TECHNICAL CLASSES ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 9

TECHNICAL CLASSES ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of the Technical Olassos Association was held on Friday evening, and was attended by abo\it 20 gentlemen. Mr G. M. Thomson presiding. That gentle:man regretted the absence of the president {(Mr A. Burt), who v/as away in the North ■ •Island, and apologised for the non-attend-•Since of Mr M. J. S. Mackenzie (who tendered .liis resignation on the committee), Mr James 'Allen, Mr Thos. Mackenzie, and Mr David [White. Mr Thomson, in moving the adoption of .the report, which has been publiched, said -perhaps the moist important pan of it, leaving out last year's work, was the scheme for .additions to the building. They had always ?been cramped for room, and one of their special endeavours v/ould be to erect a place in which practical electricity might be carried on. With the present session the association entered upon what might be regarded as the' second phase of its existence. The association had got beyond honorary officers, and had engaged Mr Marshall as superintendent. Mr Marshall v/as eminently suited for the position, having been closely connected with the association, and his powers were now only of an extended kind. One thing .the committee regretted was that they had not been able to off,er him satisfactory remuneration for his work. He (Mr Thomson) would draw their attention to the finances. They had four sources of revenue — namely, students' fees, public subscriptions, Government grants, and subsidy from the Education •Board. The first could not be increased, and they had not been able to pay the staff very well. In 1892 they, received £184- in . fee 3, and paid £233 in salaries, and during the last eight years the fees received amounted to £2237, and they had paid away in salaries alone £0397. They could not, therefore, look for an increase from that source. The subscriptions from the public were somewhat unsatisfactory, for the reason that, as in most public movements, pretty j well the same people subscribed, and there ' was a large section of the community who i never subscribed at all. It had been aug- \ gested that they should cease worrying the public for subscriptions, and the sum from this source did not amount co much. The figures this year were swelled by the building fund, 'and reached about £200; but the general subscriptions were only £66. The subsidy from Government took two forms. 'Under the act of 1895, they got a subsidy of about 4s 4d per head, and that meant some- : thing like £60. This year it was £80. In 1893 they got £ for £, and the money raised would come to £357, and in 1898 Government made them a grant of £976. The association had besn very liberally treated by Government, but at the same time they had had to get it out of them at the poinli of the bayonei. Their members had assicted them, but the association had, unfortunately, no recognised standing under any of the acts. The fourth source of revenue from the Education 'Board was only during the currency of the lease of the present buildings. The committee, had approached the board asking them "to take over the whole responsibility of the work, but the board did not see their way j to do this. However, perhaps it -was best ! so, as had they undertaken it the grant from ] Government might not have been forthcom- i ing. He believed the "Wellington Board supported their school by an amount deducted from their teachers ; but he was not_ at all i "sure that the association -would be right in , expecting the Education Board to take this j ground. They had a small balance this year, j but there were certain source.3 from which he -thought they should try to derive assistance, j The city corporation benefited from the work , clone in - the school, yet they never sub- , scribed anything so far as he was aware, even , in the way of remitting rates. They might not have legal power to do this, but they had ! not shown any interest in the work. There was one way they could assist. In "Wellington the corporation did not allow any plumber to act in connection with corporation work who did not hold a certificate from the, Technical School or from South Kensington. He thought our corporation might make thii restriction. The corporation of "Wellington went further than that by granting the mate- , rials used in practical work. The plumbing ; students' fees here were 15s each, and they coat £3 or £4- apiece for materials. In Melbourne, again, no plumber v/as allowed to i take pari in the work unless he held the school certificate. The Trades and Labour Council ■was another body they might look to for assistance. They once gave the association 5s. — (Laughter.) He thought they were very largely concerned in the welfare of the artisan. For three years they appointed one of i . their number (Mr Judge) as a member of the j " committee, but that gentleman resigned as , the time of meeting was unsuitable for him. " Perhaps "in future the council would see their j " way to put a member on the committee. The \ "■ Industrial Association, he thought, might in- ' trqduce a plank into their, platform Ac- help ; - the association, and the Chamber of Gommerco miffht also assist by advice and with * money. " The association would certainly require a larger income in future than in the . past. The motion for the adoption of the report •was seconded by Mr Torrance, and carried' unanimously. , Messrs A. Burt, D. A. M'Nicoll, J. Robm, and Crosbie Smith were appointed members of committee. . The Chairman mentioned that it had been | intended that evening to 'present the ccrti- j iicates granted by the London Trades Guild, but this could not be done, as the Education Board had already sent them out to the winners. - Mr J. A. Millar, M.H.R., said the progress ; of the association had given him much plea- j sure. From 1897 to 1899 the number of pupils j had risen from 701 to 767, showing an increase j that was steady, and therefore satisfactory; while the annual reports proved the value , of the teaching given. The number of Lon- j <lon Guild certificates that were won by the students attending these classes was most • creditable, and showed that the tuition given ■was equal, if not superior, to anything of the s sort elsewhere. The classes had now been established for some ten years, and the thanks of the community were certainly due to those ■who had so unselfishly given up their time to the work, and in so doing had raised a monument that would endure to their credit ior all time. Ac to the practical results, there was no doubt they were appreciated by almost all classes of the community, and the society ought to get more support than it received from the outside public. He must admit that he had himself somewhat neglected its claims, but in future he was willing to con.tribute regularly to it, and he hoped members and others would do the same until technical education was placed upon a proper footing. The financial footing of the association was not satisfactory, since it appeared that the more pupils they had in some classes the greater was the loss. He had been one of a deputation to the Premier to urge that a .grant 'should be made for the enlargement of "she building and to place before hjm the neces- '

