INSTITUTE MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1761, 14 August 1884, Page 2

INSTITUTE MEETING.

y The meeting oonvened in the upper e room of the Institute last evening was . only attended by about a dozen ratea payers outside the members of the t: Committee. 'f The Mayor in taking the chair ( 1 Regretted the want, of punctually in- , beginning business, - The moeting was ',' called for half-past seven, but some of e them had been under the impression ; ' that the time was .eight o'clock, All present were aware of the object of that night's meeting, viz., to ascertain ' the feeling of the reading public as to j converting the upper room into a readl) ing room. . He did not intend saying

nuoh at present, but might have some- j -hing to say later on in the evening, f, i Mr Caselberg whether the i jommittes could guide the meeting as i :o what course would be- best for the a [nstitute. - oi,,_ t The Chairman said there '*were mem- c bers of the Committee present, Messrs 1 Brown and Hogg, who wereiih-favor t if the proposal, and other membe%<ih eluding Mr Beard, who were opposed 1 to. ic, These members would probably, c place their views before the meeting. ■- i Mr R. Brown said he expected Mr t Hogg to move a resolution for trans- ' ferring the reading room upstairs. The < only question in which lie took any l special interest was the. museum pro- ' posal. He pointed out in reference.to i this one, that the question of expense ,' could be decided without reference to tlje.public, All that was necessary , was> to ascertain the feeling of the piMic. ' . Mr' Papwoitk considered that the compound question before the meeting should be cut up a little. The. chairman said the question of using the upper room as a reading l'oo'm'iwaS/'really;tlie we before, the '.' . ■■• ' ■ L'' ' '' l ■ meeting. 'The museum proposal was a subsequent consideration. Mr Caselberg inquired how 'the lower rooms would, be utilised if the reading room was taken up stairs. The chairman said this was ah'objection whi'dh'ho himself felt the force of; 'He was himself 1 , opposed to the proposal. Extra expense would be entailed by it,, and the custodian could not properly supervise a reading room upstairs,' 1 There were many other objections to it; .He.thought the question of a museum'might be relegated to the future, Mr Hogg, in bringing forward the. proposition to..move the reading room upstairs disclaimed any personal feeling in the matter. v He was. merely' dis"charging a duty incumbent upon him as a member of the Institute Committee. The Committee was pretty evenly divided on :the question, possibly a majority of members were hostile to it. He regretted that there was sosmall an attendance that evening on the part of those who were in the habit of using the reading, room. The question to his mind was whether the Institute should be used for its legitimate purposes or jumbled up into a combination of ball, lecture, and reading room. He objected to dancing and lectures over the heads of readers! The upper room had never been popular as a lecture room, and he considered that it was admirably adapted for a reading room. It had been said it was too large, but this was a fault on the right side. He advocated doing away with all sorts of annoyances, to readers. Referring to the question of a museum, he said one would be of but little use packed away in a; small building, but in the spacious upper room, the exhibits would be daily .brought under the notice of readers, He believed that the two institutions, the reading room and the 'museum, would assist each other if placed in the one room. He did not consider the objection of expense a valid one. He did not believe linoleum would, as suggested, be required for the floor, but that a .little cocoanut matting would suffice.. If the change took place the town would lose its lecture room, but such roqtns be J]el4 ough.t tq be Qfl th.P ground floor, By converting the room into a reading room, a new leoture room would have to be established as a matter of course. In order to meet a demand which existed in Masterton for a lecture room, they might apply to the Town Lands Trust for assistance to enable them to erect a lecture room or town hall in connection with, th,e Institute. TJifi lectpre room would be pc|er the care,of the custodian without extra charge, It would be available fov leptiires and, debating societies, and it wild ajso bs suitable for dancing, At present it was a great hardship for the Institute to be turned upside down every few weeks to accommodate a seleot few. He denied that the labors of the custodian would be appreciably increased by the proposed change, Another objection was the difficulty of supervision. He did not think the community was so dishonest as to need supervision, In, larger centres reading rqatji papers and periodicals were, he noticed, usually left to look after themselves, He alsopointed out that the present room was unprovided with a platform and seats. It was not licensed. (Mr Brown: It is licensed!) He was not aware that it was licensed, If so Mr Bussell had . passed a room which he had previously condemned. (Mr Caselberg explained that alterations were made to the satisfaction of the surveyor.) He did not doubt that Mr Caselberg was correct, buf 1$ submitted the roam, was a dpgerous one in the case of fire. The last objection tq the proposal was that readers did not care to go upstairs, His own experience was that upstairs rooms weie usually well patronized, He concluded by moving that it was desirable that the proposed alterationa should be carried out. If an adverse vote was carried he would bow to the decision of the meeting, (Applause.) Mr Woodroofe seconded the resolution. He consjdered the Chairman's WgUffleiitfl we're annihilated by Mr Hogg. When the Institute was first huilt he looked forward to a museum being oonneoted with it, Mr Hogg held the same views as himself. He thought the present opportunity ought not to be lost. He believed in making a small beginning. He woujd, have, made a start wM <w eight years ago if Mr Hogg had been" in the town to. help him, . ■'■ Mi-Payton moved as an amendment that it was desirable that the committee should report on the proposal befqr§ it was deoided by a public meeting. He sympathised with the desire for a larger reading room,- but considered it the duty of the committee to submit a formal proposal, Mr R, Brown said Mr Payton misapprehended their object, which was to ! get at the views of the public. The ' question'of expense rested entirely with the Committee, Mr E. Feist seconded Mr Payton's amendment. He thought the proposal premature. The upper room was intended for a lecture room, and was found very suitable for such purposes, If the' Committee had.surplus funds it would be better to, spend ■ them in

