CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 27 April 1922, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

HAWERA HOUSEHOLDERS' MEETING.

(io the Editor.) Sir,—Not because Mr. Liversed°-e has taken occasion to try to explain his position, but because several house--1 holders have said that they could riot by reason of the noise made by a section of the meeting, understand what c precisely was taking place. 1 shall be I grateful if you will give publicity to the following: — j On December 2 last 1 received a letter irom Mr. L. A. Taylor, a copy of which is as follows: — Hawera,. Dee. 2, 1921 M. T. C. Hobbs, Chairman, Hawera School Committee. Dear Sir,—Will you please ascertain from the headmaster before the next meeting of the committee whether there is any truth in the rumour which is current in town to the effect that', on the day on which the Papal delegate was present in Hawera, he made a request to the persons in charge of the procession to divert it in order that it might pass the school, and that when it did pass he had the pupils lined up i on the road or adjacent thereto in i, order to salute the delegate, or at , least to greet, him.—Yours truly, (Sgd.) L. A. Taylor.

I thereupon wrote to the headmaster a letter, a copy of which I have not retained, but which was as follows as tar as 1 remember: —

Mr. C. A. Strack, Kawera.

I have been asked by a member of the committee to ascertain from you before the next meeting of the committee whether there is any truth in the rumour which is current in town to the effect that, on the day on which the Papal delegate was present m Hawera you made a request to the persons in charge of the procession to divert it in order that it misfit pass the school, and that when it did pass t you had the pupils lined up on the i road or adjacent thereto in order io salute* die relegate, or at least to greet him.—Yours truly ■ (Sgd.) f. C. Hobbs. On December 15 I received from the headmaster a letter, a copy of which is as follows: —

Mr. T. G. Hobbs, Hawera, Dec. 15, 1921

Dear Sir, — I received your letter on the 10th inst. regarding Papal delegate. I note that the request for me to answer "Dame Rumour" was from an anonymous writer. I am sure you will understand that no public servant could be expected to reply to such a request. If the person inquiring were not satisfied that tSie poet was wise when he said" ''Rumour was a lying jade" he should have interviewed me personally, or be prepared to make a definite charge, when I should have been prepared to meet him, or the charge. Trusting you will see the matter in this light, I Temain yours respectfully,

(Sgd.) C. A. Strack

The two letters were considered at a committee meeting on the December 22 following. The committee felt that it had received an impudent letter from a person whose conduct the committee, by virtue of section 82 of the Education Act, 1914, is empowered to watch, and that the headmaster, by not denying, had, in effect, admitted that he had given cause for the request for an explanation. We therefore passed the resolution which was sent on to the Minister of Education. We met again as a committee on February 23. - At that meeting a reply from the Minister was read, and the purport of it was that the committee ought to have carried the complaint to the board in New Plymouth. After a short discussion, and feeling that the matter had become stale, we decided to carry it no further. On March 1 I received a letter from the headmaster, a copy of which is as follows: —

The School, Hawera, March 1, 1922

Mr. T. Hobbs, Chairman School Committee

Dear Sir, —It was with considerable astonishment that I read the report of School Committee meeting in last Friday's Star. 1 must respectfully request that a copy of the resolution concerning me, and forwarded to ilhe Minister for Education, should be given to me at your earliest convenience, . and also a copy of the Minister's reply concerning the said resolution passed by the School Committee. Trusting to hear from you before Saturday, 1 remain yours respectfully,

(SgcV) C. A. Strack, Headmaster,

His request was at once complied with, and not at any time from then till now has he asked the committee to reconsider the matter or to hear any explanation tfhat he might have- to make. On March 17 Mr. Liversedge asked me for particulars of the matter generally, but not till a month later, viz., 18th inst., when I received a letter a copy of which is as follows, did I hear anything further: — Methodist Parsonage, Hawera, April 18, 1922. Dear Mr. Hobbs, —On further investigation of the matter we talked over recently I find the attitude of - the School Committee more ditticult to understand than I realised when speaking to you. I am, therefore, sending to Mr. Evans, the secretary, a letter on the subject for consideration at the next meeting of the committee, which I understand is to be held on Thursday night. With kind regards, yours faithfully, (Sgd.) Arthur Liversedge.

No letter to the secretary was received by him as promised by Mr. Liversedge, and the committee, which met on the 20th inst., having nothing before it, could take no action. It was not until Mr. Liversedge moved his amendment in the meeting that I realised that action was being taken against the committee by way of reprisal. The committee, rightly or wrongly, and it is for the public to decide, felt that the headmaster had had fair notice- of the complaint, and that he had answered the complaint impudently and had taken no steps to clear himself or to ask for reconsideration of the facts. It must be remembered, too, that if he felt aggrieved he could have carried his claim for hearing to the Education Board.

But this is the important point: We, it is said,, accused him of diverting the procession and having the ehildien addressed by the delegate. In last night's Star you report the headmaster as having explained at the meeting that "he heard that the procession was coming past the school and thought that the children should see it. The children were lined up outside. The procession

came along, and, without stopping, the car containing the Papal delegate moved in towards where he was stand- I

ing, and he merely shook hands with the delegate. There was no speech making. There were 20 teachers and 700 children who could have told the committee that the allegations were absolutely false." I understand, too, that Dean Power published a souvenir of the visit, and in that brochure the statement is made that. "One of the most graceful incidents of the day took place at the southern end of Victoria Street, where the headmaster of the public school had 700 children in beautiful formation to honour the distinguished guest who had himself honoured the town by his visit. His Excellency was touched by the compliment, and stopped his car to thank personally Mr. Strack, and the procession 'stopped' at the school." Now, sir, the old committee feels that their complaint has been substantially justified,' and that there is no reason why they should apologise to the headmaster. It. asks what right had the headmaster in this, a Protestant country, and without consulting the wishes of the parents of probably 60.0 of those 700 children, to decide for them' that the'"children should see the procession and line them up, and then, for them and on their behalf, to greet the delegate of the Pope of Rome. For and on behalf of the old com-' mittee, save Mr. Brough, T. C. HOBBS, Chairman.