NEW TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14142, 18 August 1909, Page 8

NEW TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

LAYING FOUNDATION-STONE.

SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR.

THE ARMAMENT OF INDUSTRY.

Since 1903 definitely, and before then indefinitely, a new technical college for Auckland has been in the air. In 1906 the project began to take definite shape, when the trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank donated £10,000 for the erection of the building. Yesterday the foundation stone of the college that is to adorn Wellesleystreet East was laid by His Excellency the Governor. There was a large gathering of educationists and citizens to mark the occasion. The Governor was accompanied by Her Excellency Lady Plunket. The chairman of the Education Board (Mr. C." J. Parr) presided, and amongst those present were the members of the Board, the Mayor (Mr. C. D. Grey), the town clerk (Mr. H. W. Wilson), and members of the City Council, Bishop Neli§an, Canon Nelson, Professors Brown and Segar, Mr. J. W. Tibbs (headmaster of the Grammar School), Messrs. W. F. Massey, F. W. Lang, F. E. Baume, and H. J. Greenslade, M.P.'s, Hone. T. Thompson and W. Beehan, M.L.C.'s, Mr. A. Clements, vice-president of the Auckland Savings Bank, and Mr. R. Cameron, manager. Two hundred boys and girls from the present Technical College were also present under the staff. Despite the cold and uncertain weather, there was a good attendance of ladies.

In asking His Excellency to lay the foundation-stone, Mr. C. J. Parr (retiring chairman of the Education Board) said that in 1902 the Board had brought out Mr. George George (the present director of technical education) from England for the great work of reorganising technical education in Auckland. How successful he had been was testified to by the fact' that in some five or six years Mr. George and his assistants had brought up the number of students from 30 to 1200.- For the enthusiasm which had made this possible Mr. George deserved much credit. These results had been achieved in spite of very ' serious inconvenience. It was in 1903 that the Board of Education, recognising the need of providing a suitable temple for the great work of technical education, approached the Government for assistance. Its efforts were not rewarded, and it was not till 1906 that the building was brought within sight by ths splendid gift of the trustees of the Savings Bank, for which, on behalf of the educational authorities, he wished to record his deep appreciation. This donation carried with it an equal Government subsidy, and with donations from citizens, there was £26-,000 available for the building, which would be in ferro-concrete, and three storeys high. Even this building would not be sufficient for requirements, but the Board had to cut its coat according to its cloth. The City Council had also come to the rescue by providing a very suitable and central site. /

His Excellency, having been provided with a silver trowel, then laid the founda-tion-stone, which was inscribed as follows: —"Auckland Technical College. This stone was laid by His Excellency the Right Honourable William Lee, Baron Plunket, K.C.M.G-, K.C.V.0., Governor of New Zealand, August 17, 1909. \ Christopher J. Parr, chairman of Education Board; George George, F.C.S., F.1.C., Director of Technical Education ; John Mitchell, F.N. Z.I. A., architect; Stanley Jeffreys, builder. Let Auckland flourish." His Excellency said it was with feelings of no ordinary interest that he had just performed the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone. He was a firm "believer in the vital importance of thorough, scientific, and up-to-date technical education for the youth of our people, and was confident that in thus training our workers— bone and sinew of our industrial life— we were not merely increasing national prosperity, but raising .■ Strong arm of defence for New Zealand end the. Empire. The country which neglected to equip its workmen with the armament of industry--technical education surely be defeated, and become a decaying nation. We built our Dreadnoughts and trained our men to maintain the Pax Britannica, but we were still -behind in equipping our people for that commercial war which was ever with us, ever becoming more acute, and the* results of which were as far-reaching and. often as cruel as the most sanguinary battle-field. If some utilitarian, hard-headed business men present did not care to follow him regarding the national advantages of technical education, he would say a word or two upon the simple question, Does it pay? Let them take Germany, the British Empire's greatest competitor. A few years ago England had the opportunity of becoming the leading producer in the world of aniline dyes, but she lost her opportunity, and Germany seized here. At the present time there were over 5000 technicallytrained chemists engaged in the aniline dye industry in Germany, and its exports in this one branch of chemical industry amounted in 1907 to over 5£ million pounds. Technical education in dairying was probably carried out to a higher level and greater extent in Denmark than anywhere in the world, and Denmark exported in 1907 over 10 million pounds worth of butter. to Great Britain, as against New Zealand's £1,500,000. As to the visible value of the work already done by this college, he would leave this to others to deal with, but he thought the director could point with pride to the success of his students in examinations, the good berths they had obtained all over the Dominion, and the raising of the standard of industrial work which had followed. To him this day was one of great pleasure, for ever since he came to New Zealand he had watched Mr. George and . his students battling away in spite of miserable accommodation, inadequate plant, and for some time public indifference. The foundation-stone of their reward had been laid, and he heartily congratulated them, the Education Board, and the directors of the Savings Bank upon that day's progress. He had only one regret, and that was that the present funds would not bo sufficient to complete the accommodation really required. He did not know of anything which would give him greater pleasure than to learn before his happy term in this country came to an end that the necessary £10,000 to properly complete this, the principal technical college in New Zealand, had been obtained.

The Mayor (Mr. C. D. Grey) referred to the benefits of technical education, and said that in giving a site for the college the City Council was glad to show its sympathy with the work of the college. Mr. C. J. Parr then laid a stone to commemorate the gift of the trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank. Mr. George George, director of the Technical College, in referring to the disadvantages under which technical education in Auckland had laboured, said that until quite recently dressmaking classes had been conducted in the Strand Arcade, which had just been burned down. Classes had been conducted in temporary buildings, eome of which were sheds, some even worse. One class in carpentry had been conducted over a jam and pickle factory, and adjacent to artificial manure works. Jam and pickles and artificial manure were no doubt highly technical compounds, but they were not conducive to the proper conduct of technical classes. (Laughter.) His only regret in connection with the laying of the foundation-stone was that the building was not large enough. If was not half what was really required, and it would still be ( necessary to have some of the classes in other parte of the city. The Board had a plan of a building he would have liked to have seen erected, and which was three times the size of the one that was going up. If there were any there who were thinking what they could do for the public good, ho would ask them to consider the cause of technical education. We were a young country, there were young colonials who required help. They could be helped by providing technical colleges, so that they could rise as high as their ability would enable them to rise. This would be an effective way of assisting brilliant young New Zealanders, of whom he might mention Haydn Beck, the gifted violinist,, as a type*