CORRESPONDENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 71, 31 March 1870, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

(We ai-e not responsible foi; our Correspondentsl opinions.

AUCKLAND MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. To the Editor of the Evening Star. g lßj —Having but recently arrived here, I have been somewhat diffident in expressing an adverse opinion upon public Instutious ; but as you have evoked such expression, and as I find 1 am not singular in my views, I make bold to join in total condemnation of everything belonging to the Auckland Mechanics' Institution. I see that " a member" in to-days issue of the "Star" suggests as a means of " raising the revenue" that the Committee be "less sparing over the ga3 » —whatever that may mean. I know nothing of the Secretary or his insolence, of which your correspondent complains ; but as success fdepends principally on his exertions; backed up by a courteous demeanour, it is a great pity " a member", does not seek for redress in a quarter which would effectually remove the cause of complaint, and give the aforesaid official opportunity of defence. This much I do know ; that the library i a not what it should be ; and the Reading. Room is a disgrace to the town —if not to a " tap-room"—I was going to say it was a disgrace to the building, but iv that I should err, for it is in happy harmony with the rest of the edifice ; aud, I suppose while your residents—the frequenters of Mechanics' Institutes, present and prospective,—are contented with such a place, their wants being few, are easily satisfied. Nevertheless the new identity will keep cropping up and uncomplimentary comparisonsgwill be made, decidedly unfavorable to the Auckland Institute. I know, from the experience of twenty years in New Zealand, that it is not an easy matter to satisfy everybody on this question, which the few support, but the many find fault with. Mechanics' Institutes—so miscalled— like all other co-operative bodies, must so be placed in the public estimation as to secure the advantage which form the prime feature and characteristic of their existence. Your Institute should have marched onward with the time, from its primitive position to a spot more worthy of its presence. To the quiet unpretending little town of Napier you may turn with advantage for an example worthy of imitation in all respects, except that one of the committee uses his influence successfully to the exclusion of the Westminister Review. But you can't make people be liberally minded, albeit, you find thorn with mental pabulum necessary to that end. As a well wisher, I should advise the citizens of Auckland to take the matter in hand earnestly, aud decidedly remove tlie present Mechanics' Institute to a more prominent position, which will, more than anything, tend to its being supported, and more satisfactorily conducted. —1 am, &c, Omega. March 30th.