SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 28 April 1922, Page 4

SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

MEETING OF PROTESTANTS,

A LARGE GATHERING.

The indignation meeting of Protestants held in the Foresters' Hall last evening aroused great interest. Before the doors were thrown open a fair crowd had gathered opposite the hall in Nelson street, and groups of people could be seen wending their way towards the building from all directions. Shortly after the doors were opened the place was packed, and all the standing room at the back and in the porch was occupied. Some had to make use of the supper room, and a few took up j positions at the windows outside. The audience included a large number of ladies. Though feeling ran high the chairman (Mr R. S. Sage) kept the meeting well in hand, and good humour prevailed throughout, all the speakers, for and against the propositions put to the meeting, being given a fair hearing. ' On the platform with the chairman was Mr L. A. Taylor. Mr Sage, in opening, said the people were evidently interested in the question that was to be discussed. Properly it may not be his privilege to preside, but necessity had forced the position upon him. They considered the result of the school committee election very unsatisfactory and they felt, as Protestants, that they could not acquiesce in that result, and that was the reason for calling the meeting. They did not think it right or just that Tammany methods should be employed in connection with a school committee election.

A voice: Was there anything of that kind? Mr Sage: I will not have any interruptions and the man who interrupts will quickly go out of the building. A voice: There was no interruption in that. Mr Sage: "I'll have you put out, Mr Howell, if you interrupt again." Had it not been, the chairman proceeded, for interruptions at the school committee election the result of the meeting would h:ive been totally different. He trusted that those who wished to take part in the discussion would do so in a gentlemanly way, whatever views they might hold. If they did not do so he would request the constable to eject them. If they did not acquiesce in any proposition put before them all they had to do was to vote "no." The proposition was considered of vital importance to the Protestant interests of Hawera and the Dominion, and as Protestants they had convened the meeting with the avowed intention of nailing their colours to the mast. They were not going to back down whatever might be the result of any proposal put before the meeting. The chairman then read the following letter from the Rev. H. G. Gray: '' As one whose name appears in the list of those in favour of holding the meeting of to-night, I feel I ought to apologise for my absence. I was appointed weeks ago to take part this evening in an ordination service at Waverley, and must be present there. May I also add that my chief reasons for appending my signature were these:

" (i; As a protest against what seems* to me an altogether unwarrantable recognition of the Romish Church by the headmaster of our public school and those under his charge. "(2) As a protest also against the withholding, on the part of the headmaster, of information asked for by the chairman of the school committee, and which that committee, individually and collectively, had a right to possess. "(3) I also hoped that the holding of the meeting might perhaps do something towards placing educational matters in this town on a more satisfactory basis. '' I desire to say further that I am not satisfied with the resolution which it is proposed to submit to the meeting to-night. I do not consider that it is what ,is required at the present juncture, and hope that some more satisfactory measure may be adopted. I would rather be in favour, as a first step, of asking the Taranaki Education Board to review the whole position which has arisen in connection with the householders' meeting of Monday last." The letter was received with applause. The chairman saIG it would "be found that the proposition which was to be put before the meeting following the lines suggested by Mr Gray, and it had been framed before the letter was received, so that it could not be said to have influenced them. The letter supported the attitude they had already taken up. The promoters of the meeting recognised that it was necessary to arouse interest in the fact that what had occurred was detrimental to education, and that accounted for the form of the advertisement.' They recognised that a proposition to change the basis of the franchise was a very serious one. It was sound principle that taxation carried with it the right to representation • but they contended that no section i . the community which refused to use the educational facilities afforded by the State had any right to interrupt and upset the working of the Act in its strict sense. (Applause.) There was a good deal of correspondence in that evening's Star on the matter, and they would have seen the statement over the name of Mr Hobbs by the re' r tiring committee. He would leave them to judge whether the statement was fair, and he would ask them to express a decision on the action of the com-

mittee. The original copies of the letters published by Mr Hobbs could be produced if anyone wished to see them. He wished to congratulate the writer of one able and well considered letter which appeared in the Star over the name of "Civis," but there were one or two points made which seemed to be against the committee. "Civis," however, should give the other side credit for the use of brains as well as himself. Mr Sage then moved the following resoluton, which was seconded by Mr W. Hawkins:

