HOME FOR THE BLIND.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 161, 10 July 1890, Page 5

HOME FOR THE BLIND.

MEETING OF SUBSCRIBERS. , A. meeting of persons interested in the , formation of a home for the blind coupled with a teaching institute was held lasb mght in the lecture hall of the V.M.C.A. Rooms. There was a fair attendance, which would no doubt have been larger had the hour of meeting been 8 o'clock instead of 7.30. Mr J. H. Upton (Mayor) occupied the chair. On. the platform were: Rev. Dr. Cowie (Anglican Bishop), Rev. Dr. Luck (Roman Catholic Bishop), Mr Johu Abbott, Dr. J. L. Campbell; Pastor Birch, MrW.Thorne, Mr T. W. Leys, and Mr Tighe, the blind teacher. Amongst the audience were: Rabbi Goldstein, Revs. Burrows, Bates, P. Mason, Dr. Purchns, the Venerable Archdeacon Dudley, and many leading professional and commercial gentlemen. The Chairman read apologies for nonattendance from the Revs. Macnicol and Nelson, also from Mr A. E." T. De.yore stating that the surplus from the Jubilee fund was £155. Mr Upton also explained that Professor Carrollo had kindly postponed the meeting of his gymnasium upstairs in order thab the students should nob interfere with the progress of the meeting. (Applause.) . Mr Upton said that the citizens of Auckland would hot forgot whab took place during the Jubilee celebrations in the earlier part of the year. The entertainments provided then gave pleasure to those who attended. Some £600 was subscribed for that purpose, and ib was generally fe't thab something more permanent should be done to celebrate the JubiU.e. The surplus of £155 , was set _,j„rfc for that purpose. One consequence was that Captain Cook, Captain Hob-un, and Her Majesty had a narrow escape from having busts erected to their memory. Whilst the Committee were deliberating, in a room in Parnell Mr John Abbotb was wribing a lebter to the newspapers proposing thab the Surplus should be devoted to bhe foundation of an institution for the .benefit of the blind. (Applause.) Hie efforts were earnestly supported by both papers. Prior to bhat there was, however, already in existence an institution for bhe benefit of tho blind, inaugurated under the auspices of Bishop Cowie. As it was not desirable that there should be two institutions, Bishop Cowie favoured the union with the present movement, and consequently the sum of £300 would be added to the funds already collected. There was another matter. This was nob an Auckland but a colonial movement, and therefore he thought it would be wise to invite subscriptions from the other large towns in New Zealand. There were one hundred and eighty-six blind persons in Now Zealand, a smaller number proportionally than in other places. In England something like £600,000 per annum was subscribed for the benefit of the blind, so that although they had already done well, still there was room for moro subscriptions. Mr John Abbott was received with applause. He said that his emotional nature was moved fur too' deeply bo fully express the. feeling.of his. .heart.. He had found his inspiration for, this mission in the twelfth chapter of Romans, which he advised all to read. He was proud to recognise the band of gentlemen who bad assisted in this work, such as Bishop Cowie and Mr Devore. He had.also been assisted by the press—that force by which all mighty movements had been carried forward. At present the fund stood as follows:—Subscribed by 1,051 friends, £1,125 7s 6d ; Jubilee surplus, £155 ; Friends of the Blind fund, £30C. Ib had • also been agreed that subscribers, of £10 10s should be life members'. As there were 36 of theses a sum. of £378 had been added, making the total subscriptions to amount to £1,958. Then 'is^M#W^'"^. ; -''''ft 1 ' ytks Government for their pound for pound subsidy, which would make something like £4,400. In^Md-WWiWto<what had' been collected, he had promises from many that they would keep the Institution vital. In the future, no 'doubt, legacies would be left the insbitutibn, and thus they would ultimately have a fitting memorial of the Jubilee of this colony. He considered thab the most wonderful of men were blind. He referred to John Milton, the great English poet, and Samson, the man who tore the lion as the lion rends the kid. Mr Abbotb concluded by moving, "Thab an institution, to be called the Jubilee Industrial School for the Blind, be opened ih;!Anckl'anc}.'r-, .•„;, ,'..' Bishop. Cowie seconded tho-motion.' He said' thab the Association of the: Friends of the Blihd was formed in Auckland, lasji April. The object of that Association was to render, immediate assistance to persons suffering from blindness, of whom they found 30 in and around Auckland.' Mr Tighe was engaged and had made a tour of the colony, and found no less than 70 persons suffering from blindness in obher-parbs of the colony. They had looked forward to the time when they could build an asylum for the blind, but he did hot believe that was required at present. He might mention that all the Work in connection with that Association had been done by the Rev. Mr Babes. Their Association had ' no wish, to stand in the way of the present movement, and would therefore join with it. With regard to the help to be expected from the Government, he considered thab whabever Government was in power ib would be the trustees for the people of bhe colony, and if anyone was to have the benefits of education, the blind had a right to teaching the same as others who could see. They bad firsb collected money amongst themselves and now had a right to go to tho Government. It was an assurance that bhe public had a personal inberesb in the blind thab they had first conbributed towards the amelioration of their condition. - Mr Tighe next addressed the meeting. He expressed pleasure at being asked to address those present; still there was but little left for him to pay. They must remember bhab they were commencing a work that should last for thousands of years. They should bank the money collected, and let the interest feed the object for which ib was collected. They would require to teach a few at first, in order to have teachers tor others who were blind. The Committee would find it'a difficult thing to manage an insbibution for the blind. They must gain all the. information that they .could. What they wanted to do was to see the blind of New Zealand as nearly self-sup-porting as they could be. Wiien they saw that they would be pleased that they had helped on this work. His own teacher had been Mr Prescbtt, ah old New Zealander. A man was apnt over to New Zealand to start » school for the blind, but he returned to Australia and said there were no blind. He (bhe speaker) came over in 1888, and called at the Stab Office, where he was told by Mr Geddis where to find friends. A few days later a nice paragraph was read to him from the Stab, and that brought to his knowledge five other _blind persons. The real reason thab they did not know the number of blind here was because none of them were beggars. The first persons who helped him .here were Mr C. Atkin and Sir George Grey. He next gob inbroduced to Bishop Cowie, who showed thab ho was interested in the movement, and the institution of tho Friends of the Blind was the result. He felt that the people in the South would assist liberally ; all they wanted was another John Abbott to rouse them a little. He might mention that at a meeting of the blind it had been resolved that he should tender their thanks to the Committee, the press, the subscribers, and all who have taken any part in this work, and especially to Mr John Abbott. The motion was adopted, Tho Chairman then moved, " Thab the