sity of classes for instruction in electrical science. For that purpose a grant of £2000 would be required, and the- Premier had agreed to endeavour . to help them ; but the trouble was that the total sum the Government were authorised to spend for this purpose throughout the oolony by the act of 18S5 was only £2500. When two years ago Parliament was considering this question of technical education and the Government had endeavoured to get a vote of £25,000 on the Estimates, they were blocked by some members, who fancied that the proposal would undermine the national system of education. For his part, he had never believed that, and one thing which had led him to object to the restrictions ' then proposed was that under them not one sixpence could have been voted to the Dunedin or the Auckland classes unless they were put under" the Board of Education, and he thought it would be a sorry day for the classes when they were handed over to the board. The question would come up again, and perhaps with the new Parliament something: could be done ;' but he was quite satisfied that the classes would be beet conducted under such management as now obtained. As to the reference that had been made to the Trades Council, he desired to remark that that body Had no funds, being merely an organisation of delegates, and limiting its income to meet necessary expenditure; but he thought the .matter might be brought before it, and remitted by it to the consideration of the various bodies, and if the claims of the Technical Classes' Association were placed before the unions he thought they would meet with a good response. He heartily congratulated them upon the successful results of the year's work.

The Rev. J. Gibb also congratulated the association upon the splendid success achieved during the year, and referred to the work that had been so generously and well performed in connection with the association from its inception, and made special reference to Messrs Thomson and Burl, to whom he said the citizens owed a great debt of gratitude for their disinterested and self-sacrificing labours. The speaker also referred to the valuable work accomplished by the association, and to its ethical as well as its practical side, remarking that it was no secret that one of the objects of those who started and had supported this movement was to take youngpeople out of the way of mischief and direct them in the way of righteousness and welldoing, so that from this point of view also the association deserved the appreciation and esteem of the citizens. % He trusted the future of the association would be one of increasing success. They deserved all sorts of suppore, including pecuniary support, at the hands of those who wished well to the young paope of Dunedin.

