Stratford News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 134, 28 November 1911, Page 3

Stratford News.

VISIT OF THE PRIME MINISTER. SIR .JOSEPH WARD. THE NEW STRATFORD DISTRICT lIICH SCHOOL. "WELL AND TRULY LAID." Monday, November 27. Sir Joseph Ward, Bart., Prime Minister of the Dominion, accompanied by Lady Ward and Miss Eileen Ward, passed through Stratford this morning by the mail train for Ifa'wera, and were met by several of the burgesses. They returned bv the afternoon train, which was late in arriving, ant! by that time there was a

IRTG CROWD AT THE STATION. So much so that it was with -difficulty that one could move from one end of the platform to the other. Sir Joseph and party were received by His Worship the Mayor. Mr, J. Masters, and with him were Mr. C. D. Sole, chairman of the Stratford District High School Committee, several of the borough councillors and school committeemen The Mayor, on behalf of the citizens, expressed his pleasure at welcoming Sir Joseph once more to Stratford, and assured him of their appreciation of his good work in the Old La ml on 'behalf of this Dominion and other dependencies of Britain. He had represented New Zealand in an able niul statesmanlike manner, lie concluded a brief speech by again extending to the Prime Minister it warm welcome, and trusting that his stay in Stratford would be a pleas- j ant, one.

The Prime Minister • briefly thanked Mr. Masters for the cordial welcome and for the appreciation of the work he had tried to do on behalf of this Dominion at the Imperial Conference. This appreciation was all the-more pleasurable because now and again they found men •who endeavored to deprecate the value of the work that had been done 011 < that historical occasion. Owing to the discussions at that conference, people I'i.OOrt miles away had been impressed with the fact that, there were hearts in the overseas dominions heating in unison with those in the Oh} World, and they had learned something of our loyalty and of what the resolute people of these young dominions were prepared to do. We in this country bad gained most of our knowledge from those pioneers from the Old Land, aiid now they in turri conld -see that they were fifty years behind us in progress and advancement.) It still seemed to W lWessarv to the people of England .to maintain those vast areas for deer-stalking, which in New Zealand would, under our advanced legislation, be cut up and made available for. settlement.- TWre was not much in which New Zealand lagged behind. and he was satisfied, that people of this country bad much to be proud of. ' Cheers were given for Sir Joseph and Lady Ward, and for .the Mayor. NO DEPUTATIONS. The Premier adhered to the rule established at the commencement of the tour, and said he could not receive deputations.

' AT THE DTSTRTCT HIGH SCHOOL. A SUCCESSFUL INUNCTION. Every post in the scaffolding of the new building in course of construction seemed to have b.crij utilised as a flagstaff. and the seem l was siaY with bunting when the Prune Minister and party arrived at the Stratford District High School grounds to lay the foundation stone of the new brick, building to re ; place that destroyed bv fire a few '■months ago. Tim. Stratford Municipal Brass Band, -under Bandmaster Henderson. enlivened the 'proceedings. A dais ha 4 been constructed 011 the northern 'aspect of the building, and here the official partv was seated. Among those present 011 the platform were Sir Joseph Ward. Bart,. T.adv Wa-rd. Miss-Ward. (Mr, H. Trimble (chairman of the Taranaki Education Board). Messrs. Kennedy and Rogers (members), and P. S. Whitcombe (secretary): Mr. .T.B. Hine, M.P.. Mr; C. D. Sole (chairman of the school committee). 'Mr. T. IT. Pcnn (its secretary), and several members, the Mayor of Stratford, the chairman of the Stratford County Council, Mr. F. T. Trver (headmaster of ilie , Stratford District High School), ministers of religion, and other leading citizens. During,tbi' progress of -t\Te ceremony, two little girls. Misses Sidney Sole and Max Skoglnnd. presented pretty bouquets to Ladv and Jli=.« Ward respectively. The bouquets were made and presented by Mrs. F. Arden. of Stratford. The first speaker was Mr. Sole, who briefly stated that, thev were there at the request. °f " |n Taranaki F.ducation Board to lay til's foundation stone. The Mayor ato in extended to the Prirtie Minister - - partv a welcome to Stratford. Thev realised that be must have made great sacrifices to enable him to be with ihem at this busy time —(Hear, hear)— and this showed that he had the interests ~f Stratford and its young people at leti't. He expressed the gratitude" of the citizens 'to the Education Depart ni' 'if for their promptness in proceeding with this fine building, but wished that lit" THwrtimmt had ;.,ine one belter and 1 :1 (lie whole instead of leaviirr tic "ii" wing standing in wood. W!i«"i J-- r' l ca-me again he would prrilnil-'v -f np : nion that the old wooden lmil'i"'- was an evesore. and would wish it 11 1'! !"'!•« rebuilt in brick. But still the i"'"" 1 " recognise that thev "'it a iroe.i' -V:"" 111 e good things that, were iroin"'. 1 1 '' : i'' "f the de\ rt-

