A PROMISE FULFILLED

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 255, 27 July 1927, Page 12

A PROMISE FULFILLED

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION TWO BILLS INTRODUCED SOUTHERN MEMBERS SATISFIED There was a lively expectation among members of all sides when the Bills dealing with the name of the Agricultural College at Palmerston North and the status of Lincoln College were introduced into the House of Representatives by Gover-nor-General’s Message yesterday. The - expected Bills relating to the agricultural colleges of the Dominion were introduced in\the House yesterday. The object of. the Bills, as explained by the Minister of Agriculture, is to change the name of the college which is to be established at Palmerston North from the New Zealand Agricultural College to the Massey Agricultural College, and to affiliate the Lincoln College with the Canterbury University College. The change in the name of the college at Palmerston North is to be effected by the Massey Agricultural College Act, which makes the necessary amendments in this respect to the Act passed last year. Attendance at this college is to be equivalent to attendance at Victoria University College and Auckland University College'for the purposes of fulfilling tlie requirements of any Act or of the University of New Zealand. The council of the Massey College is to have power to grant diplomas in agricultural science without reference to the' council of the New Zealand University or the councils of the Victoria and Auckland University Colleges. Moneys raised, for. education purposes under the Educational Purposes Loans Act may be made available to the col- | lege, and may be used, for the purchase of Jive stock, implements or other material required by the college. The Governor-General-in-Council may transfer to , the management of the College Council the control of any land acquired or which may be acquired for the college, while all live stock, etc., acquired by the Crown for the college will become the property of the college onbeing handed over. A clause replaces the Minister of Education by the Minister of Agriculture as the responsible authority, .for.. deciding the suitability of land or other property presented to the college, and on which subsidies may be payable., Lincoln College.

The Canterbury College and Canterbury Agricultural Amendment Bill gives Lincoln College the same status as the Massey Colleger’in' granting diplomas. The personnel of the Board of Governors of the Agricultural College is increased from seven to ten, the additional members being two representatives of Canterbury College and one additional member to be appointed by the Government, making the Crown representation two. Authority is sought to make a grant not exceeding £lO,OOO out of the Education Loans Account, to be applied in accordance with the approval of the Minister of. Agriculture towards the erection, structural alteration, improvement, and equipment of buildings required for the purposes of the college. Provision is also made in the Bill for an annual payment out of the Consolidated Fund of £3700, which is to be applied for such purposes of research as the Minister of Agriculture may approve after consultation with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. That grant includes the grant .of .£l2OO .now made annually to the college by the Government. The council of the college is also to make an. annual. report to the Minister of Agriculture on (the same lines as that of the council of the 'Massey College. MEMBERS* COMMENTS The proposals were discussed at some length. . . “It appears .to me,” said Mr. W. S. Glenn (Rangitikei), “that what might have been a national scheme is being put under separate control, and I doubt whether the ultimate result will be very beneficial to the Dominion. Apparently the second Bill is a sop to the South Island. I want to say to the House: Why not take a,licking as T did, and have one agricultural college for the Dominion ? The Minister of Lands: Where ? Divided Control Opposed. Mr. Glenn (warmly) : . “In the North Island, at Palmerston North.” In casting hiS vote for the Bill last year, he said, he had votedMor progress in agricultural education, and he wanted to know why the Government was hot strong enough, despite the organised opposition of the- South Island, to establish one central college. Why permit divided control ? The Ministers and the Prime Minister were very uncomfortable about' the position. Two halfhearted . colleges were proposed, when there should be one. A member: It’s a piebald Act. . The Hon. D. Buddo (Kaiapoi) said that the country as. a whole had been well served in the past by Canterbury

