1919.] 
University and Scientific News. 
405 
Provision is then made for the constitution of the Advisory Board, in the appoint¬ 
ment of which, besides the trustees of the Board of Agriculture, the scientific branch 
of the Nelson Institute and the Governors of the New Zealand Institute have a voice. 
The functions of the Board are purely advisory. The Director is to be a man of 
scientific training, preferably having special knowledge in the application of chemistry 
and agricultural problems. The staff should include, if possible, a chemist, a plant 
pathologist, a plant physiologist, an economic zoologist, a geologist, an orchardist, a 
secretary (who would act as librarian), and other assistants and helpers. 
The scheme proposed includes, under the head “ Higher Technical Education,” 
the institution of various scholarships, and of “ Cawthron Fellowships ” ; then arrange¬ 
ments as to Industrial Fellowships, National Research Scholarships, and other encourage¬ 
ments to research. Arrangements enabling duly accredited students to work in the 
Institute, and for advanced scientific investigators to pursue researches there, and 
other arrangements tending to assist the maturing of students in economic branches of 
scientific study and tending to facilitate the following-up of scientific research within 
the limits contemplated by the testator, are worked out. 
I think the scheme indicated by the report may be described as both comprehensive 
and elastic, and may be characterized as one which the trustees could adopt with great 
advantage both to Nelson and to the Dominion, if it falls within the terms of the trust 
declared by the will. 
In furtherance of the scheme, as interpreted by the trustees, they have purchased 
a site comprising 20 acres in the outskirts of Nelson, which is probably adequate for 
all the purposes of the Institute in connection with teaching and research, and to a 
considerable extent for experimental purposes, though no doubt at a future date further 
land may be required for farming and forestry experiments. 
I am satisfied that the scheme set out in the report does in its main features fall 
within the limits of the testator’s intentions. The trust is somewhat inartificially 
worded, and it might admit of other forms of institute being founded ; but that is 
immaterial, as it is not lacking in breadth of expression. “An industrial and technical 
school institute and museum ” means a school institute and museum having those 
attributes. An ethnological museum would not come within the definition, nor would 
a school of music, nor an institution for the study of astrophysics; but an establishment 
in the nature of a school institute and museum which, whether in the shape of teaching 
or of research, gives complete prominence to industrial and technical matters is within 
the trust, and once within the trust it is for the trustees to determine the relative 
prominence to be given to such subjects as school institute and museum, if they are to 
be regarded as separate branches. What may be termed the clumsy feature of the 
definition is that the word “ institute ” appears in the middle of the enumerated objects 
instead of at the beginning of the phrase. That becomes apparent when regard is paid 
to the title of the institute, which follows. That circumstance, however, does not affect 
the interpretation of the clause, the aim of such interpretation being to discern and 
give effect to the testator’s wishes. Looked at in this way, “ institute ” is a word of 
wide import qualified by the adjectives “ industrial ” and “ technical,” while “ school ” 
and “ museum ” are specific features of the Cawthron Institute regarded as a whole. 
The term “ institute ” is not qualified by the terms “ school ” and “ museum,” which 
are parts of the institute to be created under the title “ The Cawthron Institute,” but 
they are qualified as the term “ institute ” is qualified by the terms “ industrial ” and 
“ technical.” 
The report of the Commission describes an institute which is industrial and technical. 
It also describes an included school. It also provides for a museum, which may be 
expected to grow up in a natural way as the institution progresses. The museum must 
be expected to grow up as an industrial and technical museum, but the well-known 
tendency of such institutions, especially where gifts are received or purchases have 
to be made en bloc, is in some measure to exceed, or apparently exceed, these restric¬ 
tions. The trustees, however, have to be relied on to see that no substantial expendi¬ 
ture is incurred on acquisitions which are not within the trust. 
Only two objections have been made by the Solicitor-General to the scheme as 
formulated by the Commissioners. These do not affect the scheme as a whole, but only 
certain details in connection with the establishment of scholarships. 
Since the receipt of the report the trustees have in some measure modified the 
scheme, and their modification has in some degree, but not wholly, removed the grounds 
of objection. 
In the scheme set out in the report were included Nelson Scholarships. A scholar¬ 
ship of £50, tenable for three years, was proposed to be offered to that candidate from 
the Nelson Provincial District who stands highest in the credit list of the University 
Entrance Scholarship Examination. The objection to this preference was seen by the 
trustees, who now propose to replace this by a scheme of minor scholarships which 