opment- of our '•' ,f "U system. Mr. Masters said ?• «v- very long

-incc Hi' 1 wor 1 ii"- v-on bail ih> chance of uetti!'"- '>• ' the pick and •-liovcl (Hear. ''-'it now thinghad altered, ami «V "vr man's son had just as ee."! .rl'initics as the rich man's son '' ' V.iisclf for lush positions in the i-.-M"'- service and in commercial life. l>> 1 ; Stiathad not 1; ' l'dond. but- bail til'en hol'l fVrrnl Tlik 1 1 onl. nnrt wi- Mill Innii'r.' < wlin woio ;t credit to I lie Imv.. 1 a credit to the schoolmaster, m-ar. V He knew of no town wV.-li - 1 its l»>vs l.ctter. Then. I 'o the Premier. ~sked him i' ' ' 1 p veil scell a

]njiiiliie!". dr.- ■ '' 'hiMron in all his travels. n .p:-! Vv :!.a1 v,;-- peeled with nnnlanse. Mr AY. Uni!::<vchairman of 111" «;tvs>tfovil fiMinlv r.»im-n. his first anpparanre in imlT:- in that capacity, ami cnnftratnlsi'H W i.H ford "n this ,Icpnrhirc from the vimden Imildim; system which had in his own day replaced

From Our Resident Reporter.

the "tent and fly." He regretted that the building was not bigger, for in a few years the Stratford-Kaponga-Opu-nake railway would be an accomplished fact, and such was the reputation of Mr. Tyrer as a teacher that there would then be a very big increase in the attendance. (A voice: From Opunake?) Yes, from Opunake, too. He reminded those present that only twenty or thirty years ago Stratford was in ' the midst of standing hush. But they had progressed, and in this connection they had a lot to thank the Government for. Certainly they had helped themselves, but without the Government's assistance they would still have been in the mud. (Cheers.)

Mr. 11. Trimble, chairman of the Education Board, was proud to be at the ceremony attending the laying of the foundation stone of the first primary school erected in brick in Taranaki. He remarked that the plan of the building had been prepared by the Education Department, and was disapproved of by the Board's architects, but when they found that it met with the requirements of Mr. Tyrer, who was recognised as one of the best teachers in the Dominion, all objections were waived. He hoped it would not be long before the Premier would be hf're again to lay the foundation stone of another school. The time would soon come when they must separate the primary from the secondary School, for Stratford was destined to become the centre of education for the whole of Taranaki.

Mr. J. B. Hint, who was until the issue of the writs M.P. for Stratford, said it gave him great pleasure, now that Parliament had closed, to stand on the same' platform as Sir Joseph Ward, and to meet him on such friendly terms and on such a level footing. He trusted that, after looking at the children assembled here. Sir Joseph would dismiss from his mind any visions he might have had of child slavery in Taranaki. (A voice: No politics. Jack.) There was 110 white, slavery in Taranaki. He was eager, as they were all eager, to defend the reputation of Taranaki in this respefet, for they were justly proud of their children.

Mr. Sole then presented the Premier' with a handsome mallet and trowel with which to lav the stone.

Sir Joseph was greeted with loud cheering. He was glad, life said, to be present at this important function, and congratulated those in tharge of the arrangements in seeing that the weather behaved itself.' (Laughter.) ' He would disabuse Mr. Hine's mind of any suspicion 'that he had ever regarded Taranaki's children as slaves or their parents as being the sort of people likely to treat their children except as they should be treated. He was proud to be able to confirm what had been said' con-* eehiing the children present. In begging a holiday for the children on the morrow he said he did it with a view of fixing this day ami this function in the minds of the men and women of the future, who would in turn be entrusted with the management of our public life.

