THE HOWARD BEQUEST.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 153, 14 June 1920, Page 5

THE HOWARD BEQUEST.

[To the Editor.! Sir, —It is a shame that the province is likely to lose a bequest that was never given to it. Instead of your correspondent using space to convey the impression that the electors’ blundered in not electing him, may I suggest the discussion of two pertinent questions: (1) Is the climate of Central Hawke’s Bay sufficiently humid to justify the establishment of an Agricultural College? I say Central Hawke’s Bay advisedly, for if there is any cogency in the argument that the bequest should be spent in Hawke’s Bay because the late Mr. Howard lived, inthe province", then the college should be erected at Tikokino because Mr. Howard lived there. I may be mistaken in the. belief that Central Hawke’s Bay is subject to periodic droughts which makes the raising of crops a gamble; (2) Is it true that the number of men, women and children settled on the land in the Waipawa and Patangata Counties are only a fraction over four per square mile? To ascertain the.position the population residing in the • townships should not be included, Unless the climate is suitable, and the people are here, then may the Prime Minister be statesman enough to insist that the bequest shall be sp' where it will give the greatest good to the greatest number. If Hawke’s Bay as a whole is good agricultural country then it is a scandal that it should be so sparcely populated.—l am, etc., FRANK TRUE.