The Press. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1873.

Press, Volume XXI, Issue 2583, 14 November 1873, Page 2

The Press. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1873.

The Provincial Council during its last session passed a vote for a grant of public money, which was likely to be of considerable utility. We mean the vote of £5000 for " aiding in establish--41 iog new, and assisting existing public " libraries, book clubs, and institutes in " the country districts." The circumstances which directly led to this vote •were as follows: — The G-overnment placed on their estimates a sum of £5000 for a public library in the city of Christchurch, and explained that it •was intended to take over the present literary Institute for the purpose. This proposal led to a feeling in the Council that a corresponding amount at least should be divided amongst libraries and institutes in the country, and hence a vote of £5000 was also passed for them. The actual distribution of the grant was left to the Government, as it was of course impossible to. say what . districts \ might ask for a Bhare. The Council acted, we think, wisely in agreeing to this rote. It is not only that in the more sparsely populated districts there is considerable difficulty in obtaining "the means of rational amusement, but that also, __h these days when we are 'doing all that we can to further the spread of instruction, it is wise and prudent to make early provision for placing the means of information aB we as possible within the reach of every inhabitant. That a number of these;libraries are often too full of the alSd trashy romance literature of the present day iB true. Xet those who haye ever been connected with such- institutions can testify that the demand for novels is frequently * equalled by the demand for books of a more solid class, and that works of> a really instructive character are always eagerly asked Cor. So useful indeed are these libraries that we believe it would be a good ilms ti m *% least one of than fairly

established in every district of the province, and receiving annually a grant _rom the Provincial Treasury. But whilst we give credit io the Council for passing this vote, we are by no means sure that the same praise can be given to the G-overnment for the manner in which they have arranged its distribution. They divided the grant into two categories—one for buildings and fittings, conditional on an equal sum being raised by the district applying for it; the other for books, without any condition. It really seems as if they either intended to defeat the purpose of the vote, or totally misunderstood the object of the grant and the intentions of tbe Council; or that, having a preconceived plan on the subject, they proceeded to carry it out regardless of the views of other members. The first alternative is, we presume, out of the question; probably a mixture of the other two will be nearer the truth. Mr Kennaway, during the debate on the motion, repeatedly expressed the opinion that the grant should be made conditional on an equal sum being raised by the people. A contrary view was taken by almost every other member present, and no such condition was attached to the resolution itself. The omission of any reference to this point is perhaps unfortunate, as, with his usual slipperiness, the Provincial Secretary would be not unlikely to take advantage of the absence of record and pursue his own course in consequence of it. But whether this is the case or not, it is certain that if there was one way more likely than another to prevent the grant of £5000 from being as usefully employed as it should be, it was the imposition of the stringent condition that each district should raise, for buildings, &c. f a sum equal to that granted to it. The Government themselves appear to have seen this clearly. The Council having voted £5000, they immediately proceeded to allocate to the various applicants a total sum of £*7500, half as much again as the vote: ostensibly because the full amount for buildings would not be asked for in all cases! A regard for common sense induces us to ask what possible object there can be in this. When the distribution was made, the applications had &U received = *___c. Jbnaew, therefore, *e:x.act;ly- how much, each «±i_-»-trie, required. UnOWinJ MSH ill. total amount they bad to grant, it would Beem the simplest thing in the world to cut their coat according to their cloth. If it were possible to imagine that they intended to prevent the useful expenditure of this money, their course of action is easily explained ; if they did not, it is hard to see now any good purpose could be served by granting more money than they had to give to districts which were not likely to ask for it. This condition of raising an equal sum really is a mistake, because the very districts which ought to receive the most help from the vote are those which will be the least able to get it. It may seem a light thing to the Executive to decree " proprio motee " that a small outlying district is to raise £100 before it can be assisted to improve itself by means of a library; but if they were to look at the question more from a really " country" and less from a "suburban" point of view, they would perhaps change their minds. The districts near Christchurch, and in one or two other parts, are thickly populated, land and property are very valuable, and the residents can far more easily raise £200 or £250 than a thinly peopled poor country district can raise £100. The principle of helping those who are willing to help themselves is a good one, but in this case the rule ought not to be rigidly enforced, and without doubt the libraries' vote would be far more usefully expended if the circumstances of each particular district had been taken into consideration. Instead of this, a hard and fast rule has been laid down by the Government, which may fall lightly on the richer, but will press heavily on the poorer ones. -For instance, why should Addington, Waltham, and St. Albans be placed in precisely the same position as, say, Kowai Pass, Loburn, Duvaucbelle's Bay, or any other outlying district ?

Looking over the list of grants to tha various applicants we find that Waltham, St. Albans, and Addingtuiiare to receive £200 each (for buildings)*; Eiccarton and lapanui £100. Now certainly, of the three first, not one has any right to be considered a country district. They are immediate suburbs of Christchurch, so closely connected that hardly more than the width of a road divides them from the town; aud when also we remember that they will participate in the benefits of the Christchurch Public Library, equally with the residents in the city itself, we are surprised that they should have been included in the list at all- It is the fashion to say that the Christchurch library is intended, I not for the citizens only, but for the province generally; but this is, after all, a flimsy pretence. We think that the country districts have a very fair ground of complaint when they see what are in fact really parts of Christchurch not only taking a portion, but a larger share than almost any other, of a grant intended for more distant places. As for Eiccarton and Papanui, there may be a doubt about them, though even they have no full right to the term "country districts." But about the others there can be no doubt, and the giving of a share of the vote to them is a perversion of the intention of the grant. Kaiapoi, equally important and less central than either, is to receive a smaller sum; Bangiora, divided into two districts, only an equal amount ; Lyttelton the same; Timaru hardly more; Akaroa an equal sum. All these, though themselves towns, are much more "country districts" than the suburbs of Christchurch. The only places that have less right to complain in this respect are Waimate and Geraldine, and these are perhaps indebted for their extra share to the I fact that they are situated to the south ! of the B-wgiUta,

Altogether we cannot congratulate the Provincial Executive on having shown in their distribution, either a spirit of fairness or a desire to properly utilise the vote. We cordially agree with the grant itself, but we cannot see a prospect of its doing much good as at present divided. We should be glad to see another sum of like amount placed on the estimates during the coming session of the Council. But, if this should be done, we may express a hope that the money will be distributed according to some more equitable scheme, and so granted that the residents in the outlying, thinly populated districts, may have a fair chance with their more favorably situated neighbors.