THE OPERA HOUSE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 July 1936, Page 4

THE OPERA HOUSE.

At the meeting of the Masterton Trust Lands Trust this week a letter was received from the Minister of Finance, containing a definite statement that no Government grant would be made available to enable repairs to be carried out to the damaged Opera House at Masterton. As the secretary pointed out, the Trust had not asked for a grant, but for a loan, to be repaid over a period of twenty years at a low rate of interest. But even so, from a Government that professes to see in education the salvation of the .working classes, the refusal to make a grant is a somewhat paltry spirit to display, m view of the thousands of pounds the Trust has saved the Government in connection with the education of the children of Masterton. Had the Government made a small grant it would have been a gesture of appreciation of all that the Trust has accomplished in assisting the children of workers to improve their education and obtain positions above that of the manual labourer. However, we are confident that the Trust, with the assistance of the people of Masterton, will yet rise superior _to the Government in the restoration of the Opera House, following a policy of deeds, not words.