The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1834.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1142, 21 February 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1834.

The meeting of representatives of School Committees recently held in Timaru was about as comical apiece ot li dodgery " as has come under our notice for a long time. It was convened by circular at the instigation of the Timaru School Committee, with the view of influencing the election of members to the three vacant seats on the Board of Education. The circular gave other reasons for convening the meeting, but those who look >calmly on, and know the manner of men that inspired the proceedings, can easily see through the motives that prompted the action taken. It was simply a selfseeking pisce of business on the part of

certain of the aspirants to a seat on the Education Board, an! if the trick proves successful education will not be i benefitted by it. To show that there was something behind the scenes which the promoters of this hole-and-corner meeting did not wish the public to see, j we have only to point out that the representatives of the Press were excluded. Why should this have been done ? Was not the meeting held ostensibly for the purpose of furthering the interests of education in South Canterbury, and if so, why sheuld not the public Press bo allowed to report the proceedings and let the public know what was going on. There could be no other subject discussed in which so many would be interested. The rich and the poor are alike interested in the advancement of education, and it is evident that these should know the why and the wherefore this meeting had been called, and what was done at it. The fact that this was deaied l'.,r.n is enough to show that some thimblerigging that would not bear light was going on. After' the meeting Mr Bruce, the Chairman, supplied the following report to the local newspapers :

Among the matters discussed was the establishment of District High Schools at Temuka and Waiinate, which was unanimously condemned as inexpedient at ! the present time, in view of the straitened | finances of the Board and the many unsatisfied claims of the smaller schools. The Board's treatment of the present masters of the Temuka and Waimate Schools was also condemned. The stinted doling out of funds to Committees for incidental purposes was contrasted with the extravagant payments to certain members of the Board for travelling expenses, and some strong remarks were made on this subject. After discussing the qualifications of the candidates nominated, it was resolved that each Committee should be asked to give its support to Messrs Bruce, McKerrow and Russell at the forthcoming election of members of the Board. Since then circulars have been sent to every school Committee in the district, intimating that the meeting had pledged itself to promote the election of three candidates, The following letter, which appears in the Timaru Herald, will cast still more light on the trickery that is being resorted to : TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMARU HERALD. Sir,—l am in receipt of a circular, dated the 12th inst., from the Chairman of the recent meeting; of Chairmen and members of School Committees, purporting to be a resume of the business transacted at the meeting, and I presume similar circulars will be, or have been, sent to various School Committees in South Canteibnry. As there appear to be some discrepancies in that circular which are calculated to mislead, I think it my duty (as one who was present and took part in some of the proceedings) to point out the errors referred to, for the benefit of whom it may concern. The circular states that 'A well attended meeting of Chairmen and members of School Committees from all parts of South Canterbury was held,' etc. As there are 40 school districts in South Canterbury, and not half that number were present at the meeting (including members as well as Chairmen from several Committees) I cannot subscribe to the correctness of that statement. I believe seventeen was the highest number present during the evening. Another grave discrepancy occurs as follows : ' The meeting also agreed unanimously that every effort should be made to return James Bruce, John Craig, McKerrow, and George Gray Russell to the Board from the six nominations.' The following is, as near as I can remember, a record of what took place : After spending a considerable time in not very creditable discussion over the elections to the Board of Education, the meeting balloted for the respective candidates, and Messrs Bruce, McKerrow and Russell obtained the highest namber. A resolution was then proposed binding the meeting to do its utmost to secure the return of the gentlemen just named. On being put it was declared ' carried unanimously,' but as a matter of fact, only a portion of those present voted in its favor, the others did not vote either way. Several country members had left the meeting previously, and some seeing the result of the ballot left before the resolution was put, so that on the whole the meeting cannot be considered as fairly representative or its conclusions fairly unanimous. —1 am, etc., Geo. Butler. Pleasant Point, Feb. 18th. Mr Butler deserves the thanks of the district for bis exposure of this Starchamber business, If any doubt existed as to the motives which actuated the promoters of this meeting Mr Butler's letter must remove it, as he shows quite plainly that the attendance was meagre, and that Messrs Bruce, McKerrow and Russell were not so unanimously supported as the circular sent round represented. It is clear to us that the object was to get these gentlemen elected in order that the Timam School Committee would hare undue representation on the Board'. Amongst the matters brought forward to hide the main object in view were the Temuka and Waimate High schools, and these were condemned. The Timaru people at any rate ought not begrudge this small modicum of justice to Temuka. Timaru is one of the most pampered towns in New Zealand as regards education. It has a first-class elementary school, which

owing to its being at the seat of the Board has had more than ordinary care bestowed upon it, and it has two High Schools with about £40,000 of aa endowment. With its interests so well looked after it seems little short of impertinence on the part of the Timaru Committee to begrudge Temuka the privilege of its inhabitants having to pay fees for secondary education. In reality it is nothing more, for the Board of Education contributes very little more towards the support of tha High school than it did before. The whole thing is nothing more nor less than an effort to bamboozle the School Com mittees into electing Messrs Bruce, McKerrow and Russell, but it is to be hoped that these bodies will see through all this and will return men on whom 1 they can rely. At any rate it is the interest of Committees in this district to vote against them. They are in reality the nominees of the Timaru School Committee, and as these would undoubtedly be' antagonistic to the country schools we should strongly recommend all Committees in this district to vote for the members nominated by the Temuka Committee.