AUCKLAND MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. ANNUAL MEETING.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5239, 27 July 1876, Page 3

AUCKLAND MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. ANNUAL MEETING.

Thk Biinual meeting of the members of t!n> Mechanics' Institute was hulil l.vbt night, i» their hall. Tlieio waH a fiiir attendance. — Mr. I'. A. Philip, tlio president <if the institute, was in tlio chair, and after reading the advertisement calling the mooting, ho called upon the Hcoietary to road theminutcs of the last annual meeting, which weiu duly eonlii med — The Xoeretai y then i ead the report ot the Comiuittei* (it Management and tho b.iLinee-ahoet, as follows :—

unroin 1 . "In indenting tho .innuil lopoit foi the past yeai, your coniuuttiolus tho plenHiuo of stating thnt the pecuiuaiy indebtedness of tho Institute Iihh been diminished ; while, on tho othoi hand, it is to l>o logiotted that thoio has not been .my augmentation, but, on tho coutiary, a slight doeioase in tho number of subsoiibeis and the amount of subsci lptions. At tho comniencoment of this yen tho amount of the dobt way £105, it in now L'7i> ; each of theso sums ia exclusive of ,i Hum of L'.!7, as to which it is not likely tliut tho institute will be called upon to pay. A i eduction of expenditure lias been nuule in fcho outlay for marines (this has been •fleeted by means of careful selection without occasioning any expression* of iliss.ttisf.iot iud), lind also of the debt niciii i od last yeai to Mcsi m. Fjiton jmd Co. for periodicals and lllusti sited papeis, Jt'tJO Ins been paid off. The funds h ivc deiived .sonic assistance from the piocueds of .in entertainment held in the Choral II ill, tho net receipts fiom which amounted to £11) fis. (id. "With lefeicnce to this, the bent thanks of the subsenbors mo due to Mi. iiictt and to the Indies ami gentlemen who co opeiated with him. Tho mcieabc ni.ule to the hbiaiy dining tho past yeai hasi been 110 Tolumes, at a cost of JL'31- 2s. Dining tho previous year the numbei of voluinos added was 73, costing i'lG. Youi coinnnttee aie desiious of expiessmg their sense of obligation to Ins Honor bir George Giey, K.C.U., who promptly acquiesced in the application niado to him by tho piomdent for tho continuance of the gi ant which had been voted m preceding yo us by the Piovmci.il Council. The Supciintcndent nuthoiined a giant of L'100 to the institute for tho yeai, and a furtlioi hiiiii of £100 in aid of tho tecliuic.il clusses. With refeience to the technical classes, your committee wish to obsei ve that while it is a m<ittei of l egret that young persons do not in laigei numbei s avail them scIvoh of what is leally a valuable oppoitunity of unpioveiuont, at the Hamo time it is a iiourco of gratification that 30 pupils have attended with punctual regulaiity, and tli it tho working of the clauses appeal h to have buen mute mitisfactoiy to both teachers nnd le:n neis. The number of subscribers aio as follows Yeaily subsciibeis, 'M> ; quaiteily to both libraiy ;>nd loading rooms, 103; qu.uteily to libraiy alone, 1*2.1 ; quaitoily to leadingrooms alone, 80 ; life mcmbois, 12. total, '.foi The number of issues fiom tho hbiary foi the year amounted to U,."i00, besides pciiodic.iN and nowsp.ipeis, which had iv luge cnrulatinn. Youi comniilteu have to l egret tho lows )>y death dining the yeai of M\ unusually laigi- nitnibci' of old fiicnds and hup ])oituis. \ mir committee found it nocess 113 in the collide oi tho yem to p >rfonn the painful duty of lemuving one name fiom the list of uubxciihcis in consequence of the suiioptitmus remov.il of papers and i)enodicils fiom the reading 100111 tables. Increased ficilitiun being allowed to subset ibeis, j our commitleo find it ic<iui!>ite. to lely laigoly upon tUo lionoui an.l good fnith of the meiiibeis^ and they beg to unplugs upon gentlomen lesoi ting to tho read- ' ing-iooms tho desirability of cooperating with the committeo in pioventing tin abuse o| tint iuli nice. A desirable adjunct to the opciations of tho institute lift"! been made in tho foimation of a chess club, the memburs of winch .11 e subsciibeis to the institute. Tho uicm'.eis of tho chess club aio .stated by its honoiaiy secietuy to be 25 at piesent. With lcfeiunco to tin. 1 Atlicna.'Uru proposed to bo est iblmhed in this city, youi committee would suggest tlutjit is 11 m itter for the seiious consideration of the ■ubsciibers whether it may be expedient in duo time to merge this institute in tho pioposed Athemeuin, if the latter shall be uuccsiiHfully in.mguiated wlule this institute ii uiuiuostionably productive of public utility, it cannot ho denied that a contnmouu difficulty liai bein expeuontod fiom a doticieucy of income, and that the maintenance of tho inttitute is from Una cause consideied precaiiony. In the couiseof the p.iHt yen, tho question of •stablislun/ a pubho hbiaiy in Auckland undoi the Public Libiaiies Act, was dincussod at a public meeting convened in tins hall for that purpono ; but it was decided that no *tepf< hIiouM be taken foi the nrriont with lospect to such a pioposal. Tha legislation upon tho tubjocfc onableu tho uitizciiH, whenever they may nodeiure, to establish a public libniry by means of a special late, tho amount of which ia limited to .1 maximum of Id. in the £1. Youi committ«o have every leason to be satisfied with tho effoitu of the seuitury duiing tho past yoai, to do all that he possibly could for tho advancement and proap'-iity of tho Institute and the convenience of subsiiihen In 10 tiring from oflioo, join committee w nld express then tiust that tho ■ubsciibeis will olect for tho coming yen guntlomeii who will use theii best exertions to raiio the institute to such a position unit ou^lit to occupy in Iho city of Auckland. — On bell ilf of tho committee, 1*. A. Piuj.U'H, Ch.iiiinan."

