COLLEGE SITES

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 96, 23 April 1921, Page 5

COLLEGE SITES

bLD BOYS' PROTEST

SPOILING COLLEGE GROUNDS

MINISTER'S REPLY UNFAVOURABLE,

A 'deputjatilon from the Welifßigtofl College Old Boys' Asso.ciatixffl waited 1 on the Minister pf EaVuca.tion (JJpn, (3, J. Parr), yesterday afternoon, tp place before him their views in opposition to the prpposal tP erect .a. new girls' college cm a;, portion, of the Wellington College reserve. The Minister's reply was to the effect that lie did not consider the arguments advanced presented insuperable 'obstacles, but he would not vegaj<d the question as finally disposed of, Mr. W, H. Field, M.P., who intrpduced the deputation, said that, tih^ugh he was himself an old boy, and had been president of the association,, he was, alleo a member of the Board of Govevnprß, and therefore felt bound) to adopt a rapifc committal attitude. He intended, to inspect carefully other possible sites,'as he felt that if any other site could be fit* tamed, it would be wise not to tamper with this.

Mr. W- E. Bethune, president of %» associationi, {said their protest might &P" pear somewhat belated, but, the project had gone aloij-g so quietly that very Sew of them realise^} 1 what it meant, until the college autfyprities received » somewhat peremptory request, to remove instruments, from the observatory, which would be effected by the exeavwtipns. fqr the site of t]ie new college. Jle stated the objections raised by the association as set out'in a/letter to the Board of Governors. These were, briefly, cost of excavation, the interference with th.'6 observatory (erected; by old boys and friends), and the baths (a; memorial gift from, Sir Francis Bell). There was also the danger that the grounds, which were. largely there as the result of the enthusiasm and liberality" of Mr. J. P. Fii'th, would be interfered with. If they were too late to prevent the building of the college, they asked at least that it shpuld be a subsidiary school, aiid not one of 9PQ pupils. There would be a serious congestion of thp tram traffic from having two schoqjs in the s-fmie locality, apart from the nipral danger from the hoys; and girls being so olpse together, There could not be & sumS ■cient pfeyiijg area for the girls*' and the result would probably be that both schools would be spoils Kb. suggested as alternatives sites, an area of $' acres at KUbjraie, and pf 4i acres on the site of the 014 bricjc kiln, near Athletic Park.

Mr. M. O. Barnett sajd that the site was an adroiraibj* oiie for » girls' college if it did. ncrli overlook tjie boys' grounds and baths. The girls' college would be right above a levelled area, which would he coveted from the mojnqnt girls w»re instaU'ed.. As old bpys they could not see that ixnil part<id \vitn. AN I^USTpATION FE,QM ISAIAH.

Dr. Elliott said Wellington College yiivyed an important port, not only in the'life of Wellington/but of New Zealand. T/hey did not want to do any harm to the girls. Indeed., they wished to see them: have a better college than this site would provide, and that speedily. He regarded the site as almost [impossible, unless it were desired to fulfil in a feeble way the BibfficaJ prophecy: "Every valley shall he ex T alted, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked straight." The idiea of putting boys and girls on the same site, or adjacent, at this time of their lives was abhorrent. A better site'for the college would be the 'area at the top of PirieJstreet. • TOWN BELT SUGGESTED. The. Minister' said that this was Town Belt, and the City Qquncil had always been against prpvjdjng anything in the way of school sites in this way. Dr, Elliott said that-the site might be obtained by exchange for the College Street properties of the Board of (Jpverr nors, now an eyesore, and which could be used by the council for tennis courts or for a housing scheme. The members pf the deputation had daughters as well as sons, and they wished the girls to; have a good college, but they thought it was scarcely reasonable that to dp this they should .tear down what hac( beesn built up with 'great labour over a period qf years.

Mr. A. de B. Brandon, a former chairman of the Board of Governors, said that apart from the questipns affecting the grounds, this, was'a big step towards the introduction of a system of co-education of the!sexes. This should be considered seriously, {or the whole moral future of the nation might depend upqn it.

DISQIPLINARY QUESTIONS. Mr. F. M. Eenner, an old boy and a present roaster of the college, said that already with the large size of, the school they had not a sufficient playing area, and had to tolerate bpys playing for putside plubs, which was not good fo,r the school spirit. If the boys' and girls' schools were placed so close together they would have all sorts pf iinde§irable breaches of discipline and complications. It wpuld make the work of the principal^ very much harder.

