THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 65, 18 March 1868, Page 2

THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

To the Editor of the Nelson Evening Mail. Sir —Presuming that the Subscribers to this Fund have sanctioned that the balance with interest, now on hand, shall be devoted to some beueficial and praiseworthy object; and not be spent in erecting monuments to the illustrious dead, who have their lives already recorded in the page of history, may I be allowed to suggest that the amount on closing the Fund accounts be handed over to the 'Trustees of the Nelson Trust Funds,' to be invested by them, at interest, and allowed to accumulate until the year 1900, 32 years hence, and then apply the interest arising annually from the proceeds of said accumulations towards the salary of a Professor of History or Mathematics in the College, or if that does not meet the views of the Subscribers, perhaps it may occur to them to found two Scholarships, to be named after Cook aud Tasman, making them equal to the existing ones, viz., the Richmond and Newcome &c. This will require the Fund to be allowed to accumulate, until it would produce £60 per annum, or £30 for each Scholarship. Another very beneficial way of expending the said Fund, when it has accumulated to something considerable, and the demand arises for such, would be the erecting with it some special ward, in the Hospital, with lecture and other rooms, for medical students. Young men can now pass, as Barristers at Law in the Colony, and it is not unreasonable to expect, that some 30 or 40 years hence, if the opportunity is afforded them, some of our young fellows may study surgery, and in due time get their diplomas to practice* Yours, &c, James Mackay. Drumduan, March 14, 1868.