Agricultural College, which deserved the consideration to be given to it by the Bill. Greater Efficiency Predicted. Mr. D. Jones (Ellesmere) said that if the member for Rangitikei understood the position he would not have made his speech. As far as dairying and agricultural matters connected with the North Island were concerned, training in these branches could be best carried out >at Palmerston North. It had been decided to utilise the £250,000 capital sunk in the South Island College at an additional cost of £2500 a year. The Bill would put agricultural education in New Zealand on a far sounder footing than the Bill of last year would have done. There would be a very large saving as far as the Government was concerned, and there would be far greater efficiency. Mr. J. A. Lee (Auckland East) considered it was obvious that what the Government had refused to concede to reason in the first case it had now given in response to the log-rolling that had taken place. Mr. W. D. Lysnar (Gisborne) held that it was the-Government’s.first duty to establish the central university on a sound footing. The grant of £lO,OOO to the Canterbury College was under the circumstances improper.. The South Island was always crying out. A member: So is the North Island. Mr. Lysnar: “It has been a voice crying in the wilderness.” The Government had succumbed to a continual agitation from the South Island, he declared. Promise Fulfilled. The Prime Minister (Right Hon. J. G. Coates) said the Bill fulfilled a promise made last session that before the matter was finalised the House would have another opportunity of reviewing the position. The Canterbury College authorities had objected to their institution being overshadowed after its successful career over many years. It had always been understood that when the buildings at Lincoln College could stand no longer, and new ones became’ necessary,. the Government would give some help in replacing the old ones. The new arrangement would prove a very economical one, and not interfere with the class of work to be carried on at the North Island institution. There might be some cause for regret that the name of the college was being changed. Mr G. W.' Forbes (Leader of the Nationalist Party) said that if the original policy had been persisted in it would not have received the support of the South Island farmers, who realised that the ’conditions there in the matter of climate, and soil, were very different to those in the North. To meet those conditions Lincoln College had been established, and it had served the South Island, and the Dominion generally, well. The new Bill was a wise measure. Mr. H. L. Taplev (Dunedin North) regretted that the discussion had drifted into one of north versus south. The South Island members had fought for the retention of Lincoln College, in the interests of agricultural education, aqd it would have saved the country a great deal of money, perhaps, if the central institution had been established at Lincoln. Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Avon) said that the question of north versus south had not raised its head at any discussions he had been present at, but the South Island had approached the matter purely from the standpoint of saving money, and maintaining an institution which had already done good sendee for the Dominion.

No “Log-rolling.” The Minister of Agriculture (Hon. O. J. Hawkcn) said that, had the offer provided for in the Bill regarding Lincoln College been made last session, the Government certainly would have accepted it then. The amount proposed to be spent on Lincoln College, £3700 per annum, was not too much for the work it had to do. .It was carrying on work? that the Government considered could well be carried out in the South Island. There had been no log-rolling in the matter, but the Government considered that the settlement arrived at was a very satisfactory one.

Mr. Glenn said the Government had completely reversed its policy, and was now subsidising an institution in the South Island which was already a wealthy one, having a capital value of £250,000, and 'an income already of £BOOO a year. He did not want to quarrel with the South Island, but to work with them. (Laughter.) He thought, the Minister of Agriculture would have saved a lot of trouble had lie got up earlier, arid explained the Bill to the House. The Minister of Lands (Hon. A. D. McLeod) said that in nine cases out of ten Bills were never discussed at such length at that stage, unless to block some other legislation, and the reason was apparent that afternoon. Mr. E. J- Howard (Christchurch South) repudiated the charge of logrolling; everything had been dofie openly and above board. Mr.' J. Horn (Wakatipu) said that there was no doubt, unless the South Island had moved in the matter, an institution in the South Island, which had taken nearly fifty years to build up, would have been wiped out. The Bills were read a first time.

The Minister of Lands (Hon. A. D. McLeod) yesterday sought leave to introduce the Greytown Trust Lands Trust Empowering Bill. Notice was given by Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) to introduce the Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Bill. Mr. H. G. R. Mason (Eden) sought leave to introduce the Juries Amendment Bill.