W.E.A.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 March 1920, Page 3

W.E.A.

| ANNUAL MEETING. j The annual meeting of the Levin j branch of. the Workers' Educational Association was held last evening, the Mayor (Air D. W. Alatheson) presiding over a fair attendance of members. Air Sjymour, organiser tor thu Wellington province, was also present. ANNUAL itEPOBT. Tile secretary (Mr R. McAllister) submitted the annual report. He stated that as the meeting would fvi» from the minutes, a committee was appointed to arrange for a scries of lectures, and they had got m touch with gentle-' men in Wellington and Palmerston North, but unfortunately the railway cut had intervened, and for other reasons they, had found i't inconvenient to . 1 come to Levin at the time, so that nothing was done. There had been 32 members of the local branch last seasou, with an average attendance of 2(3 at the classes. This was very sa'tisfactory indeed, andi reflected great credit lon members. Last season tliey had ■used a room at the school, and their thanks were due the committee, and also 'the chairman of the committee, Mr Thomson, who had done his best to help the association. Some small expense had been contracted at the school in laying oii the gas, and this outlay was to be refunded t-o the Association. 'l'hc Chronicle was also deserving of thanks for the great, "assistance rendered throughout the season. Apart from the £30 donated by #ho Borough Council and County Council, a sum of £19 had been collected, 'a total of. *bout £50, which sum would carry a Government, subsiTiy. With tho funds in hand, they /were able to purchaso the nucleus of a library, and the books were due to arrive any day now. Air AlcAllister expressed appreciation of the way members had attended the classes last year, and hoped the same interest would be, displayed this season.

The balance-elieet was presented by •-Mr H. J. Jones, in'the absence of the treasurer, Mr A. Broome, who had removed rfco "Wellington. /This showed that on the refunding of a sum spent on gas installation at the school, there would he a credit of £2 3/11. The report "and balance-sheet were adopted. Tli© chairman said the association should he congratulated on its position generally, and a good deal of the credit was due to the secretary, ilr McAllister, who had done very good One could not fail to recognise tfie value of the W.E.A. He had been informed by Mr Seymour, the organiser, that the executive intended to widen its sphere of action, and if so it was capable of much more good than had been achieved in the past. That -was 'very satisfactory. He regretted that .there was not a larger attendance, but' lie hoped that when the classes startedi there would be larger attendances than last year, bearing in mind that he had seen in the press that Levin had Ihjcmi one of the largest classes in the Dominion. It had been suggested that tins year a hygiene class be formed, provided they got a suitable tutor. This would be a good idea, and a lot of useful information would he distributed among the public by this means.

OFFICE-BEARERS. Office-bearers were elected for the ensuing year as follows: President, the Mayor (Mr Matheson); vice-presidents, i>r. Elizabeth Bryson and Messrs. J. W". Gibson, H. J. Jones and, P. \Y. Goldsmith; secretary, Mr R. McAllister; treasurer, Mr J. O. Neill; committee, Messrs. 3>. Vernon, H. W. Bear, C. I. Harkncss, R. T. Smith, 1). Bell and Shunnon, with officers ex officio. MB SEYMOUJI. •Mr Seymour, the organiser, then addressed the meeting. He said he came here with a great deal of pleasure, beJ cause he felt as an organiser it was his duty to forward* the interests of the 'YV.E.A. as much as possible, and especially in the country districts. The Association was more to the country" people than to those living in live towns, It gave tlie people something to occupy their minds when the business of the day was over, and there was no roiind of attractions as was the case in the cities. Referring to the W.E.A., he reminded the meeting that tliey were only standing on the threshold of the subject of education. It was a huge subject, and unfortunately it was left for the few to shoulder the burden in doing the hard; work neces»ar/ for the benefit of the whole. There seemed to be something in the make-up of human nature that tended that way, and in a local application lis work fill on the lew who were at Lho back >of the W.E.A. A gi*»t number of people were of opinion, that if they received what was equivalent to a sixth standard: education their schooling was over, but that was not so, because education went on from infancy to the end of the individual'* life. In the past it waa held that such men as Milton knew all that was possibW to learn, but so great was the progress of knowledge that 100 Mittous could, not grasp the wide limits of the knowledge of the world 'to-day. Mr Seymour stressed the great importance of securing the ablest lecturers and teachers on such questions as political economy and economics, and he would, incidentally say that the want of knowledge of these great questions on the part of some public men was simply deplorable. Education was a life study, but he pointed out that the average individual was just well fitted intellectually as the professional man; ho was only lacking in the art ol expressing himself and using his natural abilities. Only education and study did that. It had been stated that when the great mass of the people were ed,ticated up to a given standard they would be able to complete their day's work in four hours. This was feasible, bccause as education advanced. so manual labour was reduced, and we had an example in the spinning industry to-day, when one man, by the aid of machinery could do as much as 20 under the old hand system. The W.E.A. was only an extension of the university, carrying to the rank and fih; of the country Hie great benefits of secondary education. The teaching of the univerfity was not beyond, the graßp of the average individual, and the W.E.A. was the mcar.r. of assisting him. The success of the "W.E.A. depended entirely on its members, and

lie reminded those present .that they had to work hard to win success. Then they had to jind money with which to : carry on, and lie knew "that the iinan- . ciai aspect was no light task. In conclusion, Mr Seymour wished the local association all success, and would be pleased to assist in ovary possible way. TJIO chairman said that it would be of great assistance ir they could got lecturers to comc to Levin and deliver public addresses. [this, he thought, would, do a lot , towards widening the public interest in me association. Mi - Seymour said they wore arranging lor lectures in Wellington during the coming season, and he would seo what could be done jll getting them to visit Ljvin. .Mr C. Xeill said in regard to finance, lie did not believe in going bo the public so much as the members themselves contributing more. The chairman said that the movement was financed through the Victoria College, and all donations mado by public bodies and private individuals carried a Government subsidy. Air .McAllister stated that the financial difficulty was not a very big one, as each tutor meant a cost of only tio. Last year they had raisedi £50 but they only had one tutor, -which nieaut an expenditure -of £25, the balance being devoted; to the purchase of books for their library. He thought the association should receive a mucli wider membership; some people seemto be suspicious of it. Every class of tins community should . join in napporting it. (Hear, hear.) He added that Dr. Elizabeth Bryson was willing to take a hygiene class if a sufficient number of ladies were forthcoming to join it. Tit chairman moved a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr Seymour for his address - , and similar compliments to the secretary (Mr McAllister), the late treasurer (Mr Broome), Jind to the chairman, closed the meeting- j