The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1886. THE NORTH WAIRARAPA BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2450, 12 November 1886, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1886. THE NORTH WAIRARAPA BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

e ....,...» At the late meeting of the North Wsi--0 rarapa Benevolent Sooiety, it was rei. ported thufc at the instance of the <* Society an order of tho Resident Magistrate to commit certain destitute y children to an Industrial School had 1 been suspended for four months. We are not sufficiently acquainted with the * cirourostances of tho case which called forth this somewhat singular mterven- . tion on thepartof the Society, by which it has apparently undertaken a very grave responsibility -to express a very decided opinion on this, action. We may, however, fairly assume that the condition of . the children justified committal to the Industrial School, / and from what we hear they would D have been better situated thero than they are at present, if, aH is averted, some of them are.now occupied in the not very educational occupation of 3 oolleoting old bottles and other " unconsidered trifles" about the town. 1 We were, however, somewhat more than surprised, to loam that the Society had not only provided for the board and clothing of these children but was also paying a contribution of five shillings per week for their education at the Catholio school. The funda } at the disposal of the Society are derived from the Government subsidies and private subscriptions, It would .be absurd to think for a moment that the Government: d while making educational provision for all children in the State Schools would in any way sanction the expendi- * ture of a single sixpence of their money - at a denominational establishment. It J is equally absurd to suppose;that eub- !_ scribers to the Society would permit j their subscriptions to be expended on education. The True-

j tees of tlio Society kve apparently been somewhat iiulisereet According to the published ivport the guarantee of.uchool fees was made by their Secretary, and they, though questioning the expediency of the course of action adopted by him, endorsed it, The Society is, therefore, to all intents and purposes, oxpending its subscriptions and Government money on denominational education, and it has absolutely strained a point to keep children from a recognised State School in the first instance, and then stretched a bigger point to supply them with denominational instruction in the second. We have no desire to criticise severely the action of the Trustees of the Society, 8B we are aware that they have to perform a delicate, difficult, and thankless task in dealing with cases of distress and poverty, and there is abundant evidence .that their aduiinistrattoria's in many instances been attended with the best results, We are also, es we said before, not posted up in the details of the case sufficiently to understand tho reasons that have induced them to reßort to Buch decidedly novel expedients as protesting against the decision of a Resident Magistrate, and introducing a red rag like denoroinationalism into their programme, Wo can, however, sea plainly enough that tho reports of such transactions unless fortified by explanations which are not as yet forthcoming, will injure the Society in the opinion of the public. Tho error which Benevolent Societies usually fall into, especially when thoy have a credit balance, is in the direction of allowing their humanitarian sympathies to get the better of their judgment, Whether this has been the case in tho present instance or not we cannot say, but in the interests of a Society whioh is of admitted value in a town the size of Masterton, we trust it will not again come forward as a " Deus ex machina," to revise Magistrates orders and provide denominaltional education at the expense of its subscribers and of the Government.