fitting up the room instead of convert- je ing it into a reading room. The read- sn irig room in the old town hall was w upstairs, and was very little used. If M a new reading room could be built on hi the ground floor that would be another m question. He quite agreed with Mr ai Payton that a report from the Com- ai mittee ought to be submitted. * M Mr Beard objected to the resolution st before the meeting, on account of the gi extra expense which it would involve, ai and of the difficulty, in dealing with gi the upper roomys.a reading room. Ii The main argument in favor of the change; was the annoyance caused, to d readers when the upper room was used, d To stop this inconvenience he recom- ci mended locking; up the upper room.: ti The other reason, for the change- was w the prospect of the Town Lands Trust I giving them a grant." He thought J when they got a grant and built down .c below; they could then say which room p they would use as a reading-room. He contended that the expense of convert t ing the upper rao.m would be by no p means slight, 'and he detailed the I probable extra expenses, which would v be incurred. The gentlemen who were [ interested in getting up a.museum should make a start by obtaining funds 1 to enable them to furnish the. upper room as a museum. He considered c that subsidizing a museum would be a 1 legitimate object for a. grant from the' | Town /Lands Trust..; ; . Their pecunary | position was as follows:—A short time e ago £3O was voted to purchase new books. They found after waiting three t or four months that a sum of £l2 only was available for such a ; purpose, and I probably by the present time this £l2 had dwindled away," Were they in a ' position to gratify a fad? TJp-stairs I . reading rooms were, he admitted well patronised in large towns, but he < argued they would be still more ' numerously visited if they were on the ground floor, He admitted that the community was.'hone'st, but there were ' malicious spirits in it who would remove books; or periodicals if they : found there was no supervision on the part of the custodian. Mr Redman agreed that extensive alterations were premature, but he thought that though the cost of a new museum, and of a new reading room would be .great the wording expenses subsequently .would be small and the general revenue of the institute would be enhanced. Mr Woodroofe made a second speech in reply to Mr Beard.' ■ Mr Caselberg said he came to listen that night, not to speak. He , sympathised witb the views of all who had spoken, and did not know how he should vote, When he was a member i of the Institute Committeo they tackled i the difficulty repeatedly, but it was found to be a flabby one. The .ratei payers had a right to the uninterrupted 1 enjoyment of the reading room, but at i the same time . they required the i assistance of the Upper .Room to brinet 1 in revenue. He asserted that the idea i of a museum had in the first instance • been launched as a joke, but had subI sequently been taken up as a serious ■ proposal;' The readers had not come ; forward on the present occasion to ex- [ press a desire for the removal of the ) room, and on this ground ho should i vote against the resolution. He ) thought Mr Payton's amendment a i wise one, and would vote for the quesi tion to be r-eferred back to : the comi mittee, i Mr T. E. Price expressed his surprise i' at Mr Caselberg'a' speech, as the reao- ) lution had been a pet one with him. ) At the last moment he appeared to r turn roun,d a.nd vote against it. 3 Mr' Caselberg explained that he 3 would vote for Mr Payton's amend- - ment, not against the resolution. - Mr T. E. Price said Mr Caselberg , had been oanvassing some of them in r support of Mr Hogg's resolution, t Mr Caselberg denied this in toto. 1 Mr. T. E, Price said he might be 3 mistaken in this. He argued in sup--1 port of the resolution that the interests 1 of the public should be paramount over - the convenience of the custodian. s Mr Bish opposed the resolution as he 1 considered an upstairs room was incon- ) venjenfc toy readers, He held that the ] present reading room was a credit to 1 Masterton, If they saw the reading r rooms at Wanganui, Napier, and y Palmerston they would agree with him. s The present room was not so crowded !• that a larger one was necessary. If the t dancing annoyed thejreaderß, stop itby t all means (hear! thought 1 the Town Lands Trust had 'ditae theirI duty, and were d oing it towards the 1 Institute, aud Qott.ldn.ot be fairly asked e to do much, more. He would himself I volunteer to gather the opinions of the s frequenters of the reading room as to a the proposed change. . 8 Mr Caselberg explained that when t on the Committee he was in favor of a i. change in the arrangements, but sups porting Mr Payton's amendment was • not inconsistent with the views he had s formerly expressed. J Mr R, Brown said that he did not 5 care personally what was done with e the reading room. Tb,& people who were interested in it were not present. . With reference to the museum he s maintained that the necessary funds r cjuld be raised without trenching on t the resources of the Institute. He i thought that if permission were given » to use the upper room as a museum, a b separate Committee would undertake t to fit it up, j M.r Papworth was astonished to l learn from Mr Beard that the Instij tute in such a town as Masterton was i. in a state of destitution. This proved that a change in the building was i necessary. He asserted that the building was too straightlaced; it j was not popular, and it would take Q some step to make it both popular and remunerative. He considered the est tablishment of a,, museum to be a 8 . public duty- It was a disgrace to a place like Masterton for it to be said that their Institute was iu a state of " destitution. 5 ''• The Chairman failed to flee that B popularising the reading room woujd 5 bring funds into the hands of the Committee. b Mr Bish pointed out that it waa the 1 extravagant ideas of the founders, of • the Institute-whioh had crippled its s finanoial position. He thought that . something might be done in the matter s- of a museum. ' V - MrHoggsaidhe wasgiad foe sub,-

