GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16310, 17 August 1916, Page 4

GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

Sir.—Every citizen of Auckland should support the Herald in the good tight it is making for the retention of . j Government House on the old site set ' apart for it more than 60 years ago. ; I Though not he seat of government. Auck- , land is the largest, the most important, ' and most progressive city in the Dominion. I There is no sign thai it is likely to fall behind in the race. If our Governors are to live anywhere except at Wellington it , is reasonable to suppose that they should • have a residence at Auckland. Not the ; city alone, but the whole .Province of I Auckland is concerned in this; and cannot . be ignored. As a matter of fact, practical people know that there must be a Government House at Auckland, and that if destroyed or the land filched away from it another will have to be found. Very pathetic in their simplicity are some of the pleas put forward in attempts to hoodwink the public on the subject of the university site. Thus we have been told that biting poverty is the lot of university —poverty so extreme that even ; the humble "tuppeny"' tram fare is beyond their means. (>ne is led to believe that these poor students all live within hail of ; Metropolitan Ground, where they could be ' . cheaply taught with very little" wear and tear of shoe leather. But those who know , j say that the said students usuallv have ; ! nice homes in the country or suburbs, a [ good many even living at or near Mount Eden, a locality which, on professorial [ authority, and by the whole weight of a • dread convocation, has been pronounced ; impossible as a site. Then there must be [ night schools—it seems that night schools are the very e.-.-ence of a university—and - how could professors or pupils go as tar - as Mount Eden Road, say? Manifestly it 3 is impossible and cruel ••" expect it. And | if a self-sacrificing pro tensor should put , such violence on himself as to attempt to . hold a night school anywhere but at • some spot within the boundaries of that ; dear land between Princes Street, Wateri. 100 Quadrant, and Symonds Street, his labours would be in vain, for no students '• would come. And if no students c*nie. • where would be the fees? Ah! Here's the rub. The suggestion of loss o-' stua dents is absurd. Young men and ▼omen !, who wish to qualify for the professions :• must keep terms at the university, and d unless they are singularly lacking "in in- ,, telligence and resolution, will graduate and take degrees in whatever quarter of the city or suburbs their alma mater mav be. But -who can convince a nan against his will? We axe even told by one ina genious correspondent in the Herald that r the majority of the public do not now >f desire the retention of Government House. - There is no authority for <ach a statement. . The great majority of Aucklanders do n desire that Government Fouse should cone tinue on a site which o-'d times, old his[3 tory. old pioneers no*" resting in our L graveyards, have oonsrt'rated to its use. Its walls have held our King and Queen,

let it be «ÜB*inf to ft** ikem *v~, taef coma «£&& i« visit ca . £s TW^ZV U ' they may when this Jans asa c^er^n. its coarse. Taa less el -4000 by fire jg art saraa m *"-0^ _ country whew experts telal from repairing it, Let too flonnsh, bat nat «} & 8 ru;as « tut]on dear to evfcry trua -OHAugust 7, 1916. a =^«cde^