LOVELLS FLAT SCHOOL.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVII, Issue 883, 19 June 1891, Page 6

LOVELLS FLAT SCHOOL.

; : ■'■:■ .;,:-■:::. — ' » " -'••' ■'- ■.■■•■ : The meeting of: householders -to -elect a school committee in; ;consequence of ■: the ELl ueatiou ; Board having declared the former election null and. void, took place on Saturday night, and resulted in the election of the four who were held to be the cause of the. late election being upset, namely— Messrs A. Lowery, R. Howitson, G. Elliot, and. J[as. Bennett; : and three new men- : Messrs ,R. Robson, T. Lowery, arid D. Rush. „ > . .:- : ,; ;: ■.••. ■ ;' . .. v There was a large attendance, many c >ming from several miles round abbuc, including oonstable ' King from Milton.' No doubt many were attracted to "see the fun," but those would feel disap- j pointed, as, owing a good deal, to the firm, ! ruling of the chairman ;of the meeting, j everything, passed off comparatively quiet and orderly, though 'at no time by any , means dull. The following is an account ' of the 'proceedings : — • - . ■••:• ! The chairman of committee refused to . sign the minutes of the last meeting as he : had left the chair and the room before tlie meeting was' over',' because, as he said, subjects were being warmly debated which were neither pleasant nor relevant to the I business before the meeting. —Mr Bowie j was eventually satisfied the minutes were ; I correct, and signed them. ' j Mr Benni tt proposed that Mr W. Hewit- : son take the' chair for the evening. — I Seconded hy Mr G. Elliot. j i Mr W. Fraser proposed Mr W. Todd. j 1 — Mr D. Bryce seconded. ! j A show of hands resulted in favour of I Mr Hewitson by a considerable majority. i Mr Hewitson returned thanks, remarking that he had an unpleasant duty to perform, -but looked for better carry i tigs on than formerly. ■ A question was asked as to whether the i Education Board had sent any reason for I quashing the last election. i ' The Chairman said the absence of the | annual report in itself would be suuicient, • • and he asked now that the aiinnal report bt; read to the present meeting. I The secretary, Mr Bennett, said his ! books weredetained by the auditor of the board because certain moneys were not I " paid into the bank ;" but he had a report and balance-sheet prepared from true copies of his books, and he would read a i letter from the auditor which he thought would show satisfactorily that. the accounts were all right. Be spoke at length in support of the position he had taken up, which he said did not please certain parties but was according to law. The auditor refused to take the aflimiation of Messrs Hewitson and Elliott that the monej's were correct and in hand, and repeated his demand that the money be paid into the bank. Now he (Mr Bennett) said it was definitely and conclusively shown by the act that the money should be paid o vur to their' successors. He would read this clause from the board's own circular to committees : — Education Act, section 82. " All moneys- in hand (if. any) shall be handed over by such committee to its successor. " The auditor had no right to dictate to him, and he would ask, "Were.. -they to be guided by a mere clerk in the education office or by tho Education Act of New Zealand ?— (Applause.) Mr Fraser called the chairman's attention to certain sections of the Act, and maintained that these sections plainly showed that moneys should be paid into thu bank. Mr Bennett, he said, retained a sum of money in hand, and so could not get the books ; consequently he could hare no annual report to place before the meeting. The Chairman ruled that according to that clause of the Act the secretary j should pay the money over in the current coin of the realm ; therefore Mr Bennett J was right. He asked for' the report and balance-sheet, as ■ it appeared it was ; through no fault of the secretary's that ! the books were not obtainable. . ! A digression here took place as to the i hints circulating that the secretary was I profiting by the use of the money. Mr Bennett road correspondence clearing himself, and darkly hinting at the matter being settled " somewhere else." A start was made