THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1913. THE TRUST LANDS TRUST.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 10 May 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1913. THE TRUST LANDS TRUST.

The annual election of three members of the Masterton Trust Lands Trust take a placo this month. The retiring members are Messrs Krahagen, D. Caselberg, and W. H. Jackson, each of whom has rendered useful service to the ooin.iiuiiity, itnd assisted in the administration of the affairs of the Trust in sjuch a manner as to provide the greatest ;good for the greatest number. One of the members of the Trust has thought ►fit to create an extraordinary vacancy, with the ostensible object of bringing into prominence a scheme he has propounded for diverting the revenues of the Trust into new channels. Why the funds of the Trust should be drawn upon to the extent <©f £lO or £2O, in the cost of an election to suit the whim of a particular Trustee, we fail to see. This nfoney oould have been much better employed in granting subsidies to soma of our local institutions'. However", Mr H. C> Robinson has a hobby horse, and he is determined to ride it to death; no matter what the cost in printer's ink or Trust revenue. In view of -the attempt that ia heing made to mislead the public evea' the ffigjk Soliool question, at is x,*mw& iktib t4* vliole position

should bo stated clearly, so that tho electors may not bo iuveigled intyan act which might emipromiso .them for all time. In the first place, let n» say that the valuable educational endowment, which came to us more by accident than through any beneficent act on the, part of individuals, i& vested in nine Trustees for the purpose of "education and general utility." The terms of the Act, aiul the powers of the Trustees, have been varied fwn time to time to moot the special circumstances that havo arisen; but the Legislature has been careful at all times to see that the- interests of the beneficiaries are not prejudiced so far as education and general utility are concerned. Under the Act as it at present stands, tho Trustees are morally "and legally bound to administer the revenues in such a way that •tho present generation sh.«?ll receive the greatest benefit possible under the deed of trust. It is no function of the Trustees to set a-sido large sums of money for the benefit of posterity. They have a sacred charge to fulfil, and that chargo is to administer the funds at their disposal and transact their business as Trustees in f?uch a way that whilo the interests of the future generation are . safeguarded, those of the present shall not be neglected. It is* not a duty of the Trust to expend its revenues in providing a.High School, an Agricultural High School, or any other institution that should bo supplied by the State. If a High School is considered"'necessary in this district to furnish secondary education of a class character, it is the duty of those who want .such an institution to put their hands in their pockets and find the money, or endeavour to induce the Government to find it for them. Front what we know of the Government and its ideas concerning tho educational requirements of the country, we should say that the prospects of their, providing additional secondary schools in rural districts are exceedingly remote. If, then, the Legislature of the Dominion considers that sufficient facilities are already offered m this district for the manufacturing of the professional class, what right have the Trust Lands Trust to declaim to the contrary? How maJiy children are there in this community wlio could avail themselves of either a High iSchool or an Agricultural High School? The average, attendance at the various schools in the Small Farm Block during the last few years has approximately bc«n 1000, and the attendance at tho sec> ondary classes of the District High School, including pupils from Mmirier -

Villa, Tinui a«d surrounding districts, has . been between fifty and sixty. Tints we find that not more than five or. isix per cent, of the children attending our primary schools are given the advantage of a higher education. Is it .reasonable to assume that, if the. District High School were disestablished and a High School established in ita stead, with a rector, Board of Governors, gowned teachers, and all the rest of the paraphernalia, the attendance would be increased? We venture to think*that it would not. But that is not our particular point, What we maintain is that the Trust Lands Trustees, who are charged with tho administration of a trust for tile benefit of the whole community, have no legal or moral right to devote any cmsiderable portion of ineir revenues for an institution, which is going to benefit only five or six per cent, of the child population. The first cluty, of the Trustees is to see that the elementary schook are'well catered for, and that every assistance is given to work« of utility that are going to be for"the present and future betterment of the town. While we are oursolvevS ardent advocates of the establishment of an Agricultural High. School in this district, a school that would attract scholars from outside districts and equip our young people for rural and domestic pursuits, we feel that we have no right to ask the Trust Lands Trustees to do more than endow such 'an institution; when it is established, as its funds will permit. It is tho duty of the State to find means for 'illparting instruction in scientific agriculture in a district such a s this and we have no doubt that Mr Massey and his colleagues will recognise this dtity.' When the power is given by Statute to provide an Agricultural High .School, we shall appeal to the Government to set aside the hundredacre section at Lansdowne for the purpose, and shall look not only to the Trust Lands Trustees, but to the A. and P. Associations and Farmers' Unionists of the district, for such subsidies ag they can afford to give. To summarise*the position, our contentions are: —

1. There is no inmediate demand in this district for better High School facilities than are provided. 2. If there were isaich a demand, it is the duty of the Government, and not of the Trust Lands Trustees, to meet it. 3. The funds of the Trustees must be devoted to works of education and general utility that will benefit the whole of the community, and not a small proportion of it. 4. The most urgent demand in this district at the present tiine is for an Agricultural High Scftteol, that should be provided by the Government and sTibsidised by the Trust as other scholastic institutions are subsidised. 5. The High School question has no bearing whatever upon the Trust election, a-s the Trustees are elected to administer the Act as they find it. 6. There is no justification for a .member putting the Trust to the expense of an extraordinary election when public opinion on any particular issue may be tested at the ordinary election.