THE MASTERTON SCHOOL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10289, 18 July 1911, Page 5

THE MASTERTON SCHOOL.

AND THE AGRICULTURAL COURSE. ALLEGED SERIOUS REFLECTION. Messrs Hollings and Pragnell, solicitors', of Masterton, have addressed the following communication to the proprietor of the "Hutt and Petone Chronicle":—

"We have been consulted .by Mr W. H. Jackson, the Headmaster of the Masterton District High School, in regard to an article published in your newspaper of the Ist July, 1911, which casts a serious reflection upon him. and upon the istaff working under hiim .in the rural course of the Masterton District High. School. In your article you ejpecifioailly single out the Masterton School, for criticism, and in commenting upon the work carried 011 there, you say:

'The Masterton School i© not teaching agriculture. It is merely growing cabbages and tpotatoes. M is wasting the valuable hours of its childhood by (playing at farming.'

I This statement is. absolutely false, •and clearly bears itlhe construction that our cEe-nt, 'Mr Jackson, and the "staff".working under- him,, are. .either incapable of imparting the scientific principles of agriculture,for which the rural course as established, or that our client is gro&sly neglecting this duty, which he isi paid to discharge, and the children are suffering in. consequence. Whatever right you may have to comment upon the general system of rural instruction, you clearly have no right to single out oxir client's j school, and awake a false assertion 1 regarding it, which, reflect® upon him j and the teaming staff, and which is calculated to seriously damage our client's reputation as headmaster, having ithe control, supervision, and responsibility of the various branches of instruction, including the rural course, carried on there. Moreover, the whole of your article is juieleading and objectionable-, and has been compiled from improper" use of a communication made .by our olisnt to Mr Foster, the headmaster of the Petone District High School, (in answer to inquiries made by that fentleifian), which communication as been so distorted as to misrepresent our client' s attitude to the rural course, and improperly hold him out as an adverse emtio upon his own school, its staff, and its work. The objectionable words, which we have quoted in the second paragraph of this? lertter, Are undoubtedly a defamatory libel upon our iclient in his capacity of headmaster of tie Masterton School, and we are in- | structod iby him to demand a public retraction- of same, and an apol- | ogv for having published them, as well as a correction of the whole article published by you, so that our client s attitude * towards the rural course may be correctly set forth. The paragraph complained of has been copied into the Wairarapa Age, circulating in this district, and has subjected our client and his staff to a good deal of ridicule and annoyance.

The last mentioned newspaper has, at our client's request, corrected the article, and we trust you will recognise that it is your duty to do the same.

Our client will also expect, you to pay all legal expertises which he has (incurred in the-matter.

If you tare not prepared to ,comply -with our,-.-request, we are instructed tofortfomth issue a writ against you to recover damages for libel. We wall wait till the 17th inst. for your reply."

It is understood that the proprietor of the "Chronicle" has declined to apologise.