Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1936. THE GALA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 122, 5 March 1936, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1936. THE GALA.

The action of the Advance Ashburton Association in appointing a committee to report on the subject of the Labour Day gala is a wise one, for there is no doubt that the position requires thorough investigation. The state of affairs mentioned by several speakers at the meeting on Tuesday evening is not of recent development, but the position has become more acute in the last year or two. Whatever the cause may be, many of those who for long took an active part in the organisation of the annual attraction —most of whom, it must be said, cannot plead weight of years as their reason —have seen fit to withdraw their services, while the general public is also not displaying that keen interest essential to success. The result has been that the financial returns, at one time considerable, enabling the Association to carry out a praiseworthy work for the benefit of the community, have gradually declined, until last year the actual amount accruing to the Association was less than £4O. As the "Guardian" said shortly after the carnival of 1934, the fact is that the gala is suffeiing from the trouble that so often follows success. The early fixtures were so attractive that they proved veritable mints for the provision of funds and in the endeavour to maintain that position more attention has been paid to the task of persuading people to part with their money than to' the duty of providing them with entertainment that would of itself attract consistently large gatherings. Now the public have tired of the levying of such a tax on their purses. The solution of the problem, in the opinion of the "Guardian," would be to change the nature of the gala altogether. Sixteen months ago the "Guardian" said: "Every year the community spends hundreds of pounds in return for which individuals have a day's outing —which, as the promoters themselves admit, is losing its attraction for the public —and the Association receives a variable sum for expenditure on beautifying the town. Economically it would be better for the community if the Gala ceased to be a money-raising fixture and the Borough Council took over the care and improvement of the beauty spots so long and undoubtedly capably car ried out by the Association." To-day it would appear that on present lines the Association will not derive from the Gala any revenue worth mentioning. It must be unreservedly admitted that the Advance Ashburton Association has performed work for which its officers and members, but particularly the pioneers among them, are deserving of the warmest thanks of the townspeople, but the question arises whether it has not outlived its usefulness on its present basis. The work has been advanced to such a stage that it could be undertaken by the Borough Council at a fraction of the present cost —for a net return of under £4O, it must be emphasised — the extra charge on the ratepayers being but a few pence per annum. The Gala could then be transformed into a self-supporting carnival of a nature that would be worthy of Ashburton s one important public gathering, apart from show day and the race meetings. This is an aspect that is commended to the consideration of the committee of investigation, which, to perform its function in the most efficient manner, should be enlarged to embrace as many men of wide community experience as possible.