AN EDUCATIONAL CENTRE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 71, 17 December 1917, Page 18

AN EDUCATIONAL CENTRE

THE TRUST LANDS TRUST

ITS AID TO INSTITUTIONS

Tho flourishing town of Mastcrton was originally settled in 1850, and it was ono of tho places in this country sottled under Sir George Grey's Hundreds Scheme. A small farm area was defined, and the town was laid out ill tho centre of this area, tho plan being that a settler should be allowed 10 acquire an area of forty acros of rural land, with an acre of town land as well. For the forty acres and tho town acre he was required to pay tho sum of £20. It happened that beforo long there were moro town acre lots than there were- fanners, and considerable areas in tho town wero ownerless and unoccupied. Many ot tho men who took them up in the first instance left tho district and passed out of knowledge, abandoning their sections as worthless. By and by the question was raised as to what should bo done with this land in the town The first and most obvious proposal was that the land should he sold, but wise counsellors of the day urged that it should be held in trust for the benefit of the town. These men carried their point, and the land was handed over to a committee of trustees. This was the foundation of tho Masterton Trust Lands Trust, an institution which has been for the great good of the town ever since. It was considered even in those days that there might be need of income for such purposes as education in tho distant future, and the land was set apart primarily for this purpose. The trust lands are now managed by a board of nine trustees, elected by universal suffrage. . It happened'that among the soctions which wero not taken up were some of the most valuable sections in the town. One of the things to bo very seriously considered in those early days was the cost' of fencing, and because of the heavier cosU entailed, corner sections were not in demand. So these very valuable areas fell into the hands of the trust. Altogether the income from these lands is about £3000 a year, which is available for tho purposes of education and works of utility within tho original small farm area. The possession of this rich endowment ensures that the educational institutions of the town and district shall he well provided for, and it is a fact that tho schools and other educative institutions havo benefited, and still do benefit, from the income from this endowment. Tho benefits aro not limited to the schools. First of all tho town mefting-place was built by tho trust, and now the building which replaces it, called the Opera House, belongs to the trust. The library has been subsidised by tho trust for some time, and not very long ago a" piece of land was handed over as a permanent endowment for tho Borough Library. The Technical School. When tho Technical School was to be established in Masterton the trust gave tho site for tho school, and also a substantial sum of money to assist in tho foundation of the institution. Now tho school is regularly subsidised to the oxtent.of from £200 to £300 a year, a very big subsidy for a school in a town of tho sizo of Masterton. At tliis school there are four hundred students, making an average of SO per cent, of attendances. The actual roll number is greater than this, but in assessing the importance or the success of tho school it is wise to tako account only of those pupils who aro really taking their studios seriously. Most of tho classes are held in the evening, and the subjects taught aro thoso wliich aro commonly, taught in schools of tho kind. Tho school was built in tho lifetimo of tho late Mr. Seddon, but it is already too small for requiremeuts, and a grant from tho Government is being sought for tho enlargement of tho building. Tho school is particularly well situated, beside the recreation ground of tho town, and this ground, oO acres in extent, is a beauty spot of which the residents are justly proud.

District High School. The District High School in tho borough is by way of being a model school. As a place for tho instruction of tho young jt is good, because Mastorton has always been fortunate in the teaching staff allotted to it,Miut it lias features which aro not common to many schools in this young country. One of theso features is a littlo museum, containing objects of historical interest to the place, and also trophies of general historical interest. This museum IB subsidised by the trust every year. Agriculture is treated as a serious subject for study in this school, and the experimental plots in tho grounds aro used successfully for the teaching of the subject. One of these plots is on a piece of ground given to the school hy the. trust on condition that jt should be used for the growing of native trees, and the plot is now devoted to the culture of native trees. With the assistance of tbis piece of land, with its beautiful shrubs and young trees, tho children are encouraged to acquire a knowledge of the indigenous flora of the country, and encouraged also to acquire a love for it. The school has a good record in the success of many of tiio boys who have passed through it. Many of tho best known professional men in Wellington and Wairarapa have come through this school, and others owe their cood start in life to assistance from tho Trust Lands Trust. One of the bursaries regularly offered by the trust is a payment of £10, of sometimes a larger sum, to every boy who matriculates from this school and goes to the university. A Farm Schoof. In other parts of Now Zealand a town of the size of Masterton might ere this have begun to agitate for the establishment of a farm school in the district, but there is no such movement in Masterton. It is the desire of the educational authorities and of the people of the district that there should be established in the district, in the near neighbourhood of Masterton, _ a farm school, in which boys may receive a real vocational training in the arts of farming. Lately the Government, at tho request of-the trust, set aside a block of 28 acres as a site for such a farm school. Solway Clrls' College. The latest educational institution to bo established in the town is Solway College for Girls, a private school controlled by tho Presbyterian community. The school had its small beginning a few years ago in a leased residence, which proved to bo adequate for the accommodation of the twenty girls who camo to tho school in its first year. Last year the 1 number was sixty-one. A new school has now been erected, standing in nineteen acres of land, much of it growing native and imported trees. Tho surroundings of tho college are very beautiful. Tho new building is a fine concrete structure- in bold yet graceful design.. There is a swimming bath in the grounds supplied with fresh water continuously from a spring near by. The school is one with possibilities of considerable development.