"A PARENT" ON THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND DR. PURCHAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6002, 11 February 1881, Page 6

"A PARENT" ON THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND DR. PURCHAS.

I TO THE EDITOR. i Sm,—lf "Parent's" letter is inaccurate 5 and inconsistent, : yet it is not altogether 5 unamusiiig. How gravely, for instance, he i tells us, as if in earnest, that it was only , "after -waiting some weeks, Dr. Purchas r learns (learns, mark you !) that hismemoran--5 dum of charges was of no use, as it had no L signature." What a truly unsophisticated ! doctor to require to be taught at his age such 1 a simple matter! "Who would have thought his ; venerable years were the charming companions of such youthful innocence ? Dult lard that I am, X never dreamt that siml plicity and canniiiess could look so much t j alike. Really, Air. Editor, your correspon--3 dent, "Parent," should not crack his sly l jokes at ■ his friends in that way. Perhaps 1 too our medico's slight omission to "define " his charges and supply " reasonable particus lars," as unreasonably required by the Board f of Governors, arose from the same cause ? l Vague generalities in charges may be unfair, I . admit, but then they are so easy to make and 1 so hard to rebut that it is a pity to be - obliged to descend to particulars. Then, - too, there is what "Parent" justly com--1 plains of —viz., the vulgar necessity for "proof." Proofs! Why, what person of 3 retined mind and aesthetic tastes cares to be ; bothered for proofs ? For myself, I confess I would sometimes rather hang a man first : and try him afterwards—that is when one . is spiteful and has a bad case. The proof f then seems to be what "Parent" calls 2 '' exposing the complainant." Well, perhaps "Parent" is right; and it certainly is an ) unpleasant "exposure" to be found out I accusing people without being able to sub- ! stantiate one's assertions. Still in matters ; of this sort, however erroneous, our English practice is to give the accused an oppori tunity of knowing who his accuser is—an • opportunity of meeting him face to face. L Tell us, 0 " Parent!" have you been so long ; in the world as to have become a married ! man, and yet be ignorant, like your : friend the doctor, of these little matters ? As to the delay, whose fault was it so i much time was lost in buttonholing one or i two members of the Board of Governors; and i trying to influence them privately? The ■ straightforward, proper course of complaining was to send the complaint direct to the Board as a body, not to buttonhole one or ■ .two of its members. Even when his complaint did in some irregular way reach the Board, Dr. Purchas could not be brought to the point. Actually, as he is not ashamed to tell us himself, in order to bring the matter to an issue, the Board had to notify him they would consider " he did not intend to substantiate his statements." Who then caused the delay ? Is this the reason why "Parent" sympathises with his friend, and ; pathetically refers to him as an "unfor- • tunate complainant ?" Surely, this is a sly ' joke of that funny dog. One would have thought the real "unfortunate," or rather he 'who really deserves our sympathy is the head-master of the Grammar School, who without being aware of it has had serious charges, privately made, hanging over him for some seven months or so, and is now suddenly put on his trial without any in;quiry, so far as the public know, as to whether or not lie is really to defend liim- ' self. Still, let the result be what it may, provided only he gets Fair Play. ; OUR FRANKLIN MEMBERS. ; TO THE EDITOR. Sir,: —For "W.'s" edification, I merely observe that I did not abuse Mr. Harris individually. I wished to point out the fact that Franklin had not been anything like fairlyrepresented in the House. lam not a lover of "rats " myself, but I do not consequently dote on "moreporks." lam glad "W." is satisfied : it shows what a little pleases some people.—l am, &c., Frakkltx. " NE SUTOP, ULTRA CREPIDAM." TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —-I beg to acknowledge your impartiality in printing a letter Hke mine, so opposed to your views. I must trespass further, as you do not seem to have quite apprehended my position. It was not necessary for Dr. Purchas to "push" for an enquiry. Asa friend he communicated to two Governors what he thought wrong in the management of the Provincial Grammar School, and left them to satisfy themselves as to the truth of the allegations. /The , Governors demand a signed memo., and there, to his astonishment, he finds himself in the position of a public informer ! One of the Governors should occasionally visit the institution, and look into complaints that may be brought against it. It is so in all other institutions—why not in this ? And yet you call this acting as a "spy..'' .Would not you, or the manager of a bank or'insurance company, walk round and see that all was right, especially if there were rumours of something being wrong? I confess I exceedingly desiderate an investigation under Government authority, not only of the internal state of the institution, but also of the proceedings of the Governors themselves.' Do thej' inspect the institution? Are any records kept of their visits ? How often have they visited it since Dr. Purchas made his complaint? I fear that they visit'it but little, for the simple reason that many of them would be like a fish out of water at such a work. It is a great mistake to think that because a man is a successful merchant that, therefore, he is fit to manage a college. Before any real good can be done with that institution, there must be a good deal more new blood introduced into its Board of Management.—l am, &c., A Parent.