TEACHING AGRICULTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 13

TEACHING AGRICULTURE.

COLLEGE IN EACH ISLAND.

PALMERSTON AND LINCOLN.

BILLS DEFINE EQUAL STATUS.

UNITING CONFLICTING INTERESTS.

.'[BY; TELEGRAEH.—SPECUL REPORTER. ] , / .WELLINGTON, Tuesday. Two < bills relating to- the Agricultural Colleges .'of the Dominion were introduced "in the House to-day by GovernorGeneral's message. Tho. object of tho bills, i( as explained by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. 0. J. Hawken,-is to change the name of the college which is-to. bo established at Palmerston.North frpm t the New Zealand Agricultural College •to „ the Massey Agricultural College and i to affiliate the Lincoln College with the Canterbury University College, the effect being that there ; will be two agricultural,.colleges "in the Dominion. The change in. the- name of the college to', be established at Palmerston North is to be, effected by the Massey Agricultural College Bill, which makes the necessary,, amendments in this respect to'the Act- passed last .year. Attendance at'this college is ,to be-equivalent to attendance at' Victoria- College, Wellington. and also at Auckland University College for the purposes of fulfilling the requirements of -any. Act or of the statutes oft the University of .New Zealand. The council of, Massey • College is to have power to grant; diplomas in agricultural science without- reference to tho council of- the New Zealand University or the council of Victoria and Auckland Colleges.. .. « • ... ; •j ; .'Payment of Subsidies. ,Moneys' raised for education purposes under the Educational' Purposes Loans Act may bo made available to tho college and may be used; for tho purchase of 1 live' stock, implements or other material' required by; the college. The GoVernor-General-in-Council may transfer to' the management of the college council'the control of any land acquired or which may be acquired for tho college, such land to become;the property of the - college on being handed over. '•Under'the principal Act subsidies were payable .by the Crown on any gifts to the college up to an unlimited amount, but. it is suggested in the bill that the total subsidy payable.in respect of any voluntary' contribution shall not exceed £25i000. It is further provided that the staff.-of the college may become contributors to the Teachers' Superannuation Fund. ; The Canterbury College and Canter-bury-Agricultural Amendment Bill gives Lincoln - College the same status as the Ma?sey C°U£g e .in granting diplomas. The personnel of the board of governors of the agricultural college is increased from, seven to ten, the additional members, l the Minister, of Agriculture informed the House,, being two representatives of Canterbury, College and one additional > member f -to be appointed by the . Government, making tho Crown representation two. ; The. college is, to bo placed on the same footing as the Massey College with reference to the payment of subsidies on contributions from the public, that is £ for £ on contributions for capital endowments and ten shillings for every £ , on, other gifts. Authority is sought to make a grant, .not exceeding £IO,OOO out of the education loans account to be applied' in accordance with the approval of - the Minister -of Agriculture tow<nd the erection, structural alteration, improvement,and equipment of buildings required for the purposes of the college. IPunds For Research. Provision 1 is also made in tho bill for an annual payment out of the Consolidated Fund of ■ £3700, which is to be applied for such purposes of research as-the Minister of Agpculture may approve, after consultation with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The Prime Minister said this grant included' the grant of £I2OO now made annually to • tho collego by tho Government. Mr. W. S. Glenn (Rangitikei) said the action of the Government was a sop to the South Island. He added that the manoeuvres of the South Island members were, excellent as far as they went. The Government * had backed down from the former position it *had taken up that there should be but . one ..gricultural college. Why,, lie asked, was the Government not strong enough to meet the situation with*only one college. Ministers and - the .Prime Minister were very uncomfortable about the,situation and now there were to.be two half-hearted colleges. He was' sorry the South Island had got the Government into the position they were .now in.', ... Two Types of Learning. Mr. D. Jones (Ellesmere) said the right thing had. been done both in the interests of, efficiency and economy, and it was now generally recognised that what some members advocated last session was the best thing that could be done. The two islands, being different in regard to arable and pastoral farming, the compromise i woiild put the agricultural education on a 1 far sounder footing than would have been I done" by last year's bill.

The Prime Minitser, Mr. Coates, said the position had been misunderstood. Last year a definite promise -had vbeen -made that the House would be given • another opportunity of expressing its views. Since then there had been no end of negotiations to see if the difficulties'inthe-way could bo got, over, and in the meantime there. had been negotiations between 'the Canterbury Collego and himself,, the; Minister of Agriculture and later the,departmental officers. They had looked at >it from a very broad point - of .view. .'Ho regretted to sorho extent' that tlie name, New Zealand Agricultural College, should be changed, but tho members from the, South Island objected very definitely .-to anything overshadowing their institution, which had been in existence for- so many years. Grant, for Lincoln College. . The question of the grant of £IO,OOO had been under discussion t for several years, and it had always been understood that when tho old buildings had to be renewed the Government would assist tho Lincoln College Board.- It was now settled definitely that they would, get that amount. A unanimous resolution had been reached by arrangement. This • would 'be economical and would not interfere with tho work that tho North Kland college would have to carry out. , , ' The Government had to do all. it'possibly could to complete tho purchase of the McHardy property, over which there was an option until the end of the present month. Hence the necessity. for produc: ing these bills. A. good deal had already been done in connection with the establishment of the grourjd work; for- tho'research departments at Palmerston N.prth in connection with the dairy industry. Mr. McHardy had been wonderfully, good to them in connection with the delay that had occurred in purchasing his , property. t 1 ■ : ' . ; V Mr., Glenn: Ho is getting a great price for it—£6o an acre. Mr. Coates: He did not want to extend the option and ho will not'extend' it again. Ho does not want to leave a house that he is very much attached; to. Mr. Coates added that the Soutji Island, members had been very reasonable. He believed there would be no clashing between the two colleges—although he would rather have seen one—and that they .would work amicably and to tho satisfaction' of New Zealand in the future. No clotib'fc people would come forward and freely make gifts in the interests of agricultural education. Both bills were read a first, time..,' COLLEGE CHAIRMAN'S VIEW SATISFACTORY ARRANGEMENT ROAD CLEARED FOR PROGRESS. Satisfaction with the arrangement.made was expressed last evening by the Hon;*' George Fowlds, chairman of the council of the New Zealand College of Agriculture.

When he was acquainted with" the comtents of tho Agricultural Collego-Bills,, he remarked they were as he expected. After all, time would settle the balance as. between the two colleges. There was nothing to prevent his council ..making 'the college at Palmerston North. a : Dominion institution.

Mr. Fowlds also offered no demur .at tlie change of name from New Zealand tp Massey College. The Government,and not tho council had named the college in the first place and there would be no protest at the change. -"> '• •" - : '.'•*•• •' "The only difference the legislation makes," said Mr. Fowlds, "is that-wecan now proceed definitely with the business of making a full agricultural college. In tho past year wo were restricted by the Government's pledge to dairy science-and research, but the arrangement made will freo us to prosecute the complete programme. As to the status of the two colleges, the work they do will be the final test of their relative positions." f As for the purchase of the McHardy property, Mr. Fowlds thought it should be made clear that the purchase was being made by the Palmerston North Borough Council, subject to- the.'college being given full status.