The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1884. ,

Temuka Leader, Issue 1280, 20 December 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1884. ,

OURSELVES. : It is exactly three years to-day since thh present proprietor took possession of the Temuka Leader. It was then an enterprise in which few would have invested their money, and we must confess it was not without misgivings we entered upon the undertaking. At that time the colony was experiencing the depression very severely, and the paper did not look by any means a promising speculation. Friends advised us against such a risky step and predicted disastrous results, but we held firmly to the hope that limes would get bettor and we would succeed, We are glad to say that, we are not sorry for having dopended on our own judgement. In hoping that the depression was passing awav, however, wo wore mistaken. It has been (

ntensif'ying ever since, and times are worse now than ever they were since 1880. Still, notwithstanding this, we have succeeded in making the paper pay sufficiently well to compensate us for our labor. Three years ago only four persons were employed on it, now it employs eight hands., and the plant is four times more valuable than it was then. Looking back on the work of the last three years we find in it much that gives us pleasure. Our first efforts were directed towards the promotion of local industries. Day after day we advocated the development of our industrial resources, and about five months after our arrival a movement was set oh foot to establish a dairy factory. This was scarcely carried to a successful issue when the linseed industry was brought prominently before the public and taken up with enthusiasm, till at last it also became an accomplished fact. A very laudable spirit to emulate the good work going on in Temuka began to assert itself in Geraldine. The people of that town and district felt that they too ought to do something towards industrial development, but they realised they were at a disadvantage in not having a paper to advocate their cause, They saw that the Timaru papers paid no attention to their local affairs : that they completely disregarded local industries, and that so long as they put their faith in them the district would be neglected. A few of them who were subscribers of the Temuka Leader, noticing how earnestly it was working . for the district, suggested that efforts should be made to induce us to remove to Geraldine. A requisition embodying that idea was accordingly got up, and when it had received the signatures of about 200 persons it was delivered to us. We saw at once that Geraldine could not support a paper of its own, and so we hit upon the plan of issuing a paper from each place. The Geraldine people accepted our offer, and the Geraldine Guardian made its appearance on the 17th of April, 1883, an! the two papers have been running in harness together ever since. Exactly six uceks after the Geraldine Guardian was established a meeting was held in Geraldine to establish a dairy factory. Not one single word had the promoters to go upon except what they got out of the six-weeks-old paper, and on the strength of this they resolved to form a Company. Subsequent inquiries proved that the information was accurate, the Company was floated, and the industry is nowin full swing. Since then Town Boards and Young Men’s Clubs have been established in both towns, and thus one after another local institutions have been springing into existence. We do not claim to have been the means of bringing all these institutions into existence. We only claim that we did our best to promote them, that we never neglected an opportunity of lending a helping hand, and that thus we have faithfully fulfilled the end for which the papers have been established. In all probability other industries would have been started by this time only for the terrible depression from which the colony has been suffering, and the consequent want of money to invest in them. To this subject we have also directed attention. We went to some trouble and expense to place before the public the National Bank Scheme, and it is now one of the most popular ideas of the day. It has even found its way fnto Parliament, and Sir Julius Yogel has promised to inquire into it. In this wc have also done good ; because, even if nothing is done iu it, the effect of it will be that money-lenders will be more chary of charging an exorbitant rate of interest in future. Already the price of money has decreased, and it will be found that it will be some time again before interest will be so high as it has been for the past 12 months. The Koyal Commission in re the unemployed promised to give special prominence to our scheme for settling on the land, and we hope that that will also lead to some good results. These are the principal events with which wo have been identified for the past three years, and that we hare done our best to promote. If we lacked ability, we made up tor it in enthusiasm, and nothing that we advocated has failed so far. In making these remarks we do not wish to appear egotistical. Our object is to show that the paper has been useful to the district, and on that ground we ask for it increased support now that it is entering upon a fresh period of its existence. We feel confident we shall get it, and we promise that in return we shall,., always do our best to promote that tends to benefit this district.

THE TEMUKA DISTRICT HIGH \l SCHOOL. |lr John Wood bas severed bis conInection with the Temuka District High School. The Joss is not his, but the school’s. He has been in the school now a little over two years, and during that time he has endeared himself to everyone with whom he came in contact. He is undoubtedly a very capable teacher, and he combines with this tact and a gentleness of manner, and disposition that has secured for him not only the esteem, but the affection of the pupils and the teachers who assisted him, This has been made manifest by the fact that he bas been the recipient of two presentations within the last six months. His relations frith the School Committee were also of the most cordial nature. Indued, the Committee that would force a quarrel on him would have been as anxious for it as the man who was “ blue moulded for the want of a baitin’.” He leaves the school regretfully, yet of hie own free will. The

Board of Education somft time, ago passed a resolution to the effect that the head masters of District High Schools should be graduates of some University, and called upon Mr Wood to qualify himself for the position. It is not necessary for us to recount the indignation with which this was received in Temuka, as that is already well known. Mr Wood undertook to study so as to go up for examination, but he found that his health would not bear the strain put upon it by the work, and so when the Southbridge bchool became vacant he determined to sever his connection with the South Canterbury Board. Thus it is the Board of Education which has caused Mr Wood to leave the school, and without doubt they have done more harm than good. The school loses an excellent master in Mr Wood, and it will be very fortunate if his successor proves equal (o him. In a similar way the Board drove a good master out of another school, and pot a graduate in his place, and if we are rightly informed the result has been anything but satisfactory. We hope it will not be so with the Temuka school, but at the same time it is very doubtful whether a teacher so efficient as Mr Wood will be secured. *