APPROVAL GIVEN EXHIBITION

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 264, 4 August 1936, Page 10

APPROVAL GIVEN EXHIBITION

Centennial Celebrations WELLINGTON PROJECT Local Body Representatives In Conference GOVERNMENT ALLOCATION General approval of the proposal to mark the centennial of New Zealand by holding an international exhibition at Wellington in 1939-40 was given at a conference of representatives of local bodies and other organisations in Wellington city and provincial districts held in the Town Hall, Wellington, yesterday afternoon. An important proposal which was supported wholeheartedly was to urge the Government and the Dominion Centennial Council to allocate a sum of £lOO,OOO by way of subsidy for the exhibition. Previously it had been announced by the Hon. W. E. Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs, that the Government proposed to allocate £75,000. A proposal to join m providing provincial and local celebrations and memorials as suggested by the Government was also approved by the conference. •The proposals for celebrating the New Zealand centennial were outlined by the Mayor of Wellington, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, who presided. “The matter of the appropriate celebration of this great national event has been the subject of consideration for a considerable time,” he said. “As far as Wellington is concerned it was initiated some years ago by my predecessor in office, and preliminary work has been continued by a group of citizens co-operat-ing with me since my election to its office of Mayor in 1931.” The representations which had been made to the past and the present Governments and the decisions arrived at were reviewed by Mr. Hislop. The Government proposed to allocate £250.000 to cover the cost of the centennial celebrations, and of this sum £75,000 was to be allocated to the exhibition project—£2s,ooo by way of loan free of interest, and £50,000 by way of subsidy based on £1 for every £2 subsidised share capital. Allocation Not Big Enough. •T think that the proposed allocation for the purposes of the exhibition is not sufficiently great, and on my suggestion this matter was deferred for further consideration at a later conference to be held with the Government,” added Mr. Hislop. • “It should be pointed out that the actual Government donation to the w'hole of the celebrations is not a straight-out donation of £250,000, but one of £225,000. The reason for this is that there is included in the £250,000 the sum of £25,000 by way of loan to the exhibition, which is to be repaid to the Government. “if will be generally agreed that there could be no better way of marking the centennial of the country than by an international exhibition. Such an event, if properly conceived, designed and managed, cannot fail to show' to all our people in this country the great development that has taken place over the past years and the standard of progress that the country has now attained. “Such an event must attract to these shores many thousands of overseas visitors and give to them an opportunity of seeing through the form of the exhibition the development of this country and give to the people in the country many advantages that flow from the visit of large numbers of people from abroad. The exhibition held some years ago at Dunedin was

uu outstanding success and there is every reason to believe that, working on the lines that were then followed, an even greater success should result from such an event at Wellington on the occasion of the national centennial. Exhibition a National One.

‘lt is proposed with the concurrence of the Government that the exhibition should be run on lines similar to that adopted at Dunedin, that is, that the organisation be that of a public company having associated with it, of course. Government and local body representatives. It is proposed that the exhibition itself shall be a fully international one and shall comprise all those features characteristic of such events.

“Not only will all the usual accepted features be provided for, both of local industries and of overseas exhibits, educational courts, artisans’ section, women’s sections, and all the multifarious appropriate sections, but there will be on a large scale the usual entertainment and amusement section involving a visit of a world-famous band and all the other various forms of entertainment.

“After carefully investigating we have been able to decide on an appropriate site in Wellington at Rongotal, which gives an area fully adequate for the purpose and which will enable buildings with a greater floor space than those of the Dunedin exhibition to be erected. The site is ready and requires very little preliminary work upon it. We have in the Kilbirnie Recreation Ground nearby an area suitable for athletic sports. Promises of support and assistance in organising sports events in Wellington on a generous scale have been received from the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association, New Zealand Swimming As sociation, the Olympic Association, and other bodies. “After a careful analysis of all the factors, we have come to the conclusion that capital to the amount of £225.000 would be necessary for the purpose as a bare minimum. As already stated the Government proposes 'o assist to the extent of £75.000. I think that this should be increased. The total Government assistance to Dunedin was £90.000, being £50.000 by way of direct grant and £40,000 by way of loan which was repaid in full.” Increase in Contributions. Mr. Hislop said he thought it could reasonably be suggested that the Government contribution to an exhibition of the type now contemplated and to celebrate an event of great national importance should be greater than that given on the occasion of the Dunedin exhibition. He suggested the Government should be asked to increase the total amount of Its provision up to a sum not less than £lOO.OOO, which the Wellington committee advised was a fair allocation, and that this £lOO.OOO be all given by way of direct subsidy ft for £1 of its share capital raised by the public. If that were done it would leave £125,000 to be raised by the public. He had little doubt that

