MYERS PARK OPENED.

THE FORMAL CEREMONY.

THANKS OF THE CITIZENS.

IMPERISHABLE MONUMENT.

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL

FIRST OF TOWN-PLANNING

TnF. official opening of Myers Park, the gift to the city of Mr. A. M. Myers. M.P , took place yesterday afternoon, the ,Ma\ «r, Mr. I'. .T. Parr, CMC.., perform;! -.' t' e formal ceremony in the presence "' several hundred people. Several leading >,!./.e::s were present, including ]'. A \\ Averill, Anglican Bishop of Auckland. Mr. F. W. Lang. M.P.. the Hon. lie-rge Fowlds, Mr. A. E. Clover. M.P. . ami members and officials of i), ( . * :!y * ouncil. Mr. Myers was accom pai led on to the ground by Mrs. Myers and M:.- 1- Myers, and the Mayoress was a l. present. In the crowd of spectators were \c i v many residents of the neighbom hood, id hundreds of children. A military bind played selections at intervals.

Though in .in unfinished state, the park was looking at its best, and both before and after the formr.l ceremonial children revelled in the enjoyment of the paddling. puiid-. at will vuttl Their 1 litis'"" playground.

The Mayor, in his opening remarks, Kinl thev witnessed there the fruition of an experiment new to Australasia. True, in other cities, slum areas had been reclaimed and transformed for commercial and utilitarian purposes. In the present instance a noisome gully, an unwholesome ■pot, had been converted into a park for the people of Auckland for all time. (Applause.; No other city that ho knew of had done this. Consequently, Auckland might claim to be a pioneer in townplanning. The acquirement of the park would have been impossible for the City Council to effect out of its own finances. Fifteen months ago he (Mr. Parr I was considering the improvement of the area. He appealed t*> Mr. Myers in the matter, a:. ! the latter asked him how much money would be required. On being informed thai £9000 would be necessary , Mr. Myers, saying he wished to do something worthy of the city, told him he was at liberty to go ahead and buy the necessary land. (Applause.) That was the spirit of civic patriotism in which Mr. Myers had met him. Xor had his generosity stopped with the giving of the cheque for £9000. So interested '\ad Mr. Myers since become in the scheme that he now proposed, at a cost of £-1000, to erect, on the spot where they then stood, a fine kindergarten and school for backward children. (Applause.) That entailed a total expense to Mr. Myers of £13.000. Few wealthy men recognised that wealth brought responsibilities. Mr. Mvers was one of the honoured few. (Applause.) Had the £13.000 been invested, say for 30 years, and left by Mr. Myers in his will, it would, at the end of that time, have amounted to close upon .-i.70,000. The point he made, however, was that Mr. Myers had made this great gift to the city in his lifetime. (Applause.) Auckland's List of Benefactors. Continuing. Mr. Parr said if he were asked what was the chief characteristic of Auckland citizens, he would say it ■was their peculiar and patriotic love foj their own town. This was proved by the j long; list of honoured men -who, in the j par.:, had delighted to do good for Auck- ] land. What else but an imperishable love for Auckland could have actuated Sir John Logan Campbell—(applause)—in giving the city a park to-day worth half a million pounds, or Sir George Grey in giving the finest library of the kind south of the. line ? Similarly, the Mayor referred to the public benefactions of Mr. J. C Mackelvie, Mr. Costley, Mr. H. Brett. Messrs. \V. and T. W. Leys, Mrs. Knox, and Mr. Henry Shaw. The list could, he said, be added to indefinitely. No other town could show such a list of generous donors. And to that list they could now add the name of Mr. A. M. Mvers. (Applause. ) " . r

