LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE AND I i THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. . u Sir,—Tho question seems to jbe ' this __ Here are 12 acres of ground and two public V; ' institutions. Shall one have all of it or l shall it be divided? The test to be applied r to the claim of cither institution is, Will its usefulness bo crippled without it, either now - ':'< or in the future This depends entirely on the number of students and the character of their studies. I hope I shall not be considered as insulting the University College ' I if I assume that it aims at taking a place in J New Zealand similar to that taken ' .by , a German university in Germany. * . Tho average number of University students \ in Germany is 620 per million. "How long ; will Auckland be before it«. population is a l quarter of a million? When that 1 time £ i ' comes Auckland College may hope to have ! 155 real genuine students of university rank. / Is it conceivable that 12 acres of ground should be set aside for the enjoyment of a remotely possible 155 students of a very dim , and distant future? Of course, it might I be urged that tho land will bo needed when j all the departments of the future University '• are developed. Such departments as : schools of forestry and agriculture are men- • tioned. The usual method in other universities is to establish the "school" in ; the centre of a suitable district. In no case in Germany does a school of forestry exist in a place where there are no forests. For obvious reasons, similarly, a Bchool of agriculture would be situated in an agricultural district. . Thus > Hamilton, in the . future, will have its agricultural college, but to establish schools of forestry or agriculture in the city of Auckland would be to repeat the fiasco of the present School of Mines. Again, the chief claim for support of tho Students'. Association— winch is • doubtless a perfectly disinterested body—has been the necessity for a central position. Yet if the town is to grow 60 that the numbers may reach the above-mentioned limit, the University will have ceased to be "central." '. If, then, the future is to be considered, the site is unsuitable; if ' the present is the deciding factor, then the number of students and the work done does not *\ justify their claim. Finally, it may be said that in no other land is it considered essential that football and cricket grounds should be situated close to the lecture- < rooms of the college,, At Oxford, Cam- "2 bridge, Leeds, and probably all the other English Universities, the athletic, football, ' . and cricket grounds are about two miles / from the colleges*. " 7 *" "V^ Consider now the case of the Grammar School. It is absolutely essential for a school, in order, that-it may fulfil its mis- I sion properly, that it should have ample grounds attached to the school buildings or in very close proximity to them. In no other good school with which I am acquainted are boys who stay to lunch ; allowed to promenade• the streets during : ': lunch intervals,; for reasons that will bo ~ / obvious to most parents. .Again, sports * are a necessary part of the training of a —mental, moral, and physical— should be carried out under * the direct fuidance of the master, not merely that the oys may become proficient in their sports, ', but that they may acquire the true sportsmanlike spirit, "without which the games are worse than useless. It is neces- ; * sary that every boy shall take part in the ■ - games, and not merely the few boys who constitute the representative teams. This, again, necessitates the proximity of school and playing fields. '-" But properly organised sports require ;a • considerable expenditure on such items as running track, cricket pitches, etc., and unless these requisites are at hand one'cannot insist upon boys going to the playing fields instead of promenading the. streets, and no club would dream of making such an outlay without; security of tenure. Mr. Sisam states that the school could arrange for the use of the ground—which, as I nave shown, would ; C be needed at lunch hour and in the evening until seven o'clock, while Professor Jarman and Mr. Wilson . say that the boys would be an intolerable nuisance, and .would spoil the work of the' mining students— or is it mining "student :■ i believe there is only one of him. Under such .circumstances the tenure would seem to:-Ve' nob , very secure, and the school athletic clubs would scarcely venture-on a great outlay under the circumstances, thus increasing the cost of; that-"precious mining student. It might be objected that as the town grows the school will grow, the ground;become, too small and the.school' cease to be central. That is very unlikely; As the town grows away from the school a time will come when other secondary schools will arise to supply the needs of their district., as is evidenced by Sydney or any other large town. I have tried to put clearly,'the points which should: be : considered, and I think the superior claim is that of the Grammar School, which will probably return much more to the town- than ever the University will do. In some quarters there >is a tendency to regard the appropriation of the land as depriving the people; of Auckland of their rights. Yet; who are the Grammar ' School? Is it not a group of over 400 boys drawn from the whole of the town and representing ab:ut 400 homes, i.e., about 1 in 50 of all the homes of. the town and district at any one time, affecting in 10 years probably one-tenth of all itha- homes of- the town. What other institution or public park has a greater influence upon the town?' While without it, , h or similar " institutions, '■ ,•' '• the whole work of the .University would cease. - Frank • Helton, Auckland Grammar School. ' Sir, Will you allow me a few words in reply to Mr. K. Sisam's criticism .on Mr. Parr re the Grammar School boys':usejof the Metropolitan Grounds. Until last year, when the paddock was top-dressed.'- I havs counted- 150 boys and upwards playing during the luncheon hour, and quite the same number in the afternoon during the win- ,• ter. In the summer*' the numbers were small, the average being about 25, this Deing accounted for by the ground being too rough to play cricket on." Please note th* difference; some three months ago, I am given to understand, His Excellency gave \ permission to * the University ' students -to use the Government House paddock for athletic ; training purposes; "\ a-quarter-mile - track was cut, rolled, and put in 1 order for those favoured few,,with the result .that five or six students attended for one hour on the first day the ground was prepared; 1 since which time no student has been seen on the grounds. These are facts which cannot be contradicted; therefore, which * has the most' right to the Government . House poddock? In conclusion,'.l must say to the public of Auckland :■ Wake up, do not be filched out of your Government House ; retain your present site for His Excellency, also as a ; residence for the admiral, who will shortly have to visit Auckland frequently. Onlooker. THE ENGLISH FARMHAND. Sir, — I notice by the Herald that another shipload of assisted immigrants has arrived, and, although I hold with a largo number of other people that we require a much larger population in the Dominion than wo possess, especially farmers, still I must say I was not in love with, the two Home farmhands that I have had on my place Both were poor workers. Dr. Mason was sent Home, at a salary of £900 per year, to medically examine immigrants as to their physical fitness, ..'. but I believe it would be more to the purpose if a' man, at double the salary, replaced him to ascertain if they knew the meaning of the word "work," Of course, others may have had better results from the Home article than myself, but my private opinion is that the cream' of t the farm-workers remain in England, while the drones are shot out here to swell the ranks of the unemployed. D.P.' :; : : :..'■' •' "" . : . ■' ' ' ■■•'■■ .:", ,;;