TRUST GRANTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 April 1941, Page 6

TRUST GRANTS

SCHOLARSHIP ALLOCATIONS VEXED QUESTION. NEW APPLICATION FORM BEING USED. The vexed question of the basis on which grants are made by the Masterton Trust Lands Trust for scholarship purposes was debated once more at last night's meeting of I he Trust.

The matte)- was introduced by Mr J. H. Handyside. who asked if it was worth while for those who had applied for a grant last year and who had not been given any assistance to make further application this year. Mr A. Owen Jones said the Trust Act stated that grants could be made to assist applicants. The Trust could not assist those people who could do it themselves. That was the only attitude he could take and he had no personal feelings about the matter at all. "If I thought any applicant were able to get university education without hardship to the parents then I personally would take up the attitude that that applicant should not receive a grant.” He added that the money in the scholarship account was limited and the more deserving cases should be met first.

“It is not a question of, interpreting the Act at all.” observed Mr E. G. Eton. “These grants are made according to the wishes of the Trustees.” Mr Eton said the Trust had recently adopted a new form of application and it should be guided by that and that alone.

Mi- C. E. Grey said he thought anyone in a position to educate their children should not ask for a grant. There were a lot of deserving cases which should receive more consideration than others better placed. Everyone who put in an application received fair consideration.

Mr H. H. Daniell said he understood that if an applicant signed the form now being used it took it out of the scope of criticism but it appeared it was still subject to being turned down. The idea of the new form was that the man himself should be the judge as to whether he could make application to provide for his children's education. This matter had been going on for the past fifty years and he thought the Trust was putting itself in a very invidious position if it were going to judge applicants without knowing what their personal obligations might be. Mr J. Macfarlane Laing said he agreed that deserving cases must receive first and main consideration. If there were any surplus funds available they could be used for other- applicants. The public did not seen to be aware of the fact, he said, that those grants came from a special account, and if grants were made in excess of that account, other grants had to suffer. He pointed out that in the previous year the scholarship grants had been supplemented by and this year by £lOO from the ordinary funds. Mr R. Krahagen maintained- that everyone had an equal right to receive grants.

After Mr Daniell had expressed his view that the Trust had drifted away from the, original idea of scholarships, the chairman, Mr H. P. Hugo, drew attention to the memorandum to the parent or guardian, pointed on the application form, which stated that the funds in the scholarship account were limited and that the object of the fund "was to assist students who might not otherwise be able to obtain higher education and to assist holders of scholarships. “That explains what is expected of applicants and parents.” said Mr Hugo, "and I think we can leave it at that quite well.”