§ LORD ORANMORE AND BROWNE rose "To ask His Majesty's Government whether they had had an opportunity of communicating with the chairman of the dinner held on the occasion of the National School Teachers' Conference at Sligo; whether they could now give any further information as to what occurred there; and what action His Majesty's Government proposed to take in the matter." The noble Lord said: I know that your Lordships are looking forward with great interest to the speech of the noble Duke (the Duke of Devonshire) on a subject of much national importance, and I therefore think I shall meet the wishes of your Lordships by making my remarks as brief as possible. Fortunately, I am not obliged to go into much detail on the subject, for it will be in the recollection of your Lordships that less than a fortnight ago I called the attention of the House to the alleged disloyal action of certain Irish national school teachers at Sligo. The noble Marquess who replied on behalf of His Majesty's Government (The Marquess of Londonderry) was unable to give me a satisfactory reply, and perhaps that was hardly to be wondered at, for the noble Marquess confessed that his information was principally gleaned from 625 the columns of the Sligo Champion. He was good enough, however, to promise that he would make further inquiry, and that is the reason for my putting these Questions to the noble Marquess to-day.
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I believe that the Board of National Education of Ireland is a very independent body, and that if they make up their minds that they do not wish to give information on any subject it is somewhat difficult to extract information from them; but I believe they are a perfectly loyal body and court full inquiry into this matter, and I am sure they are only too anxious, if possible, to remove the slur which has fallen on the teachers in their employment, and, if I may say so, through the teachers on the whole system of education in Ireland. I am sure your Lordships will agree that it is the duty of the Commissioners of National Education to see that the children of Ireland are brought up with feelings of loyalty to our gracious Sovereign. In the rules issued by the Commissioners they state—
The following practical rules must be strictly observed—To avoid fairs, markets, and meetings, but above all political meetings of every kind; to abstain from controversy; to be imbued with a spirit of obedience to the law and loyalty to the Sovereign; and to do nothing in or out of the school which might have a tendency to confine it to any denomination of children.
§ I cannot doubt but that the Commissioners of Education in Ireland do their best to see that that rule is enforced. When I last had the honour of addressing your Lordships, I quoted from a letter of Mr. Macmanus, who was some time ago a national school teacher. Since then he has contributed a column of disloyalty to the Irish Independent. As I have accused certain Irish national teachers of disloyalty, I think it only right to state that a resolution was passed unanimously by the Dublin Metropolitan National Teachers' Association, on May 25th, condemning in the strongest manner possible the disloyalty at the dinner at Sligo, and stating that they regarded the conduct of the men concerned as despicable and calculated to alienate from the teachers' cause a powerful and influential section of the Irish public, and they called upon the executive to repudiate, in the name of 626 the organisation, the action of the men at Sligo. I hear that similar resolutions have been passed by other associations. In the meantime, I would ask His Majesty's Government to take the strongest action they can in this matter, and do their best to find out whether the reverend gentlemen who left the room when the loyal toast was proposed were, in any case, managers of national schools. I beg to ask the Question standing in my name.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION (The Marquess of LONDONDERRY)My Lords, I am asked whether the Government have communicated with the chairman of the dinner in connection with the National School Teachers' Conference at Sligo. As I informed the noble Lord on a previous occasion, the Government communicated with the Commissioners with reference to this matter, and the Commissioners reported that they had no information which would justify them in taking any action with respect to the occurrences in question, nor had they any effective means of obtaining such information. The Commissioners have no official cognisance of the National School Teachers' Organisation, and, with the exception of the name of the president of the association, none of the names of the teachers who were stated to be present were published in the newspaper reports of the proceedings at the dinner. I am informed, however, that the Resident Commissioner, who is the permanent administrative officer of the Board, has on several occasions personally recognised the organisation to a certain extent, in so far that he has received deputations from the executive of the association. In these circumstances the Resident Commissioner thought it right to communicate with Mr. Hazlett, who presided at the banquet, and he has received from that gentleman a letter, which I will read to your Lordships. Mr. Hazlett writes, under date June 1st, 1905, as follows—
