PROPOSED SYDENHAM LIBRARY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10450, 14 September 1899, Page 6

PROPOSED SYDENHAM LIBRARY.

TO IUE JOKIOB OF TSCTH.

Sir, —A .word m reply to a false issue raised by your correspondents "Watch" and S. Day, in your issue of the 12rh inst. We do not object to opposition, provided it be fair, but, sir, we strongly protest j against false statement and misleading im- j piicabion. Let tie/proposal ba fought on its merits, and we are content to leave the issue to the ratepayers, but to attempt to throw dust in the eyes of the public by the bogey of a big ken,- -which the Act of 1869 ni&kes impossible, is unworthy of emy one who lave claim to honesty and integrity; and to do tdiis implies either a deliberate resolve" to mislead or cui'pable ignorance. "Watch", clearly implies that, if the library proposal be" carried, a loa.a of £6000 wiil be involved, while Mr S. Day deliberately asserts that it will meaji a matter of £5000 tacked on to our present debt. Both impticaiicn and assertion are untrue and impossible.: The maximum library rate will bring id. £180, ar4 this amount will have! to guara-otee, the loan raised to meet the | initial cost. Now, £ISO-as interest, at 5' per cent., wiH give as principal £5600, and this is the maximum amount possible of ,the loan, and ni/i £5000 or £6000. But let it be. clearly understood that the adop- . tion of $he Act of 1869 does not involve this loan of £3600 even. Of, course if S. Day oindthis fellow Couffic:E'ci\s i&tead Co squander ■the ratepayers''money 'that is another matter. •" ' ■"' ■ ..„ Of course the initial cost" is for the Council to determine,. up to the maximum, but it need indt, and■ should not, ia my opinion, exceed from £1000 to £1500. My estimate c& the meeting held in the Mission Hall was "£250 for building "and £?50 for books, while the estimate of-Mr G. 'T. Booth was, I think, building J3sOd, books £750. What we want is a beginning and' a substantial foundation. But whatever amouDt. the Council might fix upon, up to the Hmit of £3600, it should be taken to 'heart by all that the Act of 1869 prph3>k» the levying of anything higher than *he rite "of a penny in the £ en the annual value (or the rental), which is equivalent, to one-sixteenths of a penny on the capital value.V This represents the highest possible* annuiil charge upon the borough. What thisfaiieans has been pointed out before.. .. V ■ ' • . . As another instance' of the misrepresentatiion and lying statement with which some of our opponents conduct their campaign, it has been dinned itto the" minds of many ratepayers ithat the library .rate of a penny •in the £ would, be levied on .the capital value, which, of course, is absurd and shamefully untrue. Only this morning no argument of hndne could persuade a ratepayer that his property, valued at £200, would contribute, by way of library rate, ls T and not 16s Bd, as he "had been- faiisely informed by some one whose name he would not disclose. If the library proposal be defeated it will not be by fair, open, and honourable opposition, but by lies and baseless insinuatitGina amd inrmendoa. I did no-t intend troubling you- further, sir, .but the unfair tactics of your correspondents compelled mc. —Yours,etc., T. A. WILLIAMS. TO THE EDITOB OF THE PBESS. ' Sir,—What the Rev. T. A. Williams means by sneering at <the man. "whose soul does not rise above ipence," may, perhaps, be known to the rev. gentleman; but we are not discussing; the aspiratkflis of the soul but the advisability of α-aining some £5000 for the purpose of building, furnishing; and conducting a'iifcrary, to supply a want which exists only in the imagination of an obscure Library Committee. If Mr Williams and ibis Committee imagine that the young men of Sydenham will spend their time in the vitiated: atmosphere of a'library or readingroom, stooping over booEa and papers for "moral and intellectual good," then, sir, ithey are living in a fool's paradise. What.the young m&n and the "hundreds coming out of the ischials" do want is some place where tihey would be free from rant and cant to enjoy relaxation, recreation, and rational amusaonent. I should 'iike to see the names of the 500 subscribers at 6s per anmum. I don't believe they exist except in the enthusiastic imagination of the Rev. T. A. Williams. Surely, sir, the hdstory of similar attempts failing should make men cautious. Is the Chri&tohurch Library used by young men , for "moral and intellectual good?" Let anyone kok into any of the departments any evening and judge for himself whether or not the young men appreciate the place for "moral and intellectual good." The readers are principally men past middle age, the majority in Shakespeare's fifth age, "In fair round belly —with eyes severe; and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws and modern instances;'" but the young men are prooably seeking the bubble reputation even on the asphalt paths, scorching like the wind, leaving the library to men with "spectacles on nose" and voice turning to childish treble; men growing through their hair; men -whose animal spirits are all used up, end whose only recreation is intellectual. , Scores of young men apend their evenings at Football and Cricket Club rooms, where they can enjoy games and semgs, and mix among their companions. I would also appeal to the ratepayers to make a determined effort and vote agajwt the crazy scheme, and co prevent another "white elephant" being foisted upon them at enormous expense, causing other com--1 munities to hold their sides in laughter at us. All the talk about our "numerous artisan population, yearning for intellectual culture" is cnly pernicious twaddle, and I sincerely hope the voters will not be fooled by such oh- polling day.—Yours, &c., U. SCOTT, Elector.