School shall be open to all blind persons in the colony of New Zealand." Bishop Luck seconded this motion, and said that ib only expressed what must necessarily be the case of an institution of | this sort. Unless something was done towards instructing the blind to gain their ; own livelihood, they would be shut out of everything, therefore such an institution should be open to all tho blind in this colony. The resolution was adopted. The next resolution was, "That the object of the Institute shall be the amelioration of the condition of the blind, by providing instruction in elementary knowledge, and such handicrafts as will enable them to earn their living, and in such other ways as may be deemed, advisable by the Mauaging Committee." This was carried on the motion.of the Mayor, seconded by Mr Joseph Newman. The Chairman further moved, " That the sum of money collected, mainly by the exertions of Mr John Abbott and other friends, be applied to tho purpose of instituting such an Institute." Mr W. L. Rees suggested thab as the Institute was to be open to the whole colony, subscriptions should be invited from other parts besides this city. It was a national object toward which all should contribute. As instances of great blind men, Mr Rees mentioned Homer, who formed the minds of Greece, and in later days Mr Fawcetb, the blind PostmasterGeneral of England. The motion was adopted. The motion,'• Thab the Government be requested to supplement the amount in hand by a grant of money," was adopted without any dissent. The next resolution moved by the Chairman was, " That the following gentlemen shall ba trustees of the money :—Mr Justice Conolly, Dr. J. L. Campbell, Messrs J. H. Upton, A. E. T. Devore, W. Hill, and J. Abbott." On the motion of Mr Carr, it was added that vacancies arising from the following causes be filled ab bhe ensuing annual meebing : — Deabh, resignabion, bankruptcy, or absence from the colony for 12 months. Mr Upton further moved, "That the system of education in the Institute shall be the same as that adopted in the blind schools in England." Bishop Luck asked if that would preclude each denomination from bringing up their children in its own faith, Mr Upton said that the education referred only to handicrafts and arts, whereupon the motion was passed. It was further resolved that the Governor of the colony shall be President of the Institute, and the Mayors of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Napier, New Plymouth, Invercargill and Blenheim Vice-Presidents.. It was also decided that the Managing Committee should consist of 24 members, 12 of whom were to retire annually, the vice-presidents and trustees to be members ex officio. The meeting also agreed that the trustees shall, until otherwise directed by the subscribers, invest the money on first mortgages on .freehold property, and pay the interest accruing from.the same to the Managing Committee. The next resolution adopted was that the income of the Institute shall consist of interest upon investments, annual subscriptions, donations, contributions from the blind themselves, and money received from other sources, life subscribers' payments to be considered as capital. It was also resolved that the Managing Committee shall, at annual meetings of subscribers, submit complete accounts of all receipts and expenditure. The meeting further agreed that two auditors should be appointed at each annual meeting, Messrs Barber and Camerion being appointed for the ensuing Mar. The annual j^eebjng r( w#s, fixed to be field in : the month of July each year. It was also resolved that an annual payment of 10a 6d should,enable a.person to become a subscriber, and £10 10s a life member. The following gentlemen were appointed as a Committee of Management:—-Bishops Cowie and Luck, Pastor Birch, llev. J. Bates, Mossrs H. Brett, J. T. Boylan, W. H. Colbeck, L. D. Nabban, W. Thome, E. Withy, J. Newman, T. W. Leys, J. Thornes, J. C. Macky, C. C. McMillan, J. Koss, S. Vickers, J. Dilworth, W. H. Smith, W. Swanson, J. L. Wilson, E. T. Dufaur, and J. P. Pierce. On the motion of Mr W. L. Bees, it was agreed that the Committee request sympathy and.aid from aU parts of the colony, through local Committees appointed in Various centres of population. . The Rev. J. Babes moved that bhe name be changed to thab of the Jubilee Institute for the, Blind.. This. was seconded by Pastor Birch and agreed to. Bishop Luck moved that a vote of thanks be accorded to the members of the Auckland V.M.C. Association for kindly lending their loom for such a truly Christian purpose. This was seconded by Dr. Purchas and agreed to. . Pastor Birch moved a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding. He said be was glad to see them engaged that night in this work of practical godliness. This was agreed to, and on the motion of Mr W. J. Speight a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr John Abbott for the excellent result of his labour. Mr Abbott briefly returned thanks and the meeting closed.