THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10125, 7 May 1896, Page 4

THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

—— The extraordinary scene which took place yesterday at the meeting of the Board of Education will cause general annoyance and regret. It is usual t« say of such a fracas that it is discreditable to the parties concerned; and the incongruous nature of 8 wrangle at a meeting of a body invested with the responsibilities of administering education in a large district. does seem to bring dishonour even on the district itself. But in such cases the discredit is to those that make the row, and certainly not to those who, by their tirmmss in the observance of order, prevent that row from being effective of its purposes. The question of the chairmanship of the Board is in dispute, and will no doubt have to be finally decided in a court of law. A legal authority, which for many years has been regarded as of the first standing in New Zealand, has affirmed that Mr. Udy is legally m possession of the chair. Other legal opinion advises to the contrary. In such circurr stances the usual course i? to let matters remain in statu quo until decision is given on the question bv the power that alone is competent to determine. But there is a tendency in some minds to resort to force as a remedy, and it is the misfortune of the operation of free institutions that there seems no way of preventing the rowdy temperament from occasionally putting itself in evidence in the most, unseemly circumstances. The ludicrous aspect of a Board of Education sitting, with two rival chairmen presiding at the same time, and conducting the business in formal order, presents the Board in an ignominious position, and no one with i any conception of the dignity of office, or any particular sense of self-respect, would be a party to putting the Board in such a position of absurdity. Apart altogether from the merits of the question of the chairmanship, which is pending decision by competent authority, the action of Mr. Muir, and those who are supporting him, will receive the condemnation of the whole people. Of course it is very well known that this violent attempt to capture the chairmanship in the absence of two members of the majority of the Board, is only in pursuance of a system of intrigue that has been in operation for some time, and that the members at the Board who are creating these unseemly scenes, are but the puppets dancing to the pulling of wires from without, Sympathy as well as credit, therefore, is due from the public to Mr. Udy and his two colleagues, Messrs. Luke and Woodward, who are holding the fort against the insidious attempt to get a hold of the administration of the education of the district, seeing that not a day .or two of tranferred authority would probably be productive of serious results. The meanness involved in the attempt to trump up a charge of unauthorised expenditure of money, of two or three years ago, against the chairman shows the unscrupulous lengths to which this intrigue is prepared to go for its ends; and altogether the presence of such an element in the Board furnishes a fresh and a strong reason for reforming the system of election to the Board, if it does not put another nail into the coffin of the system ot Boards of Education,