THE MINISTERIAL VISIT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10239, 16 May 1911, Page 5

THE MINISTERIAL VISIT.

OPENING OF SCHOOL MUSEUM AND,RIFLE RANGE. '

AN INTERESTING CEREMONY

The Hon James Carroll. ActingPrime Minister, accompanied by his private secretary ' (Mr W. T. Gordon), arrived in Masterton by the 11.38 o'clock train yesterday morning. He was met at the station by His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. M. Joradine), Messrs A. W. Hogg, M.P., and A. H. Vile (members of the Education Board), Messrs R. Brown and E. H. Waddington (members of the School Committee), and others. party bad -luncheon at the residence of His Worship the Mayor, after which a-drive was taken to Lansdowne, and other parts of the town. AT THE HIGH SCHOOL. At 2.30 p.m. the' party drove to the District High School, where the cadets formed a guard of honour, and the public and children were assembled in strong force. Amongst those present were members of the Masterton and Lansdowtne School Committees, Masterton Trust Lands Trust, and Masterton Borough Council.

Mr R. Brown,, chairman- of the Masterton District High School Conunittee, apologised for the absence of the Chairman and Secreiary of the Education Board', Mr W. C. Buchanan, M.P., Messrs Blackmian, E. Welch, and others, and extended a cordial weleome, on behalf of the Committee, to the Hon. Mr Carroll. He apologised for having no assembly room \o which to invite those present, but expressed the .hopa that tliis would be remedied at no very distant date. The he said, had been started by-himself many years ago, and had subsequentlv b?en taken over\by the Trust, -bavins: eventually been presented to, tjie school. Reference was made to the excellent work done in connection with the Museum by Mr Jackson; and to the assistanoe received from the Trust Lands Trust. , ; ".'

Mr A,.W, Hogg, .stated tin* so far as lie was aware ..this tit ? the only occasion in the history of. New Zealand when the head of tl»" Government had attended, a fun<-.tior> of the kind. (Applause.) Thewere asking him to op?n the Museum and miniature rifle range, inr.iitntionßi which were becoming necessary to District High Schools throughout the Dominion. AU*s:oii was 1 made to the excellence and educational value of 4he exhibits in tb> Museum. ■ In conclusion he thanked the Hon. Carroll for having acc-ptec; the invitation to attend. . Mr A. H. Vile, a member of the WeHington Education ' Board, congratulated the School Committee and teaahers upon the possession of suO:. a valuable institution as He stated • thatJ Mast.crtcn "ivs's the first /township in, the Kbrth Island to Have » High>.gfe ; KfK)], and it was file first'.-to a. -Museum'.* He compared :, tße i Siucaiibni--f : f aciliities!of, to-day; with "of : years agOj| and felt proud of th? Masterton School and its equipment. He paid a special . tribute-to Mi- R. Brown\aJid Mr; W. H. Jackson for the work they'had done in'connection with the Museum.

Mr C. E?.Daniel; ■ senior .in'ember of the Trust.Lands Trust, ispoke in terms of eulogy of tike forethought of the early settlers, .< i,n| (providing such an excellent ,£fliuWtiorial endowment for the bensn- of the town and district. "Allusion.: &•&.$->■ f^fa /'V -tVwork done hy Science and cookery ,ns^ f sail been established, and &gra£stt#al, experiment® had been ny means of which Were ;f taaight" how to get the' I bes* out of the .soil. They afeo the bays how' to shoot, pjerh&pwto shoot men. '• This was not a. ple&yairt' thing to;'think of, but the i time fmdght come . when, they would iiaye, to defend -iliiejr, country. On hehalf of the Trust- Lands Trust hie ©xtsrided a cordial welcome to the Hon. Mr'Carroll. -. >

. His Worship the Mayor, en behiajf bf the citizens, of .Masterton, also exitemded a Ijgarty welcome to •the Minister. What "Mtf impressed him most, he said, was iihe dßaot that all thioi work was being; done the future of New Zealand, To. Mr Jackson particularly a. great deal of prajse was due for the. manner an# which he trained, the boy® and girls in hi® care. The work was one of the ; finest in which a mari ripuldi be engaged, and h*: complimented Jiian bn the results achieved.

HON. J. CARROLL'S SPEECH. The Hon. J. Carroll, on;.rasing: to; speak, wias received withNapplause. He feltt greatly honoured, he &tated r at having been invited'' .to a ceremony of tli© kind, and regretted tihiafc a prior engagement had- prevented the; Hon. Fowlds. from attending. Having seen something of the work done, toe could not but .marvel at the zeal displayed by the citizens of Mas-, terton. in the interests of education. What .struck ihim more tih&n anything else wias the provision made for the future by the eafly pioneers of the district. Certain areas of land had been get apart for educational purposes, and the resadts had been wonderful, r Reference was made to the relations that existed between the early settlers and* the Maoris. If the*same Trust principles that had been adopted by these settlers had been applied to .the Maoris .the advantages derived would i— ~v equally great. ' In those days the generous minded! Native," responsive, to the suggestions made, handed ov?r reserves for the education of the young. 'At the time they had a spiritual form of Government to which was transferred those* educntiortal endowments. To-day they had inau&UEated,.. out of many policies "dealing with the ."Native lands, the Board system. After many years of bitter experience they "had fallen back on the policy which had worked

"so'well in this district. Modern deand modern methods of p' l "* cation Lad made it ueeessary that each school should he equipped with a, Museum, particularly in regard to the animal and vegetable life peculias to the district. The yoiing people should be taught to develop their powers of observation and the ; intuitive senses. Irrespective of colour, they were becoming the Maori of the. future, because the word Maori meant of the soil. In (regard to the Museum, there should be some aim in collecting the exhibits, and an attempt should be made to get specimens of the vegetable and animal life and minerals belonging to th.? country immediately surrounding the institution. Masterton, he thought,, Was not behind other part« of the colony in regard to the amount of assistance received from the Government . The request for an assembly, room would be laid before the Minister for Education with the ■same promptitude that they would like to see in its construction. He formally declared the Museum open. THE HEADMASTER. Mr W. H. Jackson, Headmaster of the schools, thanked Mr Carroll for his acceptance of the invitation to be present, and alluded to the educational value of his address. Though the Museum at present wc s only the beginning of what it w. r >; eventually intended to be, he bop> i in the near future to add a numbt_r of interesting exhibits to the collection, particularly some that would show to some extent the diffioultu-s the farmer had to contend with in cultivating the soil. He trusted that an assembly room would be grained them before long. Other schools that were not nearly so large as the Masterton Schools had them, arid Lansdowne school was mentioned as a case in point. At the conclusion of the Minister's speech, the Hon. J. Carroll formally declared' the Museum op.ned, and signed the visitors' book. lie afterwards fired the first shot at th* miniature rifle range, and got 'is near as possible to the bull's eye.. The Museum was then thrown open to the public, and' a pleasant tiim* was spent in examining the exhibits. A large of guests subsequently sat down to afternoon +-« a :n the secondary school- building.