NELSON INSTITUTE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 23 August 1910, Page 3

NELSON INSTITUTE.

THE CITY" SUBSIDY' AND A(! RKKM KNT. I'ROPOSKI) XKW IiIULDIX'O AUTUUUITY TO MU IUiOW.

A spi'tial general meeting of the members of tin- Xel sou Institute was held in the Library last evening, to consider the agreement with' the Cir> Council granting a smbsidy <»f £ls(.\ per annum towards erecting a building, costing £3(K»): and to authorise the management of the Institute to iborrow £:J00() lor the purpose specified.

.Mr Giibbs, I'rosident, reviewed the circumstances in which the Commit tee of the Institute had endeavoured to finance the rebuilding of the .Library and leading-room, and gave ;.

"brief history of the efforts which had led finally to the City Council grant ing an annual subsidy. The pro posed agreement somewhat restricted tin' liberties of the members of th< Institute as previously enjoyed, and more stringent regulations for thv nuitposes of the public had iioeii made. But the net result was that at last the stigma on the city of having no municipally subsidised library had been removed.

Mr Gibbs then explaintd the term;of the* proposed agreement with tl.'. -Council. The Council pays £loo pe> aniHiui for li-o years, tne lirst pay meat not to be made till nine month.alter the construct ion of the build ing h.ad been commenced, iirac* :ca II \ ilieing in Apiil. 11*1 1 _ All the rooms except two for the Committee ain sub.;eri'be;'s. are to be open to tin public; and the Institute gives ut any right to open and maintain :

separate other library, reading-room and museum. The building is t. cost not less than £SOOO, and to b. opened for a defined minimum o. days and hours, except on pub.'i holidays (practically as now), a gooi and reasonable supply of boo.'.s am periodicals being maintained. Tin building must ibe kept open as a tie. public library, reading-room, am museum; but it is permitted that ■■

charge be made for the lending ou of books and periodicals. Shouh the building be destroyed :by fire o other accident, the subsidy ceases unless there be rebuilding in elevei months; and damage musi; be mail, good in six months, with proper re pairs maintained. The City Counci is to be represented ou the C i.nmit tee of Management in the iirtvportio; of a third of the total number of fie Committee, on the present basis tin Council being entitled to four rep re sentatives. To make room for Cit •Councillors, four members* of th. Committee have undertaken to re sign. Xo Councillor continues as ,- member of the Management Commit tee when he ceases to be a, membo of the Council. The conditions unde. which- the suibsidy may be d?term;n ed arc defined as neglect or defui! 'by the Institute Management t. maintain the conditions of the agree ment with the Council for a montl after due notice of such default ha been given bv the City Counci. Thereafter the Sni>reme Court is t be thv milliter of the i'-rmina t ion o. the agreement, when the Instituti shall have no further legal clain against the City Council. Further more, should the Institute decide no to build a suitable structure, tin Committee is to notify the. Cjtinei. whereupon the agreement terminate:The rest of the clauses of the agrei mc-nt are merely formal, the fina clause providing for modification b. tnu tua I an angemon t.

In the course of his roaiarks, M Oibbs announced that Mr Mtiginnit had practically assured the Commit tee that the amount required for rr ■building would be available wliei needed at a maximum of 4% per cent interest, providing th-at the seeuritie were approved. Mr Gibbs also sale" that the architect's final estimate of the cosl of the new building, inelud ing all contingencies, was £3006.

Robert Allan moved, and M: Senn seconded, "that till's meetia; of members approves of the deed o 1 agreement between the City Counci and the Xelson Institute, as draftee and read, and authorises the Com mittee to execute tire same."

Mr Wallace Snodgrass strongly supported the motion. One feature

.vhich had been somewhat overlooked ■a-as that with the new building t lie expenses for upkeep, etc.. would be .-onsidera-bly increased. He h.ad no /ear tor t lie future, however. provided tl.ur the progressive lines set forth from time to time were a.l-KM-e.I to. He hoped that the new 'ommitiee would continue progressive, and broadened the scope of the Sns.itutc i'.oni time to time. Mr !-'owler asked ic a subscription ist among the public was not in cir•ulation.'' Such subscriptions would .•elp towaids the increased upkeep. The Secretary (Mr GL'bort) said hat £-2i)r> had ben promised -by less han 20 people, and he felt sanguine hat the amount would be greatly inireased. There was also about iH\?, :owards the buil-ding fund, nr.d in all

he-e would be more than £OOO availi'pli- in addition to the loan. Thv .nslitnte had to thank Mr Wallace Snodgrass for his persistence in iniucing the Committee to seek the iid of t he City Council. The I'resident said that undoubt■div a larger expenditure in the new building would have to be faced. For instance, not a single case in whichni.iseum exhibits were kept could be idn.itted to ihe new building, as h-ey weie worm-eaten. Then, too. he purchase of books would have to :e extended. The present annual ■xpendituro of £IOO on books. joriodieals. and newspajiers was juite inadequate for such n city as s'elson. and it should be trebled at 'east. The public owed a duty to l.v cily and the Institute, as well as lie Council, and this should be borne ■i mind. The resolution wa.s then carried ilia n i mously. Tho by-laws were then reviewed eriatim to harmonise them with the •grcoment with t l.v ('it v ('ouncil. and uloptod as amended on the motion ol dr Ila n by, sec r.ide.l by Mr Kn.-ipp, o come into force as soon as the leed of agreement had been duly -xecnt I'd. l)n the nioiion of Mr Webley, so ■onded 'by Mr Robert Allan, it was evolved that this meeting cinsentro a sum not exceeding £3OOO ibeiug lorrowed on mortgage for the purpose of erecting a bui.lding on the nstituie'* land in II a l dy-st rcet, .and uiihorises the Committee to take the tecessary stops to secure tl.-e loan..

On the motion of Mr Snodgrass. seconded by Mr Scnn, it was resolved hat the Committee of the Institute >e authorised to offer for collateral -ecurity, if necessary, tiie revenues ieiivcd from the endowments of ihe nstitute, and the subsidy granted by he City Council. The minutes of the special meetag were th-en eonfirmcl. and some f those ; resent =ed congratuations t'nat the long effort to bioaden he scope and popularise the Instiute had tit last reached the point > f realisation. Mr Cniibert. as secretary, said that he Committee had not .been idle, for fom the very day after thv fire an effort was inaugurated to secure an id equate libra l.v and reading-room. Mr Knapp said that the aid of the of-al press towards securing munici■.al aid had been very valua'ble, and if considerable weight. Ho hoped hat the press_ would continue its mpporf. especially in the direction of endering the museum more available o the public, and more generally iseful for tl/e juirposes of reference mil collection.

In reply to Mr Webley. the T'resilent said that the management were Kit committed! to any fixed plans for he new building- but the plans and -nee! ficat ions submitted by Mr Jrillin had been well discussed and :irenlated. Mr Seun moved a special vote of :hanks to Mr (iibbs and the secretary (Mr Gilbert') for their labours in connection with the completion of the agreement and th'e rebuilding proposal generally. Mr Si-odgrass seconded the resolution, and Mr Field pointed out the suecess which had attended Mr Gilbert's canvass fe v subscriptions towards the building fund.

Messrs Gibbs and Gilbert having tesponded, the meeting terminated.