TAPANUI SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume 22, Issue 277, 22 May 1873, Page 6

TAPANUI SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

{To the Editor.) Sir, — In yours of the 15ib, I observed a letter from Tapanui about the affairs of the school, signed " One who is Humbugged ; " and one naturally comes to the conclusion that the writer must be no other than the recently appointed schoolmaster, Mr. South, as he is the only one who can claim the title of the " hmnbu§gstl man." £ The writer com.men.ces his remarkable specimen of letter-writing (which I hope will be placed before the minds of the Tapanui pupils, as a perfect specimen of epistolary literature) by asking what kind of a body a school committee should or ought to bo. A school committee should not, or ought not, to be a busy body ; it should regard its own affairs ; and not only so, but its members ought to act in concert, and none of them ought to take upon himself the duty of making private inquiries, as to the merits or testimonials of a newly-appointed school master, unless apeciully requested to do so by the school committee. " One who is Humbugged " kindly informs us that several of the Tapanui Committee are able to speak French and Latin fluently. Such a specimen of humanity in Tjtipanui must be a phenomenon, quite a rarzavis indeed ; as the writer has been an inhabitant of this township for some time, and it has never yet been his lot to catch a J sight of this wonderful bird. Either this learned bird must be always on the wing, or a chatting magpie whom no " fellah " can understand. In regard to the desultory conversations minuted in the course of three months, forming the mode of conducting business by the Tapanui School Committee, I venture to deny this statement entirely. The deliberation? of that body are written in pencil, and copied in ink, and read at next meeting and then confirmed. But your writer must have been humbugged when he thought three months were required for this. ~X"our man- of humbug must surely be talking French or Latin, when* he says that the " Chairman will not sign a minute till i>be- minutes of the previous meeting be- rescinded, that were cdsr&d b-y a majority $"" m \\ is utterly

impossible to gather any idea of his meaning, perhaps he would not mind stating his meaning in plain English, so that one who is not learned in languages may understand him. I cannot help thinking that this man of humbug is trying to cast a slur on tho high character of the lady, who has been to our children quite a Godsend since 'our late schoolmaster left us. He asks " what does the School Committeo owe her after three months hard labor among the children." I really never heard of any part of her conduct being such as to be awarded by the School Committee by a term of three months hard labor. This lapsus lingucß can only bo accounted for by your correspondent being much, in the habit of using such expressions as "A. B. sentenced to three months hard labor," in his ordinary business ; if so " One who is Humbugged " is not Mr. South, and must be nono other than our worthy (?) representative of the majesty of the law, who acts as Secretary to the Tapanui School Committeo. If my conjecture is correct, it is a pity that he should drag such, things into the public papers. It is really surprising that the " Blessed Bluffer " can find no one to inform him as to the whereabouts of Tapanui. This is extraordinary, as that surely can be no ordinary township which contains several School Committeemen who can talk Latin and French so fluently. If the " Blessed Bluffer" had asked aiiy "Blessed Bobby" the way to Tapanui, he might, perhaps, manage to reach his destination without the necessity of having debts looming bofore him in our township. — Yours, «fee.> Paul Pky. Tapanui, May 17.