54 Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 



The new institution would assist such, and no doubt there 

 would be a great improvement in the prosperity of the city 

 after its establishment. He had had recently several hundred 

 designs sent him from various parts of the country, and, while 

 the senders no doubt were well educated, the results from an 

 artistic point of view would have been laughable had one not 

 felt some sadness in looking at them. In conclusion, he wished 

 to express the pleasure he felt at listening to Mr. Gray's paper, 

 and his entire confidence in the far-reaching effect which the 

 establishment of this institution would have in their midst. 



Mr. Milligan said everyone had been delighted with Mr. 

 Gray's admirable paper. One of the most intelligent and 

 cultured audiences he had ever seen in the hall he looked 

 upon that night, and it was a great pity the members of the 

 Council did not come there for information — the mformation 

 which they needed very much. They had made a move as to 

 site for the new building, but he would have preferred it at 

 Marcus Ward's, because it would have saved them ^i,ooo a 

 year. However, money was of no importance to the Council, 

 and it was better to have the present site than none. He hoped 

 that Mr. Grab's Lecture would be printed, and that the 

 members of the Town Council would read it, for he felt assured 

 it contained information they would get in no other place. 

 Though late, they were not too late to do well. The future 

 prosperity of the city depended largely upon the interest taken 

 in the matter, and he hoped the technical school would be 

 pushed forward as quickly as possible. 



Mr. W. Armstrong regarded the subject from two points of 

 view— the cosmopolitan and the patriotic. He expressed the 

 opinion that they were bound to go on with it, because other 

 nations were making progress, and if ihey would simply sit still 

 and pat each other on the back they would soon find them- 

 selves fifty years behind the times. 



Mr. Shaw thought the great linen manufacturer.s of Belfast 

 might have established a school of design for their own purposes, 

 and that the great shipbuilding concerns might have done 



