MASTERTON TRUST LANDS TRUST.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3190, 15 May 1909, Page 5

MASTERTON TRUST LANDS TRUST.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of voters of the Maslerton Trust Lands Trust was held in. the Town Hall last evening. Mr T. B. Michell, the Chairman of the Trustees, occupied the chair, and about 40 voters were present. S The report and balance sheet were read by the Secretary. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the rsport and balance sheet, said that owing to the balancesheet not being audited, they were unable to have it printed and circulated. He congratulated the Trust on the position of affairs. During the ten years he had been on the Trust it was the first time they had been able to show a credit balance. Mr C. E. Daniell seconded the motif. n« Mr H. C. Robinson said he had hoped there would [ have been a greater attendance. The Trust had arranged to borrow up to £IO,OOO, and it was very important that the money should be well expended. He held the opinion that if , the Trust had been scientifically administered in previous years Masterton would today have been a recognised educational centre. It was owing to the apathy of the public that this was not the case. ;The speaker when he stood for election on the Trust last year had advocated certain reforms. These he had been unable to carry out, and would not be able to carry out [unless the public interested themselves in th 6 matter. He had urged that the Town Hall should be used by the Trust for the benefit of the public, as was done by the municipality in Wellington. His proposal to give concerts at popular prices was, however, negatived by 6 votes to 2. With regard to the £IO,OOO loan the speaker considered it speculative to erect buildings themselves for tenants, and he favoured requiring a tenant to put in 25 per cent, of the value of any building erected. This proposal was also negatived. He was satisfied that this Dlan was a sound one, and there was one man in the town who waß peculiarly qualified to carry it through successfully. He referred to Mr J. B. Keith, and he thought the electors should make every endeavour to induce Mr Keith to come forward at the next election. Regarding the Trust scholarships they should be founded and earned as a right. At present they depended upon a resolution of the Trustees, and it was therefore in to give or withhold them. Mr Robinson pointed out that owing to the fact that the whole of the Trust money could be expended in any way, the Trust was constantly open to attack. The first instance occurred long ago when the Trust gave to the Borough the acre extending from Mr Heron's corner to the Borough offices. In exchange for this the Borough was supposed to look after the Library. He left it to the'public to say how this arrangement had been carried out. The next instance was the Duilding of the Town Hall. It was a fine structure, but undoubtedly should have been built by the Borough. After this came the proposal for the Trust to take over the Park. He thought all would agree that if this had eventuated it would have swamped a very large proportion of the funds. Again the other day there was a very influential deputation, hsaded by the Mayor of the town, asking for £SOO for baths. The most extraordinary business, however, was" a Bill brought forward by the Trustees ten years ago, which would have authorised the Trustees to buy," sell, exchange and mortgage the whole of the Trust lands without referring to the public. The speaker mentioned these matters to show the necessity in some way of protecting the Trust by legislation. Referring to the payment of £250 a year off the Town Hall loan the speaker said the income should not be "bottled up" in this way. When it was considered that they had a loan of £IO,OOO on good sinking fund terms from the same people who lent the £I,OOO, and that they had so far no use for some of the money they must aee how absurd it was. He favoured making use of the 40 acres owned by the Trust, the lease of which would shortly expire, as an experimental farm. Mr Buchanan had a standing offer of £5,000 for such purposes. That gentleman's electorate now extended into the Small Farm Settlement, and it might possibly be arranged to get the £5,000. His idea was not to sell the land, but to lease it, for the purpose referred to, to the Government. In conclusion, Mr Robinson again urged the importance of the present period upon the public, and repeated his suggestion that an effort should be made to secure Mr Keith's services on the Trust. Mr Michell explained that last year they borrowed £I,OOO for the Town Hall, repayable in four years, and were putting £250 a year aside to pay the amount off. Mr R. Krahagen said that after the end of the four years they would be making, a profit of £1 a week on the Town Hall, which he thought was good business. Mr E. G. Eton said he thought Mr Robinson was doing nothing but finding fault with the work of past i Trustees.

Mr Robinson interjected that he was quite prepared to admit that the Trust had done a great deal better during the last year. Mr R. Brown, referring to the position in regard to the Library being handed over to the Borough, gave the details of the negotiations, tracing it practically from the initiation of the Trust. Mr C. E. Daniell said that unless he made some remarks it might be thought that the Trustees had been doing nothing right. He criticised Mr Robinson's building scheme, and said it was a pity he had not been more accurate in regard to his facts. The true position was that the Trust had arranged a loan of £IO,OOO to build with. They could only take up £3,000 in any one year; they had protected the position by stipulating that buildI ings should be constructed of brick, and, further, by providing that they could only build on certain sections. I He referred to the Age office as being a very valuable investment for j the Trust Lands Trust. He considered voters would not be in favour of Mr I Robinson's speculative scheme. He j referred to the loan of ,£I,OOO on the Town Hall which he considered sound business, and said that although Mr

Robinson was a Trustee he (Mr To inson) admitted that he did not understand the position. He had supported the building of the Town Hall, and was proud of it. He believed that the advancement of Masterton meant the advancement of the Trust. Mr Robinson: "How about your Bill for selling and exchanging Trust Lands." MrWagg: "Mr Daniell was not the originator of that Bill." -t.*k Mr Daniell said be had not advocated the scheme, but as Chairman of the Trust it had been his duty to put it before the electors. He was glad to think there was a prospect of Mr Keith coming out upon the Trust. He had made all sorts of enquiries some time ago as to the"-founding of an experimental farm, and had come to the conclusion that the proposal to use the 40 acres was not practicable. Mr Robinson asked whether Mr Daniell would be prepared to accept the newspaper reports at the time as evidence as to the question whether or not Mr Daniell had personally ad-« vocated the Bill for selling and exchanging of Trust Lands. . „Mr Daniell repeated that he did not advocate it. The adoption of the report and bal* ance sheet was then put to the meeting and carried. Mr Threadwell asked whether it was a fact that sccholarships were only granted by popular vote, Mr W. H. Jackson explained that every winner of a scholarship was entitled to a grant to supplement the scholarship. It was a prize won by the scholar, and did not need to be applied for. Mr Robinson: That rests upon a resolution of the Trustees.