TOWN LANDS TRUSTEES

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3701, 3 January 1891, Page 2

TOWN LANDS TRUSTEES

r jlhe ordinary monthly meetilg of the Masterton Town Lands l'Hstees was held lost evening. Messrs W. Lowes (in the chaiij, E. M'lilwen, fl. Graham, B. F. Jerrv, AvW. Iteuall, and H. E. Eton The minutes of the previous aeeting were read and confirmed. 'J he Treasurer reported a hflance inland of £llO 18s Bd. 1 School Committee DeputatiL-, A deputation consisting of bombers of the Masterton and Fenridge School Committees waited upof the Trustees with reference to the -rants made this year to the various eiiools. Mr M'Gregor, on behalf iK the) deputation, said he consider.,!' the committees had received Ascant courtesy at the hands of the rust. The grants made were quite iadequate. It was in consequence f the grants made in the past tha the present efficient condition o the schocls had been arrived at. f| was of opinion that the schools li the district should not be in a hatd to mouth state when they had a trust at their back. They wished t' jmajg.tain the efficiency of the paJPngit they could not do so withe I t?e assistance of the Trust. It hi been said by members of the that the old grants could not legaly be made. Legal advice had beeu ;aken on the matter, and it was c early shown that the Trustees were justified in making the grants for anything which had for its object the assistance of general educ&titrth- IV appeared to him that education and a public library wero the primary objects of the Trust. He did not think that these objects should be shunted to the background. In the last grant to the Fernridge school, it was stipulated that the £5 voted should be spent on the library. Hitherto they had received £25 and had produced balance-sheets to the satisfaction of the Trust. For general education matters they appealed direct to the Board, but there were little matters which were not met by the ordinary grant. He did not think that it was fair the schools should be deprived of the benefits which it should be their privilege to receive from the Trust. They should hold a higher position than other schools. He -did not think it right that the committees should banter and barney over these applications as they had done in the past. A special grant should be set aside every year by the Trust to meet the demands of the various schools. By producing a yearly balance-sheet the requirements of the Act would be fully met. They did not like to be bound hand and foot, but wished to have a little discretionary power. The deputation had not come before the Trust on their own account, but had been pressed to do so by outsiders. He believed they had the sympathy of the public. He did not wish to state any amounts, but hoped the Trust would make such a grant as would settle the affair. I? this was not done, outside pressure would perhaps be brought to bear upon them so that they'would have to take further steps. The difficulty witfa ! the Masterton School should no prejudice the Trust against otrtf schools. He trusted the demands til' the deputation would meet with the favourable consideration of the Trust.

Mr Renall: Are you aware that now owes £BOO to the town ? i

Mr McGregor replied thst- .££• thofigbtr fcJie~£B6<r "collected some years ago was for library purposes. Mr Btempa said that the grant in the past in aid of the Fernridge school had barely enabled them to have their room swept. With th grant of £5 the school would be in th condition of a pigstye. Mr Easthope stated that although the Fernridge school grant had been reduced to £5, the Mastertou grant had been reduced to nothing. The present liabilities of the Masterton school amounted to £7l 19s 4d, whilst their assets were £2O (capitation fund). Dad the, usual grint been made this year, the school would have been inl a very much better position. He thought the schools in this part should be on the same footing as the endowment schools it Home, In making their present demands, the schools were only asking for their duesi He believed that tho outside public was strongly in favour of the Trustees giving th 9 schools the assistance they required. He would urgci upon them the necessity of oonceding the demands made.

Mr Daniells objected to the Trust ear-marking every penny granted to the schools. Personally he w&ld not accept the £25 under the stimulations made, but would appeal to the public If they wished to put in a pane of glass they had to go to the chairman of the Trust and ask for a grants

Mr Renall: You should go to the proper body, the Education Board! Mr Daniolls contended that both were publio bodies, and they cibnld not go to the Board for every little" thing. j Mr Prangnell maintained thafl the Trustees had full power under] the Act to make the grants. The Hasterton committee was now in a .state of impecunio3ity, and they came to the Tn\st for the assistance tney should receive They had, it is true, gone to the Trust in the past for help, but tliis was no reason why that help should not be continued. He then referred to the debt incurred over the school picnic. The present debt had been three years in accumulation. The money which had been granted to liquidate the debt incurred in school prizes was spent on closets. They now appealed to the Trust for assistance. The Trust should deal witlrthe monits as an elective body. If they did not grant the sum required, he would sooner have none at all.

