ALTERED BOUNDARIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1915, Page 3

ALTERED BOUNDARIES.

WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD'S INDIGNATION. POLITICAL INFLUENCE ALLEGED. The recent decision to place a portion of the Wanganui Education Board's area —the southern portion of Taranaki district —under the control of the Taranaki Education Board, occasioned some trenchant remarks at the last meeting of the Wanganui Education Board.

"The determination of the alteration of the boundaries by a Council of Education of seventeen members, after a few days' consideration, was a feat worthy of the colossal intellects of the nine members of the Council who favoured the new scheme, for they accomplished in that time a division opposed to the mature determination of experts who had previously spent months at the work," said the Chairman (Mr. Fred Pirani), "So far as this district is concerned the outstanding feature has been the taking of tha< {portion of the district from Hawera northwards with 22 schools and two thousand pupils, to aggrandise the effete Taranaki district, which two Royal Commissions recommended should be abolished, and to placate the politicians supporting the Reform party, who seemed to be afraid that their political existence depended upon some sacrifice on the part of any district but their own. The jerrymandering which took place over this matter is little short of a disgrace to our politicians and those members of the Council of Education who supported the proposal. It is not egotistical for me to say that it is generally recognised that the Wanganui Education District is the most progressive and the bestmanaged in the Dominion, and it is a pity that envy, jealousy, and political engineering, should be combined to prevent the fruition of schemes which aimed solely at the betterment of the rising generation. I regret the change, because it will mean my retirement from membership of the Board after twenty years' service, as I could not think of continuing to occupy a position upon which such obloquy has been thrown by those who are mistakenly supposed to have the interests of education at heart." "I am sorry that two of our members, Messrs. Bennett and Guthrie, are not present to-night," Mr. Pirani went on, "and I might add that .they have decided to retire from the Board."

FEELING IN SOUTH TARANAKI. Mr. Dixon said there was a very strong feeling in South Taranaki against the action of the Council of Education. When the Commission was set up to report on the proposed new educational districts it was expected that the Government would act on its suggestions. The weakness was to place the matter in the hands of the Council of Education, which could know little or nothing about the boundaries. In South Taranaki the Wanganui Education Board had made a name for itself with agricultural education. The Minister for Education visited the South Taranaki end, and had an opportunity of finding out the feeling of the farmers and leading men, and although he had that information he did not raise his little finger in protest. Two of the members of the Taranaki Board were congratulated on their successful interview with the Council of Education. M was atrocious that they should go to Wellington and buttonhole the members. If the Wanganui Board had sent two members to Wellington to state the feeling in the South Taranaki district, he felt certain that no sane body would have granted the request. Just one side was heard, and influence was sufficient to carry it. If they had given Wanganui territory on the south he would not have thought so muck about it; but nothing in that direction had been done. It seemed to be too late to protest, but he had had messages from all over the district asking him to arrange for an indignation meeting in Hawera, to protest. The feeling was very strong against the Council of Education. The members from South Taranaki were now in an awkward position. They wished to be true to" the Wanganui Board, but they realised that certain things would have to be done in connection with agricultural education, and to carry on the work initiated by the Wanganui Board.

FEELING OK INJUSTICE. Mr. O'Dea said that there was a feeling that injustice had been done to the Wanganui Board by cutting off the Taranaki area. It was an incongruous thing to his mind, that in allocating the districts they did not take in up to the Patea river. It had been impressed on the Minister, on the occasion of his visit to Hawera, that the area should not be separated from Wanganui. There seemed to have been a weakness on the part of I the Ministry of the day in delegating the question to the Council of Education, as [the matter could not be dealt with by a Ixidy comprised mostly of teachers, and who could not know much about administration. The best scheme would have been to join the two districts. Personally he had finished his connection with education administration. Mr. Bruce: Did the Education Committee in the House not recommend that Taranaki should be absorbed in Wanganui? The Chairman: I believe there was a recommendation of one district called -Egmont.

AM7ENDING LEGISLATION SUGGESTED. Mr. Bruce said he strongly endorsed what had been said. He considered that steps should be taken to get an amending Act put through Parliament to rectify a serious blunder. They had a right to expect that the real facts would be placed before the Council. The Minister had Jed them to believe he was a. strong man. who was going to remedy •mariy defects; but the bad start he had .made reflected upon his management. The Minister should have seen that justide was done. Personally, the speaker sympathised very much with the members who had taken so much interest in educational affairs in the district. It was very disheartening, the way they had been treated. Mr Harris: Did we ask for any more territory ? The Chairman: No; we did not ex press any opinion that the Taranaki district should be absorbed in our 3. Mr. Harris: Then we have been misrepresented '! The Chairman: Yes; but that is not worth talking about. All we wanted was that our own territory should be retained. The evidence before the Commission when here was in regard to how the districts could be worked if joined. The officers of the Board gave that information. Mr. Fraser v said the Wanganui Board had received the greatest affront it could have received from any Government—a Government guilty of weakness and cowardice, seeing that it set up a Commission to fix the boundaries. He was , not prepared to say that he would not

gtand for re-election as be still felt capable of being of some assistance to education at his end of the district. Mr. I'urnell said the thing he could not understand was the complacant way the people of Wanganni accepted the decision and without protest of any kind. In the face of great difficulties the' Board had carried on agricultural education in the Taranaki district, and with the greatest success. Personally, he had given ten years to education administration, which was sufficient to expect from any representative. Mr. Bruce, said the people of Wanganui considered the decision monstrous in view of the recommendation of the Commission. The decision came as a thunder-clap, but it was too late to do anything. Mr. Divan: A journalist in New Plymonth expressed surprise that there was nothing in the Wanganui papers about the matter. He asked me if 1 could give a reason, but I could not, except that Wanganui was carried away with its Hill £50,000. Mr. Purnell: They are so satisfied with the Wanganui institutions as to be indifferent to the fate of the northern districts.

A SARCASTIC MOTION. In reply to a communication gard to the division of the distri wards preparatory to the next t of Board members Hie following tion, moved by the vhiiiniiiiii, \va< unanimously:—''Timl the Ministei formed that the Board Ims no mendation to make in regard Wards of the district, as it is eon: that ihe alteration i,f the linn has so injured the ■lislrict v- to its administration <!iy d and suggests that the assistance Council of Education be invoked matter of the division of the < into wards."—Chronicle. :ie invoked in the 11 of the district