ect had been well . ventilated. He mggested adjourning the'tneeting for a veek to enable the readers to: roll up. Hr Payton had worked very-much in larmony with him, when o'n-the Comnittee, on the upper room 'question, ind he asked him to withdraw his imendmentand accept an adjournment. Mr Payton would bear hirn out in laying that the Town Lands Trust had ;iven £75 last year towards the Park, md would, he thought, be, willing to jive double that sum towards the institute. 4 Mr Payton said he could not with-JK Iraw his amendment because while Jesired to yijfe for the resolution he. could not do so until a,recommendation from the Committee in its favor was brought down. He reminded Mr Hogg that the condition on., which the Pirk trust grant was ohtairi'ed was the collecting' of a similar.*' amount by private subscriptions. •: The Chairman thought', that wis the first duty of the'.Committee and public to increase the revenue of the Institute; The fact was, the Institute was hard-up. People did not become paying members of the Institute, The amendment was then put and lost. ■■ , gy The Chairman moved as a further" amendment that as the reading public had not shown any interest in the pro? posed change it was not desirable at present to take any steps to alter existing arrangements.- ; ' Mr Bish seconded the Chairman's amendment, ..'-.. Mr Woodroofe wished to move a further amendment. The Chairman objected to dealing with more than one amendment at a time. Mr Woodroofe objected to the Chairman's motion being forced down ' their necks, The Chairman said if Mr Woodroofe would take the chair he could conduct the proceedings. ; ■ Mr Price moved that the meHg adjourn till that night week. .. The Chairman objected toother than a simple motion for adjournment. & Mr Caselberg moved that meeting stand adjourned till that day week. MrPapworth seconded the motion which was; carried on the voices, Tho meeting then adjourned.