College and High School.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 866, 5 October 1888, Page 28

College and High School.

A I’BELiNn undoubtedly obtains in many quarters that the Wellington College is being somewhat hardly treated under the Act of last year, which virtually throws the resources of the College and the Girls’ High jSchool into one common purse. It is

s tl id on the one hand that the College now not only is making both ends meet and paying its way, but also has a surplus to the good, which might fairlv be applied toward necessary or desirable improvements, whereas it has to go toward the deficiency left by the Girls’ High School. The question is often asked —How is it that the Colcan worked at a profit while the Girls’ High School is carried on at a heavy loss? Ought not one to pay its way as much as the other? Must there not.be some defect in the management of the institution which fails to pay in circumstances not widely divergent from those of the paying institution ? This seems plausible at first sight, but the argument disappears on closer analysis of* the facts, and the conclusion at which, it seems to us, any impartial observer must arrive is that both institutions are conducted with reasonable economy ; that the financial dif ference between them is mainly, if not wholly, one of endowment; and that the real difficulty in the way of successfully carrying on in this district what is so absurdly called “secondary” education, consists in the utter inadequacy' and stinginess of the endowments conferred on the Wellington district as compared with those which have been bestowed on more favoured localities.

From figures obtained through official channels we find that the pre sent income of the Collego from fees, &e. —exclusive, thac is to sav, of endowments- —is at the rate of £IS6S per annum, and that the expenditure, exclusive of interest on the building debt, is £2353, leaving a deficiency of £Bl5- The income of the Girls’High School, similarly computed —that is to say, excluding receipts from endowments —is £I2BO, and the expenditure (excluding interest on the building debt), £1502, leaving a deficiency of £222. Let it be clearly understood that these figures represent only the income earned by these institutions through their work, and the expenditure incurred in carrying on that work. Beceipts from endowments and out-goings in the shape of interest on debt have been excluded. It vvill be seen, therefore, that there . is no ground for condemning the administration of the Girls’ High School as relatively extravagant. Some of the salaries undoubtedly look large, but they do not appear to be above the average of those paid to the teaching staff of similar institutions in other parts of the Colony. So this phase of the case may be neglected for our present purpose. We now come to the question of endowments and the income arising therefrom. Here we are promptly brought face to face with a very wide difference in the treatment of two institutions of a cognate character. The College endowments, situate in the city of Wellington, yield at the present time a rental of £912 per annum. This will be increased by £471, or £SO per cent., in 1895 —seven years hence — raising the income from that source to £1413. The College also has endowments of rural land, which yield £466 yearly, making the total endowment revenue £I4OB per annum. On the other hand, the College has to pay £4OO a year for interest on its building fiebt; but,after allowing for that, there remains a balance to the good of about £194, which, however, is absorbed this year by the bank overdraft, so that the net result is to firing out the College about “ square ** at tfc.eend of the year. Next year, the overdraft fieing wiped off by this year’s credit balance,, the College accounts should be well on the right gj.de, provided that a large increase »u the number of pupils do not involve still larger proportionate augmentation in thp number and consequently in the aggregate , amount of the salaries of the teaching staff. Whether this be so or not, th,e fact remains that the College is obviously being conducted. by Mr Mackay, not only with admirable ef& ciency but also with remarkable economy, and there undoubtedly does appear to be no little hardship in the College being unable to employ its coming surplus in making the numerous improvements j that are so admittedly desirable, such, j for instance, as the construction of a proper recreation ground for the boys. The hardship, however, arises, as we have said, from the stinginess of successive Governments and Parliaments in respect of educational endowments for this city. For if we turn to the Girls’ High School we find that the total income which it derives from endowments is £2O per annum ! On the oilier hand the Girls’ High School is still burdened with a charge of £358 per annum in the shape of in-

terest due on the building debt. The consequence is that the deficit on that institution is increased from £222 to £560. It is true that Wellington has a further nominal endowment in aid of “ secondary. ’’ education, viz., 5150. acres of land in Wairarapa, bub this is merely'au endowment in name, for the land is so poor in quality, and so badly situated, that instead of bringing in .any income, it is actually a source of,expense aod loss to the Trust. ■ A good deal ox wonderment is often expressed that the College Governors should have promoted the Bill of last year, which placed the Girls’ High School as a burden on the College endowments. The explanation is that at that time there was known to be an intention to move in the direction of establishing a University College in Wellington and of making that a charge, upon the present endowments. This was not deemed either fair or desirable, but on the other hand it was thought both fair and desirable thac the girls of Wellington should have a share in the benefits of, the endowments granted toward “secondary” education, and accordingly the Act was passed, thus' leaving Parliament to endow suitably any, future Wellington Uuiversity that may be formed, but not out of the existing endowments which had been for another class of education. j

Thus, then, the matter now stands. It is quite clear that the present endowments will' nob even enable the allied institutions to make both ends meet. We fear that the improvements needed by the College, notably a better playground, can only be obtained through ,special subscriptions in aid, as-there seems no likelihood of any funds being available from exisling sources. But the Wellington members might fairly represent to the Government and to Parliament how utterly and miserab’y inadequate, are the present educational endowments in the Wellington district, and how strong and just a claim exists for more worthy and liberal treatment.. The Minister of Education is a Wellington member, and he may reasonably be expected to d.o all that lies in his power to obtain for this district more equitable treatment. Failing some-legitimate assistance in this direction,' it is not easy to see how work of “ secondary ” (education is to be permanently carried on in this district with due efficiency and yet with solvency.