To the Resident Commissioner of National Education in Ireland.SIR,—In accordance with the request contained in your letter of the 29th ultimo, to the effect that I should furnish a report of the 627 proceedings in connection with the toast of 'the King' at the dinner of the Teachers' Congress, held in the Town Hall, Sligo, on April 26th last, and at which I presided, I now beg to submit same for your consideration.The number present at the dinner in question amounted approximately to 140, and of these there were probably forty or fifty who had no connection with the teaching profession. Whilst we were assembling for dinner several persons came to me, presumably guests, and asked if I really intended to propose the toast of 'the King' which they noticed at the head of the list of the toasts printed on the menucard. I replied that it had always been customary to propose the toast at the annual dinner in connection with the National Teachers' Organisation, and that I had no intention of departing from the usual custom on the present occasion. Shortly afterwards, and when we had just taken our seats for dinner, about fifteen or twenty walked out of the hall and did not return. It has been stated that this party consisted of teachers and guests. This statement is, as far as I know, inaccurate. I do not believe there were any teachers amongst this party, for, apart from other considerations, I do not think there is a teacher in all Ireland who would pay for a dinner, and then walk away and leave that dinner behind him. Dinner being over, I stood up and proposed the toast of 'the King' in the usual manner, and I regret exceedingly to have to report that at this stage a considerable number of those present remained seated. There were some cries of 'Seats' in various parts of the hall, but I should be very sorry to think that any of the teachers present were guilty of uttering these cries. I am quite convinced that they came from the guests who were present. I have seen it stated in the Press that the president 'passed hastily to the next toast on the list.' If by this Press statement it was meant to convey that it was my desire to hurry over the toast and get rid as quickly as possible of a disagreeable duty, then I have only to say that that statement is absolutely untrue. It has also been stated in the Press that numbers left the hall while the King's toast was being proposed, and that these subsequently returned. I only noticed two or three leaving at that particular time, and these were guests. The remainder of the evening passed over quietly and without any further incident, of note. My opinion is that the Press reports of the dinner were considerably exaggerated. I have no doubt whatever but that the secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation will, in the name of the whole body of teachers, entirely dissociate themselves from and repudiate the regrettable and unpardonable conduct of a section of those who attended the dinner at Sligo.
§ I have the honour, etc.,
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J. J. HAZLETT,
President of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation.
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I have read the letter at length because, when the subject was last raised by the noble Lord, both the Duke of Rutland
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and Viscount Goschen desired to have the explanation of the chairman as to what took place at the dinner. The noble Lord quoted a resolution that had been passed in Dublin. On May 27th the following resolution was also passed in Belfast—
That we, the members of the Belfast branch of the Irish Protestant Teachers' Union, desire to express our attachment to the throne and person of King Edward VII., and we strongly denounce the action of those delegates to the Sligo Congress who at the banquet proclaimed their disloyalty by refusing to honour the toast of 'the King.'
§ My noble friend also quoted a sentence from the rules which the Commissioners have been reconsidering, and, as he informed your Lordships, it is therein stated that teachers ought to be imbued with the spirit of obedience to the law and loyalty to the Sovereign, and to do nothing in or out of the school which might have a tendency to confine it to any denomination of children. With that we concur, and we shall impress upon the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland the necessity of insisting on that rule being carried out. My noble friend has asked what course His Majesty's Government propose to take in order to obviate any repetition of such incidents. In regard to what are, to a certain extent, private gatherings, it is difficult for the Executive to interfere, but I can assure my noble friend that if he or anyone else brings before us the action of any teacher in the pay of His Majesty's 'Government who either shows disloyalty on his part, or is guilty of inculcating disloyalty in those under his charge, His Majesty's Government will take every step to prevent a recurrence of that conduct.