It is not necessary to deal at any great length with the merits of the request made by the deputation which waited upon Mr. Illingworth on behalf of the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery. They asked for nothing more than the fulfillment of a promise, but they found it necessary to remind the Minister that they performed their duties gratuitously and for the benefit of the public before they could obtain even a courteous hearing of their case.

It will be remembered that when the Duke of York was here he was prevailed upon to lay the foundation-stone of the new wing of the Public Library, having been first assured by Sir Arthur Lawley that it was intended to proceed with the erection of the building. Money for the purpose had been promised by the Throssell Government, and the Leake Government had plans for the work, so that the deputation may reasonably have felt some little comfort in approaching the Minister.

They were able to show that the additional space was urgently needed—that for lack of it many books for the Library, pictures for the Gallery, and collections for the Museum had to be stored away in the basement. The medical men who accompanied the deputation also pointed out that the reading-room was frequently crowded to such an extent as to be prejudicial to health. In addition to having a good case, the deputation were strengthened by the inclusion among their numbers of a Minister of the Crown, and in the circumstances they may well have felt assured of a sympathetic hearing.

Instead of receiving this, however, the speakers were subjected to rude interruptions by the Minister, and they were treated as though they were trying to get something out of the public Treasury for their own personal advantage. The question of whether the condition of the State finances justified the granting of the request fades into insignificance beside the extraordinary stand taken up by the Minister for Education, and the peculiar views he announced as to the educational value of libraries, art galleries and the like.

Apparently Mr. Illingworth looks upon a public library merely as a counter-attraction to the hotels. In so far as it is likely to assist the temperance cause it has his sympathy, but beyond that he considers it a luxury and a toy. His reason for sending the deputation to another Minister is not very clear. As Treasurer and Minister for Education the matter came entirely within his jurisdiction. The Public Works Department, as Mr. Rason pointed out, has nothing to do with the question of the policy of erecting such buildings. Their duty is merely to carry out the work resolved upon by Cabinet and approved by Parliament.

From the attitude of Dr. Jameson and Mr. Rason, there is reason to hope that the request of the deputation will receive fair consideration at the hands of the Government, the Minister for Education’s opposition notwithstanding.

Mr. Illingworth declares that for every one person, who goes to the Museum to study hundreds go there for mere pleasure. Without admitting the accuracy of this, it may be asked whether it is not the duty of the Government to encourage people to indulge in such pleasure as this.

Though our Minister for Education will not admit it, it is hardly conceivable that any man can make a practice of visiting a well-appointed library and museum without becoming in consequence a better man and a more useful citizen. From Mr. Illingworth's point of view it is evidently an outrageous thing to spend money on the pleasures of the people, however beneficial those pleasures may be, but the ordinary taxpayer is likely to take up the position that he would rather subscribe to the maintenance of a good public library than pay the expenses of an over-manned Ministry, an over-manned Parliament, and an over-manned civil service.

Now that federation has been brought about, there should be no need for six State Ministers, nor for eighty members of the State Parliament, and the salaries of these superfluous administrators and legislators for a single year would be more than sufficient to meet the requirements of yesterday's deputation.

The number of visitors to the Public Library is between 40,000 and 50,000 per annum, and this total would be greatly increased if additional facilities were afforded. Strangers in the city, and even local residents, find considerable difficulty in profitably employing their hours of leisure, and it is safe to say that there is not a city in Australia where a thoroughly-equipped public reading-room is more urgently required than in Perth.

Mr. Illingworth's open hostility to institutions of this character is not likely to be overlooked when Parliament meets. It quite unfits him for the office of Minister for Education, and furnishes another argument in favor of a change in the Government. It has often been said that a city and its people are judged in a great measure by the standards they set up in their libraries, art galleries, and museums, and it will not reflect to the credit of Western Australia that her capital is deficient in these requirements, and that her Minister for Education regards them as needless luxuries and toys.