This school was. to-cost £3500, he said, and he was pleased to see the fine spirit exhibited by the men connected with it, who were already, on the day. of the laying of the foundation stone, calling out for more, asking for the demolition of a wooden 'building, separation of primary and secondary schools, and so on, all looking ahead! The Government fully recognised its duty in providing money for the carrying out of the work of. education, and he felt sure that when the population demanded these extra .conveniences the money would be .forthcoming. No barm could be .done, be sjiid, smiling, by .putting in it word now, as some of the speakers, had done. .

Reviewing the education system of tne Dominion, he said it was free, secular, and compulsory. Last year New 1 Zealand had "2090 public.schools for ele,mentary education, with a,roll number of lf>4.7's(i, and an average .attendance of '1*5.738. an increase of 2903 over, the attendance of the. previous year. Xew Zealand's children passed the standard of exemption (Standard V) at an averago of i.'i years. But the standard of exemption was. to be raised to.Standard VI as from. January 1, 1012. New Zealand supplied free, school .books to children attending the public elementary schools, aud also issued monthly, free of cost, a School Journal, in three parts. Xew Zealand, gave free passes on the railways to children travelling to attend school. Where there was no railway, an allowance was made, for conveyance by vehicle, or ferrying,, or for board of pupils in the vicinity of a school. Xew Zealands system of public school cadets gave a training in military and physical drill, but the school cadets, he would explain, had nothing to do with the defence scheme, and . the senior cadets were under no obligation to go into camp with the Territorials. The training in the cadets, however, was of great, value to the boys in after life. Sir Joseph remarked that the Xew Zealand public elementary schools had a staff of 370S teachers, of whom 1450 were men aud 22,12 women. The average salary paid to a man was £2Ol 2s Sd, and to a woman £123 Is liOd, though the scale of salaries was the same for men and women. He referred to the .four training colleges for .the training of public school teachers, there being 380 students in attendanoe last year. The examination and classification of teachers, assistance to uncertificated teachers in outlying districts to obtain full qualification. superannuation, for teachers, were briefly mentioned. The Prime Minister spoke of the widely extended system of manual and technical instruction in its public elementary schools and secondary schools. Onr system of secondary education provided for thirty-one high schools or colleges, and a large number (01 ill 1«10) of secondary classes in connection' with the public elementary schools. The system of scholarships and tiee places provided free secondary (iuchiiliug technical) education for nearly SCilO pupils in 1010. and the number of siinVnts attending our four university colleges in l'.llf) was 1 (>IM. In 1011 the university conferred degrees on 140 students. the subjects of the degrees including arts, science, law. medicine and engineering. He mentioned the system by which "the Xew Zealand Education Department established village schools for Maoris whenever required, and said that in 1010 there were 0!) of these. There were now 8003 Maori ami halfcasto children attending the Maori village schools and the public elementary schools of the. Dominion. The head teachers of the village schools were paid salaries on the same scale as the head teachers o£ the elementary puhliei schools. There were in the Dominion j nine boarding schools for the higher education of Maori children, at which 37S

pupils were resident in 1010. Then there were the institutions for the deaf, the blind, and backward children, for the maintain nee and education of destitute, niglectid, and vicious children, while there was also the valuable work done m the protection of infant life. The Aew Zealand Education Department in the year ending March 31, 19L1, cost the Dominion £1,083,W00, equal to £1 0s 8d per head of population. New Zealand had a national endowment of nine million acres for education and old a"e pensions, from the proceeds of which 70 per cent, was devoted to education. For the specific purposes of various educational institutions there were also reserves to the extent of nearly two million acres, of a total value of nearly ■C3,000,000, and the revenue received from these reserves in the year ending March 31, 1011, was £149,000. They would thus | )e able to realise the nieadth of the education system. Sir Joseph said he was glad to be able to repeat the remark of Hon. G. Fowlds, at the time Minister of Education, who had had it from an. official high in the public service, that tho Strati rd District High School was doing son .• of the best work in the Dominion. (Cheers.) This was the first school in the Dominion to take up rural education, and it must be gratifying to the authorities here that it had 'been instituted in so many places since. Concluding, Sir Joseph Ward said he hoped thatthose responsible for the building which was now being commenced under such happy auspices would before long again assemble to see extensions rendered necessary by the growth and development of the town of Stratford and the district surrounding it.