Mr Arnold, M.H.R., congratulated the association on the progress made. He found thai last year there were 288 members, and this year there were 766 — an increase of neariv three times the number. Of the 766, he found that 400 were over 18 years of age, and he took it that neither the fathers ■ nor mothers would compol them to attend the school at such an age. This showed that the school was appreciated "by the young. As another proof that the school^ v/as appreciated, he mentioned that out of the 766, 255 were attending for the second year. He noticed from the report that two classes, one for modelling and the oilier for painters and decorators fell through for want of sufficient students and a lack of encouragement. The committee were not, of course, to blame for this. The fact was that the real work of these classes was not made sufficiently known, and was not sufficiently appreciated by the young men and young women of the community. It seemed to him that a great proportion of young people left school and entered the workshop after they had passed the Fourth Standard. They felt the need of that which they had missed later; they desired to obtain it, but they knew not how. The association had given help to such young people who were trying to learn the trade they had engaged m. It was only by such a school as they had here that this was to be accomplished. Speaking as a tradesman, he could say that a number of years ago there was a great amount of jealousy among tradesmen, and it made it most difficult for young men to enter into the workshop and learn the trade. The foreman was instructed to teach the young man, but as far as the ordinary journeyman was concerned he took no interest in him, and tried to hide the secrets of the trade from the apprentice. He was glad to say that that was passing away. He thought that it would be admitted that the primary schools were not the places where scholars would be taught trades during s ?h°ol hours, so he thought schools such as the Technical School were good things for the young people he had named who had left school after passing the Fourth Standard and entering the workshop.

Dr Stenhouse referred to the Caledonian Society having had classes before the Technical .School came into existence. That was 22 y«ars ago.- He proceeded to advocate evening classes as a nieans of theoretical instruciion. _ His chief objection in the matter of education was the early age at which the young were sent to school, and he thought the whole of the scientific men living would agree with him. He disagreed very much with the multiplicity of subjects forced upon children. The attention could not be kept lip in the mind of a young child, even on a single subject, for long. How much more unlikely was it,then,thal they could give their attention spread over four or five subjects? Now, all this was remedied at the evening classes. By raising the school age to 7 or 8 years, a child would know more than a child sent at the age of 5 years, without the same detriment to health. The effect of night classes would be that the youth would there continue his education up. to 20 or 21 years of age. The speaker concluded by congratulating the association on the success of its efforts, and expressed a hope that the movement would ex-

enc Mr A. Sligo desired to allude to the valuable services thait had been, rendered by the chairman to the Technical Classes, and on this head heartily endorsed all that had been said by the Rev. Mr Gibb. Regarding the question of the Technical Education Bill, he said he thought he had understood it pretty well, and he understood the bill failed to pass because the members desired that the money should be spent through the Education Boards, and not by the Ministry, uncontrolled by the boards. In his opinion, the money would be well expended through the boards, and he -thought the Education Board would gladly delegate its power of control to Avhatever association or committee would best conduct the classes. The Chairman acknowledged the kind manner in ■which the remarks made by the Rev. Mr Gibb and Mr Sligo, as to his services, had been received, and also said that he was glad to hear Mr Millar's remarks upon the Trades Council. He moved a vote of thanks to the genllemen who had addressed them. The vote was carried by acclamation, and the proceedings terminated. <

«miiaj^uaioajduiiij^i]rUiiai3^^ii;iirff. Li -"' 1 - J^^-' 1 ''-' l --'' JlLii - s ss3Eß The jubilee of the ministry of the Key. D. G. M'Eacharn, of the Oarlton Presbyterian Ohurch, Victoria, was attained last month. The venerable divine is still doing his work, And doing it well.

The Rabbit department put on men to poison the land of a district farmer who had lately been before the court, and the farmer put on other hands to pick up the poison. — Wynxlham Herald.

The. will of Oscar Eliason, professionally known as Dante the Great, has been filed in Melbourne for sealing purposes. The property in "Victoria is valued at not exceeding: £1000, which consists of cash iv the baniu- _,

By a fire at Barker's Creek (Victoria) recently about 10,000 acres of grass and seven mfles of fencing were destroyed.