THE MUSEUM'S FUTURE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 119, 22 May 1928, Page 6

THE MUSEUM'S FUTURE.

Having built a war memorial museum at a cost of £200,000, Auckland is not likely to allow it to be closed for lack of maintenance funds. The public, however, may resolve that the £8000 a year that Mr. Vaile mentions is a good deal too much. It is natural that a large building like this should breed large ideas of upkeep, but these should be carefully scrutinised in the interests of reasonable economy. This is one aspect of the urgent problem of finding the money for the museum's maintenance. Another is the responsibility of the State. The Auckland taxpayer pays his share of the £7000 for the maintenance of the Dominion Museum at Wellington, and he may reasonably ask that the State help his own institution. The distribution of population in New Zealand is such that a number of museums is a natural development; the State would not do its full duty if it concentrated its contributions on one institution in the capital. A third aspect is the responsibility of local bodies outside the city. That the Museum is a Greater Auckland affair should be perfectly clear. The city ratepayer will certainly refuse to make up the whole difference between the revenue of the Institute and the amount required for annual maintenance, and if outside bodies refuse to help voluntarily they should find themselves under compulsion.