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At this point the Anglican Bishop, the Right Reverend J. S. Burdon, calmly addressed the meeting with the voice of reason. He remarked: "I have very grave doubts whether any public meeting gathered here is ever likely to come to any definite resolution.” This would seem to have been a fair estimate of the mood of the assembly.
He proposed that a representative committee be appointed to collect all the probable schemes with all facts necessary for their implementation. The schemes with detailed plans could then be presented to the public in written form and considered at a later meeting. He thought there probably would be only three institutions submitted for consideration, Dr. Manson's sanitarium, Mr. Crow's library, and his own pet scheme, an institution for female education. There was as well, he added, the suggestion of a statue of the Queen. His effort to steer the meeting into less troubled water was greeted with applause.
Mr. Stewart-Lockhart endorsed the bishop's suggestion. The meeting should be adjourned at this point as it seemed to be at a deadlock, for, as he summed it up: "There was a question as to whether a resolution had been carried or not. Some were under the impression someone had counted wrong and others that he had counted right." An adjournment would allow feelings to cool, proceeding with the meeting would only further inflame them.
The chairman's wisest act during the course of the meeting was to see the sense in the proposal for an adjournment. Accordingly, he seconded the motion. It was unfortunate, however, that before doing so, he did not take up the Bishop's suggestion and have a committee appointed to receive and consider plans.
The next meeting was set for four days ahead. With fortune smiling, tempers would have cooled, proposals would have taken on solid form, and community feeling would have become more harmonious. The interval between the meetings was, however, perhaps too brief for this to happen.
The chairman, Mr. Ryrie, was criticised in the press for his inept handling of the meeting. It was reported that an attendant
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At this point the Anglican Bishop, the Right Reverend J. S. Burdon, calmly addressed the meeting with the voice of reason. He remarked: "I have very grave doubts whether any public meet- ing gathered here is ever likely to come to any definite resolution.” This would seem to have been a fair estimate of the mood of the assembly.
He proposed that a representative committee be appointed to collect all the probable schemes with all facts necessary for their implementation. The schemes with detailed plans could then be presented to the public in written form and considered at a later meeting. He thought there probably would be only three institu- tions submitted for consideration, Dr. Manson's sanitarium. Mr. Crow's library, and his own pet scheme, an institution for female education. There was as well, he added, the suggestion of a statue of the Queen. His effort to steer the meeting into less trou- bled water was greeted with applause.
Mr. Stewart-Lockhart endorsed the bishop's suggestion. The meeting should be adjourned at this point as it seemed to be at a deadlock, for, as he summed it up: "There was a question as to whether a resolution had been carried or not. Some were under the impression someone had counted wrong and others that he had counted right." An adjournment would allow feelings to cool, pro- ceeding with the meeting would only further inflame them.
The chairman's wisest act during the course of the meeting was to see the sense in the proposal for an adjournment. Accordingly, he seconded the motion. It was unfortunate, however, that before doing so, he did not take up the Bishop's suggestion and have a committee appointed to receive and consider plans.
The next meeting was set for four days ahead. With fortune smiling, tempers would have cooled, proposals would have taken on solid form, and community feeling would have become more harmonious. The interval between the meetings was, however, perhaps too brief for this to happen.
The chairman, Mr. Ryrie, was criticised in the press for his inept handling of the meeting. It was reported that an attendant
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