A WIDE FIELD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 268, 12 November 1935, Page 12

A WIDE FIELD.

CENTENARY PLANS.

CEREMONIAL EVENTS.

SUGGESTIONS BY MAYOR.

Suggestions as to the field which the centenary celebrations of 1940 might cover were presented by the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. Ernest Davis, at a largely attended conference of local body representatives last evening. Mr. Davis stressed the need for an early start being made with tho preparation of the framework of the organisation for the celebrations, and the desirability of encouraging citizens to become centenaryminded, and submitted a list of suggested ceremonial events, which included historical pageantry, Maori functions, sporting attractions of every kind, an air race to New Zealand, reunions and the holding of tho Olympic Games in Auckland. Record of Achievement. Engraving on the tablets of time an indelible record of noble achievement, and testifying to the results of acentury of glowing, enterprising nationhood, the year 1940 would surely write in the history of New Zealand the most inspiring of all its chapters, said Mr. Davis, in submitting a comprehensive report to the conference. Touching on the advantage of making an early start with organisation for the celebrations, Mr. Davis said the aim at present was to create the right atmosphere for the inculcation of centenary ideals. At this initial stage their approach to the subject, however, could be only along the most general lines, as several considerations required to bo carefully examined before the foundations of a co-ordinated, codified plan could he laid. These considerations included such important questions as precisely what they were to celebrate, where the celebrations were to be held, tho period the commemoration would embrace, and the fixation of the relevant historical dates.

Mr. Davis added that it was his original intention to invite the conference to set up a general committee and invest it with the responsibility of formulating the draft of a policy for submission to the plenary conference to he called in March, 1930, but, on reconsidering the matter, he concluded that the adoption of such a course would not be practicable. Consequently, he offered his views for examination between now and March next, and invited delegates during the interval to consider the personnel of the committees which the March conference would be asked to appoint.

Scheme for Cathedral. In view of its tradition and historical associations it was appropriate that Auckland, the first established capital of the colony, should, in a centenary commemoration, be not lacking in initiative or enterprise. Without apology the province gave a lead 95 years ago, and it could repeat the performance to-day. There appeared to him to bo certain definite aspects from which their participation in the centenary celebrations might be envisioned. Their first approach to the all-encompassing festival of memories and achievement mi>st be thanksgiving to the Almighty for the richly endowed blessings enjoyed during the past hundred years. Mr. Davis commended to consideration the desirability of associating the building the Anglican Cathedral on the Parnell site selected in the time of Bishop Selwyn, as a feature of the celebrations, and, to that end, in the interval between now and 1940, he suggested that steps be taken throughout the province to create a Cathedral Building Fund sufficient for the completion of the edifice, so that either the foundation stone might be laid and the building fully completed two years later at the Selwyn Centenary, or, preferably, that sufficient funds" might be obtained to have the ?athedral erected and available for consecration and opening, such ceremony to be the first act of their centenary celebrations. There must be a careful study of the pleasures of the body politic, and their homage to the pioneers naturally would underlie all their considerations. The native side offered a picturesque approach, and what finer celebration could Auckland provide than a centenary hui nt, say, Mangere, where the descendants of the warriors of old could reproduce their stirring history? Memorials, appropriate and permanent, offered an inspiring method of expression, and in this connection co-ordination of ideas was highly desirable. The sporting side had a place, added Mr. Davis, and educational accomplishment must not be neglected. Co-ordination Essential. The question of co-ordination was paramount. Indiscriminate, haphazard planning and overlapping would be fatal. With the object of gaining the most unified results, Mr. Davis said he proposed to communicate with the Mayors and chairmen of local authorities, but for the present representation had been restricted to the isthmus. He further pointed out that he proposed to represent to the Government the vital need for the co-ordination of all the celebrations throughout New Zealand, so that it will be possible to move from one centre to another to attend different functions. Lastly, but not finally, there was the question of helpfulness to those who, for diverse reasons, could not help themselves. Their endeavour should be to perfect arrangements which would during the celebrations provide pleasure to and comfort for the sick, the blind, the aged ■ infirm, the widows and orphans and the needy. Mr. Davis also made reference to his proposal for the unification of the control of essential services to mark the centenary in Auckland, and said that although this issue did not involve organic amalgamation of boroughs, it was, nevertheless, a debatable one and as . such could not enter into their present considerations. It required separate treatment. He proposed, therefore, to convene a conference of city and suburban local bodies in March or April next, and to place before it a considered scheme, not for adoption or rejection, but as a basis of discussion and study of this great problem in the hope that, by 1940, some practical result would have been achieved. > Suggested Programme. At the conference in March next it would be practicable to give effect to the resolution passed by the City , Council and constitute a representative committee, with Mr. J. S. Brigham, the town clerk, as its permanent secretary, and to delegate to this body the responsibility of formulating a general policy. The idea wasj that this committee will lay down for approval subsequently at a plenary conference a codified plan of action, and give a pre-

liminary survey of the items .catalogued for inclusion in the tentative centenary programme. With the object of breakin" the ground for the committee Mr. Davis drafted the following list of suggested ceremonies for consideration after its appointment: —

Unveiling or opening of memorials; historical pageantry, including both land and sea representation; Maori gathering at Mangere;.. religious festivals, each according to its order; visits of illustrious people, with special invitations to former Governors-General; air race to New Zealand; trans-Tasman yacht race; Royal Show at Auckland; primary products exhibition; racing and trotting carnivals; Olympic Games location; visits of naval units; naval exercisee and displays; nautical displays (possible evente being a sea pageant, depicting the arrival of the first settlers and Governor Hobson, yachting carnival, with Sanders and Oornwell Cup contests, and New Zealand rowing championships) ; military and naval tournament and tattoo at Domain; aerial pageants; invitations to Empire Rugby, Rugby League and Association football teams and cricket and tennis sides to visit New Zealand; if practicable, Davis Cup contests; competitions by all codes of football; all forms of sporting, athletic and aquatic championships, namely, golf, tennis, yachting, swimming, amateur athletics, hockey, boxing, wrestling, shooting, motor racing, broadsiding, wood chopping, outboard motor boats, croquet and so on; Kirk-Windeycr Golf Cup (a trans-Tasman contest); decorated processions; city decorations and illuminations; annual conferences of different organisations; massed children's demonstrations; special tourist attractions; gatherings of early settlers and descendants; boy scout and girl guide gatherings; lighting of centenary beacons; dramatic, musical and elocutionary festivals; band competitions; Polynesian reunion; reunion! of war veterans; and displays of historical documents, photographs, etc.

Mr. Davis referred to the Wellington plans to hold an international exhibition as main feature of its centenary celebrations, and said they wholeheartedly welcomed this attraction in a spirit of co-operation, and all would bo well so long as i"ate schedules did not clash. It would be most desirable from Auckland's point of view if the c&hibition could be held in the final quarter, rather than at the beginning of 1940, as a magnificent climax to the national commemoration.