MEMORIAL TABLET

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 4, 5 July 1938, Page 5

MEMORIAL TABLET

LATE MR. W. H. BENNETT

UNVEILING CEREMONY

TECHNICAL COLLEGE FUNCTION

A memorial tablet to perpetuate the memory of the late Councillor W. H. Bennett was unveiled in the auditorium of the Wellington Technical College yesterday afternoon by the Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Fraser). The Minister also declared open a new wing of the college, consisting of eleven rooms. . Mr. G. L. Stewart (chairman of the Board of Governors of the Technical College), after reading apologies for absence from a number of people, including the Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop), remarked that it was a great occasion. They had met to pay tribute to the late Mr. W. H. Bennett, who, for twenty years, had been on the management board of the college, the last fifteen in the capacity of chairman. He was extremely glad to welcome, besides the many visitors and boys and girls of the college, Mrs. Bennett and her two daughters. "It is very gratifying that they are able to be present," he said. For fifteen years Mr. Bennett had served the school faithfully and well in the capacity of chairman of the board, he said. * He loved Wellington and desired to serve it. He. was honest, trustworthy, and knew his own mind; and served the city well without benefit or reward. As the Technical College auditorium engaged his hopes and attention during the last years of his life it was only fitting that some permanent recognition of his work should be unveiled in that very building. In speaking of the commercial wing, the opening of which had been postponed until yesterday, owing to his own ill health (an act which he very much appreciated), Mr. Stewart said it would open up no less than eleven rooms. The work had "been most successfully carried out by the contractor. The building, which was begun in 1937, had taken considerable time to complete owing to a shortage of labour. The opening of the new rooms would allow other rooms, which had hitherto been used for classrooms, to be utilised for the purpose for which they had originally been intended. LIVED FOR THE COLLEGE. Councillor L. S. McKenzie, on behalf of the City Council, spoke of Mr. Bennett's services to the city as a member of the council. "The late Mr. Bennett," said Mr. McKenzie, "was wrapped up in this great college; he lived for it. We might say it came into being almost as you see it today through the energies of Mr. Bennett, and the directors, board, and staff, who loyally supported him. "It was a proud moment —I know how proud he was—when this hall was built and was being built. He took the greatest admiration in it and gave his very greatest attention to see that it lacked nothing as fair as. he could discern. He was a great citizen—a wonderful citizen; he gave/everything and he received nothing. ; / . We can say .tha^theJate.Mr. Bennett was" one of the foundation-stones of this great college. We can go further than that and say that he was a foundationstone of the city." . "No finer citizen ever lived or made his mark'in'the city of Wellington than the late Mr. Bennett," declared the Deputy Mayor (Councillor M. F. Luckie). MINISTER'S SPEECH. Mr. Fraser briefly traced the history of the technical colleges in New Zealand, and remarked that one of the greatest difficulties to be contended with was shortage of space. This disadvantage had been peculiar to the inauguration of all the technical colleges —in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Wellington, particularly as far as play areas were -concerned. He said that a lot of land in Dunedin was being bought for the benefit of the Technical College; land already being occupied by valuable buildings. "We bought out a brewery in Christchurch," he said, "and we are going to use the space and use the building for a much better purpose, than the making of beer. (Laughter.) In Auckland we have a very big scheme —the biggest in the Dominion as far as numbers go—and again we are handicapped by lack of space." The two main reasons for this shortage of space he considered to be, first, the fact that the colleges, when they were started, needed to be centrally situated, and, second, that, except for a small number of far-sighted people, the possibilities of technical education development were not realised. Many people were sceptical and could not realise that school life was a small replica of the great, world outside. "To run a school like the Wellington Technical College," the Minister said, "you require the very best teachers we can get, and you are fortunate today as you have been fortunate in the past. I have seen the college develop very rapidly and under the leadership of the late Mr. Bennett great progress was made." INTEREST IN SPORT. During his young days, and even during his middle and late years, said Mr. Fraser, the late Mr. Bennett had taken a strong and abiding interest in sport, particularly amateur athletics. He .was also greatly interested in the physical education of young people. He spoke of the fine work of past directors, Messrs. A. D. Riley, W. S. La Trobe, J. H. Howell, and the present director, Mr. R. G. Ridling. "When we see a life devoted to service as Mr. Bennett's was; when we see a man devoting hours, days, and years of his life to work that is for the benefit of others and the community generally, then we do right to honour him and appreciate him when he is among us, and honour his memory when he is gone from us," continued Mr. Fraser. "It is right and fitting that this tablet should find a place in this hall, because there is no more fitting place. It is right and proper that we should speak in the highest terms of his character and service." Mr. Fraser then unveiled the tablet, which he described as being dedicated to "a great educationist and a great man." Inscribed on the tablet is the following:—"William Henry Bennett: Chairman of the Board of Governors, 1920----1936. He guided the administration of the college with' conspicuous wisdom and rare devotion. Qui servit ille maximus." During his address Mr. Fraser declared the new wing of the college open. NADCO DYES ANY COLOUR. You can dye or tint with Nadco in a thousand different shades. Practically any tone can be obtained through a combination of two or more of Nadco's 30 colours. Nadco colours are fast — will stand repeated laundering. Perfectly safe. At chemists and stores. — Advt _ , I