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INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTMENT.

349

CHAPTER XXVIII.

RELATIONS

INTERCOURSE WITH THE DEPARTMENT PLEASANT — MY CON-
NECTION WITH IT SLACKENED, NOT BROKEN
WITH MANAGERS AND TEACHERS.

In view of the enormous amount of correspondence which passes daily between a large body of inspectors and the Department, in much of which there are abundant possibilities of error and oversight, it is, so far as I know, extremely seldom that the correspondence is marred by anything irritating or unpleasant. Accuracy is of course imperative, but any departure from it is pointed out for correction with genuine unfailing courtesy. I know of only two noteworthy cases, and they are now many years old, in which there was a savour of smart but not ill-natured persiflage. In the first case the examiner in London indulged in needless sarcasm, and as usually happens when one is tempted to use that untrustworthy weapon, the recoil of which, like that of a boomerang, is dangerous, he came

off second best. Long before the separation of the Scottish from the English Department, and when the number of pupil-teachers was comparatively small, their examination papers were sent up to London along with the school report. My colleague, Mr David Middleton, had on one occasion, from hurry or oversight, marked as correct an exercise in arithmetic in which there was a slight error. This was observed by an examiner in the Education Office, and presented an opportunity of gently "sitting upon" an inspector too tempting to be foregone. He accordingly worked out the sum in blue pencil on the margin of the exercise, and, doubtless in the hope of receiving a repentant explanation and apology, sent the paper with his correction to Mr Middleton with the cutting query, Middleton, do you still approve?" Taking advantage of the curt question which admitted of a simple categorical reply, and feeling that he could afford to be found chargeable with a slight mistake without losing his character as an efficient officer, he replied, "Certainly not.D.M." His friends insinuated that he utilised his initials, which readily lend themselves to the form D-Mn. As to the accuracy of the insinuation I have no opinion.

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GOOD-HUMOURED BANTER.

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Another colleague, who had hired a carriage for his visit to a school, had a diary of his weekly duties and expenses returned to him, the Treasury official whose duty it is to check all such expenditure, and whose inquiries are sometimes unnecessary and vexatious, suggesting the question, "Mr X, was the railway not available for this journey? The distance as the crow flies is about eight miles."

"No," replied Mr X, "for (1) I am not a crow, and (2) there is a navigable river between the railway station and the school, and though I can swim my assistant can't."

It is only fair to say that the Treasury officials and not "My Lords" are responsible for irritating questions of this kind, which are sometimes. accompanied by expressions of regret by the Education Department that they have no choice but to forward to the persons concerned all questions or objections proceeding from the Treasury. When I retired from the service I did so with a comfortable feeling of having been treated with a fairness which was not only considerate but kindly; that the Department and I had contrived to spend nearer forty than thirty years in the furtherance of a common object, in the mutual interchange of good offices and

friendly counsels, in connection with which nothing remains but pleasing memories.

When my service after an extension of a year and a half beyond the statutory limits came to an end, I received from Lord Balfour and Sir Henry Craik a most hearty and gratifying recognition of what I had attempted to do in the discharge of duty, accompanied by a request that, though no longer officially connected with them, I should look with a kindly eye on their doings, and communicate with them on any points which I might think worthy of being discussed. To this request I have several times gladly, and I hope profitably, responded.

It is a pleasure to feel that the tie connecting me with the Education Department is, from my being asked to take part in the examination of secondary schools, only slackened, not broken.

While I can refer thus heartily to my relations with the heads of the Department, I can speak in similar terms of my colleagues in the inspectorate, with whom my intercourse has been all that could be desired. In all the districts in which I have been placed I have been closely associated almost throughout with men who not only knew their work and did it, but between whom and

RELATION TO TEACHERS.

353

myself there was generally the most friendly and satisfactory understanding. With school boards and other managers I have been equally fortunate. I do not say that there were not, at wide intervals, cases in which there was an intelligible divergence of opinion on minor points, but I have a distinct impression that, as a rule, every suggestion I made was fairly considered, and either adopted or declined for reasons which were thought on the whole satisfactory.

With regard to teachers my attitude has never been one of suspicion and distrust. I dealt with them as fellow-workers with me in a common cause, for the successful promotion of which sympathetic co-operation was essential. I have tried to be fair to them and also to the Department whose servant I was, and while better pleased to praise than to blame I have praised without favour, and when necessary, though with regret, found fault without fear. I have endeavoured to stimulate intelligence, give direction to honest effort, and recognise with kindly encouragement good work of very different types wherever found and by whatever methods produced, holding, as I do, that excellence is not the result of any one uniform and stereotyped method. I am painfully conscious that I have

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