The Chairman called upon any gentleman present to propose tho adoption of the report. — Mr. Leslie moved, and Dr. Jlouie seconded, tho adoption of the roport.— Tho Chairman called upon any gentleman to make remarks, and as no one appeared demrous of doing ro, tho Chairman referred to tho mention niado of the pio posed Athen.'oum. The institute had, no doubt, been enjoying only a precarious wxutenco. Sir George Grey had done his beat in giving the £200, but, in view of thn political changes now pending, that assistance could no longer be looked for. — A subscriber asked if there was any piobability of a town hall being soon built, as tho Council were disposed to wait until they could utilise lomc of their endowments — probably in about livo years. — The Chairielt himself in a position to say that theie was no likelihood of a town hall being built for borne few years. In r«ply to the same subscribe!, tho Chairman said ho thought it was not improbable th.it tho interest of the institute might merge m that of the pioiiosed Athemuum. — Mr. Fat roll asked if the trustee of the land on which tho institute is erected would be dlaposed to sell it and buy shares in the Athenrouin '( — The Chairman said that the Superintendent la now trustee, and that an ta-^ct had bicu passed by which on obtaining ~ the consent of a majority of the meinboi-.s, he could authorise the sale of tho land — Mi. Farrell understood that, though tho vulu.ition put upon the proputy had boen £.'J,f)()O, tho most that could be got would be £1,500 Tins sum would not lie more than a trifle towards building the proposed Athuniuuin. He would like to hear someone suggest the bent means of disposing of tho property. — j Dr. Kidd thought tho report should be dis posed of before tho <juc<jtiun o( tho Athoiueum should be diacussed.— The adoption of the report was then earned unanimously. — The meeting then pioceeded to elect tho officers.— -The Chairman proposetl aa patron Sir George G icy, whoso name was received with acclamation. — Dr. Kidd aud Mr. Reynolds proposed and teconded the election of Mr. Tonka as pieHulenfc. Carried. -Di Kidd proposed Mr. Philips and Mr. liielt as vice presidents Mr. Leslie seconded tinmotion, w1ik.1i wns carried. — Mr. W. J. Caldwcll w.is elected treasurer, on the motion of Mi. Philips, seconded by Dr. Kidd. - For the committee, a number of gentlemen were proposed, and a ballot wan taken, to decide who should bo elected, with the following result :- Messrs. Clifton, Farrell, Ol'dlnll, YVorthington, Thos Garland, G. Kvitt, Keesing, Hazard, llobmson, Taylor, and Dih. Kidd and Home. Captain Burton aud Mr. King acted as scrutineers — Whilst tho scrutiny was going on, tho Chairman proposed that u Hpecial coinmitteo should bo appointed, who should

