THE RECENT ELECTION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 150, 21 December 1911, Page 7

THE RECENT ELECTION

THE MANGAHUME INCIDENT. SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S ACTION CONFIRMED, At the meeting of the Education Board yesterday the refusal of the Mangahume School Committee to allow the use of the schoolroom to the Hon. T. Mackenzie for the purpose of giving a political ad-' dress during the recent campaign for the Eginont seat was discussed. The matter was introduced by a letter from Mr. W. F. Coombridge, chairman of the committee, in which' he stated that at a meeting of the 12th inst. the committee discussed the undeserved criticism contained in a South Taranaki paper of November 27, a copy of which he forwarded. The committee then unanimously and unreservedly confirmed the action taken by the chairman. Mr. Rickard, in moving, said: ''ln face of the law and the Board's regulation, he did not see how the chairman in doing his duty could have done otherwise." On the motion of Messrs Cox and Warner, it was resolved that the committee respectfully ask the Board to endorse the chairman's action. His authority, he stated, was contained not only in the Board's regulations, but also in "Parliamentary Electoral Law, 1008," section 112, which states: "Any candidate at an election may, for the purpose of holding public meetings of electors for electoral purposes during the period of ail election, use free of charge any suitable room in any primary school, after the ordinary school hours." He forwarded the papers in connection with the Mangahume incident. The secretary read the correspondence in the southern paper on the matter, and also a letter from Mr. Coombridge to the Hon. T. Mackenzie in the Opunake paper, in which, inter alia, Mr. Coombridge stated: "We never received any direct communication from your committee. at Opunake, hut a letter was addressed to the mistress, asking her to make arrangements with the chairman about closing tho school 011 Friday afternoon for a political address. There was not even p. suggestion that von de.sired, in your official capacity, to address the children. Had this been mentioned, the committee would have been only too pleased to welcome you." After quoting the regulation, the letter continued: "The school was not refused*, but my letter was only a communication to show your committee that we had no authority to close the school during school hours for a political address. I wrote to the secretary telling him that we should be pleased to place the school at your disposal during school hours. There was not the slightest personal feeling towards you at all. ... In

conclusion, I trust you will see that unless the Board sanctions the closing of a school during school hours to allow candidates to give political addresses the committee could not act differently." Mr. Kennedy thought that the apology was due to the school committee from tlio South Taranaki paper. The chairman of the committee was not refusing the Minister of Education but a candidate, and thej' had no right to break up tlie school routine for any candidate, whether Mr. Dive or Mr. Mackenzie. Provision was made for such meetings being held after school hours. Rev. MeArthur remarked that Mr. Coombridge had informed him that there was nothing personal in the matter, bu> lie was merely acting in accordance with the laws governing committees.

Mr. Halcombe thought- Mr. Mackenzie's committee was to blame. They hail been ofl'ered the building after school hours. There was 110 political feeling in the matter, and it was the duly of the Board to uphold the committee. They could not have school duties broken up in this way. It did not alter the case one little bit that the candidate was the Minister of Education, lie was refused the school only during school hours, and if ho could not take the trouble to make his engagements fit it, it was his own fault. ;

The chairman .said that tlie Jaw wag sufficiently clear. Mr. Mackenzie was not there as Minister of Education, but as a candidate for :in election. If lie could not have, arranged his address at a suitable time he should have found some other place. A candidate in the Stratford electorate had held his meeting in a shelter shed for the same reason. That candidate had as much right to demand the school as had the Minister of Education. [ Mr. Adlam endorsed this. It was resolved, on the motion of Messrs Kennedy and the chairman, that the action of the committee in refusing to allow the Hon. T. Mackenzie, a Parliamentary candidate for the Egmont electoral district, to use the Mangalmnic school for an election address during school hours be; approved.