HOME OF THE Y.M.C.A.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 102, 30 April 1913, Page 7

HOME OF THE V.M.C.A.

NEW BUILDIKG OFFICIARY OPENED. BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR. SOME INTERESTING SPEECHES.

The new V.M.C.A. building in Wellesley Street was officially opened this afternoon at 3 o'clock by his Excellency the Governor, the Earl of Liverpool. On arrival, his Excellency was met by the president, Mr. A. C. Caughey, and other directors, and was presented by the architect, Mr. A. Wiseman, with a key of the building. The party then proceeded to the line new Assembly Hall, where several hundred people" were gathered. The president (Mr. Caughey). in the course of an interesting speech, remarked that it was 09 years ago since, in the small upper room of a business establishment in St. Paul's Churchyard, London, the V.M.C.A. movement had" first started. From that small beginning had grown a great world-wide movement, with over S.OOO branches, and more than a million enrolled members. In these Southern lands the movement had eariy taken root, and of late years bad grown with wonderful rapidity." In Wellington, Christchurch. and Dunedin. buildings similar to the one in Auckland had recently been erected, and others were in course of construction. Within the past few years over CSO.OOO had been spent in New Zealand on Association buildings. It was interesting. continued Mr. Caughey. lo note that the Auckland branch was just attaining its diamond jubilee. It was exactly 00 years, almost to the day. since what might be regarded as the first V.M.C.A. meeting was held in the city, lie had in his possession one of the printed invitations to that meeting. It was dated April. 1533, and was signed by an esteemed and venerable fellow citizen. Mr. R. I',. Shalders. That meeting was held 00 years ago next Sunday at Mr. Shalders' residence, and of the seven who were present only two— Mr. G. Carson, of Wanganui. and Mr. Shalders—now survive;!. "The latter was SS years of age, and no one in the city was more keenly interested in the opening ceremony than lie. (Applause.) Soon after this a branch of the Association was established, and a site was purchased in Durham Street. Mr. Shalders was the fust secretary, and it was on record that in four hours he collected I £200 in sums ranging from 5/ to £10, with the result that a comfortable, homelike building was established. The first home of the Association in New Zealand —indeed, in the Southern Hemisphere— was opened by his Excellency Governor Gore Brown. With varying degrees of success, the Society bad since gone on its way, striving earnestly to be helpful and usefnl to the young mannooci of the city. Referring to the old building iv Albert Street, just vacated. Mr. C'aughey said that until quite recently there was a heavy mortgage on the property, which frequently hindered the work, and was a cause of constant anxiety to those responsible. Thanks, however, to the generosity of the citizens of Auckland, there would be no such difficulty to contend with in the future, and the new building was being opened practically free of debt and encumbrances of every kind. In this connection their indebtedness to the late Archdeacon Williams should not be forgotten. His generous bequest to each of the four city institutions had been a valuable stimulus to the workers as well as to the public throughout the Dominion. THE CITY'S BEST ASSET. '•'Someone has said that a city's best asset is its young men,'' continued Mr. Caughey. "It has also Won stated that there are at least from 12.000 to 13,000 | young men in our city, a large proportion of whom are in lodgings. As charged with the administration of the affairs of this institution, in which so much money has been invested, the directors realise their responsibility, not only to these young men, in whose interests this building exists, but also to those whose generous gifts have made it ! possible and who will naturally expect j results commensurate with the outlay. "In days gone by we have heard it said I that the Association worked in grooves I — together too narrow, did not sufflc-icnt- j "v take into account the threefold and I complex nature of man, and c-on = <-quent- I 3y turned out a lopsided type of char- j aeter not by any means the mo.=t admirable. In our opinion, su;-h is not the case to-day. While the- religious and | spiritual side are not lost sight of, and '< must never be lost sight of in an As. oelation that is essentially Christian, yet in all modern Y.M.C.A.'s special provision — made for intellectual and physical culture, while the social clement in our nature is fully recognised. Hence the thoroughly equipped gymnasiums, popular table games, lecture, concert, social halls, and so forth. Indeed, everything j possible is provided to attract young I men, and that on the broadest " l.'nes j imaginable. In this building youths and young men will find a pleasant and safe i place of resort, and the stranger a we!- ! come, a home, and a friend.'' I Applause.) j THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH. j His Excellency, the Earl cf Liverpool, was received with applause. "It is somewhat difficult on an occasion like this,"' said his Excellency, "to elaborate on all the various points which are conducive for good for the community at large, j and which are so closely and intimately j connected with the work of this Society. The world-wide work which this Societyhas built up, not only in the Motherland I put in all her dependencies, and, indeed, j in other countries which do not fly the j British flag, is serving as a rallying point , for many who would not otherwise have | lad the opportunity of receiving a sound moral and physical education, which is so necessary to the well-being and development of a nation. But I will only deal with the question from the British aspect. The burning question of emigra- ] tion is one which is exercising all the I ingenuity and forethought of British j statesmen all over the Empire. We know some of those aspects, we know j tte feeling of concern with which the constant stream of immigrants is viewed , from the Homeland, and we equally Understand that men and women to be Useful members of society in the overSeas dependencies must be folks with Stout hearts and good constitutions. Kbw, this Society aims at all which is necessary to make these people who arr "''e in the oversea Dominions good and useful citizens of the land to which they may come. Wo have this building, the foundation-stone of which was laid by my predecessor last year, and you find in it everything which is necessary for the physical development of the body and for the training and uplifting °f the mind. To keep everyone well in body and mind you want to make tho bours of play and work equally agreea ble; many of the young men who will .Use this building will have the opportunity of associating with others of their **"» age and race, and it will be their