Sir Joseph then superintended the .lowering of the stone into position, plumbed it, and levelled it, gave it a reassuring tap with his highly ornamental and historic mallet, and' declared it to be "well and truly laid." amidst loud cheers.

Cheers for the building and its success were given on the call of the Premier, and these were followed by cheers for Sir Joseph and Lady Ward," after which the eight or nine hundred people dispersed,

The' excellent arrangements made by Mr. C. D. Sole and the committee for the function were the subject of much comment.

BTRATFORD ELECTRIC LIGHT. To the Editor. Sir, —Your correspondent "Progress" may put his mind to rest. The ratepayers of Stratford tire so singularly blind to tlteir own interests that so far as can be gathered from conversations overheard at street corners, they really do not see that their interests will be best advanced by taking over, at what they consider an extravagantly high figure, an obsolete plant. Such obtusiveness must, I am sure, be painful to "Progress." Would you, sir, convey to "Progress" our most hearty sympathy. The in ill! that has an old crock or a cow with two or more blind teats for sale and cannot get about three times the value of these animals deserves the sympathy pf all right minded men, and if "Progress" had put his real name to his letter, Would, 110 doubt, be often applied to such. "Progress" is really to be complimented. He can see a great deal more in the electric light than anybody else can. Josh Billings says, "Love is blind; but show me the mun that does not see more in his'girl than anybody else canf" Does the electric light in any to "[Progress?"—l am, etc., " BRIGHT EYES.

LADY WARD ASTD MISS EILEEN WARD. (By "Eileen.") Lady Ward, accompanied by Miss Eileen Wand, were the guests of the school committee at afternoon tea at the County Hotel this afternoon. The drawing room was tastefully arranged and a dliinty afternoon tea was provided.. Mrs. Sole, wife of the chairman of Stratford! school committee, assisted-by' Mrs.' T. Ilarry Penn, dispensed tea, which was greatly appreciated by the tired traveil«rsv . ■ ' I

I>ady Ward, who was .looking partieuIrlv well, wore a smart tailored costume of navy serge, heavily braided witi black silk braid, navy hat trimmed witlf large 'how of navy glassy silk and pint shaded roses, and a handsome fur. Miss Ward wore an extremely smaf* black and white check costume, large putty straw hat, trimmed with saxe blue silk, pretty blue ostrich boa. Mrs. J. Harry Penn, smart blue costume, black hat with lovely ostrich leathers.

Mrs. Sole, smartly gowned in grey costume, pretty toque, .with -touches of violet, large lace scarf." Mrs. Cameron, bottle green tailored costume, dainty black jet toque. Mrs. Smart, black costume, cream vest, navy silk toque. Sirs. Metson, black silk voile skirt, creame blouso, putty straw hat, trimmed with black and white ribbon bows.

Mrs. McClugguge, grey Sicilian costume, large "Maud lialiiday' hat, with hand painted scarf. ■ Miss Myrtle Masters, cream" frock, pretty cream hat, trimmed with blue forget-me-nots.

Mrs. Birss, striped costume, black hat. llev, Metson, Messrs. Penn, Sole, and McC'luggage were also present. ■An apology was received from Mrs. Iline, who was unavoidably absent.

> GEXEIIAL X'EWS. During the course of his speech yes-, terdiay at Stratford, the Premier said it was useless for the educational authorities to tell him the "children were having a holiday, for they were not, and he took this opportunity .of asking for a full holiday for them on. the morrow, tsilg about cheering? You should have heard those youngsters let i't go. And ■ then Mr. 'Sole had a chat with someone at the hack of the platform, said something in a low tone to Sir Joseph, and the latter announced the success of his appeal. The lirst cheers were a fool to this set. The youngsters were overjoyed. Mr, Geo. Mcßain, who has been ill in the hospital with appendicitis, is, 1 am glad; to say, about again, and picking up splendidly. -Mr. M'assey,. accountant -at the Bank of Australasia in Stratford, is to be promoted to the managership, the local manager having been promoted to Masterton. Mr. Mit&sey is-at present actingmanager at Waverley. The local branch of the W.C.T.U. is to have a "rest" tent for ladies at the show on both days. This will be appreciated by ladies and children. The A. and P. Association aJ-o appreciate its value, and are providing aud setting up the tint.