CHAIRMAN ABSOLVED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8744, 18 December 1913, Page 2

CHAIRMAN ABSOLVED.

THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL |'NCIb;ENT.

AN APOLOGY ACCEPTED

In connection with the incident which 1 took place at the monthly meeting of the Board of Managers of the Ashburton Technical Classes Association on 'Friday last, relative to an alleged disturbance at the annual l "breaking-up" ceremony, a special meeting of the Board, called by.the chairman, was held yesterday afternoon. There were present :—Messrs H. Davis (chairman). J. Tucker, J. B. Borthwick, T. Mawson, C: Reid, R. A. Collins, W. F. Watters, T. Hayes, and J. B. Christian. An apology for absence was received from Mr VV. H. Collins. The Chairman said that all the members knew the reason why he had called a special meeting and he would like to say that he had called it as early as possible. He had made his former statement in all good faith, believing it to be true. He had nothing against the parties. The disturbances had occurred—that could not be denied. He had not been able to see all thai had taken place, but he had been struck twice by cakes which were being thrown about. He had m-en hit at the back of the head, and some of the cake had fallen- down His back and had made him very uncomfortable. He had called the present meeting to apologise for what lie had! said to the members of the Board, and he had to admit thr 4 he had made a mistake, although it was not his own fault. His injformant— Mr Hayes here rose and moved that the matter should be taken in committee. To this the chairman objected, and said that he wished all due prominence to be given to the matter. He had asked the Director to inform the Press of the meeting. Continuing, the chairman said tl--the trouble would not have b-in caused if he had been a little rr-ore cautious. But he had made a mistake, and he wished to withdraw his words in a straightforward and open manner. He had made the statement at the previous meeting so that the headmasters could try to" put a stop to such behaviour if possible. That' had been his sole reason. He had been a member of the High School Board" for many years, and had attended on every possible occasion. He had the welfare of the school at heart as much as a.ny other member. What he had said he had firmly believed to be true, or else he would not have said anything about it. He also thought that his informant had. told him the name of the alleged offender in all good faith, and. was certain of what he was saying, i He was very sorry that he had men-1 tioned the name of the boy, but it was i not his, fault. He had not known half , a dozen boys in _the school, that night. He had taken this early opportunity of apologising to the members of the Board for his action, although, he was not afraid of any consequences. If any man made a statement which he subsequently found to be wrong he should j acknowledging his fault in an open i and honest way. He intended to resign Ws a member of the Board, but he had been advised not to do so. Such an action would be cowardly. He was sorry, and he regretted his action, and he apologised,. freely. After the,chairman's explanation, he called upon Mr Tucker to speak. Mr Tucker said that the chairman should have made sure of fyis facte. He (Mr Tucker) had been much annoyed at the time, and had, as a matter of fact, to sit down for some time before he could get cool, especially when the boy mentioned had not been there at all. He moved: "That the Board accept the chairman's explanation and apology, and that it is regrettable that the statement was made." He thought the High School Board would endorse the motion. The Chairman asked Mr Tucker if lie had ever known him (Mr Davis) to say anything against the High School. Mr Tucker said that he had hot, but added,that some public men had been taking too many things for granted, and unpleasantness resulted as a consequence. Mr Hayes also spoke. He agreed with'the motion that the apology be accepted, but they had no power to act for the High School in the matter. Mr Reid, who seconded the motion, said that the only thing to do was to accept the apology. There was no doubt misconduct had been going on, and they should do their best to find out who the guilty boy was. The chairman had, made a grave ' mistake, but the apology, he said, should be accepted. He thought that the High School Board, members would also accept the apology. Mr Tucker said he thought that after the apology the members of the High School Board would not trouble further about the matter. As chairman of the High School Board, he thought the matter would be finished with after the apology. Mr Christian agreed with Mr Hayes that the High School Board should not be included in the motion. . Personally, he was willing to accept the chairman's explanation as a member of the Technical Classes Association, but as one interested in the High School he felt the regrettable incident deeply. As a member of the Technical Classes Association he .was willing to accept Mr Davis's apology, and to congratulate him upon it. Mr J. Tucker said he had spoken as a member of the Technical Classes Association and 'not as a member of the High School Board. . Mr Watters said he thought that tho apology should be accepted. He had felt the, position caused by the chairman's charge keenly, especially when the name had been mentioned. When he heard the name mentioned, he had taken the full responsibility of denying the statement, as he knew ,it :was impossible for the boy named to be guilty of such a thing. ,It had been mentioned about the High School sticking to their own. They would always stick to their own, and had reason to be proud of the conduct of the pupils. The chairman's informant had said, when questioned, that he did not know the boy, but that someone had told him that the boy who had offended had his name on the High School Honours Board. An institution like the High School took a long time to build up, and statements like that made by the chairman had a very bad effect. In the ease of a. boy going out into the world, like the hcxv mentioned, it was a fearful tiling to say about him, and it might set his career back for years '. He (Mr Waiters) was prepared to accept tho apology. Mr' Bavis's informant .was' as muoh to blame as himself. After the cbnirmsyn_ had made a remark in regard to his informant, Mr •

Watters said that after being uncertain one time and certain another, the chairman's informant could not be considered reliable. Mr Borthwick regretted the situation. He did not think the fact that Mr Davis had been informed of an offence was sufficient grounds for him to have included it in his report. He had simply made a charge and asked the Board to consider it proved. Mr R. A. Collins agreed with accepting the apology, and suggested that the members of the committee keep better control next year at the " breakingup." The motion was then put and carried unanimously. Mr Davis said that it had been his intention, to resign if the apology had not been accepted, but if anyone made a mistake it was.his duty to apologise. He hoped everything would work harmoniously in the future. The meeting then terminated.