REINSTATEMENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9188, 13 April 1910, Page 7

REINSTATEMENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL.

I DEPUTATION TO TIIE, MINISTER j FOR EDUCATION. \ Yesterday" afternoon a deputation representing the High School Board of Governors, and comprising Messrs Collingwood (chairman) and W. Rutherfurd, waited upon the Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister for Education. They were introduced bv Mr D. Buick, M.P., and were received by the Minister in his carriage at the railway station. The object of the deputation was to obtain a grant to reinstate the burnt school, and in the course of his statement to the Minister, Mr Collingwood pointed out that the school was burnt down on the evening of the sth inst., and from evidence in the hands of the police it was reasonable to suppose that it was wilfully set on fire by the escaped prisoner, Powelka. In any case, no blame was attachable to the Board of Governors. To reinstate the building in wood an expenditure of £2600 was necessary, and of this there is a sum of £1400 available from insurance, leaving the sum of £1200 to be provided by the GovcrnrtTent. The Board was of

i opinion, however, that 'the building ! should bo rebuilt in brick, and the estimate for this is £4000, leaving £2600 to be provided by the Government. The Board, added Mr Collingwood, found it impossible to raise a further sum of money at present, as the purchase of the Technical School site had absorbed all the surplus available", donations for this purpose having been received from almost every person in the town able to contribute. And, besides, there was a further sum of about £300 required to complete the payment for the building and fences. This sum will bo raised without any assistance from the Government beyond the usual subsidies on donations. The Chairman added that at present the scholars are housed in the Technical School building, where the teachers arc doing th-sir best under adverse circumstances. In this connection the Board desired to thank the Government for erecting a building which can be utilised on an emergency such as at present exists. Without this building the teaching of secondary education would have been greatly retarded, and incalculable harm done. However, it was absolutely necessary to rc-erect the High School in some form at once, and the Board asked the Government to come to the rescue in order that the cause of secondary education in this town may not suffer a permanent set back. The Board respectfully suggested brick, but should the Government decide to have it erected in wood the decision will be accepted without argument. Mr Collingwood said that what the Board wished to know was: —(1) Will the Government agree to find the balance of the amount required (a) in brick — vote required £2600; (b) as an alternative in wood— vote required £1200? and (2) Does the Department require the Board to submit plans and designs for approval ? After a conversational discussion regarding portions of the present building that were left, and as to the insurances available, Mr Fowlds said that he favoured the building being erected in brick. There were, however, mqny calls .on the education fund this year, and he could not say if it would stand the expense of a brick building. He could not, of course, bind the Government to any sum, but he would see that the deputation's request received the fullest He asked the Chairman to supply him with a full statement of everything, and promised that so far as he was conccrned that anything that he could do would be done at once to enable the matter to bo dealt with without any delay.

The deputation received a most sympathetic hearing from the Minister, whom they thanked, and retired.