Wanganui Chronicle AND PETEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1879.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 4056, 2 June 1879, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PETEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1879.

That the Wanganui Board of Education his, since its formation, done a considerable '"aifffiunt of useful work, will be acknowledged by all who take an interest in educational questions. That the gentlemen who have held, as well as those who now hold office in it, are men pf'hijjh character and no mean ability, will be disputed by none who know any,'thing qf them.y fMuch valuable«time was pesjtowed in getting the raachiIn'eVy'bf the Boari! inio working order and ith'e 'conduct of the business since has required a considerable expenditure of time and attention, both of which wfe are confident has been - bestowed, not only 'ungrudgingly, ; bfli j w%%\ki ih& purest motives. ; That during the first yjear of the Board's, existence mistakes ,were fnot seldom made surprised no one,, .^Ejrgn the most sanguine could scarcely have* expected the Board to have.reachod, while yet in its infancy, the perfect administration which is the result,' njdt.of knowledge merely, but of lengthened experience. True, some; of the members had had previous experience, calculated to peculiqrly fit them for the position, but the iriajority were new to tho work, which ta'ay account for the fact that the Board's career has be?n marked at frequent intervals by errors of judgment, and by ill ■ digested, half - considered measures, followed by the revocation thereof when experience had taught the jesson which reason had failed to suggest. The members- have, in many instauces, show.h a commendable disposition to rectify blunders, and as far* '.as possible taatbrie for hurried legislation by subsequent fletion. Notably so in the ensp of the Kees Bequest, which had nearly been diverted from the purpose for which it was originally designed, and lost to the' poor, solely because the subject was not, when firsj; introduced, intelligently considered in aU its bearings. The necessity tor these retrograde movements has been matter for regret, alhough until recently "rio serious results have accrued 'from' the hasty resolutions which them necessary. The latest instance of the kind, however, has been the means of inflicting a hardship upon one. of^the; Board's most promising scholar's, an.d of indirectly causing a large nniount of 'mental suffering to an honor-able''arid','high-minded gentleman. As will be seen,' we allude to the recent deuision.witb 'regard ■ to the eligibility of Murdo Itosa in the competition for a scholarship in March last. To show liow,-;io. the endeavour to repair an error, the Board have inflicted a wrong, we will refer to the January meeting of that body^ and take our coiitemporary'e report, it-being on that occasibn fuller than our own. We find, then, that the Inspector having reported that the only candidate under ten years, at the JanuaTy examination had failed to wjn a Hcholarship, it. : whb, proposed by . Mr Dalrymple, and se'eouded by Mr Fox, "That the two vacant scholarships be competed for' by all children in the Board's schools, under ten years of age." Messrs Duthie, Sanson, and Wil'iatns strenuously opposed this, the first-named moving an. amendment, which we find from our contemporary's report was supported by the Rev Mr Eoss. The amendment was lost, and another ironae-" diatoly moved by Mr Sanson. This was also . lost ; Mensrs Watt, Dalrymple, Fox, Peake, and Jones opposing in both instances. The original motion was then carried. It will be seen, therefore, that the throwing open of the scholarships to all scholers under ten, was not ! carried, without a prolonged struggle. At that period a good deal of warm personal feeling was too frequently imported into the discussions, and this may account for the Board's having apparently lost sight of the fact that, however willing, they did not possess the power to set aside_ the regulations, and throw the competition open . -to all scholars under ten. This does not even appear to have occurred, to tho opponents of the measure. Acting upon the 'resolution, tho Inspector subsequently sent circulars, enclosing it, to the : teachers, the result being that thirteen candidates were sent forward. Among them was • Master Murdo Ross, sent on by Mr Williamson, teacher of the Turakina school, which the boy 'Had attended for close on five years.' "Master Eosa being far ahead of all other competitors, was awarded a scholarship, which it has now been decided he .should never have been allowed to compete, for, he not having passed a previous examination, ili* retention'of it was petitioned against at the ApYir Tneeting of the Board, but consideration of the subject was, with the Eev Mr Ebss's consent,, postponed for another month, in order that it might be discussed by a full meeting. The question was, therefore, left undecided for two months, during which the.iboy'si father was made to pay dearly for the Board's mistake, his character being assailed with fiendish malignity, his honor impugned, and his honesty challenged, while his cowardly detractors shrank not from deliberate perversion of the truth, in their despicable endeavours to bring him into contempt. Xhe head and point of Mr Eoss' offending was that he 'failed to warn his 'son's' teacher against placing any reliance ! uoon the Board's decision, and thut he, himself a member of the Board, failed -tQ>see that they had' undertaken more tjton they: qould carry out, , His conduct froni first to last has bpen irreproachable. Having reluctantly consented to allow, his. son to enter tbe.Jistj, which' it was ' supposed the Board's resolution had thrown open, he at the .first*: protest, signified to the Biard his anxiety for inquiry into the matter, and by no single aot or speech, until if was finally decided, did he even imply a, wish to contest the question, the misrepresentations , of his enemies' to the contrary notwithstanding. The rstatements which have been promulgated ; regarding his supposed intentioiiß had their origin onl/'-in" the , .diseased imaginations: of those to whom the work of :b]ack,ening a reputation is a congenial task. What we wieh to point out is, that all;

the heart-burning which this affair has caused might have been avoided had the Board given the question before them in January that earnest attention it deserved, and had they then been careful to frame a resolution about which there \could have been no misconception. We VjHnnot but agree wiih the Chairman, that the nmtake having undoubtedly arisen with the Board, the saddle should hare beenput upon the right horse. How the question would have been decided had the constitution of the Board remained unaltered, it is to say, but in the absence of all the old members, save one, of those who carried the measure, the newly elected members took upon themselves to decide in opposition to a resoluof their predecessors, and thus passed a severe vote of censure on them, though saying at the Bame time that they hold the Board, as such, blameless. We trust the lesson taught by this affair will not be 'lost, but that in future the Board will give the questions which come before them such a measure of patient, intelligent attention, as shall make blunders such as the one we have been considering impossible.