OPINIONS DIFFER

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 117, 11 February 1926, Page 6

OPINIONS DIFFER

WELLINGTON COURT AT THE EXHIBITION THE MAYOR REPLIES TO MR. F. J. NATHAN On his return from the south yesterday morning, the Mayor (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood) was seen with respect to some of the mo.-e recent criticism of the Wellington court at the Dunedin Exhibition, and on the exhibition generally. “I am fully satisfied,” said the Mayor, “that what has been said as to the magnitude and the importance of the exhibition has not been overstated. The exhibition would do credit to any country many times larger than New Zealand, and I think we in the North Island must congratulate our southern friends on the great measure of success that is being attained by this huge undertaking, one that when the term of its duration is ended will not be attended with any considerable loss, and possibly without loss at all. “It seems to me that no exhibition has a chance of success without the full co-operation of other States within the Empire. After what I saw, I can say that the British court is an education to anyone, no matter how learned he may be, and if it were only to see the treasures in this fine court, it is worth a visit to Dunedin by all who find it possible to make the trip. The Canadian court also embraces a wonderful display of goods which leaves in little doubt the magnitude and productivity of that great Dominion. Australia, too, has done its full share in giving educative displays that faithfully represent the present and. future prospects of our near neighbours' in the Pacific. When these are coupled wjth the exhibits from our own country, one could not but help being filled with pride and satisfaction at what the British Empire really means.” “Not unnaturally, perhaps,” continued Mr. Norwood', “I was very much interested in the Wellington provincial court at the exhibition, and I was very grieved and depressed to hear, at the reception- to the municipal conference delegates by the exhibition authorities, the critical ’ statement made by Mr. F. J. Nathan, the Mayor of Palmerston North, who made a point of singling out the Wellington court for adverse comment. As Mr. Nathan's statement had been broadcasted throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand, I feel called upon, in justice to the splendid work performed by our Exhibition Committee, to compliment '"them one and all on the very happy result obtained with the money at their disposal. “From the point of view of architectural outlay, the Wellington court probably stands out among the. provincial courts, and about the furnishings and the arrangement of the exhibits there is a dignity that. I, personally, would not- have seen disturbed by the introduction, of a display of our secondary industries, which, as often as not, take the form of piles of empty jam and biscuit tins. On the other hand, the primary products of the province were capitally represented in various ways, and one can see everything without strain. “I cannot see what more the Exhibition Committee could have done, with the money at their disposal, but had all the local’bodies in the Wellington pro*, vince taken a broad vifew and supported the court in equal ratio to the Wellington City Council, it is possible that a display might have been made so pretentious and wonderful that even Mr. Nathan, of Palmerston North, would have hesitated to criticise.”