SCHOOL COMMITTEE ELECTIONS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13100, 27 April 1908, Page 5

SCHOOL COMMITTEE ELECTIONS.

j TO TUT. EDITOK Of "TTIR-PRESS." j Sir. —1 am r|iiic.> in 'accord with your remarks on this ouostion in Saturday's I issue moro especially those referring jto tho responsibility and honour of j being a school committeeman and the i advocacy of women on School Comjmirtoe... Rut I nm disappointed in the j absence of any hint or suggestion as jto the mode of election of School Committees. Surely by your silence you do j not approve of the present .system? At j present -it is simply a farce. Tf you [would allow mo space. I feel sure that j I would convince you to my mind. Years ago I brought forward an improvement— -suggested it to the Hon. j AY. P. Reeves, some'of tho members I of. Parliament, and the late Premier. [Some of the principal papers in the Dominion commented favourably upon it My scheme was as follows:—Have (one night .say Monday) for the annual ! meeting; of householders to receive the j annual report and balance-sheet and discn-.__ the same, and also any matter that [ any householder wished to bring forI ward on any educational question; to receive nomination of candidates, and. if the meeting so ( desires_ to hear tho views of tho candidates. Then tho following Monday tho election to tako place—T mean, during the day. Why not? AVhy should the clectiou.be confined to a few minutes of an evening? Take tho electoral roll. Each school district is supposed to have a boundary map. >Say there aro two districts, east and west. I reside in the east district. 1 go to tbo west to vote; 1 give my namo to tho polling clerk, ho turns up the electoral roll: my name is there, but he sees on referring to tho boundary map that I am a resident of tho east district, so I cannot vote there. Every year I am askod, "Why cannot I vote during tho day, tho same as at a municipal or Parliamentary election?"

In conclusion, ono instance, at present -mil suffice. A Government official who voted at ono of tho city school elections, said "it was the biggest farce of an election ho had over seen; ho could havo gone out into tho street and brought in about, a dozen persons to vote, ' and no- ono would bo tiie wiser."—Yours, etc., __ * D. LUMSDEX. Christchurch, April 2Cth. TO THE EDITOR Off "THE THESS." Sir, —It is perhaps a good sign that so much interest is being taken, in the election of fc'chool Committee, on Monday ovening next, but tho questionable mean!, hy which tho faddist-! in tho community aro 6e*king their ends require exposure, so that tho householders may know exactly how matters stand, bofo.ro tho ballot takes place. For some, time past ihe educational authorities havo persistently refused to fcorious.v entortain tho idea of having single desks in our schools, principally because of tho fact that tlie chartgo would involve an expenditure! of many thousands of pounds. There are other reasons, too, but they are of minor import. Because myself ajul a number of other members of School Committee-; openly and plainly •support tho Board iv tho stand they take upon this question, wo aro marked men at tho election of Monday next, and cards havo been circulated throughout the district, giving tho names of a lot of new men who are strongly recommended as being of tho "progressive" brand, and who w.1.1; because they believe in the "single desk" bogey—and for no other reason — make letter.juid moro efficient- memtars of committoe than ourselves. The proper > sanitation and ventilation of our primary schools', the increase in tlie salaries of our misorably-n-a-id male teachers, and many other important matters which Iwar upon the education of our children are, in my opinion, of iniinite.lv area-trr importance than all th»» biiTtkum that is tallcrd about recording the single-desk fad, and I wo-ild appeal to the 'honseJiolders, especially of the East Christcbwrcih educationa-l district, to mark their approval'of the conduct of their reore-senta-tives who have* tried'_o hard to serve them in past years by sccring out the names of the faddists. arid eleetin<_; those . who hnvc proved by their past conduct , to lw_ tho real rh.nupions of pro<*ro<s, and who have at heart tho welfare and educational advancement of the -chol-irs'attending our public schools.— Vr.urs, etc. ° W. C. AIKEX. 53 Gloucester street. Linwood.