THE DOMAIN AND PUBLIC GARDENS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18636, 10 March 1926, Page 11

THE DOMAIN AND PUBLIC GARDENS.

tO THE EDITOR OT "THE PBESS." Sir,—The public will have good reason to be grateful to the Domains Board for the consistent firm stand it has taken against the repeated marauding attempts made to filch away its reserves. The last of such onslaughts by the City Council, with its Mayor as chief spokesman, and a few other nonentities, was the most daring and audacious of all—no less than a proposal to swallow it up holus bolus as an adjunct to what Mr Harper well described as its "dreadful reserves" of past days—for that is what the proposed amalgamation must ultimately come to. It is a strange trait in the character of pur community that any newcomer, if he only lias the gift of the gab, can foist himself on us to occupy a prominent public position with so little difficulty, without any other claims, and regardless of the axes he may have to grind. These, remarks apropos of the Mayor's attitude at the recent conference with the Domains Board, when his concluding remarks completely gave away the show he championed in his "strong argument," as he was pleased to call it, ° 'that the Board could not raise its wages to the level of those paid by the City Council." '' Oh, that mine enemy would write a book" might well be the feeling of the Board, for if such is the strongest argument the Mayor can produce in. favour of his proposal, the ratepayers _ should know how to vote at next election. More power and credit to it, say _ I, for trying to stabilise a position which the Mayor would seek to exploit at the expense of the ratepayers. But "damn the ratepayers" is evidently his policy when political honours, perhaps, are in view, even though so remote. -_ Of course I realise that what his Worship says need not be taken very seriously since he only occupies his position by a fluke—on sufferance, as it we: -as a minority representative; one, moreover, who has shown himself so regardless of the fittings of. things in his records of Party bias. In contradistinction to the Mayor's remarks, other speakers (City Councillors, too, I believe) pointed out that without the contributions of. the local bodies, which the City Council could not levy, they could not effect economy, so we could only expect, especially as the wages of the employees would have to be raised to "the level of those of the City Council," to see our beautiful Domain, the admiration of all visitors, degenerate to a. "jdreadful state." •' ■ ' Dr. Chilton hit the nail on the head when he said "the Board should be constituted of persons interested in the Domain,'* by which I understood him to mean interested ( in it for its own sake, not merely because they have axes _ to grind as the representatives of various subscribing bodies, but as enthusiasts of independence, and, I would add, of some horticultural knowledge and experience wherever possible. We have in the' Christchurch and Gardens one of the show places of the Dominion, an amepity of which we may well be proud, thanks very largely, to the foresight of the, early pioneers, as everyone admits, and in the new Winter Garden a unique asset which cannot be surpassed, if, indeed, it can even be equalled in the Southern Hemisphere. In this connexion it seems relevant to point out that there are citizens m our community who are deeply interested as horticultural enthusiasts, in the public Gardens who, at the same time, are in a position to emulate the splendid gift of the late Mr Cuniugham, but who, it may well be asked, woulc be likely to present such a sum as £BUw or £IO,OOO to be" at the mercy of the City Council in a game of battledoor and shuttlecock between its parties i" No let iis seek to retain and pass on this glorious heritage, and not allow it to degenerate in the hands ot those who would use it for unworthy purposes or by the haggling over such questions as wages that we have so often seen in the City Council of these degenerate days. There is not much wrong with the present Board, though it might, perhaps, with ad-antage, be elected on a more popular basis, like the Hospital Board for instance, but it has done, and is doing, splendid work, and as long as you have such men on it as Air Harper, Mr Stead, Dr. Chilton, and others like them in enthusiasm, and with time to devote, to the work, for Heaven's sake don't, for the sake of change, run the risk of destroying or lessening its hnnianising influence and its attractions for the PRO BO3SO PUBLICO. March 9th, 192 G.