After referring to the proposed expansion of the park and the gift of a portion of his ]and at the upper end by Mr. David Nathan, the Mayor went on to say that in the negotiations with the owners of the 27 houses formerly standing on the park they had met the City Council in the most excellent spirit. Several of them had given their properties, in all about two acres, without asking a penny for them. These owners were: Mrs W J Potter. Messrs. T. E. Garland, J. D. Webster, Bertram Dawson, T. McMaster, Hugo S. Milbank, James Duffy, and the trustees of the estate of the late William Adams. (Applause.) In conclusion the Mayor expressed the thank.* of the citizens to Mr. Myers for his generosity. The Myers Park would stand as an imperishable monument to a generous citizen. (Applause.) Mr Myers had performed one of the finest, acts of citizenship New Zealand had ever known. (Renewed applause.) Thoughts for Little Children. The chairman of the Education Board, Mr. <;. J. Garland. said the park would be an invaluable nreathing place for the children not only ;n the summer but also in the winter, its natural aspect lending itself to the sunny clime of Auckland. He eulogised Mr. Myers for his gift, and spoke of the value and benefits which would accrue from the kindergarten and School for backward children. Mr. Garland said he was sure they were all proud to be there to honour a man who thought of the little children. The Education Board had decided to secure from Home the services of the very best man or woman as principal of the new school. This would not have been possible but for Mr. Myers's act, which was noble and inspiring. (Applause.) Mr. J. Trevithi<'k, chairman of the City Schools Committee, said he had been requested by a large number of parents to thank Mr. Myers for his munificent gift— a 2ift direct to the children of Auckland. (Applause.) He also expressed the thanka of the school committees of Auckland. Need for Kindergartens. Mr. E. K. Mulgan. president of the Kindergarten Association, thanked Mr. A|y*.rs on its behalf for his splendid gift of the nark and for his intended additional gift of the combined kindergarten and school. 'Hie association had several kindergartens but wanted —one or two in every suburb No system of education could bo efficient unless complete, ana none could be complete that did not rater f or ( |f , duration of young children. At present in New Zealand there was no P^v 15 „, n in the. Act for the education of children under seven years of age, and " would therefore like* to see a. great extension of the kindergarten system. (Applause.) '

Mr. (. I., vr spoke of the magnificent P' 11 of his colleague and partner in friendship. Mr Myers. He said the latter was .ti'hiwl by c ,-eat and noble- ideals, and °« h?h;,lf of the people of City Central "* thanked him for his generosity. (Applause.) M r over expressed the hope *" tli e not far distant future. Mr. Myers oind again conn- forward. He was sure «« had greater gifts in store. (Laughter **d applause ) Address by Mr. Myers. "tt'hen Mr. Myei.-. the donor of the park, ™ Sf ' to address the gathering, he was greeted with prolonged applause. He said "6 regarded the large number of people Present as an indication of a wide, civic outlook and a deep concern for the jWare „f Auckland City. That day «aikcd an important stage in the develop-

