THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY DECEMBER 14 1877.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 5017, 14 December 1877, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY DECEMBER 14 1877.

At tlie time i 3 approaching when the various Local Committees of Education will require to take action in the election of an Education Board under the New Education Act, we propose to narrate, as closely as convenience permits, the proceedings which the Local Committees are called upon to take. The Education Board of each distinct it is provided by the Act is to consist of nine members, and these are to be chosen under a novel mode of election—an experimental fancy franchise. It is based on a system of individual committee nomination, combined with a general power of selection by each committee, the cumulative votes of all the committees of an education district deciding who shall form the Board. The mode of procedure is as follows :—During the month of January each committee shall transmit to the Education Board of the district, the names of two persons qualified to be members of the Board (their written consent being lir3t obtained), and the Board shall thereupon publicly notify the names of such persons, and in such notice shall also state the day on which the election of the Board shall be held (which must be on some day not later than 35th March), and shall also transmit to each committee a list of all those persons whose names have been so transmitted to the Board. From this list each committee shall send to the secretary of the Board a list in writing, setting forth the full names of not more than nine persons whose names have thus been publicly notified. These lists, so sent from the committees, shall be carefully preserved by the secretary, who shall, on the day fixed by the Board, proceed to ascertain what persons so nominated have the greatest number of votes, and the nine persons who have such greatest number shall be the members of the Board. In the event of an equality of votes, the existing Board, which remains in office until the new one is appointed, shall decide. If any committee refuses or neglects within the appointed time to transmit to the Board either of the lists of namei above-mentioned, which the Law requires them to transmit, the Board shall proceed to the election of members notwithstanding such refusal or neglect. Every election shall bo conducted publicly by the Board, in such manner as it thinks lit, and shall also publicly notify, under the signature of the Chairman, what persons have been found elected, and such notification shall be final and conclusive for all purposes.

This briefly sets forth what the committees have to do. Power is given by the Act to the Governor to delay the period of selection for a couple of months beyond the dates specified in the Act, and it is thought probable that such postponement will take place. But meanwhile committees will see wlmt course they have to follow whou the time comes.