CORRESPONDENCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 6 May 1914, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE

SCHOOL COMMITTEES,

,To the Editor.)

Sir,—ln reply to Voitr correspondent "Ex-Cummitteetnah,"" in Monday's is sue, mav I point out that he hits overlooked tho tlUll the members of ie Education Board are elected by the individual members of the School Comm • tees, and the Board, afier reference to tk- Committees, appoint the teachers. ;rd thp teacher is the most importr.pt factor, so far as the children are concerned, in corrying out the syllabus fixea for the schools H appears obvious to us that the onlj dii'y and privilege the parent has is to" appoinf suitable persons to the Committee : and the most important duties of tht? Cdmfnittpt? at'e, first, to elect suitable members to the Board ; and, secondly, to recommend the teachers into whose "hands the training of their children is placed. We think most will agree that this confers upon the Committee a fair amount of responsibility. A further duty of the School Committee is to attend to the physical conditions in which the children "receive their training. So that we venture to affirm that both directly and indirectly the Committee has to do with the training of the children. With regard to the difficulty of free discussion between men and women, we do not think any difficulty need arise upon any matter within the functions of the School Committee. I am, etc., MARIAN JUDSON, Assistant Secretary of the Nelson W.C.T.U. sth May, 1914.

VOTING FOR HARBOUR LOAN. (To the Editc-.) Sir, —If I Tinderstood your explanation of the rights of citizens to vote on the loan proposals of the Harbour Board, the wife of a ratepayer in the city has equal right with the husband, provided she is on the roll; if I am wrong in this, you will no douht be able to make Ihe position clear. What I, with many more, wish to know is, why, if this is so, the wife of the country settler has no such right? for, Sir, I contend (with all due respect to the city women) that the women in the country are quite as competent to exeroise a vote, and have quite as much interest in the progress of the district as their city sisters. Arid, furthermore, there is no justice in giving the advantage to cities, seeing that it sometimes happens in such proposals as those under notice, that tha first consideration of the city fathers is to circulate money with the assurance that someone else must help it, whilst the countrv man and woman have t' consider, is" the thing needed? If not, it probably is a luxury which they must forego as thev have to. Picture shows, skating rinks" theatres, and many other things dwellers in cities have come to look upon as necessary to their comfort. But if we cannot have what the cities have in the way of amusement there is neither right nor justice in disfranchising our wives, who should be at least on equal terms with those in the city. 1 commend this matter to some of oui leading men, who are quite ready to tell us how to vote, but are apparently not enough concerned to try to get justice dene to their wives and ours. I am, etc., J. W. WIN. Awa, 4th May, 1914.

THE BIBLE AND PUBLIC EDUCATION. (To the Editor.i Sir —The following authoritative opinions given by educational experts are of value just now :—This extract is froir the committee's report of the Interna tional Enquiry on "Moral Instruction ir Schools," held in London, 1908, and attended by educationists from France. Belgium, Germany, United States, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Australia, Aew Zealand, and Japan. Professor Sadler, University of Manchester, edited a report of the conference. The extract reads: —"But so far as Great Britain is concerned, the committee are impressed by the earnest conviction with which si large a number of the teachers, and es specially of the women teachers, both n our elementary and our secondary schools, speak of the power of the religi ous lessons to inspire a high moral ideal and to touch the springs of conduct. Wi are assured by our investigators, and by some who have given oral evidence, tha the withdrawal of the religious, lesson? frqm the schools (and in still a higher de gree the prohibition of acts of commor worship) would be regarded by multitudes of teachers as a calamity hurtfu 1 (as thev believe) to the children, injury ous (as" they know) to their own spintua' life.'.' Two English opinions are wortr quoting, viz. : —Mr John Shawcross University College, Oxford, England, reports on Bible teaching in the elementary schools : " . . . And nowhere is this in

timate and essential connection of re liuion and morality, of right action anc" true devotion, so forcibly, and at th< same time, so simply proclaimed as ir the history of the Jews as told in tlv Bible; in no book could the teacher firu' the conception of Duty as the 'steri daughter of the voice of God' presentee so impressively, or in a manner so calcu lated to aopeal to the heart and under standing of children. In a book of thi uniaue character, a book, moreover, to wards which there exists an untrained almost innate sense of reverence in thi mind of every child,, the teacher pos sesses a lever of moral stimulus whier he cannot afford to dispense with. ..." Miss C. E. Grant, Deyons' Road, L.C.C England, Infants' School, said :—"Th» natural vehicle for moral teaching i--surely the Bible lesson. From whatevei plane of criticism the teacher may view the Bible stories, they are incomparable for young children. They are simple clear cut, dealing with primitive life and instincts, the stories of the childhood of the race. . . . The quiet religious halfhour in the morning affords a unique op portunity for that spiritual 'heart tc heart' communion between teacher and pupil, which no other lesson or 'subject' can supply. ... The religious lesson must never be lost to England. I a'm. etc., A NEW ZEALANDER.

Blackburn's strike of iminic.pal labourers for an extra halfpenny an hour has been settled, after costing the' I town £IOO,COO. The increase was not granted. I In London a -motor-'bus proprietor lias I complv with between 50 and 60 conditions before he can obtain a license to ' use his vehicle for public purposes. I A scDteacrennrian woman Ins just ,' died in* the Notts Asylum, where she had been an inmate for 63 years. vShe cost the Mansfield Union £1560 during this time. The smallest conscript in Franc" if 'probably Eugene Kspagnol. of Louines. pear Tours. He stands 3ft 7m in his ; stockings, and furns the scale at 421b T ; or just 3st.

! Messrs Baldwin and U-.yward, Patenl i Attorneys, whose local representative ut ' Mr C. Lang'.ey Bel:, Fstate Agent, Tra ! falgar-street. rcnort that thov have reI cently filed the following applications for I patent of New Zealand : —W. Langguth. i Auckland, internal combustion encnne starting; D. McTavish. Montreal, phos T'horic acid or nhosphate manufacture : I' IT. Downee. Wellington, -pulping ma • chine- A. Holste. Bielefield, exchange ! able shirt front; B. O. Bererersen, Pal iucictou North, resilient vehicle wheel.