ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1583, 1 April 1887, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

(TO the editor of the lake wakatip mail.) Sir, —In the Southlander of sth February is a letter from the Upper Shotover, signed "Vindicator." If his letter were tine we are not a very desirable community to live among. No doubt it was sent to Invercargill for a purpose. He takes exception to some remarks I made about the Southland Education Board in a letter to the Wakatip Mail 31st December. I have no hesitation in saying the Board showed far more favour to our present teacher's last report than to the report of the teacher we had before. He says the children should be taught to speak the truth. Quite ami a few lessons would do him no liaim, for his letter is nothing but low and spiteful peiveiVon of the truth. He says th«» reason the childr* n kuow so lit- le when the inspector pays his annual visit, is that they are away from school. Now, sir, as there are only 27 children going to school, whrre does the mister get his average from, if so many are away ? Either " Vindicator" is telling a deliberate lie or the master is cooking his school register. Mr Murray has never complained to the Committee about the non-attendance of children ; nor to the parents or children either, that I ever heard if he says the children give him " check." If such be the case surely the schoolmaster is abroad and the scholars are masters. " Vindicator" further says the Committee had no right, legal or otherwise, to stop the teacher's subsidy. Now, sir, when Mr Murray was appointed here, the Committee told him—he being a certificated teachtr—that they would give him. £2O a year subsidy ; but that he was to uinitrs'and —it was not to I e permanent—only from } ear to year—and Mr Murray understood it to be so. Any man with a grain of common sense ought to kuow we could not, or would not, bind our successors to pay this money. Besides, I suppose " Vindicator" has seen the Inspector's last report of our school. I would ask him if he thinks it is honestly worth the £2O subsidy. The first year the public gave cheerfully, but the next year we were a long way short, and had to make it np ourselves. He also tells the Invercargill public that the money Mr Murray should have had went to the picnic. Now, sir, he knows perfectly well this picnic is an annual fete, got up for the children at Christmas, when they have races and other amusements, with a grand tea in the evening. The children have theirs first and the public afterwards. It is an affair looked forward to by both old and young, for many miles around, as a grand gala day—a sort of re-union once a year—and the people do enjoy themselves thoroughly. But in almost every community, no matter how small, yon will find some old cranks—they can't enjoy anything themselves and they hate to see others do so. Now, sir, this picnic is got up by public subscription of from one shilling to ten, collected principally by the children themselves. Nearly everyone gives something, bnt anyone going and giving nothing —sponging on other people's generosity—would be excessively mean. One of those youngsters asked Mr "Vindicator" for a trifle. No, he could not spare anything—bnt he was there. Better for him to look at home for

meanness. Besides, he says this picnic was got up so that onr goody-goody ladies could "cut Mis Murray dead," because she would not teach our girls sewing for nothing. Foolish if she would! But this cutting business seems to be the sequel to his whole letter. I think he is worse u ounded than Mrs Murray herself. No one heard anything about the cutting business until he let it out, for there were plenty of ladies at the picnic who had no children going to school. It could not have been the sew ing arrangement made them cut her, if they did do so. The residents would have been glad fir Mrs Murray to have tautrht a sewing class, and would have paid her well for it, for I consider sewing and knitting are quite as essential to them as any part of their education. It was spoken about by the Committee, Mr Murray being present, but rumors got flying about, whether true or not I don't know, and so nothing rame of it. " Vindicator" says Mrs Murray commenced these sewing classes. I s;iy it is false, for if she ever bad given any lessons she would have been paid for them. Now, Mr Editor, I think "Vindicator" ought to have been the lust man to say anything about the meanness of this district, for not many years ago he was the recipient of a handsome subscription when M in grest need from the Upf*r Shotover public, fl collected and given to him by those very men he say are so excessively mean, and for him to send down-country such lying and scurrilous reports about a number of men and women that never did him any harm, but rather the other way, charac terizes him either as a low person, actuated by base and contemptible motives.—l am, etc. B.C. Skippers, March 21, 1887.