ui'leuour d> '('(Mvii.it tei ins could be made ,vs t.o an amalgamation >vith tho Athcii.i'inii, and tf they ouimdoicd it desirable, should c.ill iv inciting of the subscribe!-* to ln-n what had boon done. — Mr. Martin seconded tho lcsolutinu. He thoroughly behoved in ahbiary for Auckland, lie would like to seo the rites of matrimony performed hotweon tho AtlionaMim and the Mechanics' Institute by Dr. Kidd. Ho trusted in time that the library would equal that of St. Poterabuig or Vienna.— Dr. Kidd thought no one could object to tho proposal. Tho committee would break tho ground, and the suggestion was a business-hko one for a v«ry good object. — Mr. Worlhington thought it would bo a very great advantage to tho town to have a substantial establishment. Ho had sent his name as a subscriber as soon as ho had seen tho announcement in tho papers. (Jenorally ho appiovcd of tho amalgamation though ho had not tnno to think much about it.— Mr. Leslie thought that tho mooting had boon called for tho purpose of adopting tho report and bahnee-shoot. Mo believed that tho question of tho Athciwum was not in order. — The Chairman said that it was quite in oidor at tho annual snooting to consider any subject brought beforo them. — Mr. Kiank Nicholls, who said that he had been on a committee in a similar institution at Hammersmith, remarked that ho had not .seen .uiy working-men in the reading-room — not men of tho lower strata of society.— The Chairman thought thoro woro very few of tho lower strata hero. — Mr. Nicholls continued to point out the deaii ability of getting the real >\ni king-men to take an interest in something more than 1 tho public-house. He would bo vei-y sorry to boo the Mechanics'Institute closed with a »'iow of amalgamating with the Athonivum. — Mr. (Jovrio thought the last speaker had misunderstood what was intciulcil to bo done. It was not amalgamation, but that a separate institute like the present should be formed. Three or four good-si/od looms in the pioposod building would be sufHciont, and ho thought it would bo well that the committee should keep this in viow.— Tho Chairman said it was thiough no fault of tho committee. Pel haps there was not tho class which Mr. Frank Nioholls \\ ished to got to take a part in the institute. itAery facility had been given to that class, but without success. Ho did not approve of Mi. (iorrie's notion of a separate institute. It was quite possible that shortly the Provincial Council library would bo available for tho Athen.einn. lie thought they should endeavour to havo only out' good institution. Tho Committee, of course, would tike no steps without consulting the members. — Mr. Ma/ird asked if the Athou.uum had been stai tod bypnv.ito efTmt or public meeting. —Tho Ch.unu.ui s.ud a public meeting would .shortly be held.— Mr. Niohnlls asked if Captain Burton could give any infomiation as to tho Athen.i um. — Captain Bui ton said he had alicady a list of abo'it 7."iO members, and with the co-oper.i-tion i if the Mechanics' Institute he reckoned upon .1 thousand. It seemed to him that these institutions had to compete with a low or < lass of attraction. Billiard-tables, for instance, should not bo monopolised by hotels Some people, might bko their bilhaids with their beer, and others without then beer. As to the Museum aud Auckland Institute, the Athcn.eum would act as a feeder to it. As to tho Masons, the Roman Catholics, it had liecnjHaul, would object to their being in the Athen.eum, but that institute would not be ideiitilicd uith them in any way. The institute would merely givo them .looommod.ition for their money. lie, had tho honour to belong to the Masonic body hiinaelf,aiid believed that their joining would gi re strength to tho Athcuioum. — Mr. \i< 1 wai d« was afraid that the position proposed for the Athcnu'um was too far removed from the centre of the city.— Captain Bui ton mud that the Athenamm was not a speculation to make money Tho land owner would be benefited, but tho price thoy asked was extremely reasonable. Ho himself was not pei sonally interested in it. Ho was anxious to do tho best ho could in Auckland (lining the few months he would icmain heie. Tho Mechanics' institute had too much of the "dry stick" about it It wanted now life infused into it. Tho proceeds of tho sale of tho Mechanics' Institute site might be given in trust to ceit.un gentlemen to invest to tho beat advantage. Tf the Atheuiuum failed the hbi.uy would bo htill itheiiy, and would bo sulhoi'ent value foi tho money invested. - The Chairman piopoael that tho mattoi be left to the newly-elected committee. — Mi (Joriio seconded the motion, which was agreed to unanimously. — Mcasia. Fi< Id and J. 11 BmiiiWtro appointed auditon. The mooting hn ing voted thanks to the chan in. m by acclamilion, broke up.

Inaiir.incc of buildings Gat ucLount .. Sutretary and incidental expoiiMci* Coals and firewood Repaint to buildings Book-binding and printing . Sli^.i/.intM and iie\vs|n.])ira . . BooUh boujjlit . ... Kcdnctlon «f last yoi\r'a debt Toachciii i limes Balance on hand £10 10 0 30 7 « 110 5 r. i<i ia :t :j 12 o 7 14 :i si 18 :t 34 '2 0 CO 0 0 70 0 0 0 117 Total i,io r . o o

E\m'm ruitK.

J ul j 1, 187f>, balance.. . . Cl ■ .'■ Kccenol fr.jii liiMkuto . .. 1^1 !) I For In tititiGfl'iouiicial Gnicnnncnt) 100 0 i> Kor ( I.is-m (I'rovim Ul Government) . . 100 0 0 I'roctuk of LiiturliiuiiDciit . . 10 •> 0 Total i.40 1 } 0 0 Liabilities of Iitstituta £70 1 8

iu r anti: hhi:i.t.— ikuimk.