j example and ideas which will materially influence future generations. Christian citizenship is not attained by any one attribute; true Christian citizenship is gained by doing all that is possible for the whole community, and not grudging small personal services, if tney be the means of assisting someone less fortunate than yourself over the stile. "It is even now that we are witnessing one of those remarkable incidents which have been adherent to our race. Here we have in Auckland the battle-cruiser which this Dominion has presented to the Empire. Carry your minds back ahout 150 years, and you will there find the two Pitts, the great Lord Chatham and the younger Pitt, moulding their policies on two things—a strong navy and a great Colonial Empire—the younger Pitt prophesied that in da 3's to come those colonies would take their share in the maintenance of the Empire, and would be a great assistance and an acquisition of strength to the United Kingdom. And so his dream has come true, and we sec the overseas Dominions willingly taking their part in the responsibility of the burden of Empire. Tt is well that it should be so, because it links up the chain, and keeps the memory green with all the old traditions of Tace, and at the same time keeps before the eyes of those in the Motherland all the different circumstances which con-front the colonist in the various territories over which the British flag flies. I can personally testify to the good work done by this Association. I was in command last year, of what is probably the largest territorial unit in the United Kingdom —the Post Office Rifles—recruited "from all the postal areas in the Metropolis, and in camp we had a large tent from your Association fitted up with all the conveniences which were necessary to make camp life pleasant and companion- ! anle. lam aware that you are carrying i out the same work in these Islands at I the several camps, and I heartily trust that your efforts will be crowned with j the Same' success as has attended the efforts of thnee at home. In conclusion, before formally declaring this building open. I desire to wish all those who will be privileged to meet here every success in their undertakings and all happiness in their lives." (Loud applause.) A SLACK CIVIC CONSCIENCE. The Mayor (Mr. (.'. J. Parr), in the course of a brief speech, said he congratulated the directors and committee of management upon the completion of such a very fine building. He was of opinion that never before in Auckland had there been an enterprise so vigorously and successfully taken up as the building of the new home of the Y.M.CA. The manner in which the campaign for funds had been carried out was an eye-opener, and indicated what j energy and determination could do. The Mayor added that he hoped the V.M.C.A. would do much to encourage a strong civic sentiment in the community. Nowadays it was a regrettable fact that young men as a general rule gave little attention to the politics and administration of their city. They could not "xpect the old residents, who had laid the foundations of the city, to be always with them, and their mantles must fall upon their children. Unfortunately, our climate and easy life seemed to make for luxury auiongst the young people, rather than for those sound stable qualities which alone made a people great. He would like to see the young men of the community taking a much keener interest in the city and in local government than they had in the past. Perhaps the V.M.C.A. could do something to quicken the civic conscience of the young people of Auckland- (Applause.) The Prime Minister (Hon. W. F. Massey) also briefly addressed those present, complimenting the Association on the possession of such a handsome building, and paying a handsome tribute to the excellence of the work which the Association is doing in every part of New Zealand. Other speaker? were Dr. Chapman. .Mr. J. M. Barr, Mr. R. L. Stewart, and the Hon. O. l-'owlds. A brief Scriptural reading was given hy the Rev. 1. Jolly, a dedicatory prayer by the Key. W. E. Gillam-. and a benediction by the Rev. O. Jlond.