THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT IN AUCKLAND.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1891, 10 November 1874, Page 3

THE EDUCATION ENDOWMENT IN AUCKLAND.

To the Editor of the Thames Advertiser. Sib,—l am Surprised that Mr Speight still persists in making incorrect statements and in charging me with doing what I have not., done. As to throwing dust in the eyes of your readers, if I understand what the operation is, it is Mr Speight who is the guilty party. If Mr S. took so much interest in the matter of the old Supreme Court-house site as he would have us believe, he would surely know a little about the facts in connection therewith ; while, on the other hand, if he were desirous of acting fairly, he would take the trouble to ascertain the truth before making assertions calculated to give a very erroneous impression of my action in the matter referred to. There :was no such committee appointed by the Council as the "Public Buildings Act, Committee," therofore Mr Speight is wrong when lie says I sat as a member of it. Now, sir, for the information of Mr cipeight and your readers, I will give, as nearly as I can recollect them, the facts of tho case. This Supreme Court site 'has long been a vexed question amongst tho Aueklanders. It was bought by the province, from the colony, for £25,000, in the year 1861. Since that time several attempts have been made to utilise it. In 1870 (I am not quite certain of this date) a motion was made by Mr Boylan to the effect that this piece of land should be used for the erection of a building for a free public library and other public purposes. Mr Boylan's motion was carried, but no further steps were taken in. the matter until last session of the Council, when a select committee was appointed to report upon the beet means of utilising the site of the old Supreme Courthouse, taking into consideration the interests of the Board of Education, the resolution of the Council before referred to, and a certain claim to a street set up by Mr Darby, I was a member of this committee, and was in favour of leasing the ground in allotments for a term of years for building purposes. Nearly all the members of committee, however, were in favour of a proposal to erect a large pile of buildings for public offices, &o , and a report to that effect was submitted to the Council and adopted without a dissenting voice. The members of committee were greatly surprised at this result, as they fully expected strong opposition. The Public Buildings Act was the result of this vote, During the progress of this matter in the Council a pro* posal was made by Mr Carpenter to borrow ten thousand pounds on this property for school building purposes. I voted against this proposal, because I did not believe in mortgaging the revenue of the Board of Education for this purpose. I believe in this matter that the plan adopted in tho American colonies is iho best, where tho districts provide the buildings, and tho Board the teachers.— I am, &c, L. J. Bagnail. Nov. 9,1874 [ This must close the correspondence.— Ed.]