" That in view of the fact that the new committee for the Hawera Main School has been elected by default only, and that in the opinion of this meeting it does not represent the majority of the householders of the school district, this meeting calls upon them to resign." Mr Sage said they all knew that the new committee had been elected by default, and there had been no expression of the will of the householders. It seemed to him that they should express an opinion as to whether a new election should be held so that the feeling of the householders could be expressed in a definite manner. Those who were at the meeting of householders knew that there had been frequent intrruptions and that the committee had not been given an opportunity to answer questions sprung upon them at a moment's notice. The treatment received resulted in tbe withdrawal of their services by the old committee, and rightly so. No man who occupied a position on a public body could honourably remain in office after a vote of censure had

been carried against him. Had he been \< in the same position as Mr Hobbs and : the committee he would have withdrawn his nomination immediately such a resolution had been carried. They all knew that he had done as much for education in Hawera as anybody. He had been successful in ob- ; taining for Hawera, certain privileges and concessions from the Education Department which otherwise would not have been granted. The other evening there appeared in the paper a letter traversing the facts leading up to the giving of a section by the Land Department for an infant school. The letter was very much like looking a gift horse in the mouth, and the gentleman who wrote it did not know the circumstances under which the land was given. Last year's committee had done more than any other committee in the town to raise funds for the school. (Applause.) They had done more m this connection than he had , ever been able to do. They had the backbone to stand up against the headmaster and follow tneir convictions in carrying out work in favour of the school. When he had been chairman lie had been unable to get much backing in the matter of raising funds, aRd he certainly had no help from the headmaster. The old committee . had the backbone to fight him, though they had met with every obstacle he could put in their way. Mr Paeey said the resolution stated that the committee had been elected by default, and not by a majority of the householders. That was the fault of the householders who had failed to attend the meeting. Had it not been tor the silly business over Mr Strack and the Papal delegate the present . trouble would not have arisen. What i he wanted to point out was that, as far as he could gather, the ballot and

everything was in order. The committee was elected, and if the old committee had done the right and proper thin<* with regard to paying a graceful trfbute to Mr Strack there would have been no trouble. Let them live amic- : ably with their Roman Catholic friends. | The fact of the matter was that many people seemed to be afraid of Romanism stalking through the land. He was a staunch Protestant, and he believed Christ came to redeem this world, and He did not care whether they were Roman Catholics or what they were. He hoped the resolution would not be carried. (Hear, hear!) A man at the back suggested that the word "present be added after "householders." Mr Sage read the resolution again emphasising that it referred to the opinion of that meeting and that it only stated that the existing committee did not reflect the opinon of the majority of the householders. A voice: Does any committee? Mr Foy: Were the present committee! elected legally by the laws of the land? Mr Sage said he understood the present committee were taking a vote on the question of whether they shoud' resign. / Mr J. W. T Howell said he took exception to the attempt to a fight on a sectarian basis. The whole educational system had not. yet been placed on a sufficiently high plane. The more fortunately circumstanced used private schools, and this applied to Protestants as well as Catholics, and if they weie going to raise the educational standard they would have to do away with sec-

tarian schools. The best wvy was to make all except State schools illegal. He owed no ellegiance to any church. He had been brought up a. Methodist, but that was an accident. (daughter)! j ; None of thos present were responsible for the rpligion they heli. A man took his religion from his parents, and did! not watit till his judgment had matured before making a choice. He complained that under the present system of education the children of poor'rjarents did not | get equal privileges with the children of Jthe wealthy. There were numbers of people who could not keep their children at school till they were *16. The children had to be taken away from school that they could earn their livelihood. (He had been on the Hawora School Committe for one term, and had the! 1 greatest admiration for the headmaster. IHe had found Mr Strack a man and j ' greatly interested in his work afc the ; school. He (Mr Howell) had four chii- | dren going to the school and would probably have* a couple more veiy short]v. (Laughter). When the laughter had subsided Mr Howell said the resolution should not, be carried, because it icfiected an their mentality, and meant that the whole business in connection with the election had been dominated by Catholics, when, as a, matter of fact,, 60 per cent of the people at the meeting were Protestants. Most people knew that the allegations against My Strack were untrue. He had learned that this was so from his own children, and ary | parent who wished to know the truth could have learned it in the same way. Mr. Sage referred to the correspondonce- by Mr. Hobbs published in the Star, which he said showed that on the authority of Dean Power the. Papal delegate's car did stop and Mr. Strack had saluted the Papal delegate in view ,of the school children. (Disorder.) J The letter was then read containing an extract from a. pamphlet issued by the Rev. Dean Power, and Mr. Sage said he would not like to contravene I a statement by the Dean. Mr. Sheat said he admitted that he felt in rather an awkward position, as he was a Protestant and not" a householder. However, he felt guile within his rights in coming to the meeting j and voting. He had gone into the facts of the case, and he admitted that the new committee were not elected, and that they entered office by default. Still, if they carried the resolution what was going to be the effect? Was there going to be another meeting of house-

