The Oamaru Mail. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1229, 25 March 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

When Mr. Rector Peattic enunciated the scheme which was to act as an antidote to tlie decreasing attendance at the High School, it was pretty generally viewed as of a value commensurate with the importance of the case. Wc need not say that the School Committee approved of Mr. Peattie's views. One of the reforms suggested by him was that a matron should be appointed who should take charge of the girls of the upper school. The School Committeee, feeling the necessity of securing the services of a lady qualified by education and a commanding presence to fulfil such a duty, exercised their prerogative of choice with a care which circumstances demanded. The two first applicants were not such as to meet with the Committee's entire approval, and they rejected them, at the same time recommending the Education Board to advertise for appications throughout the Colony. Fortunately this expedient was rendered unnecessary by the appearance on the scene of Mrs. Graham, "who at the instigation of the Board's Secx*etaiy, applied for the appointment which Mr. Peattie's reform rendered necessary. There was, however, a difficulty in the way of making the appointment offhand. Mrs. Graham is not a certificated teacher, and in the absence of authoritative official evidence of her educational ability, the Committee deemed it prudent to request the applicant to interview the Kector. We have seen that this action of the Committee did not meet with approval in a certain quarter. But that is no indication that it was not at once wise and prudent. There was no intention on the part of the Committee to impugn the applicant's representations. Like cautious men, entrusted with a responsible position, they adopted a step which they thought would prove satisfactory to all concerned—to the applicant, the school, the Committee, and the public. The result has justified the means employed to attain it. It would have been quite impossible for the Committee to have formed the smallest idea of Mi's. Graham's qualifications from the information at their disposal by post. In the majority of cases credentials and recommendations of applicants exaggerate ability —in Mrs. Graham's ease, the information afforded the Committee did not do the applicant ! justice. "We have stated the case fairly. Who will now tell us that the Committee did not act in a manner as considerate to the applicant as it was cautious and thoughtful of the interests they were elected to serve 1 However, the" affair is all over now. Mrs. Graham has been elected to the matronship of the High School, and will, if we are not greatly mistaken, exercise an influence in that institution that will be felt and approved of by parents and ccuarclians.