serTcL the Clty ' as ifc signalised the first to 1 ♦? mpt m the histor y of Auckland £>rX the elTOrs of the P"t- The importance of preserving open spaces as £tl- a j Playgrounds on an adequate j-caie, and according to some regular system, was ° ° bvious that il was im POS" Stole not to see how much might have oeen done and at how small a cost, had our city forefathers foreseen the mar \euously rapid expansion of Auckland, ine important lesson to be learnt from the aa y s ceremony was that it was much easier, as well as much cheaper, to pre vent evils than to undo them. (Applause.) Value ol Parks and Open Spaces. Mr. Myers commented regretfully on what he termed the haphazard" and nappy-go-lucky" manner in which the suburbs of Auckland, although in a lesser degree than some suburbs elsewhere, were expanding without suitable provision being made for parks and open spaces. The people were piling up trouble for the tuture, and unless definite action were taken, he. believed that the evils which existed in the crowded parts of the city, and which had been to some extent reme- ; died that day, would reproduce themselves in suburb after suburb. As population increased, the tendency to build ' more closely always manifested itself, and private enterprise seldom wasted much thought or money on parks or play grounds, although open spaces were as essential to the health of a town as were streets to its traffic. (Applause.) The " Land-Sweating " Evil. All kinds of beneficent laws, from the Factory Act downwards, had been enacted in New Zealand to prevent employers making money by sweating their fellowmen; but no law* had yet been placed on the Statute Book to prevent '* landsweating " — the reckless overcrowding of human beings on land in badly-planned towns. The city by-laws were good, but ui&ifficient: they had resulted in the erection of a few good houses, and a great number of bad ones. Existing legislation had tended rather to discourage than encourage the provision of parks and open spaces. Mr. Myers quoted Cornwall Park as an instance of this, stating that 58 per cent, of the revenue received by the trustees had to be paid in rates to local bodies. Well-kept parks and open spaces, clean and well-built streets, buildings which, instead of disfiguring, added beauty and dignity to the surroundings, not only inspired the people with a justifiable 'civic pride, but also helped them to realise in themselves a truer and more wholesome life. (Applause.) Plea lor Town - Planning. Could nothing be done now to provide for the systematic development of Auck- | land City, to prevent haphazard develop- j ment of vacant land, and thus in turn prevent the growth of slums and the ! costly process of reconstruction, of which ' this park was an example, asked Mr. I Myers ? A comprehensive Town-Planning I Act was the only method of accomplishing | this, and it was to be regretted that New j Zealand, whose beneficent and humanitarian legislation had placed her in the vanguard of mankind, had lagged behind the countries of the Old World in this respect. He trusted that the defect would soon be remedied, and that a comprehensive measure, containing all the advantages, and none of the disadvantages, of the English Town Planning Act of 1909, would soon be on the Statute Book. Auckland's Additional " Lung." Mr. Myers then referred to what he \ termed the unpleasant part" of his j addressnamely, the part whicb he had taken personally in acquiring Myers Park for the City "of Auckland. (Applause.) His four years' Mayoralty had, he said, naturally deepened the civic spirit within him, and his earnest desire (jwas that, Nature having given Aucklanders a model site, they should no longer spoil her gift by faulty handiwork. The knowledge that he had been instrumental, in a small measure, in adding another "lung" to Auckland City, and had thus contributed to the happiness of the younger generation, had brought much happiness into his own life. (Applause.) His pleasure had been the greater because, the acquisition of this land brought them hearer to an ideal which he had cherished for many yearsthe creation of a true civic centre in the environs of the Town Hall, with wide streets and dignified architecture, adorned with trees and flowers, and surrounded by open spaces. The City Council held a large area of land in this neighbourhood, and he trusted he would live to see his dream realised. (Applause.) Mr. Myers also briefly referred to the unique opportunity afforded Aucklanders, through the acquisition of the Orakei Estate by the Government, of giving .New I Zealand a lead in the matter of systematic town-planning. He -earnestly hoped the Government would rise to their responsibilities in this matter. The Myers Kindergarten. In referring to the kindergarten proposed to be erected in the park, Mr. -Myers said it was a great pleasure for him to help in this manner to develop the all-sided activity of the children (Applause.) Undoubtedly much of the kindergarten's success was due to its recognition of the vital interest which children took in doing ; it had demonstrated that activity, based on the child's stage of development, was the tree basis of education. The critical study which the kindergarten had received in recent years had satisfied educational experts that the conception of education which it embodied was essentially the true one. He trusted that the erection of this additional free kindergarten would help those in charge of the movement in Auckland in their noble work of developing the children on right lines during their most plastic years, thus building up a solid asset for the nation. School for Backward Children. Mr. Myers said he believed it would be ' conceded that the (establishment of a school for backward children was on the right lines, and that there was urgent ! need for special classes of this nature in all our larger centres. (Applause.) Dull or backward children did not profit to the best advantage by the instruction given to normal children ; consequently they became dejected and discouraged, in add? t:on to retarding the progress of the other pupils. In well-organised classes, taught by specially trained and enthusiastic teachers, these children might be taught to lead healthier and happier lives- the most fundamental and simple adjustments of daily life might be inculcated ; and as far as possible, they might lie trained in occupations which would make them socially efficient, and in later life enable them to mix on equal terms with other adults. (Applause.) Concluding Remarks. Mr. Myers complimented the citv engineer. Mr. W. E. Bush, and the superintendent of parks, Mr. J. Pearson, on the transformation already effected on the ground, which was only an earnest of what was yet to be. He also thanked the Mayor and city councillors for the assistance rendered in the acquisition of the ground : and expressed his gratitude to those owners of adjoining properties who so readily agreed to the council's proposals.

" In conclusion." said Mr. Myers, " I trust that this pack will be a source of joy to the citizens of Auckland, present and future. It is the people's property, may they treasure it as their jwii, seek enjoyment and recreation within its boundaries, and make it an agency fur the promotion of the public good. I am more than compensated for the part I have taken in the acquisition of this park when I consider that my gift is not of a transitory nature, but is one which will grow in value as the years go bv, which will afford a resting-place when the young men and women I see around me are full of years, and when the children of to-day become the citizens of to-morrow." (Prolonged applause, and three cheers for Mr. Myers.)

The Mayor then declared the park open to the public, and the gathering dispersed after giving three cheers for Mr. Parr and for the Mayoress. Many stayed to inspect the improvements already carried out in the area.