to road the report. Mr Fraser and others challenged it, as, among other resis >ns, 'the committee had never heard of it. Mr Dunlop moved the adjournment of the meeting. There was, he said, no report, ■from- .the retiring committee, so there could be no election, and com-. missioners would have to.be appointed. — (Cries of "And time too" and v Hear, hear.") Mr R. Hewitson : That's what you. want; that's the only way you know of 1.0 get rid of us, and that is the reason the books have been kept back. Read the report ; it is quite correct, and never mind what Fraser says, — (Laughter.) The Chairman here called the speaker to order, as Mr Dnnlop had possession of the floor. Mr Dunlop supported his motion, and said if commissioners were appointee! who were impartial men, it would be for the peace and prosperity of the district and the good of the school. He disclaimed, as Mr R. Hewitson had asserted, that he hari a party feeling in the matter. : Mr R. Hewitson : Oh Dunlop, that won't do. If you .are -.not- a party man why did you tell a parcel of lies in certifying to the petition to the board which upset the election. You certified that Bennett "forcibly . seized and burnt the ballot papers," thereby implying that, itwas in spite of everybody. The fact was — ivlr Buchanan, the scrutineer, lit the fire and helped to burn the papers. Mr A. Lowery said he heard someone say it would be alike to all if the papers were 'burnt, aa the parties could vote; "No one seemed to try to hinder, and the scrutineer assisted. Mr Dunlop said he told Mr Clark to let the board know that he (Mr Dunlop) did not want to certify that Mr Bennett actually himself burnt the papers, but it was certainly through Mr Bennett's action. He (Mr Dunlop) only did what he thought was simnle justice. Mr Bennett was glad to hear Mr Dunlop' acknowledge that he (Mr Bennett) did not "forcibly seiza'and burn the papers," but why did not he let the board know this? Mr Clark had evidently not told the board, and they went by the petition, and he suffered for it. The words referred to were read, and were as follows : — " (2) That six voting papers were forcibly seized and burnt by Mr James Bennett."

Mr R. 'Kewitson said the petitioners deserved' to be drummed out of the house. The Chairman : We've had enough of bhis ; read the report. The Chairman then read the following annual report : — Your committee lmvo to report that when - they took office on the .28th April, 1890, there was a credit bilanci of LL 3s 8-1 ; hut they must refer back to 31st December, 1889, that being the .end. of, the committee's financial year at that time, wli'in there stood to the credit' of the committee Ll2 10s Id. The receipts since then up to the 31sh March, IS9L (L 5; months) have been i — "From the Education Biard for ordinary incidental, p.xpenses, L 2 5; donations knrl by cod- * cert, L7iss"6d ; for use of school house,- 10s : ; sale of tank,; L 3 ;— total, L4S 5s 7d; The".expenditure has been : — Janitor's salary, Ll2 10s ; fuel, LI; repairs to fences,'-' including, new'.' piokefc foiica, etc ,L 8 !os 4cl ; prizes for pupils, LI 2 5a 7d;i stationary,' 6s : 6 1 ; , cush in hand,, L7 l6s; cish. in the bank, T. 5 14s 2d ; balance on Ist April! 1891, L4B 5s 7d ; leaving a credit balance of El 3 10* 2d on that data. But there were a number of out^andinff accounts amounting to no one but Mr, Fraaer knows what, aud lie re- .' fuses to give that information. . The number of meetings held dimng^the year , has been nine ; all the nvjmbeyu present at every meeting Vut two — Lowery absent once, .Bryce twicv ' ;■:... The school was> examined by Inspector Petrie , on the 22ud Septembor,' when 9i per cent, of passes was attained. The inspector spoke highly of the work and management of the school.". -The attendance during the year your committee;.' knows nothing about.: The pupil-teacher's apprenticeship expired at the end of the year 1890. The sewing teacher has been dispensed with, ami a mistress has heeu appointed instead, whose duties commenced' on the 2u<l of February ; but- no report his boen received' from the teacher sinco the 27fch November last, so what number there is on the roll or the average