"DOING GREAT WORK."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 123, 26 May 1932, Page 11

"DOING GREAT WORK."

ENTHUSIASM FOR MUSEUM. IMPORTANCE OF FINANCE. COUNCIL'S ANNUAL MEETING. Special reference to the excellent educational work done through the Auckland War Memorial Museum was made by speakers at the annual meeting of the Auckland Institute and Museum, lield la st evening in the library of the Museum. Mr. A. G. Lunn, president, Mioko of the enormous amount of work that had been entailed in removing from Priuces Street, and housing everything in the new building. Mr. 11. E. Vaile, president, hud done wonders. The staff, under their able director, Mr. Gilbert Arclipy, had worked early and late, and as they were still under-staffed, they still had to work overtime. He could assure the meeting that none of Hie -tall was brought up in the "eighthour school." Salaries had been reduced, but that did not affect the loyalty and enthusiasm of the staff in the slightest. The president referred to the paramount necessity of income, and said that while there had been .one or two murmurs from local bodies that contributed, he was sure they were receiving quadruple value for their money. Rigid economy was exercised in running the Museum, which cost less than a third of what was spent by an institution of similar size in Australia. The plain fact was that if the Museum was deprived of its present sources of revenue it would simply have to close ijts doors. Speaking of the educational work done through tho schools, for which special travelling cases of specimens were prepared, Mr. Lunn said it had won the admiration of headmasters far and wide, and of members of local bodies. Finest Site in New Zealand. Sir James Parr, a former president of the institute, congratulated Auckland on having the finest building in New Zealand, and that' wonderful museum erected on the finest site in Xew Zealand. He paid a tribute to Mr. H. E. Vaile for having been able to induce the local bodies to contribute to the funds of the Museum. In his own time, said Sir James, the local body people wero never suspected of any enthusiasm for the arts and sciences. Sir George Fowlds expressed his appreciation of the educational work clone by the institution. The whole province had a right to congratulate itself on the capacity and enthusiasm of the staff, which was doing great work among the schools and elsewhere. It might not be bread-and-butter education, but it was what was needed in a young country; a nation without vision, was a decaying nation. Sir James Parr's Part. Mr. Vaile said Sir James Parr was too modest to say that he himself had been responsible for securing that wonder site for the museum. It was not taking land from the people, as some feared; it was giving the people an institution that was open every day of the year, and one of the most magnificent war memorials in the world. Professor A. P. W. Thomas and Mr. J. B. Paterson also made cordial reference to the good work done by the institution. Mr. Lunn mentioned that 45 schools were benefiting from the educational work of the institution; and another most important branch, showing how the public appreciated the museum, was the answering of inquiries which last year amounted to 2000, entailing a great deal of work on the staff. Tho election of officers resulted in the unopposed return to Mr. Lunn as president for a second term; Sir James Parr, Sir James Gunson, and Mr. H. B. Vaile, vice-presidents; Sir Carrick Robertson, Sir Cecil Leys, Sir George Richardson, and Professor H. W. Segar, to the council. Professor Segar was congratulated by the meeting upon his re-election to tho presidency of the New Zealand Institute, and Mr. Gilbert Archey upon his election as a Fellow.

Sir James Parr's Part,