COUNTRY SCHOOL TROUBLE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 135, 8 June 1911, Page 2

COUNTRY SCHOOL TROUBLE.

| TEA-___l,V. CO]_Mr_TEE* } (3_MSMA-K AN" ACTION FOR LIBEL. ' The.- interrupted" action- —l whicH "*""_.- ---_ am Masson-,. a school teacher, .seeks to ■recover- the-- sum of- £501 damages-' for: alleged- libel! fromx William Biol_urdson, Chairman of the Maungatapere School .Committee, wa&resumedattneAu—el—ads. Supreme Court yesterday aftenitrem ber fore Mr. Justice Edwards- and. a- common jury o-tweiye. Mr; J. R. Reed; appeared for plaintiff, and Messrs. F. Earl and, E. C. Blomfield: for tha defendant. The- _tse. for- the plaintiff had. closed' and a portion, of the evidence for the-de-fence was taken before the interruption. It was contended by plaintiff that a serr ies of persona! differences with the fendant bad. culminated, in the writing of. a letter to the Education Board of a libellous character; and the removal, of plaintiff from the Maungatapore school and deprivation, of privileges. Evidence was adduced: to show that defendant's whole conduct was actuated by malice. The defence claim privilege and justifiv •cation, because true, and. in the public interest.

Continuing his evidence tiie defendant, William Richardson, described, the incident in connection with the- tennis I court that.has figured largely in the case. jHe said: plaintiff selected the site contrary to- the- expressed- wishes of the Committee, and when covered over with material on witness , 'instructions was too rough and broken up to be of. any use ! for tennis playing. In trying to stop ! the man going into the grounds with I cart and. horse, Jlasson struck bhe auimal severely with a mawl and injured the heart: Witnpss declared that a dispute I aver the payment of 10/ for cleaning out j the school tank by plaintiff w-a? the ■cause-of. the wholeof the trouble. Mas- | son, in making- the charge, said he had '.got the boys to help hire, and had paid I them the money. The hoys denied this land said they were given" a few lollies Witness had gone to Masson's house and objected to his daughter, nearly 10 years old, being- caned at school, and. when the teacher told him that' he could' not makeany distinctions witness said tie would; take h'is-ehnld a*vay from the school. A number of" instances- were given in which pupils had been marked present on the attendancer register; ami it was alleged they, had been absent on. the dates in question, notwithstanding plaintiffs statement' to> the contrary. 1 In further, justification; off the general charges of untrnthfulness and: falsiflcaekrn of. tire , register, the defendant said plaintiff swore a£ the - 3ln.gistrate's Court that' he hnd been- refused, leave- of a.bsence by the. Committee. Leave of absence had not. been refused, by either, witness or the Committee. Miaeson also" said other sites for the tennis courts-had not been, pointed out to him by the Committee or anyone else: Witness declared, that was untrue. He had personally drawn Alasson's attention to other sites. A. meeting of the Committee was held on September 23rd of last year, and; a motion -was. passed directing the Chairman to write a strongly-worded letter to the Board complaining of Jlasson's lack of truthfulness, asking the Board, not to ;allow the teacher to the- school .aftoT the holidays,, and. stating that ,'other case 3of falsification of. the register i could be' furaishedi As secretary and chairman, -witness sntid u 0 wrote the letter complained of to the Board and sent it before showing it fo other members of ,the Committee, but it was subsequently endorsed! Witness did nob write the letter for purposes' of his own, but for the Committee, expressing the intentions of the members. He bore no malice town rds plaintiff,' and when he wrote the letter he honestly believed all the statements made to be true. The school had suffered very much by the differences between- the teacher and the Committee. Masson's reputation for veracity in the district was very bad. Under cross-examination, defendant admitted that the children attending the school -were aware of tho dispute between the Committee and Masson. Witness told his two boys that they could ■play football on any part of the playground, despite the teacher's authority. He had twice pulled up post!? required , in connection with the tennis courts, in, tho face of Masson's protests. He did not think arbout the affect such disputes would have upon the discipline of the school, hut was asserting the rights of the Committee. He was aware it was part of a commititepman's duty to assist tho teacher in upholding his authority in the solrool. Witness also admitted the placing of ar notice- on tOie school door, informing the children tha/t they could play on any part of the playground. Mr. Reed: Was that an invitation to the children to play on the playground whether ithe teacher forbade them or not? Defendant, after giving a series of irrp. levant answers, finally replied in fho negative. His Honor: It's no use equivocating, Mr. Richardson; you nruci. us an honest reply. Do you say your intention in posting the Tvotice was not to oppose the a-uthority of the teacher? —It was to get the- ground opened, and my intention was that the teacher should, understand if Be refused the intervention, of the Court would be sought. His Honor: That is all nonsenical. The .reason is obvious. Was it not a gross slur on tlxe teacher's authority, and calculated to produce insubordination in the school? After further questions on- thp matter 'his Honor again interposed: You will advance your -cause mnre with the jury if you are candid. The Magistrate at Whangarp.i, in dealing with thp casp, considered the notice was an invitation to ' the children to commit a gross breach of discipline. No man in his senses would take any other view. Defendant stated that he did not inform the teacher of his intention to put scoria on the tenrais court, but the material was not spread. (Proceeding.) MT. EOSKILL EOAD BOARD. The chairman (Mr. Qias. Bagley) presided at the usual monthly meeting of the Mt. Roskill Road Board, held on Tuesday evening. Other members 'present were: Messrs. T. E. Hayr. J. Ainbury, C Worrall, J. Haslett, and E. J. Herd. Fire. —It was decided to forward a donation of two guineas to the Onehunga Fire 'Brigade for their having attended a the within the Mt. Roskill bovm<l-uries-Clerk's Salary.—lt was resolved to increase the clerk's salary by £J(i i>er milium. j Ivoan Monies.—Tlie Marine Di-partmotit . wrote. airtuorisiTig tlie expenditure of £7r>o -towards the cost or roadinc; and opeuiug up the iMam;kau Harbour endowment. Rates. — ThL- <-hrttrman s:ive notice to move that the following rates bs struck: — A general rate of gd in rhe pound; (b) liospi■taJ and charitable aid rate of Jd; (c) special gas rale of in pound; (d) special water rate of ?d in pound, only id of which it will be necessary to collect; (c) special rate of 3-16 dln pound for sinking fund in connection with Queenstown and Seacliffe roads loan; (f) special rate of 5-16 d in pound for roadmaking loan sinking fund in the outer area, a email portion only of iwhicl U !wW 'be necessary te.«oUe«, t