attendance your 'committee know not. A most unpleasant and disagreeable duty was imposed upon your committee through the ui^, ... ■ -wa-r-intaHo and despotic action of the Bruce riounty Council's secretary in taking illegal possession of the land attached to the tpacher's residence and converting same into o depository for culvert material, consisting of a number of ■heavy drainpipes, entirely ignoring your com- ' mittee in the matter. The committee tried, all' the mild ways they could think of to induce the council to remove the material but without avail: your committee then removed them on to the county road, but they h ive since beeu put bnok:i<>ain by athletic moonlighters, setting your commitr.fiG entirely at dufiance. A deadlock, and no business transacted by the committee, from the 2Lst July to 17th Noyember. caused by the chairm in refusing to record his vote wli'm the committee was equallydivided on a questio i c nic-.rninar the abov^ subject, ; for although he declared he was satisfied that the secretary had done perfectly right according to the Aot and' minutes, he persistently refused to record his vote ; hence the deadlock referred to. At the breaking-up of the school in December prizes were distributed to the pupils; and a concert in aid of the priza-fund was held the same evening- . Mr R. Hewitson moved that the report be adopted. — Seconded by Mr Bennett. Mi- Fraser moved as an amendment to the r-ff^ch that it was no report. — Seconded by Mr D. Bryce. "The moMon was carried for the adoption l n T 19 vof-i s against 10. Mr .Fras'e.r rmVI it was ontra<renu% as no one knew an -.'thins? about it, and he took exception to several who voted on the question and handed a pap-'.r to the chairman, who said he cmvd not notice it. The nominations wore then taken. Mr-Bennett proposal Messrs R. Hewitson. G. Elliot, ;inl A., Low^ry, Mr Hewitson p oposod Mr Bennett. TVS r B-nn^tt said, if elected, 'he would work/fo: 1 the good of the school and in the interest of all, and not for any particilarcliss. The pß^itioners who had upsi j t thi 1 last elcc ion hid made a great ooint. "f e< rabbitters and hired men living in outhonsos and barns" taking part in the election. He said these had as much ritrht a3 anyboly else, and spoke very fl:i!t-rin ;!y of the" " workman." Mr Fr.ispr (very sarcastically) : Hear, b'<af ! ISTobl ■> man ; noble example of an i E'l^ishmm !— (Lansfhter. ) Mr Bennett proceeded to speak, but his voi • ■■ ' ws drowned by stamping and, infcoruptions. j The Chairman : Stop that or I will call on.thn police to; put some of you' out. 1 This restored order, and Mr Bmnett i had his *ay out. • . ' '" Mr Bennett then nominated Mr W. Fraser and Mr D. Bryce. Both these jTßnllemen declined. A. dozen or si others I wer-i nominated, but declined. Rve'ntu- ! ally thp aevo'i- afterwards' elected' were got on the blackboard. I Mr Culder then proposed Mr W. ; Fraser. ■■ ■■'■ : i The Chairmnn : He has already declined. I can't take his. nomination. ;.. i .'Mr Fraier : I declined because T looked npon the nomination, coming from the ■; person it did, as a j'^ke. I accept now. j Th<> Chairman : You Qjave no reasons ; ! I can' Iv take the norni nation. | , Mr Oakler : Unless Mr Fraser's nomina--1 tion is accepted, I will protest to the ' board. „'.■■ . i Mr J. Powley said he thought many I declined because Mr Bennett nominated , thorn, and* they would stand if nominated | again. , ••'.-;' Mr Calder : I beg to nominate Mr D. Bryco. ..-■•■ ;J -j-. The Chairman : T won't take it ; he too, has already declined. There would be no end of it to go nn like that. Mr W. Todd: Right, Mr Chairrhan, stick to your rulingl The Chairman ; If no other nominations, I will declare the seven on the -blackboard duly elected. ■-■'■. ; After a considerable pause this wag done. : .... ,--..■..■ ; : ■ : „.. . •, , -','■',.;-■. Mr Bennett proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman for the able way he had conducted the meeting,, which was carried with acclamation, and the' meeting dispersed at 9 o'clock. • . A meeting of the,: newly-elected mittee was held subseq uently. . Mr Robert Hewitson was elected chairman, arid Mr James Bennett and treasurer.