The Chairman said the request of the deputation would receive full consideration, but could not be fully dealt with at tlat meeting. It was quite true that the money was to be divided amongst the three / schools on a i>ro rata bisis. If the members of the deputation only considered the financial position of the Trust and the assistance 4»ey had in the past given, they woildqot accuse them of scant courtesy. Kn. one year the Trust had grafted £l7 5s extira money to the Pernridge school, {fid had granted altogether £l4O to the Masterto.i school. He wsltfd point out to MiM'Gregor thatTthe Trust was an elective body and Jiad to administer Jie Act, For /*ery amouut granted a voucher had;sfi~be supplied to the Government AuKLor. livery amount askeA for had ii'J the past been granted. As soan a>l tbjrf time came that he could not Jh/ out the meaning; of jhe proper manner he wofcld his efeat on the '

2, grants for maintenance was not in accordance with the Act. The Chairman stated the Trustees had decided otherwise. They could not repair Government property. Mr M'Gregor: But you can distribute the money as you think fit. The Chairman: Not under the JOth clause of the Act.

Mr M'Gregor maintained that • full power was given. «« The Chairman stated that out of an income of £B4l the schools in the district had last year received £203. He was obliged to the deputation for their attendance, but lie did not think they were justified in making the statements they had. Mr Osborne: You havo said, Mr Chairman, that the Trupt has granted every amount applied for. How is it that our application for money for historical readers was not granted ? The Chairman replied that the Trust had decided not to grant the money for this purpose, as it was not granted to other schools. Mr Danieils stated that he did not wish to treat the Trust or any public man with disrespect, but he chimed the same for himself in publio matters. He resented, tha imputation of the Chairman they had embezzled the school jj funds. The Chairman: I did. not say that. Mr Danieils: You did. I appeal to the Trustees to deoide whether you did or not. The Chairman: I did not use f those words. Mr Danialls: Well, you said that we misappropriated the money. The Chairman : And you did do so. \ Mr Danieils: As one of the Committee 1 object to this. We wish to be treated as men and not as schoolboys. The Chairman replied that w 4he request of the deputation would be dealt with in a publio manner. Mr Prangnell asked if the Committee would be at liberty to apply for more money if they received a grant now of £25. The Chairman replied that they could do so under the Act. Mr Prangnell asked further if the Trustees could not see their way clear to make a special grant of £Bl for payiug off the debt to the cadet fund.

The Chairman replied that he could not make a promise on this point. The matter could at least be brought before the Trust. An amount had already been granted for this object, but had been spent for other purposes. Mr Prangnell stated that as far as > he was concerned he would not ask for any money from the Trust to be expended on school buildings. The Chairman was glad to hear Mr Prangnell express himself in this manner, but at the same time £2O of the Trust grant had been expended on school buildings. Mr Prangnell explained how it waß that the £ls was added to the application.

Mr McGregor thought that, the,.,,";„, [difficulty consisted in the Trust reusing to allow tho Committees ■mey to expend as they thought fit .- v W ordinary school requirements. He could not conceive how any Auditor-General could object to the grants as made in the past. The chairman pointed out that the more assistance given by the Trust • the greater chance there would be for ■ tho Government withdrawing their -aii. It was a fact that last year the Education Board had spent £OOOO on a Wellington building, and they now proposed to expend LSOOO on a similar building in the same city. Mr McGregor drew the attention 1 of the Trust to the fact that the grants were of a popular nature. '■..'. Mr Renall stated that it was.quite within the province of the committees to make application for what thej ■ wanted any time during the year, Tne Chairman said that all he objected to was the granting of money. , for any objeot not defined. Mr McGregor contended that general maintenance was sufficiently •defined.

I The Chairman: But the Trust has concluded to the contrary. Mr McEwen thought some mis* understanding had arisen between the schools and the Trust. He was always under the impression that the applications for grants were to bo made annually. ,

Mr Graham asked if it was under* stood that the money should be granted on a, pro rata, scale. The Chairman replied in the affirmative.

Mr M'Gregor then thanked the Trustees for their patient hearing, and the deputation withdrew. Mr Renall stated, as the deputation was retiring, that the Committees could apply for money at any time as they required assistance. Mr Stempa: That's »all very well* but whilst Mr Renall remains on tho Trust there is very little ohance of our gotting it. (Laughter). Ordinary.

An offer from Mr G, S. W Dalrymple of the unexpired lease for section 88 was respectfully declined. An application for an extended term of lease from Mr R G Williams was granted.

It was decided to pay half the cost of fqrniing footpath in front of the Trust property in Bannister Street. The meeting then adjourned.