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Article REMOVAL OF THE BOYS SCHOOL. Page 1 of 1 Article REMOVAL OF THE BOYS SCHOOL. Page 1 of 1
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Removal Of The Boys School.
REMOVAL OF THE BOYS SCHOOL .
ALTHOUGH the statement issued by the Board of Management of the Boys School , giving the reasons for the proposed removal of the School from its present position , may be said to cover every section of the controversy , we cannot regard it as wholly satisfactory ; or perhaps it would be more
correct to say , we are disappointed at the way in which the Board has dealt with the subject . They have simply collected what has been urged in days gone by as to the unsuitability of the site , rather than give a " Statement of reasons for
the proposed removal of the School . " It is probably true the course they have adopted will serve the end they have in view almost as well as an independent expression of their views would do , but we think they have
made a mistake in not going further than they have done . If their plans are as far matured as they should be , in view of the present position of affairs , they should have been able to give an estimate of the probable cost of removal , including
the erection of new School accommodation for , say , 400 pupils —that is a long jump , we are aware , beyond the present arrangements , but if a new School is erected the plans should be based on such a number of scholars , even if a portion of the work is arranged for completion at a later date .
We cannot help the feeling , after a perusal of the Statement , that the Board of Management regard themselves as being in a very strong position , and , it may even be , look upon the necessity of issuing this Statement as a trouble they should not have been
subjected to . We know they have the confidence of a considerable section of the English Craft , but that is not everything ; a small opposition to the proposed removal might so seriously affect the project as to make it desirable to postpone the matter ,
at least for a time ; whereas we believe that a little tact displayed towards those who are not at present fully convinced as to the desirability of removal might produce actual unanimity on the point ; and surely no one will argue that such a result is not worth striving for , nay , it is even worth doing much to
secure . We do not like to criticise too freely the Brethren who give so much of their time to the management of the School . We are prepared to agree with their own opinion of themselves ,
expressed in the Statement , that they are representative and business men , but which one of them read the Statement , and the different Appendixes issued with it , through from beginning to end before its publication ? Trifles , it is well known , often
lead to the most important results , and that being so we may point out that the Board of Management has apparently left much of their Statement to chance , else they would not have permitted the palpable error on page 8 , where a paragraph
relating to the clothing of the pupils is taken from the Beport of the Committee of Investigation of 1889 , not in its entirety , as would have been justifiable , but in a mutilated form , with
the result that it is ungrammatical , the " clothes " of the pupils being spoken of as " it . " The "it" in the Eeport referred to a sample of " clothing" examined by the Committee .
Removal Of The Boys School.
Of course this is a very trifling matter—unworthy of notice many will say : —and we only refer to it in support of our contention that the Board of Management has not entered with spirit into the preparation of their Statement , which they
might easily have made a forcible and convincing argument m support of the contention that removal is both desirable and necessary . They have evidently felt so strong in the position they occupy , and which it must be distinctly understood has
been given them by regular votes at General Courts , that they have not thought it worth while to meet the objectors to the scheme and argue the different points with them . Going to the end of the work , to Appendix I . we find another illustration of want of personal interest .
This Appendix is a table showing place of origin of 278 Boys on the books of the Institution on 1 st January 1896 , and their cost . It is explained that where a Boy ' s father belonged to more than one Province the cost is divided pro rata , and the
same should have been done in the column giving the number of Boys , which is misleading and . quite useless as it stands , a fact that is clearly demonstrated when one adds up the record , and
finds that 325 Boys are charged to the different Districts , whereas the number to be dealt with was only 278 . This is another trifle , it is true , but would it have occurred if the Board had entered into their self-imposed task with enthusiasm ?
Having got rid of these small items we must express our entire disapproval with at least one of the conclusions arrived at by the Board of Management . The Board answers the argument of those—ourselves among the number—who contend that the extension of the work of the Institution should be
to provide grants in aid of education and clothing outside of the Institution , by saying this question was settled as far back as 1851 , when the first school-house was arranged for . Is this the sort of answer to carry weight with those who
think with us it would be far better to make an experiment in this direction , rather than sacrifice thousands of pounds over a forced sale of the existing property ? Certainly not , and we consider one of the weakest points in the Statement is
this relying on what our grandfathers did in 1851 in regard to education , as an answer to a straightforward proposition for 1897 . The question of education at the two periods is so
altered as to make comparisons between them too absurd to be deserving of serious consideration , without proper allowances being made .
It seems to be recognised that the removal of the School will entail a loss of some £ 70 , 000 out of the £ 100 , 000 spent on the land and buildings at Wood Green . Can it be wondered at , therefore , that many Brethren want to be fully
convinced of the necessity for a change before they agree to help to bring it about ? and even those who are convinced that a change is desirable are to be excused for urging the possibility of an alternative scheme at less cost , Certainly it
is a very great pity the Board of Management did not see their way to make out a good case in favour of the removal , rather than content themselves by throwing together a number of outside opinions and comments .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Removal Of The Boys School.
