THE STANDARD. SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1873.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 31, 1 March 1873, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1873.

“ We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man j ustice or right: We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

The meeting which was held in the School-house on Thursday evening cannot but be regarded as an unqualified success. We say this in the face of the fact that not more than thirty persons were present at any time during the evening; and, as usual, very few took part in the proceedings. But this is nothing new in Gisborne, nor indeed, in other places, if we may take the conduct of the people of Auckland as an example. The number of heads at a meeting, generally speaking, is no reliable indication of the prevailing opinion, anent any public question before it; neither is the silence, nor noisy declamation, proof either of passive acquiescence, or extended opposition. In Auckland, during the passage of the Bill through the Council, not a word was said for or against it, except through editorial channels. Everyone seemed indifferent to, or satisfied with what was beingdone. So with ourselves ; we take the general acclaim of this meeting, although, perhaps, made by a minority of householders, to mean either that the people are satisfied with the Act as it is, or that, as is quite possible, they are very indifferent about school matters. We say this, advisedly, for the apathy of the people upon all public matters is notorious. Mr. Lusk; the School Inspector, Mr. O’Sullivan ; and Mr. Rice, were present, the former of whom, at the call of the meeting, lucidlv explained the working of the Act; and it will be seen by our necessarily condensed report that everything went off satisfactorily. A new committee was formed, and a special vote of thanks accorded to the Provincial

Secretary, who, in his capacity as a member of the Government succeeded in passing a liberal measure of education through the Council. It i» our purpose to publish the Education Act entire, a portion of which will be found in this morning’s issue; and we had intended writing at length in another direction on the subject, but must defer until our next.