VICE-REGAL VISIT

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 31, 5 August 1930, Page 11

VICE-REGAL VISIT

TO TECHNICAL COLLEGE

A THOROUGH INSPECTION

A very thorough inspection of all depai-tments in the Technical College at Mount Cook was made to-day by Their Excellencies the Governor-Gen-eral Lord.Biedisloe and Lady Bledisloe. The distinguished visitors were received by the principal, Mr. J. 11. Howell, the chairuiaii of the Board of College Governors, Mr. W. 11. Bennett, and members of the board, and expressed much interest in all- they saw. The tour of the classes iinished, Their ExceUeneies were entertained at a morning tea which had been specially prepared by the cookery pupils iinclci^ Miss '.Ronnie, .and then the school having asfiombled in the library, Lord Bledisloe brieily addressed the boys and girls., A charming iouquct in thu school colours was presented to Lady Bledisloe, and the "Welsh hymn , "Land of My Fathers" was s\ing by the school in her honour. "I am very glad to be here this morning, not only to receive your kind welcome with Her Excellency as representing His Majesty the King in tho Dominion of Now Zealand, but to tell you how greatly interested, and indeed, inspired, wo both have been by what we- have seen of the work that is being carried out on these premises," said Lord Bledisloe. "The last thing His Majesty said to me before I left England was: 'Keep an eye upon the young people who are being trained in the schools of New Zealand, and tell them from me that there is no -part, of-the population of Xew Zealand in whom I am more thoroughly interested, because upon them, upon their training, and upon their success in life, will largely depend the future of the British Empire?." His Excellency ■ said he heartily endorsed what Mr! Bennett, who had introduced him, had said when he had reminded them that at school they were only laying the foundation of training and education. The word education did not mean pumping information into a person, but drawing out what they had already/naturally within them. The main part of a man or woman's education took placo in after life, but unless the foundation was sound, unless they were instructed how to learn and how to teach themselves and how to take the best advantage of the books and material lying to their hands, in after life they could not become well educated men and women. All that was provided at the college. "SOMETHING WITH HIS HANDS." "Wo have won the Avar. We havo yet to demonstrate that the British Empire can win the peace," said His Excellency in stressing the valuo of. the individual's part in building up tho greatness of the Empire and its industries. He also drew attention to the mistaken notion of the past that whoever had had a so-called literary education was a fully educated person and enjoyed a superiority over those with a manual or 'technical education. '' There .was never anything more pro-, foundly wrong suggested in tho schools of the British Empire than that," commented Lord Bledisloe. "Ruskin has said," he continued, " 'that every man (and he meant woman also) from the King's sou downwards should learn to do something finely and thoroughly with his hands.' You are learning that here—but take care that it is finely and thorough]}' done. I havo seen some'fine and" thorough work in my hasty visit this morning. .... Tho future of the British Empire depends very largely upon its technical efficiency as compared with that of other countries, and if you really moan to be- successful in life and do your part in promoting the prosperity and happiness of New Zealand and the Empire, you havo got to learn all you can, throwing the whole of your ability and enthusiasm and interest into the work that you have the opportunity to learn here in such an efficient way." Hi 3 Excellency also paid a tribute to the college staff and to Mr. Howell, whom he was glad to know was a Gloucestershire man—tho only' Gloucestershire man in an important, position in this country whom he had had the privilege of meeting. SHE KNEW.HERSELF. Speaking to the girls, Lord Bledisloo told of his meeting with the most interesting exponent of domestic economy whom ho had ever met. She was a New Zealandcr —Mrs. Pembcr Reeves —and she had said to him: "I am joyously happy and I-owe- it to my school and to a good mother, and I received from both of them such us.eful instruction in domestic economy that I have had the happy experience of never having to ask any woman to do anything that I could not do myself." Ho asked the girls to think' that over. One other way to be happy (and this applied to all tho school) was to "look up and not down" and to be cheerful. Unless our ideals were set high and wo did .what tho Good Book told us to do, we were never likely to make the best of those talents which the Great Master had endowed us with, and he urged the children not to be afraid to have a religious and spiritual side to fheir lives. There was nothing "narnby, "painby" about it. Mr. Howell thanked Their Excellencies for visiting the college. Ho was glad ttiat tho work that tho college was doing had made such a strong appeal to them. , Their Excellencies were very heartily eliQorcd, and there were further expressions of delight when Lord Bledisloe said that "ho did not suppose that any of them wanted it, but that he had asked Mr. Howoll —as a Gloucestershire man —(laughter) —to give the school a half-holiday." '