was-' fine, and that most of the boys returned. Mr. Bunny ; But you have told us that Mr. Buckland left because only two of his hoys were present. v _ Mr. Hutchison regarded the action of Mr. Wilson as a piece of gross cruelty. The little fellow spoken of by Mr. Turnbull was a sensitive timid child, and should not have been beaten so. He considered it was the duty' of the Governors to mark their sense of the Principal’s conduct in the very strongest pos-, sible way. Mr. BUNNY would like a larger number of the Governors to be present before taking decisive action in the matter. ■

Mr. Paterson agreed that they should he careful in dealing with a'question of the kind; ; at the same time he could not help expressing his opinion that from present appearances the case did not seem to place Mr. Wilson in a very creditable light. . Mr. Hutchison had no hesitation in expressing his opinion on the subject, because he knew the circumstances ; and he held that corporal punishment was entirely a mistake ; and if it was to be allowed in that institution, the fact should he made known, because he for one would never allow ahoy of his to he flogged in that way. Mr. Bunny asked whether there was any regulation referring to the subject? Mr. Graham said-, he believed not, but un-

derstood that the head master alone was snp-j posed to do the flogging. ■ " || After some further discussion it was decided :| to hold a special meeting for the purpose of inqu?ring into the case, Mr. Wilson and Mr. | Buckland to be present, and Mr. Tumbull'to | be invited to attend. It was resolved also, to ! send to each of the Governors a circular notifying that a meeting would be held on Wed- | nesday, and mentioning the subject to be considered. RE A SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. | A letter was received from Mr. Maskell, of the University of Christchurch, as to the establishment of a school of medicine in connection with the College. It was resolved that the idea could not be entertained. ', HIGHER CLASS EDUCATION Mr. PATEE3ON gave notice of his intention to introduce the subject of providing some higher class education for University students, there being no provision for such at present. AN APPLICATION. A letter was received from Mr. Clayton, applying for permission to divide into two a piece of land leased from the Board, for the purpose of erecting thereon two houses of not less value than £4OO each. The Governors instructed the Secretary to write Mr. Clayton stating that they would be especially obliged if he would forward plans of the proposed buildings, before a final decision was come to. This concluded the business, and the Board then adjourned.

Organic matter. Total. Ox idi: sable. College—A. Spring water from pipe 3-350 •206 B. Ksin water from roof 1/120 •080 City Supply—Summer average .. 2-440-•181 Winter average 2-050 •140 Well Water--Sydney-street 2050 •300 Hospital .. .. 5010 •228 Koof Water--Drip off aniron roof •410 •096 Kept In iron tank .. ■450 •300 Off shingle roof kept in a barrel ■'- 3-490 1176 —I have.&c •i ' L !