PREPARING FOE CENTENNIAL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21867, 21 August 1936, Page 15

PREPARING FOE CENTENNIAL

DOMINION CONFERENCE AT WELLINGTON

REVIEW OF PROGRESS UP TO PRESENT Crxass. association tslxosam.) WELLINGTON, August 20. An outline of past and future activities in planning the Dominion centennial celebrations in given by the Minister for Internal Affairs (the Hon. W.-E. Parry), who presided at the conference of provincial centennial organisations held at Parliament House to-day. The Minister said that the Government had been deeply impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the various provincial conferences, and there was an evident desire to make the centennial something of which New Zealand Could be proud, and an inspiration to future generations. He went on to discuss provincial remits dealing with centennial finance. As he had announced in June, the Government was prepared to allocate £250,000 for celebrations and memorials, with £75.000 out of this total for an exhibition. £25,000 to be by way of loan without interest and £50,000 by way of subsidy of £1 for £2 on the basis of share capital. The Wellington conference had decided to ask for £IOO,OOO subsidy on a £1 for £1 basis, but the Government could not alter its previous decision to retain £175,000 for memorials and celebrations.

A remit from Auckland asking that the basis of on money raised locally for memorials should be altered from £1 for £2 to £1 for £2 could not be agreed to, for its adoption would limit the field of distribution., Limits on Subsidy

The Government was gratified to know that centennial memorials were being visualised on a lo'ty plane, but without in any way desiring to dampen enthusiasm, the Minister continued, he would like to sound a mild warning. It must be realised that subsidy money on money raised locally for approved memorials amounted to only £175.000. He thought that the suggestion made recently by the Governor-General (Lord Galway) that trees should be planted as centennial memorials was a most valuable one, and provided a splendid scheme for the poorest communities as well as for the richest.

The Government, he continued, was aware of the necessity for forming a central organisation to co-operate with the provinces and take charge of the nurely notional celebrations. The exhibition vftmld be in charge of the Minister for Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G.' Sullivan). The National Centennial Committee would be enlarged and an executive would be formed. Hr was also considering the advisability of appointing associate members throughout New Zealand. A special branch of his department would be developed to take charge of centennial matters. Later, special committees would be set up for special matters. The Tourist and Publicity Department would arrange special tours, and this department would also handle all overseas publicity and cooperate with provincial organisations to prevent overlapping.

Mayor’s Report

The Maj or of Wellington (Mr T. C. A. Hislop) outlined what had been done here about arrangements for the celebrations. He said that many projects were being considered in detail. Not very much had been done about historical' records, the feeling being that that could best be dealt with by the selection of a suitable group of authors. Great support had been found among all with whom they had come in contact.

The Ma.v’br of Auckland (Mr E. Davis) outlined what had been done in . his cjty. ; An ■ historical research committee had been functionifag since November of last year, said Mr Davis,- and consideration was to be given to the possibility of sending a qualified person to New South Wales to carry out research work. The committee was also to consider the publishing of a history of the Auckland province and of having compiled a roll of pioneer colonists. The Mayor of Christchurch (Mr J. W. Beanlsnd) said that Canterbury would not lag behind in the national observance of the centennial and the preparation of an historical record should have a prominent place i» the celebrations.

The Rev. E. T. Cox (Mayor of Dunedin) said that an Otago Provincial Centennial Council had been formed and its sub-committees were now in action. They suggested the co-ordina-tion of various provincial historical surveys by a meeting of provincial representatives. Otago already had the material needed for a survey. The Mayors bf Gisborne, Blenheim. Napier, Invercargill. New Plymouth, and Nelson also gave assurances of support, as did Mr H. M. Tatere, for the Maori race. Mr Parry, in reply to a question by Mr Hislop. explained that no undertaking had been given by him about a Government grant of £IOO,OOO for the Wellington exhibition. The conference could appoint a deputation to the Government if it liked, though he knew the Government’s mind on tne matter. A New Proposal

Mr Hislop said that in view of what the Minister had said, he felt it would be a waste of time to put forward a resolution from the Wellington provincial conference, asking that £IOO.OOO be allocated for the exhibition, He very much appreciated the promises of support for the project from all Darts of New Zealand. Mr Hislop said that in place of the original proposal that £IOO,OOO should be allocated for the exhibitibn, he would suggest that the Government be asked to make a straight-out grant of £75,000, ii. stead of a grant of £50,000 and a loan of £25,000. The Minister: I think you should go straight ahead with your exhibition. Mr Hislop said that if such an arrangement could be made, it would assist enormously, and it would not, in fact, entail any increase in the total contribution from the Government for all purposes of £250,000. “I don’t think there’s any great obstacle preventing you from going straight ahead,” said Mr Parry. He added that there would be no harm in the exhibition committee iater making representations. In the meantime, the matter would be better left where it was, though he did not want the impression to be taken that Mr Hislop was not doing the right thing. The remit was not put.