REMOVAL OF THE BOYS SCHOOL .
ALTHOUGH the statement issued by the Board of Management of the Boys School , giving the reasons for the proposed removal of the School from its present position , may be said to cover every section of the controversy , we cannot regard it as wholly satisfactory ; or perhaps it would be more
correct to say , we are disappointed at the way in which the Board has dealt with the subject . They have simply collected what has been urged in days gone by as to the unsuitability of the site , rather than give a " Statement of reasons for
the proposed removal of the School . " It is probably true the course they have adopted will serve the end they have in view almost as well as an independent expression of their views would do , but we think they have
made a mistake in not going further than they have done . If their plans are as far matured as they should be , in view of the present position of affairs , they should have been able to give an estimate of the probable cost of removal , including
the erection of new School accommodation for , say , 400 pupils —that is a long jump , we are aware , beyond the present arrangements , but if a new School is erected the plans should be based on such a number of scholars , even if a portion of the work is arranged for completion at a later date .
We cannot help the feeling , after a perusal of the Statement , that the Board of Management regard themselves as being in a very strong position , and , it may even be , look upon the necessity of issuing this Statement as a trouble they should not have been
subjected to . We know they have the confidence of a considerable section of the English Craft , but that is not everything ; a small opposition to the proposed removal might so seriously affect the project as to make it desirable to postpone the matter ,
at least for a time ; whereas we believe that a little tact displayed towards those who are not at present fully convinced as to the desirability of removal might produce actual unanimity on the point ; and surely no one will argue that such a result is not worth striving for , nay , it is even worth doing much to
secure . We do not like to criticise too freely the Brethren who give so much of their time to the management of the School . We are prepared to agree with their own opinion of themselves ,
expressed in the Statement , that they are representative and business men , but which one of them read the Statement , and the different Appendixes issued with it , through from beginning to end before its publication ? Trifles , it is well known , often
lead to the most important results , and that being so we may point out that the Board of Management has apparently left much of their Statement to chance , else they would not have permitted the palpable error on page 8 , where a paragraph
relating to the clothing of the pupils is taken from the Beport of the Committee of Investigation of 1889 , not in its entirety , as would have been justifiable , but in a mutilated form , with
the result that it is ungrammatical , the " clothes " of the pupils being spoken of as " it . " The "it" in the Eeport referred to a sample of " clothing" examined by the Committee .
Removal Of The Boys School.
Of course this is a very trifling matter—unworthy of notice many will say : —and we only refer to it in support of our contention that the Board of Management has not entered with spirit into the preparation of their Statement , which they
might easily have made a forcible and convincing argument m support of the contention that removal is both desirable and necessary . They have evidently felt so strong in the position they occupy , and which it must be distinctly understood has
been given them by regular votes at General Courts , that they have not thought it worth while to meet the objectors to the scheme and argue the different points with them . Going to the end of the work , to Appendix I . we find another illustration of want of personal interest .
This Appendix is a table showing place of origin of 278 Boys on the books of the Institution on 1 st January 1896 , and their cost . It is explained that where a Boy ' s father belonged to more than one Province the cost is divided pro rata , and the
same should have been done in the column giving the number of Boys , which is misleading and . quite useless as it stands , a fact that is clearly demonstrated when one adds up the record , and
finds that 325 Boys are charged to the different Districts , whereas the number to be dealt with was only 278 . This is another trifle , it is true , but would it have occurred if the Board had entered into their self-imposed task with enthusiasm ?
Having got rid of these small items we must express our entire disapproval with at least one of the conclusions arrived at by the Board of Management . The Board answers the argument of those—ourselves among the number—who contend that the extension of the work of the Institution should be
to provide grants in aid of education and clothing outside of the Institution , by saying this question was settled as far back as 1851 , when the first school-house was arranged for . Is this the sort of answer to carry weight with those who
think with us it would be far better to make an experiment in this direction , rather than sacrifice thousands of pounds over a forced sale of the existing property ? Certainly not , and we consider one of the weakest points in the Statement is
this relying on what our grandfathers did in 1851 in regard to education , as an answer to a straightforward proposition for 1897 . The question of education at the two periods is so
altered as to make comparisons between them too absurd to be deserving of serious consideration , without proper allowances being made .
It seems to be recognised that the removal of the School will entail a loss of some £ 70 , 000 out of the £ 100 , 000 spent on the land and buildings at Wood Green . Can it be wondered at , therefore , that many Brethren want to be fully
convinced of the necessity for a change before they agree to help to bring it about ? and even those who are convinced that a change is desirable are to be excused for urging the possibility of an alternative scheme at less cost , Certainly it
is a very great pity the Board of Management did not see their way to make out a good case in favour of the removal , rather than content themselves by throwing together a number of outside opinions and comments .