holders? The chairman: Yes. Mr. Sheat proceeded to examine the reason of the present committee being elected by default. There were plenty of candidates, but one action of the old committee was taken exception ti> by the majority of the householdersone action, and not their general policy. The committee should not hare interpreted the vote as a vote of no-confi-dence. A vote of no-confidence must be a vote that condemns the general policy, and he considered that the vote

did not mean this. He could not see "how reasonable men could interpret it as a vote of no-confidence. Everyone was going to tread on dangerou* i ground if all criticism was going to be j taken in such a manner. Had he been J a member of the committee he would i certainly not have taken up the attitude of withdrawing altogether. The speaker consfdered that the old committee were the men who should have been re-elected, and he would have voted for every one of tht-ao men in the hope that they, and not a new committee, would be in a position to right the wrong that had been done. Mr. Buckeridge said he was very ■ much of the opinion, after having heard j the last speaker, that many had not 1 read the correspondence published in j the newspaper that evening. He sug- ■ gested that the correspondence be read. j The chairman asked those present ! who had not read it to raise the hand. and about six indicated that they had '. not. IMr Evans said he wished he was a cultured debater as Mr Sheat, so that he

could give some convincing argumentsproving that justice had not been given. the old committee. Had the old committee been furnished with, the information that those gentlemen who wish- • ed to attack it had, the matter would i. have been cleared up long ago. They had asked the headmaster to answer a letter addressed to him in the chairman's name. The reply received waa most discourteous. Mr* Strack should, have stated definitely whether or not. the rumour was "true, and he consideredthat lie deliberately tried to evade the question. He felt that the old committee had been shamefully treated. He would take up exactly *the same attitude under similar conditions, and hewould not be a man if he did not do* ?0. Mr Evans said he had been offered a way through the back door to a seaton the new committee, but he was not. going to accept any back door entries JNo man who valued his honour would. As far as he *was concerned it was nota question of sectarianism that he was fighting.

A vote was then taken on the motion by means of a show of hands, the pressrepresentatives and Mr. Pacey acting;; as scrutineers. The count resulted in. 193 for the motion and 94 against it. Mr. Sage said he was quite satisfied with the result.

The chairman was about to close the meeting, but Mr. Sheat protested, urging that the resolution published in. the advertisement in the press should b© dealt with. This was followed by a. good deal of" confusion, and the chairman then said that he was quite willing to have that matter discussed.

The discussion was then carried on.. by Messrs Huwell, Sheat, and Walkley. Mr. Walkley said he was a Protestant, by conviction, and he came to the meeting after seeing in the newspaper a. motion that if carried would disfranchisesome of the citizens of New Zealand. He did not think that the people who* inserted the advertisement really realised the result which the carrying of such a resolution might lead to. They had only to read the history of the warbetween Great Britain and America to* realise that if people are taxed they must be given an opportunity of saying; how the money is to be spent. One section of the community could not be- | disfranchised. He urged those present, to exercise sweet reasonableness, and. to that end he would move that this, meeting of Protestants is strongly of: the opinion that persons who send, their children to Church schools should, of their own good taste avoid participating in the government of public; schools.

The chairman: I am quite willing to> withdraw my motion tin favour* of" Mr. Walkley's. He has hit the nail oil. the head. I cannot understand whyCatholics should have allowed themselves to be led by the nose at the recent meeting of householders Mr. Pacey, in seconding the motion,, said that the motion^ was getting nearerto the point. He came to thu meeting; with the specific intention of combating, with the assistance of others, the? motion as advertised. It may have been a printer's error and it may not. The chairman: It was. Mr. Paccy: I take your word for itMr. Pacey said that immediately such-, a motion as had been advertised waspassed, the .doors were opened to State? aid for denominational schools. NoProtestant wished to see that. The motion was then put and was. carried almost unanimously. The chairman said that "the purpose? of the meeting had been well served, and in spite of the fact that one illj advised gentleman had been ; foolish enough to throw the fat in'the fire, he* i was of the opinion that the fire had not, \ only been taken away, but the smoke and the bad odour that had filled thehouse of Hawera had also disappeared. Mr. Sheat moved a hearty vote of' thanks to the chairman, which was:, carried with acclamation.