THE RAILWAY REGULATIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2373, 24 August 1899, Page 45

THE RAILWAY REGULATIONS.

NO EXCESSIVE ZEAL PERMITTED. AUCKLAND, August 18. Mr Owen, the locomotive foreman involved in the Stevenson case, states thai he has been removed to Wanganui, with a loss of £50 a year, salary and a reduction of rank. In excess of zeal, he took out the engine himself, instead of waiting for the driver, when the Onehunga train was derailed. He is an experienced driver. AUCKLAND, August 18. (Fhom Our Own ConßEsrosrDENT.) It appears that on Sunday afternoon, 16th July, the Onehunga train broke down at Tepapapa, and it was necessary to send an engine out to its assistance. Prompt action was required, as a train had to leave Onehunga at half-past 5, and it was then after 4 o'clock. Mr Owen, locomotive foreman, an experienced driver, instead of waiting to send for a driver, undertook to run the engine himself. Mr Stevenson, the stationraaster, promptly obtained an authority from the traffic department, and despatched the engine, which reached the spot without mishap. It appears, however, that the authority issued bore the words "All clear," which requires, under the regulations, telegraphic notice to the next stationmaster and a reply before a train is allowed to depart. There is another regulation indicated by the term " Clear of all trains," which does not require this notice, and Mr Stevenson was in the habit of despatching light engines daily along t)he lines without reference to the traffic department. The special regulation for Sunday involved in the term " All clear " did not impress itself upon him in the hurry of sending the' train away. As a matter of fact he knew that the line was clear, and could not be otherwise ; also did Mr Owen, who was driving, and without whose authority no other engine could be sent from Auckland. Subsequently Mr Stevenson observed that a technical breach of the regulations had taken place, and reported the matter himself. Greatly to his surprise, and to that of other officers of the railway service, knowing as they do that similar errors have been viewed with a small fine or a reprimand, the authorities at Wellington disrated Stevenson from first class to a second class station by directing his transfer from Auckland to the Bluff, a move which not only involves considerable reduction in pay, but practically loss of 10 years' service in order of promotion. This, remarks the Star, was for one alight error, which did not involve any risk, after 26 years' unblemished service. Mr Owen has also been penalised with extraordinary severity, and all through excess of zeal in taking the engine out himself instead of waiting one hour for a driver. These penalties appear to be harsh in the extreme, and can only be accounted for as a sort of panic measure resulting from the Rakaia commission. Mr Stevenson's retirement will be regretted by the business men of Auckland, to whom he has always been courteous and obliging. Some action will be taken by leading business firms to secure a reconsideration of his case. Under the new regulations issued by the Education department, as individual passes will be abolished, the distinction between pass subjects and class subjects will disappear. Both will be included under the term " class subjects." No proposal is made to change the syllabus. The pressure of the syllabus will not seem nearly so rigid when freedom of classification has been granted, and clever pupils will not be kept back or dull pupils hurried over difficult ground. Moreover, in view of the approaching inclusion of manual instruction as one of the subjects of public school instruction, readjustment of the syllabus will be necessary in order to make room for the new subject. It is not desirable to touch the syllabus till then. It is also proposed that the standard of exemption under section 3 of "The School Attendance Act, 1894-," shall be the Fifth Standard ; that the inspector shall issue to any child a certificate that the child has reached the standard of exemption if such child fulfils the requirements of standard 5 or a higher standard in (1) reading, (2) Bpelling and dictation, . (3) writing, (4) arithmetic, (5) composition, and satisfies the inspector that he has recoived regular and suitable instruction in the other class subjects, provided that the inspector may accept work below the requirements of standard 5 but not below the requirements of standard 4- in two, but not more than two, of the subjects (2 to 5). The inspector may refuse to examine for an exemption certificate any child who has not been instructed for at least six months in the class in which he is placed, or who has failed to reach the required standard at an examination held during the previous three monthsr. An inspector may accept the results of the head teacher's examination as sufficient evidence that a child has readied the standard of exemption, and give his certificate accordingly. It is also proposed that the inspector shall arrange to examine a.ll the pupils in the sixth standard classes, and shall award certificates of proficiency to those that pass in (1) reading, (2) spelling and dictation, (3) writing, (4) arithmetic, (5) composition, (6) geography, (7) drawing, and shall satisfy the inspector that they have received regular and sufficient instruction in the other class subjects, provided that work below the requirements of standard 6, but not below the requirements of standard 5, may be accepted by the inspector in not more than one of the subjects (1 to 5) or in not more than two of thfr subjects (1 to 7). The department claims that reforms in Great Britain go further, especially in Scotland, than the present proposals. Eihel It. Penjamin, Barrister smel Solioitor, Albert Buildings, Princes street, Dunedin (opposite C.P.0.), hao trust moneys to lead oj approved security. — Adrt