NOT GRANTED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 January 1943, Page 2

NOT GRANTED

CSE OF COLLEGE ASSEMBLY HALL FOR PATRIOTIC BALL. BOARD OF GOVERNORS DECISION. At an extraordinary meeting of the Wairarapa College Board of Governors held in Masterton last night, an application for the use of the College Assembly Hall for a Patriotic Ball coinciding with the, visit of the Air Force Band was refused. The granting of the application would have involved the rescinding by the board of a resolution passed at a recent meeting which restricted the use of the hall to College activities.

A letter was read from Mr. J. C. D. Mackley, as secretary of the local committee set up to complete arrangements for the appearance of the Air Force Band in aid of patriotic funds. The use of the College Assembly Hall, under any conditions the board cared to impose, was sought. It was suggested that if the board rejected the application, that the College Parents’ Association would be asked to take over the organisation of the proposed ball next Friday night. At the outset, Mr. F. C. Daniell asked the chairman (Mr. W. R. Nicol) if the meeting was an ordinary or extraordinary meeting of the board. If the meeting was regarded as an ordinary meeting, he took it that the Press would be allowed to be present. If the meeting was an extraordinary one he wanted a ruling from the chair. Mr. Nicol: “My ruling is that the meeting be taken in committee.” Mr. Daniell moved and Mr. A. J. Towns seconded, a motion that the Press be allowed to be present. The motion was carried.

Mr Daniell said that before he moved a motion that the board’s previous resolution relating to the letting of the hall be rescinded, he wanted a ruling from the chair whether or not the rescinding motion wate required to be unanimous or whether a majority vote was sufficient.

The secretary, Mr. H. M. Boddington, said that one vote against the motion would make it lost automatically. Mr. Towns rose to a point of order and said that he understood that a notice of motion was required before a rescinding motion could be brought before the meeting. In his opinion the proceedings were out of order. Mr. Nicol: “Notice of motion is not required; we are not working under any by-laws.” Mr. Towns: “We should have definite rules. It is the general rule that seven days’ notice should be given in cases such as this.” Mrs J. L. Hair: “What about our constitution?”

Mr. Towns: “Rafferty rules.” Mr. Nicol: “We work under Parliamentary rules.” Mr. Towns protested that the board was running only half a meeting and that only short notice had been given that the meeting was to be held. Mrs. Hair: “It is not fair.”

, Mr. Boddington said that Messrs. J. D. O’Connor, J. G. McFarlane and L. T. Daniell could not be present, and Mr. A. Owen Jones was on his annual, holiday. Messrs. O’Connor and McFarlane had intimated that they were opposed on principle to the board’s previous motion being rescinded. Mr L. T. Daniell had told him that he was in favour of the motion being rescinded.

Mr. F. C. Daniell then moved that the previous motion on the board’s books regarding the letting of the College Hall be rescinded. He said his reasons for doing so were that at present the town was in a state of emergency as far as public halls were concerned. Also the school was not in use and the hiring of the hall would not affect it. v Mr. Towns: “We have had enough of dances. All the mud in Creation had been stirred up. We know what Mr. Gair has said about letting the hall and we should support him. We should do nothing in any case until there is a full meeting of the board.” Referring to the suggestion in the letter that the Parents’ Association could run the dance, Mr. Towns said that it was only trying to pull wool over the board members’ eyes. “I do admit that the military people let us down; but the people at the Interhouse dance behaved themselves well,” said Mr. Nicol. Mrs. Hair: “The board is being held up to ridicule.” On the motion being put to the meetings, Messrs. Nicol, Hanley and Daniell voted in the affirmative and Mrs. Hair and Mr. Towns voted in the negative. The motion was declared lost. The chairman pointed cut that under the board’s previous decision the Parents’ Association could not run a dance for patriotic funds but only functions in connection with College affairs.