The Waikato Times, THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE, AND KAWHIA ADVOCATE. Established Thirty-Four Years. THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE WAIKATO. THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY DAILY PAPER SOUTH OF AUCKLAND. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1906. DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOLS.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8057, 15 November 1906, Page 2

The Waikato Times, THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE, AND KAWHIA ADVOCATE. Established Thirty-Four Years. THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE WAIKATO. THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY DAILY PAPER SOUTH OF AUCKLAND. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1906. DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOLS.

It is not surprising that the Waihi District High School Committee should be moving in the direction of separating the primary and secondary departments of district high schools. Since the Waihi school was converted into a district high school, the staff could never be termed a happy family. The tirst assistants—and there have been several in the few years since the change —who have successively had charge of the secondary departments, have found it impossible to work harmoniously with the head teacher, and the frequent changes due to this unsatisfactory state of affairs cannot but have had a prejudicial effect on the school work. The extracts from the letter forwarded by the last assistant to resign his position, quoted in the letter read at last night's meeting of the Hamilton West District High School Committee. showed clearly that the supervision exercised by the Headmaster at Waihi over the secondary department was not calculated to encourage the tirst assistant to put forth Ins best efforts. Isut in assuming that the same difficulty exists at all district high schools the Waihi committee is in error. We are not aware that any other committee has been led to urge the separation of the two depaitments, and m most schools the best of spirit prevails between the two staffs. Mr Worsley placed some strong reasons before last night's meeting why the Hamilton West Committee should withhold its cooperation from Waihi. As he said, divided control of the school would place the headmaster in an intolerable position. The men who usually apply for the position of tirst assistants in district high schools are young university graduates, who possess neither the teaching experience or the age to qualify them to take absolute charge, nor would the salary offered usually sufficiently recompense the additional responsibility. A tactful headmaster can always work harmoniously with his lirst assistant unless the latter be an individual so unfortunately constituted as to render harmonious working impossible, in which case he certainly is not tinted for even a subordinate position. District high schools were established to give the benefits of secondary education to a larger circle than endowed high schools are able to do, and without the expense of maintaining highly paid teachers. The experiment has worked most successfully except in such isolated cases as Waihi, where the system cannot be held to blame. The \V ailu Committee has not advanced any sufficient reason to warrant a change, and it may be confidently expected that the response of the great majority of district high school committees to its circular will be in the same very proper terms as those in which the Hamilton West committee refused its co-operation last night. It would take very cogent reasons to induce the Minister of Education to upset the system, and no such reasons have yet been advanced. BRIDGING THE IiOSPHORUS. " The Sultan of Turkey has approved of the scheme of II err Schneider for a bridge across the liosphorus." So runs a cable from Constantinople, and in it we see the influence of the German advisers of the Pone, whose recent ende;. .'ours to induce Jiritish capitalists to ta .e a share in the construction of the railway in the valley of the Euphrates will be leiuenibered. The liosphorus at its narrowest point is barely half a mile across, separating Europe from Asia. The new bridge wou d enable railway communication to be established direct from Paris or Be.liu into the heait of Asia Minor, if the construction is carried funnel, mid the line is built to the head of the Persian Gulf, a most formidable competitor to the Eastern steamship con panics will be e tablished, and UomUr, y:M be brought within ten days of London. I Kis J lie scheme upon which Germany has aei its heart. Shut out from other parts of the tvorld, she hopes to build up a a territ irial and commercial connection in the near East. The valley of the Euphrat* -, familiar as the site of the Giuu.ct of Eden, will by means of irrigation works be made to blossom again, and those dead old-world cities, whose existence carry us far back into the very beginnings of human society, will revive their life and activities, Germany is striving for the protectorship of the Catholic Church in Asia, and the extension of her commerce is part of the pro- I gramme. British interests in Asia are of enormous proportions, and the Home Government may be trusted to watch very carefully the moves in the commercial game.