ANOTHER DEADLOCK.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 780, 1 April 1910, Page 6

ANOTHER DEADLOCK.

THE GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL A GRANT, WITH STIPULATIONS. I —: : GOVERNORS AND MINISTER AT ODDS, Apparently; the path, to a definite and satisfactory settlement between the Government and the Wellington College Governors en the question of extended •accommodation at the' Girls' High School has not yet been made smooth. At yesterday's meeting of the Board of Gov-, ernors something in the nature of a .': deadlock, between:, the parties was disclosed by certain correspondence which sas brought up for consideration. ,'-A Settlement and its Sequel. ' It',had previously: been agreed that ' -conditionally upon the Governors consenting to receive proficiency certificate holders • ("free-place" -pupils) at the Girls' High School, the Government would pro- • vide whatever extra accommodation that ■ should be found necessary. The sequel' to this understanding appeared in a letter from the Inspector-General of Schools (Hr.-G. Hogben), dated January 14 last, •and stating, that the Government had f approved a grant of ,£3500 in aid of. the following additions to the Girls' College, to be built on part of the present site in '. such' a manner as would eventually form '■ part of a permanent structure in brick:— : (1.) Two classrooms. (2.) Two laboratories (one for physical and chemical work r especially,:such::as bears on doniestie science, and one for physiology, and other biological work, with the same general air). (3.) A cookery, room. , (4.) Apart room. Of the above'grant, ,£SOO, if. required, would be available before March 31, 1010. It would be necessary, the letter' stated, for the plans of the ' -rooms in question, with some indication of- their relation to the' future, complete ibuildihg, to Tie approved by the Minister. ■Subject to: : the conditions named, payments on account of the grant would be - made from time to time on progress cer- ■ tificates of the architect. Information/Wanted. . The above letter was considered at the ..January meeting of the board,.and, after ". av discussion which.was more or less hostile to the Government proposals,'it was resolved • that.-.the , letter of the Inspector-General, be handed to an ■'. architect, with instructions to prepare rough draft, plans which would meet the :■' conditions imposed by the Government. ■ On January 31,', the following letter was addressed to the Minister by, the board's •secretary (Mr. C. P.,Powles):— "I have to. acknowledge receipt of • your letter of January 14, with reference'to a. grant for additions to'the Girls' College. .1 shall bo obliged if you will kindly intimate the, opinion of the .Hon. the. Minister as to the /. financial and . construcjive' limitations,of, tho permanent structure, in brick alluded to in your letter now • , being acknowledged. You will' see that without such information it is difficult for the board to fix a site ■for/the suggested additions; I would further ask whether,'in. the event of--.; . '.tire Governors adopting plans of a permanent structure with limitations : as above-mentioned approved by the -Minister, the' Minister will give to ,the Board of Governors an assurance that_the Government will in course ..provide, the funds for its,. erection." Declines To .Supply.,. _.TJnder date March 1, the Inspectoraeneral -replied as. follows:— : .."In reply to -your, letter of January 5Jj I 'have the honour, by direction of ; the Minister of. Education, to in- .- ■form you that he>is.unable to afford any information other than what is . . expressed 'in . the \ -Inspector.-General's letter of January 14 last in regard to • '..'-..the..crani of .£3500 for a building ' for the. Girls' College" -.:'.". ■- .- ■ -.' ; It'was'.the aboyejetter, taken in-con-junction, ./ivith those,which had gone before that engaged the attention of the board, yesterday,,,when there were prefemt:—The chairman (Mr. A. de B. Bran;don), Miss Richmond, and Messrs. Robt Le s'» W W ß^ F if ,d ' rM;P - W - P ' Ward, .-. 'and A. Warbnrton. ■... .Statement"by Mr, Brandon. ■'■. •'• the discussion, the - chairman •j observed that if the.board spent .£3500 on . ! a sectional building, it had no guarantee ' whatever that they would get-any inon«y / ;from the Government to finish' it. 'Mr. lee: Can one Government pledge ••: another?.:.. . ■, ~ , .The chairman: .What are we to do then?'' Is tho board going to land itself . a a difficnlty by erecting, a building somewhere' on ■ tho grounds' without any - guarantee , that the .buildings will be

finished m :accordance with any" precon- * ceived 6cheine? £ Mr. Lee suggested that the board could £ meet present needs, by spending the',£3soo J to the satisfaction of the Department.' ! The building could be made.presentable m itself, and complete. ' ' :. -.: ..■■■:■ , ■':. . ... .••.'■;■ i, f Somo Warm Words; ' : The chairman: Are we, going to worry ( ourselves? ' , ] Mr'. Lee: Well, Lam—l am sent here \ to do that as representing the free-place , pupils. .' '_ , ', . The.chairman: And I am here to man-' < age the affairs of the Wellington College I Governors. ...■■..] Mr. Lee: I have no wish to'oppose you i in any way, -Mr. Chairman, except in that we regard.this,matter from different < points of view. , ~ '.The chairman: lam not going to spend ■ time trying to fit bur affairs to suit the i : requirements \of the Government, when '■/ the' Government refuses to give us any. information as to what, it wants—any assurance" that .whatever scheme 1 we start > will be completed. It is too. much waste of time, too much trouble, to find some scheme which may. or may not commend ..itself to the, Department.. '■'."'"■''' Mr.. Lee: That is .not'to'say that we' i are not warranted in trying.to work out a scheme. , . . ' Mr. Warburton suggested f that the. board's architect might. confer with the "Department. ~ The Chairman Sums Up. ' i The chairman: We have asked the Government to give us some idea of the ! financial and constructional, limitations placed : upon , this permanent structure which, it is suggested, we should build, and towards which we are to receive £3500 as a first instalment. We have asked, in addition, for an assurance that if we proceed to make a start with the, ouilding, money will bo forthcoming for the completion of the building. The .Government has refused to give any information, so; that we.can't say whether the Government considers a:JE3SOO building or a .£20,000 building; sufficient for the purpose.. Are we justified,'as aboard, in managing -the affairs of this sohii- . private institution— seini-rlrivate as being part of the Education Department—in "starting, expenditure, when we have not in view the possibility of being able" to carry'it through? Mr. Ward:. Of course,.as,Mr. Lee suggests, the Government can't bind itself for 20 years aheaid. The chairman: Lf we can't spend this ■ i£3500 at our own discretion; we can build additions. But as the accommodation to be provided is to: form part of :a< permanent structure we want to know' what the- nftture and extent of that permanent structure will be. Mr. Lee suggested that all the. board was required to do was to provide for : present .needs'. As for the future, things ifould adapt themselves. The chairman: We are asked to have regard, in our scheme of building, to a permanent structure, to bo completed at a future date. That contingency, it is presumed is about 20 years off. That is to say, the board wilrbo in a temporary position for 20 years or so. „This is a question of policy, arid must be settled by this board. We are within the four corners of our endowments, and if we go on in the expectation of .getting something from the Government at a future dato, we may land ourselves in the same, difficulty we were placed in'2s years ago, when we incurred a liability of J2sooo—for which we have paid 6 per cent, interest ever since—on the strength of a Government's promise to refund the money. At this stage, Mr.- Lee moved the adjournment of the debate pending a,further investigation of the difficulty by a 'sub-committee. ~ , This was agre«d to,