INSPECTOR LEE'S CASE. ANOTHER DISCUSSION.

Evening Post, Volume LXII, Issue 129, 27 November 1901, Page 6

INSPECTOR LEE'S CASE. ANOTHER DISCUSSION.

The Education Board is holding its' monthly meeting this afternoon. At an early stage of the proceedings, Mr._ Hogg moved, in accordance with notice— "That the allegations of Mr. Lee, Senior Inspector, with reference to* the action, of the Board in connection with the appointment of teachers and other matters, be now considered." Mr. Hogg said his reason for giving the notice of motion was that it had been found virtually impossible to hold an enquiry, besides which, an enquiry was not indispensable, as he had' in his possession material which would enable him to refute most of 'Mr. Lee's statements. Mr. Lee had for some tjme past been finding fault with the administration of the Board, as was shown by his own statements and reports. Several members, including himself, took exception to those comments. One girl had been dismissed and another teacher transferred, but in neither case was the. Board responsible for the state of things which necessitated those changes. Mr. 'Lee, however, in giving evidence before the' Teachers' Salaries Commission, reiterated his charges, and roundly condemned the Board of which for over a quarter of a century he had been a servant. But when questioned by him (Mr. Hogg) at that Commission, Mr. Lee refused to give details, and he (the speaker) therefore lost no time in calling for enquiry, which he did without conferring with any other member of the Board. He knew nothing then of the contemplated retirement of the Senior Inspector. The enquiry had been postponed, but Mr. Lee had meanwnile published a defence. Mr. Hogg went on to criticise some of the remarks made in that defence by Mr. Lee on certain appointments, with the object Of showing that those appointments were fully justified by the qualifications' of the teachers concerned, and the work they had since done. As to the re-appointments 'of certain teachers, which Mr. Lee said were undesirable, Mr. Hogg quoted 1 from Mr. Lee's reports on those teachers' schools to show that lie at that time considered them fully competent. • One of those teachers was not re-appointed', as had been a-Jleged by Mr. Lee. The Board had .never denied that the system of appo|pting pupil teachers could be improved, but he declared that the Board had^lways done its utmost to get the best material for the purpose. Mr. Hogg went on to declare that Mr. Lee had been grumbling for grumbling's sake, and that there was nothing in his complaints, which he submitted must fall to the ground. Could favouritism be alleged? Could it be urged that the Board had not honestly and impartially carried out its ddtiea? Further, after the Board had decided on a Reader which was a local production, Mr. Lee advobated Longman's Readers, a foreign pub%a£ion, in the editing of which lie had been concerned. Mr. Lee had from Being adviser to the Board become a censor, and in so doing had failed properly to realise his position or his functions. No other inspector had so for forgotten himself as to lecture the Board on the nature of its administration, and if such interference were allowed the Boards might as well be abolished. Mr. Young considered that Mr. Lee's defence was a vindication of the action of the Board. *

The sitting of the Court of Appeal has been further adjourned until Wednesday, 11th December. ■ The anniversary services of St. John's Church are to be held on Sunday next. Tho Rev. J. Gibson Smith, of Invercargill, will officiate during the day. A lecture on "Alfred Tennyson" is announced to be given in St. John's Church next Monday evening. Musical illustrations will be given by the choir. Old Boys of Wellington College are notified that the annual dinner is to be held at the Empire Hotel to-morrow evening. In view of the fact that Sir Joseph Ward leaves for the South to-night, it will be necessary to start the moonligMt cycle run to Kilbimie at 7.30 sharp. The •Committee of tho Cycling Club has found it impossible to send as many formal invitations as could have been wished, but hopes that friends will accept the intimation as a sufficient invitation. Motak, the name given to a new intensifier, will be welcomed by both amateur and professional photographers. The action of Motak is very rapid, and the fact that it is only a single solution addß not a little to its value apart from its excellence as a means to make useless flat negatives bright and strong with rich shadows. Mr. R. Ayres, of Cuba-street, is the wholesale agent for New Zealand. Further particulars will be found in another column. Travelling at 35 an hour, is a matter of interest to cyclists. This is an easy matter on the motor-bioyoU. Messrs. Oates, Lowry and Co., of Cuba-street, will have one on view for to-morrow only. All interested are invited to see this latest speed wonder.

To.morrow'R 'Frisco mail, duo in London in Christmiis week, affords a further opportnnity of posting to Home friends copies of tlie New Zea'ftud Gruphic and Canterbury ' Times Christmaß Numbers.