THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE INSTITUTE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, 7 June 1909, Page 2

THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE INSTITUTE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — It is to he regretted that the City Council, after having, to all intents and purposes, agreed to assist the Nol. son Institute in creating a Public Library worthy of the town, has sud. denly turned from its good purpose^ when all but the formal consent to the proposied agreement was settled, 'ihe Committee of the Council (of which I waa one) set up to arrange details, rook good care that the interests of the ratepayers should be fully safe, guarded by the presence on the new Institute of one.third or one.fourth of tho City Council itself. The plea that the Council cannot afford the moderate £150 por annum required is disproved by the fact that the contribution is provided for in the estimates for this year, financially one of tho tightest years the city has seen for two decadea It may be asked -why some of us are taking so deep an interest in the matter of establishing a really good Public Library. Primarily, it is because such an' institution is as necessary to the mental health of a community as a system of sanitation is necessary to its physical health. A Public Library ip a source of information which may be priceloss in its effect upon a com. m unity; indeed a town, especially a town so remote as Nelson, without a Public Library is, so far as learning is concerned, in a state bordering upon poverty. But the majority of my confreres in the City Council seem to hold the opinion that money spent on establish ing a Public Library would be wasted because it would not increase ma. ■ terially the prosperity of the city. It is • true that it would not do so— i directly; but indirectly such monej > spent judiciously would result in pro . during an intellectual atmosphere, un seen, abstract, impalpable, which would • go far to change that mental slothful s ness which has played so great a part ir , keeping the city of Nelson in the wak< . of younger and less favourably situatec I towns. I would not go so far as to de I clare that without possessing a Publii Library no city can be prosperous ; but ] emphatically contend that a city whicl cares so little for that which is purely in feliectual that it cannot afford to spent a. modest £150 a year on giving its youtl a place where they may perfect thcii education by freely consulting the worki of the greatest minds, is a city which is in danger of becoming the haunt merely of purblind materialists, money-grubbers, possessed of minds akin to those of sheep, or hawks, or oxen, or tigers, according to their dullness or rapacity. A city which is to be merely a commercial centre is doomed to sordidness ere it is built. It is the intellectual, the spiritual, the refined, which, act-ng like a leaven, purges commercialism ot its inherent impurities. Show mo commercialism, and I will ehovi you selfishness; show me intcllectualism, .earning, and a love of the super-material, and I will show you idealism, from which the greatest actions of mankind ■ have sprung. But arguing even from a purely material point of view, we in Nelson need a proper place where we can read in comfort the news of what other people are doing and thinking and saying. Vfe require a suitable building, provided with suitable rooms; we need to hav< free access to the journals of the world at large, if we in this isolated place are tc keep pace with the advanced thought and the resultant progress and prosperity of the outside world. So that those City Councillors who, looking at this matter simply from a standpoint of pounds, shillings and pence, cannot perceive the value to the city of a fully equipped Institute, are disclosing the weakness of their commercial instinct. But it is not too late for them tc reconsider their attitude in regard to this small but exceedingly important annual grant ; and we will hope that in a wiser mood they will see that thr proposed expenditure is one of the wisest investments tir.t the cii.j could make. In conclusion let me recall what Carlvle thought of books : — "All that Mankind has done, thought, gained, or been .... is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books. . . The true University of these days is a Collection of Books." In the complete sense of the term we havo as yet no such possession in Nelson. I am, etc., A. A. GRACE, Nelson, June 7. Councillor.