ANOTHER OPINION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5037, 29 May 1895, Page 3

ANOTHER OPINION.

[TO THE KDliiiK. j Sir,—l am astonished to see you ~ advocating tin; altering of the constitution of tho Town Lauds Trust ,' for the sake of a Town Hall. Surely you are creating a bad precedent, , which, no doubt, will be followed for other purposes. If it is advisable to [ borrow moiioy for a quasi .Theatre, , itisinoresoiorpiibliebatlis.abattoirs I or other places of publicconvenieuce , With greater force might a loan be 3 advocated for a free public library, j because that would come within the intention of the Trust—to encourage , education. It is to be hoped voters \ for the Town Trust will consider the , matter carefully, and not allow a [. valuable heritage to be frittered ( away in such a frivolous manner. . Let people inquire into the history of the last Town Hull, owned and , managed by the Trustees, and they , will think twice before mortgaging ' their valuableproperiy.anddiscoiintiug the futnvc for a temporary cont venience. I am sorry to sec members of the School Committee—-the only , educational public body in the town ' —advocating such a scheme. I am, etc., A. vox Keise.viieiio. THE TOWN LAN US THUS! ELKOTION. [tothi: uniToii.l Sib—The Elecl'on of Tr.tstccs for the Mastertou Town Lauds Tr.ist to ho held to-morrow, is I'kHy to bo one of more than ordinary importance In the people of MasU'iton. One of the follow- , ing two issues will be prarf iuully decided at that election : 1. Are tho funds of the Masterion : Town Lands Trust to be primarily applied to Education?! purposes ? or i. Arc tho Trustees Id be eoimtenai: ;cd in applying those funds towards tho erection of a Town Hall? These issues arc of great moment to parents who may cic3're to have tliei" children, and to young people who wish to he more completely educated lb an tho present system of rai'oual ' education permits. It is almost impos- ] siblc for those persons who have to. j been fortunate enough to receive a I liberal education, to realize the importance of these issues and the loss wh'ch 1 the public of Musterton will si: Tor If the Trust I'uuds are diverted from thc : r proper channels. Now the Trust funds arc under the provisions of llir Music:-- ' lon Trust Lands Act, to bo devoid to 1 the "purposes of assisting public edu- ;■ rational establishments, a-.id for a public ' library, and other purposes of publi-; utility," Note the word " public." In thu old Act, now repealed, ihal word was iiotinsertodlieforethewoi'd'vdin'a- r, tioual," but evidently those who framed the new Act wcrcdesirous of caiphflsi/iing tho purposes to which the funds wore 10 he applied, and leaving no room for , doubt that the public were to receive all benoiits to accrue from the funds. ; There can be no doubt about the _ term used. " A public educational J, establishment" and " public library," . ( iii simple words, means that the people t are to hare the use and lienctit of these . : institutions/rfc ej'aui/ c/wyv/c They t| are in short to be public properiy; the 0 endowments from which the Trust funds c are derivable arc Iho property of tho ( j peoplo of Mastorton; they belong to no ~ class; evciyone is to have the oppor- j, (unity of gaining entrance to the cstabl'sliineut where the industrious and intel- „ leetual can lind food for their minds. ~ These establishments are to supplement {] the knowledge which our free schools n supply; they arc lo begin where [\ these schools linish oD'; they are [, to aft'ord to the children of our ri farmers, blachmilhs. carpenters, [, and others the means o f acquir- jj ioginformation a»d practical knowledge „ which othcrivise, inmost cases.isbeyond [ ( the reach of ihe : r parents. I'p lo the (; present those in whose bauds the voting ei power lay have not realised the ni'ue of a , j wealth which is wiihin their grasp, j, I They are letting if, drop byi'rop, pass (j into other channels than those which the „ Act ever contemplated and fie IK move is that which proposes to erect a Town Hall. Not out of rcreaue—this is not rapid enough for the promoters o" the scheme—but by borrowing a sum of £3C3O and pledging the Trjsl bcomc to pay (be interest and eapila l . Now 1 should like to ask iu the first plitc what ire the public benefits to be uci.-cl from this Town Hall? Are the public to he admitted to it fm if dirge! i Certainly not. All onto;liniments will I ot course be charged for, and tho only „ right of entrance by the public will j s be on payment of a fee. The public j in fact, will have no more right to the lv use of the Hall than they linvo lo the n , Opera House in Wellington. Mr Hogg ], contended at the annual meeting of the ], Trust that an Opera House or place of 0 , 'entertainment was really an adult school, j | but surely it is a retrograde step when fl it is proposed to charge for admission to f, a public school! Every Government o. v laic years, regardless of colour, has „ admitted the wisdom of promoting and a , encouraging free education. <p In tlio next place, what prospect is ~, there of making the Hall pay? Mr (] Lowes spoke truly when he said " tbo p history of Toitn Halls, Opera Houses, ~ and such like, showed that they neve? ~ paid." They crunot be run to pay ]j interest on the money expended and s j current expenses. What business have >j. tho T.ustees to raise a loan and j, thus jeopardise their income, which C{ should ic applied for the pub) : c s good? The proposed scheme is nothing it but a Tcntmc, a speculation wl ,; ch j, should bo got up by private enterprise. 0 It is easy enough for the promolers to ri play with the public money, and the.: j will be no difficulty in spending it when \ once obtained, but a day of reckoning :s bound to come, and even those who i;o now advocating the creclion of the Hall . will, if they regard the interest of their children, rue tho day when they sL'otc b hive it out of the funds which should have been applied for thc ; r children's welfare. Everyone will, I Ihink, felly appreciato tho necessity for a Town Ha! I, but until the Educational wants of the 1 Mni,terton people have been fully sat.'s- J Red, wo have no rijht to give our p support to its erection out of the Town a Trust Fund. "While those who cannot ii afford to give their children a libera! o education, are thirsting for a greater o stream of Educational knowledge, I say t that it is little shoit of a scancal, tint v our valuable endowments should bo v divei ted and mortgaged up to the hilt, to "! provide a placo of amusement. The ] responsibility rests with the electors.—l f am, etc, s Wm, G. BjiiiiD, i: