HIGH SCHOOL RESERVES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13317, 20 June 1907, Page 3

HIGH SCHOOL RESERVES.

To the Editor cf the " Timarti Herald." - Sir, —In your rei>o-rt of\ the High School Board's meeting a. parag-raph suites, that Messrs Miliigan, Boyd add -vLcOuify wa.ue.l upon the Board, the former to make an application for the renewal of his lease of one of the Board's reserves by arbitration; and the two latter to petition the Board to lower their rents, 'xhe Board decided to refer the applications to a committee to report upon. } Whatever the report of the Committee may be there tan be utj reasonable doubt that both applications should be refused on public ground-.;. The reserve that Mr Milligan has had leased for a considerable -time at a merely nominal rental is ens- of the most valuable owned by the Board and adjoins the Clar.deboytf creamery. . It is some 355 acres- and -would, if properly subdivided and let for a term of 21' years ,be amply sufficient to provide homes for at least eight families who would have sufficient land to carry 25 milking cows and grow all the necessary summer and winter feed they required. The land for dairying purposes could not be better, wliilst the creamery would not be more than a. mile from the furthest block. As for the revenue there can be no doubt it would be fully 33 per cent, in excess of that now paid" for it. Besides the system of letting by arbitration is a rotten one. and leaves too many openings for favouritism and jobbery, and by no means succeeds in securing the best and mo.'t industrious tenants; neither is it in the best interest of the revenues of the Board. There can be no question that a. sub-divi-sion of the land would materially increase the general prosperity of the GUmdeboye district, and give a great stimulus to the dairying indus My. That is a small nv.it U-r in comparison to giving a number of people every facility to settle upon such land with every chance of becoming prosperous and successful settlers. There is no branch of farming affords the ;ame. opportunities for money making as dairying. In reference to .Messrs Boyd and McCully's application for reduction of rent, the request is an absurd one. 'l'he applicantsknew perfectly well what they were doing and tendered "with their eyes open against other applicants equally desirous of securing the reserves. If the rents are excessive let the leases be surrendered and the reserve? b? relet by public tender,' If the sv-t-em of securing reserves at lents with the object.of immediately badgerins the Board to lower it cousiderably was allowed it would neither be fair or equitable to unsuccessful tenderers. 1 think on public grounds a. protest should be made against eithr application beinj 'jrant-d. The Board deserve- credit- for not acce-'dng to them: and I trust- when they consider the report of thiir committee tliev will b? widely guicVl by the financial interest of the Board, and by-what is of far erc-*>r imp-rt^ncc—the of clo-er rr>ttleni?nT smd the prosrees and prosperity of a much larger ni-mb:r of people. T am. etr\. GEORGE J. WREATHALL.