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New Zealand Mail, Issue 957, 4 July 1890, Page 27

Whether the present session be long of short there is one “ little Bill ” that moist certainly ought to be pushed through before the House is prorogued. The Wellington School of Design and Exchange Bill h a Government measure, being dueed by the Minister of Education. Its object ia to sanction a perfectly simple, reasonable, and equitable arrangement entefed into between the Education Board of the Wellington district and the Corporation of the city of Wellingtou. There ought to be no difficulty or delay in running it through all its stage?. Yet experience shows that local Bills of this simple and unobjectionable character are often sacrificed through a waut of knowledge, on the part of some hon. members, of the facts and details of the case, or to a suspicion that a wicked job of some kind underlies the seemingly immaculate purity of the measure. It may be iwell, therefore, to explain briefly tho origin, objects, and provisions of this particular Bill.

Some years ago a small block of land was granted to the Wellington Education Board as a site for a School of Art, and for the Board’s offices. It is sit uated somewhere on theThorndon reclamation. Thero is a tradition that somebody once found out its exact locality, bub the report has never been confirmed, and nobody believes it. For the characteristic feature of this interesting site is its exquisite out-of-the-wayness. Persona who are rash enough to 6etk its whereabouts always come to grief. Either they are “ brought up all standing ” by a dead wall, or they unexpectedly find themselves in the Drillshed on the point of tumbling into the touch-hole of an Armstrong gun, or of falling through the big drum ; or else they “happen” iuto a tileyard which hove/s near ; or they suddenly step iuto a ladle of molten iron iu the Lion Foundry which is also bard by: and so the quest has long been abandoned. When the authorities are asked where that School of Design site is they wave their arms around in a semicircle and say : “O, over there, you know!” But people have grown wary, and have given up going to search. Life is too short for such expeditions of geographical discovery.

In lieu of that intensely unsuitable aud out-of-the-way site—wdich moreover has the further drawback of being almost at some extreme end of this straggling city—the Wellington Coiporation have agreed to give a block of land jußt as suitable as the other is the reverse. It may be said to be the heart of the n<-w reclamation, which in its turn is rapidly becoming the heart ol the city. Lis close to the recently widened thoroughfare known as College lane, leading out of Willis street, aud has two Iron.ages, one to Victoria street aud one to Mercer street. It is next to the laud set apart for the Public Library, fbue it is most ceutrally situated aud easily accessible from all parte of Wellington. It is considerably larger than ihe other site—in fad, more thau half as large again, the oue being 47 perches in extent aud the other ouiy 30. The difference iu vatue is so great as to form a handsome contribution on the part of the Corporation toward lire new School of Design. ihe new building ia most uigeniiv needed, the rapidly-increas-ing number of pupiis rendering increastd accommodation indispensable, ii only on sauitary The Bui in question gives legal effect to the proposed exchange, and every effort should be made to get it quickly through Parliament, in order that the erection of the School may he begun at t! e earliest possible moment.