A GREAT WORK

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 54, 27 November 1926, Page 8

A GREAT WORK

FLOCK HOUSE SCHEME HON. R. F. BOLLARD’S VIEWS A tribute was paid by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. R. F. Bollard) yesterday to the training the boys and girls from overseas were receiving at Flock House—those two excellent institutions in the Rangitikei and Manawatu districts in which young people who lost their fathers in the ships that foundered during the Great War are admitted. “I am glad of the opportunity given to me by the Hon E. Newman, M.L-C., and chairman of the trustees,” said Mr. Bollard, “to visit the institutions. There is no doubt that a very fine work is being carried out to the benefit of these young people from abroad, whose fathers rendered much magnificent service to the Empire in the time of its great trial. I found that the boys and girls are being taught all things they should know on a farm and their keenness to grasp the essentials of a new life is good to see. When one knows that these boys and girls are all taken from the great English cities abroad, many without any knowledge at all of country life, nothing but appreciation can be' expressed of their. adaptability to the big change in their lives. I had some pleasant talks with the boys and girls at both institutions They were all enthusiastic in praise of their new life, and all wanted to make good. I saw much of their work and very good it was. The girls have taken to dairying and poultry-raising and it pleases a visitor to detect their enthusiasm. It was plain to me that in walking over the paddocks of crops and inspecting the building that the trustees of the institutions were providing the boys and girls with a splendid foundation for their future careers in this country. That is the mam purpose of the work the trustees have set themselves and they merit all the commendation and encouragement they have received.”