In reply to the Minister, Ml?. !Renner said that he did not suggest moral danger, but that boys and girls travelling to the same locality would lead to plapdefttine meeting? and complications which were undesirable. He was speaking of what he knew when he said this. He suggested that the work on the site Would not be wasted if it were ■. made available later for a post-priniary school. The difficulty regarding grounds would not occur then, as when the aid college was re-erected where they* all hoped to see it they would have a large area ready for addition to the grounds. The hostels of the gjrls' college could be removed as far out as, Miramar, where they would be the nucleus of a. new college to serve all the southern and eastern part of the city. THE MINISTER'S REPLY. The Minister said that he had to deal with the Board of Governors, whose business it was to select a site. He was sure that they did not want to delay what was an absolute necessity for Weilin.gto.il—a new girls' college. They had 300 girls in establishments other than the college. He warned them tha,t their agitation might have the result of bringing about an indefinite prolongation of the dispute regarding the site. They had such a case in Auckland regarding the university site. He wanted to get somethintr done here, and when the Board of Governors, over a_.year ago, came to him and said that they had examined many sites but all were impossible, and that this offered the solution of the question, no one was more pleased than himself. The report of the Department's own officers was entirely favourable, and •a grant was accordingly made. Now, after over a year, they raised the issue for the first time! Their objection was belated. Mr. Bethuno had said that the matter was dealt with quietly; but it was not done surreptitiously. ' Re himself had mentioned it in the House twice last session. He had no official information other than that' the Board of Go ; vernors had obtained the grant and was going on withi the work. They asked him now tq cancel the -arrangement-Hie took it that was what they came for. Members of the deputation: "Yes." NQT A LARGE SCHOOL. The. Minister said that would be an arbitrary step which he would not think of taking without knowing much more

about the position than he knew now. He thought most of their objections could be roe|. In the first place, he wanted to olearaway the idea tljat this school would ultimately house 000 pupils. He agreed with every word they said about the futility of large schools, which, were not favoured by modern educatjonjsts. From <K>o tfi §W .piipijs was sufficientn wd jt was not intended, that this school should have more. Ultimately in Wellington ,the,y, would have a quarter of a million population, a.nd they would require not two, tut half.a dozen schools tp accommodate secondary and Pflstrprimary rmrtiis. The cost of levelling and excavation would noty, as. W.a? suggested, be sufficient f.o buy another site elsewhere. f(tf a.central site wpuld cost about £2000 an acre, atni a^put §yjs or six apres would be reqiiired', Dr. Elliott mentioned the possibility of exchange with the City Counpil. The Minister said th.at the Council h;ad recently pTonounced . against that, npt wigely in hip opinion, in relation tfl the Newtfiwn, schppl. • The Bpaird pfVpoyprV nbrs ha 4' cpnsid-ered . the estjibliejinient of a cqjiege in the Miramar direction, and had come tp the conclusion tho it Was too fsy:- out to meet the.neeiis-Qfcth'e city. He admitted tlvo.p()ssibilitr.of:illi terference with the observatory, am} it might Ijecpme necessary for a new biiijfr ing td, tie erected for that purposp, on the boys' grounds. Tlie matter had not cpinp before him, but it would he hi(3'en^eavpur to see that this desirab.le educational adjunct wag preserved for the boys,- fl!e had se.e,n bpys an 4 girk' schools closer, tp.gethev tha.h it wa^ proposed tp-pjsce these, and had not known ftny - x harin cpme from it. jjje woul4 ha^ve' beln'giftd to. see the baths and th^e new collegii father apart, hut that had received attention when the site was bejng considered, and 't was reported to him that suitable screening could be made fo;-. tlio baths, so as to preserve in a. largp measure their privacy. It was quite true that playing grounds could not lie provided quickly, but Dr. Anderson had pointed out to him that there was a plateau higher- up which would provide a playing area without much levelling. TliJe-, site^was.. not level, but few sites in Wellington-were. It waa not being used, ahdif the educational people obuld make use of it he mqst admit that they should. He had made a frank statement pf the considerations that had weighed with hun previously; but their, views should'■',receive c^vefnl conaideratipn, and he w^s not going to clpse tile matter down absolutely that evening. He would like to hear what the Board pf Governors had to cay, and he had been warned that a number of ladies were coming to state the other side. i- - . .;, . ... „; " ,. .'"' Ml't S. Ja,cphs asked if the. JUinister had considered how the use of th4§ land wpyld affect the rebuilding and extension of the sohopl.

The, Minister, said he was advised that they would have ample room. They could not have over-large colleges. Mr. M. Myere suggested tha.j; something depended on what the Board of Governors might do upon reconsideration. . ; •

The Minuter admitted this, but he said the board would be in an. anomalous position, after the strong representations it had made previously, if it now asked that the whole arrangement be quashed.