The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1887. THE MASTERTON TOWN LANDS AMENDMENT RILL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Issue 2728, 19 October 1887, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1887. THE MASTERTON TOWN LANDS AMENDMENT RILL.

We published yesterday the text of | the new bill which the Masterton j Town Lands Trustees intend to submit 1 to Parliament in the present session, t- It will be rememborod that the Trustees liave very frequently been to the-. " Legislature to patch up tho. Act ■under which they are constituted, and j some old members of tho House may ■ possibly regard with disfavor the hv. V traduction of a newmeasuro in the • present session. Circumstances have however arisen which have rendered a Consolidation Act desirable, and if the Bill now submitted went no further • than this, there could be no possible objection to it. Unfortunately, however, the Trustees have apparently endeavored to take advantage of the proposal for new legislation to alter 1 the whole scope and object of the k Trust. : As an illustration of this we 1 will quote the following clause of the new Bill:- '.

The lands vested in the Mastorton Trusteos Bhall bs held by them upon Trust for the purposes of assisting', primary educational establishments, of a public library, and otljer purposes of public utality in the Masterton district herein before mentioned and the rents and profits., accruing from tho said lands shall bo expended in such manner for the purpose aforesaid as the said Trustees shall in their sole discretion see fit,

now under the parent act of 1871, the objects of the trust were defined as follows : The lands vested in the Masterton Trustees shall be held by them upon Trust for the purpose of maintainingEducationalcstablishments, and and a Library connected therewith, and for other purposes of public utility,

It will bo seen at a glance that the Legislature is invited to entirely alter the scope of the Trust's operations as embodied in the act of 1871, by limitthe grants from the Trust property to " misting primary Education" instead of" maintaining Educational establishments and a library connected therewith." We feel it to be our duty to at once challenge the right of the Trustees to violate the principles laid down in the Act of 1871, more especially to do bo without the sanction of the public whom they represent. We hold that.as the State now makes almost adequate provision for primary Education it is tho duty of the Trust, as expressed by the Act of 1871, to foster secondary education. Wo? maintain that the parents of Masterton have a right to the major portion of tho Trust funds being devoted to higher education,. that the Trustees in due course will be requirel to establish a grammar school and ultimately a college in this town, and that if the present Trustees do not recognise this obligation they will be superseded by others who will be prepared to give effect to the expressed wishes of the founders of the Trust. It is monstrous to suppose that the great educational benefits which Masterton may reasonably expect to realize in the future from 1 the Trust are to be cut. away by the Trustees insiduously inserting the word "primary" in the clause of tho new Bill. The Trustees may disregard public opinion on a vital question of this kind, hut wo shall be very much surprised if the Legislature allows the fundamental principle of the Trust to be tampered with after such a fashion. There are numerous and palpable defects in tho new Bill, but we attach 'so much importance to the point .to which we have specially directed attention, that we do not think it worth while to deal with minor faults. It is a pity, however, that the Bill should go before the Legislative in such a form that it will not, if passed, again require patching, and also that its provisions,are not of a character which, -will' satisfy, the public, of Masterton. s We believe when the proper time arrives for the Trust to. aid the establishment- of either a i Grommar School or College in Mas-

terton, the people of this town will j; give their voices in favor of such pro- ■ jects, [and certainly will not at the present time surrender their right to foster educational enterprise of this , character. j The Masterton Volunteers will parade j for inspection and exercise to-morrow evening at 7.30 in-the Drill Shed. |.„. The. ordinary monthly meeting of_ the Masterton School -Committee.'' will- be held to-morrow evening at the Oddfellows Hall,Perry-atreet, . .......',.; Messrs Lowes and.lorns announce-their nextßtock sale for Wednesday;26tK hist; Their list includes fat and Btbre. wethers, good'ewes, young cattle, dairy cows, horses, and pigs. • The Treasurer of the Masterton Hospital acknowledges the receipt of LI Is from Mr 6. W. Mace, and LI 10a from the employees of that gentleman, also L 3.. from "the employees of Mr M. Danaher. The members, of the Municipal Fire Brigade had a wet. practice, with the '' Jubilee" last evening; the engine working- without a hitch, and everything passing off satisfactorily. The concert in aid of Mrs Williams and her five children takes place in the Town Hall, ; Carterton, on Monday evening next; and not in the Lyceum Hall, as we stated yesterday,'. " The'subscriptions to the presentation to 1 be made, to Bishop Moran have exceeded all expectation, and are over LIOOO. It was expeotedthat it would be made to-day (Wednesday)but the Bishop did not arrive by tho Mararoa, as expected. He will . como by the next Melbourne boat, however.

.At tho North Comity Council meeting yesterday, Cr Meredith handed in a letter he had received from the Crown Lands Department, intimating that a block of land in'the East Coast Districtwould be put into the market at an early date. Cr Meredith pointed out that the land in question— about 4000 or 5000 acres—was the only forest bush in the district, and was the watershed for tho supply, of water for the numerous creeks there, in the summer. Tho land was of no valuo, being birch country, and if it was sold and the bush cleared off would grow nothing but Manuka scrub. Ho thought it would be most disastrous to the district if tho land wero sold, and he advocated that the matter should be placed before tho Government with a view to petting tho block reserved under the Forest Conservation Act. It was decided that tlie deputation appointed re tho Forty Mile Bush road, bo requested to place the matter boforo the Minister of Lands with a view to getting the land conserved. ' • We learn from our Eketahuna correspondent that at a meeting held thoro on Saturday evening last, Constable Healy was presented with a testimonial, and Mrs Healy v was the recipient of a handsome.present subscribed by the residents of that district on the occasion of

Mv and Mrs Hoaly leaving Eketahuna for Wellington. The address ran as follows:—" Wo; tho undersigned residents of Bkotahutia, hear with regret of tho early departure' from our midst of Mr John Healy, who has so satisfactorily filled the position of Constable here for tho past, eighteen months... While boaring testimonyto his diligence and impartially in tho discharge- of his duty, and his many popular qualities, we would ask his accoptanoo of this testimonial and memento, and heartily wish him much comfort and better health in his new district, which will soon recogniso the merit of its acquisition." The presentation was made, with a few choico remarks by Mr Henry de- Clifton. Mr_ Hoaly exprcssod. his gratitude, for their good will, in a suitable manner. We have at length opened out our first shipments of summer dress fabrics in all the most fashionable shades, including some lovely tints in grey, and gobelin, and in soft woollen and silk mixed fabrics, foulc, beige, lawn tennis costume cloths, and a thousand other varieties too numerous to recapitulate. Our lady frionds must noods come and. enjoy the display at Te Aro House, Wellington. We have some very handsome checked and striped woollens with plain to match, and a variety of very beautiful embroidered robes, the very sight of which lingers in insatiable desire to .purchase these elegant artistic marvels at To Aro House, Wellington. Already many of our lady friends have mado their first purchases, and our dressmakers are busily employed in fashioning these into ."things of joy and beauty" against the festivities of the coming session of the House of Representatives. It would bo wise on the part of all ladies if they would give their orders as early as possible to the dressmaking departments at Te Aro House, Wellington. Not that there need be any fear of disappointment this season. We have two excellent dressmaking rooms, and can in both guarantee style, fit and promptitude, at Te Aro House, Wellington. .