The School Trouble at Memramcook.

Year
1880
Month
9
Day
28
Article Title
The School Trouble at Memramcook.
Author
F.P.B.
Page Number
3
Article Type
Language
Article Contents
A SECOND LETTER ON THE SUBJECT. _______________ To the Editor of the Times: DEAR EDITOR, - In your issue of the 25th inst. is noticeable a communication from this place relative to school matters here. The communication is signed “Fair Play,” but, judging from the misrepresentations and deliberate falsehoods therein contained, I should say the words never were used in that sense before. Other correspondents, who have hereto signed their names truthfully so, will be sorry to find their nom de plume deliberately prostituted in this way. It is a pity that, under the operation of the School Act, difficulties should arise among the ratepayers of any district; but it is a lamentable as well as a notorious fact that those who uphold, nourish, and foster a lame, forlorn cause, knowing that their artfully designed machinations cannot control a majority of the district, are the first to rush into print as a late requital for their supposed grievances. Haunted by the shadows of their disappointments, in the heat of their anger they do this invariably under an assumed name. Hence the undignified insinuations, false representations and deliberate falsehoods, such as appear in your correspondent’s letter – a sure indication of an unworthy cause, a bad heart and a far worse mind. His (your correspondent’s) aim is to arouse sectional feelings among the inhabitants of the district in order that the services of his friend, the present first class teacher; may be retained, contrary to the express wishes of at least a majority of the trustees, not to say a majority of the district ratepayers. He seeks to accomplish this end by showering insinuations against two of the trustees, whom he calls uneducated, forsooth and by distorting facts in such a way as to render palpable his version of the case. Not content with this, he attempts to raid on the French portion of the district in order to avert what he unfitly terms a monopoly on their part; and yet he is very careful in telling his readers that he has no antipathy against them. There was no necessity for this frank avowal, Mr. F. P., - the object and tenor of your letter drowns the utterance. Judging from F.P.’s letter, I should say he is not in a position to judge of the education of our trustees nor of their fitness for the post, as he terms it. * * As a matter of fact the French Trustee is a man of very liberal education, and acting secretary for the Board. Who the educated trustee is, nobody knows, unless he exist in the person of “Fair Play,” who seems to nourish a distain for the French people of the District, or unless he be the abortion of his aforesaid imagination. Neither of the other two Trustees are educated men in an exalted sense of the term, but each has a sufficient education to be able to understand and attend to the wants of the District; and one of them is an Irishman! Worcester, Webster, and Johnson never spoke of a nonentity. Did they live to-day, perhaps they would conjointly compile a new dictionary and give “Fair Play” prominence. Now, let us to the facts: We have at present a school house which reflects much credit on the District, but, as you cannot always judge a bird from its plumage, neither can you judge the attainment of students from the outside appearance of a country school; and much less can you judge of the capacity of the teacher who is supposed to teach the young idea how to shoot, not to fight. The present teacher may be a fair one in a relative – sense, but he was hired as a licensed second class teacher only, and when “Fair Play” states that he is a first class teacher, he is mistaken as to rank and falsifying facts as to license. Neither can he have heard of the many complaints made to the Trustees against the teacher by Irishmen like himself!! The young female teacher has, it is true, but a third class license; but the rank given her by the Inspector, after examining her school, was No. 1 Can “Fair Play’s” bosom friend say as much truthfully, and remain an Irishman? This young French teacher may be related by name to one of the Trustees, but there is nothing in the genealogy in the whole French Acadian race to show that she is either by affinity or consanguinity. There may be one of the Trustees that dissent from the course taken by others; and this is perhaps the private interests, detrimental to the public weal, that F.P. refers to. Let us see. On examination, we will readily find where private interests “come in,” and when and how the change came o’er the spirit of this educated Trustee’s dreams. When the present teacher was first hired by the other Trustee, it was against this educated man’s protests. At that time the teacher contemplated boarding with the Irish uneducated Trustee. Since then he has taken quarters with the educated Trustee, and has even asked for a considerable increase of salary; to which the educated Trustee is willing to accede, but the voice of the District proclaims loudly against such an imposition when the requirements of the District do not warrant it. The question of the hiring of teachers is one exclusively for the Trustees, a majority of whom are supposed to represent the will of the District; and the advisability of hiring either first or third class teachers depends on the circumstances and requirements of the District. In a mixed district like ours, when no school has been in continued operation for the last four or five years, and where the children are either very small or just learning the rudiments of a primary education, a good third class teacher whether French or Irish, can serve the purposes as well as a licensed teacher of the first class. Perhaps it were as well to state further that the district has been subject to very serious expense in erecting the new school house which now adorns the district, and does not feel justified in continuing the services of a first class teacher at an increased salary, when other teachers, fully as competent, can be found at a far less rate. If “Fair Play” is not satisfied with these facts he may hear from us again at his leisure. In the meantime it would be saving the district ‘a grievous annoyance’ if the circulation of petitions was stopped. Yours, & C., F.P.B., Memramcook, Sept. 27th