they would be successful in an effort to raise this £125,000. “I am satisfied from my conversations with people in Wellington and elsewhere that the exhibition project meets with their favour,” said Mr. Hislop. “I mention this because some suggestions have been made that I cannot get the support necessary for this exhibition. The best answer I can give to this suggestion is to say what I have already been able to do and I can tell you now that I have already, with very little effort and without making any wide canvass, but just by approaching a few representative people and institutions, that I have already been promised an amount of approximately £50,000. It seems, therefore, that the project is assured of success, and I shall presently ask you to pass a motion on the matter.” [This amount of approximately £50,000 includes the capital contributions, mentioned later, of £25.000 from the Wellington City Council and £lO,OOO from the Wellington Harbour Board.}

Loan by City Council.

Mr. Hislop said that in the event of the public not subscribing the full £125,000 share capital, or if more capital should be required, then the Wellington City Council would be agreeable, subject to getting statutory authority, to itself lending the sum of £25,000 in the way the Government proposed to do. This would make the contribution by the city £50,000, because the city council has already agreed to take up £25,000 in shares. The provincial celebrations, apart from the exhibition, said Mr. Hislop, could best be dealt with by an executive committee with power to make recommendations at a later date, such committee to receive recommendations from all parts of the. province from those desirous of making them. The question of the provincial centennial memorial could also best be left for investigation and report by the provincial executive committee. Admirable Site at Rongotai. The opinion that the site at Rongotai was an admirable one, with adequate facilities and easy access was expressed by Mr. C. P. Hainsworth, who was general manager of the Dunedin Exhibition. When the Dunedin Exhibition returned 16/1 in the £l> he was quite confident that a similar exhibition at Wellington would return 20/- in the £l. lb would be necessary to engage a first-class military band from England for the whole season, supplemented on occasions by New Zealand bands. By way of illustration of a preliminary lay-out, Mr. Hainsworth showed lantern slides of the proposed site, and suggested that the main entrance should be to Lyall Bay. To indicate what was possible, he also showed slides of the exhibition at New-castle-on-Tyne in 1929, of which he was also manager.

General approval was given to the following three proposals moved byMr. Hislop and seconded by Mr. W. J. Rogers, Mayor of Wanganui, Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., and Mr. T. R. Barrer, acting-chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board respectively-

(1) To mark the centennial of New Zealand by the holding of an international exhibition in Wellington in 1939-1940.

(2) To join in providing provincial and local celebrations and memorials as suggested by the Government. (3) To urge the Government and the Dominion Centennial Council to allocate a sum of £lOO,OOO by way of subsidy for the exhibition. Mr. T. Jordan, Mayor of Masterton, asked whether there was any reason why the proposed subsidy should be £1 for £3 in the case of the provinces and £1 for £2 in the case of Wellington. Mr. Hislop: That will be a matter for discussion a ti the conference on August 21. Question of Local Celebrations.

Mr. J. Burns, a member of the Wellington City Council, questioned the advisability of holding too many local celebrations and thus risking a diffused effort.

The acting-chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board, Mr. T. R. Barrer, said the board had decided to make a contribution of £lO,OOO in exhibition debentures toward making the project an outstanding success. Everything the board could do to foster the development of the project would be done. Mr. C. H. Chapman, M.P., supported a proposal that there should be memorials erected in the provinces. It was fitting to mark the centennial by memorials, and the more there were established the better it would be, provided they were of public utility. The Mayor of Petone, Mr. A. Scholefield, suggested something should be done as a local memorial to commemorate the arrival of the early settlers at Petone.

Mr. Hislop said the question of local celebrations was a matter for the provincial executive.

Seconding the motion to ask the Government to allocate a sum of £lOO,000, Mr. Barrer said in view of the great importance of the event the appropriation which it was suggested they should ask for seemed to be a reasonable request. Delegates and Committee. The following were appointed to the Dominion council to act with Mr., Hislop:—Mr. J. W. Andrews, Mayor of Lower Hutt; Mr. T. Jordan, Mayor of Masterton; and Mr. W. J. Rogers, Mayor of Wanganui.

As a provincial executive committee the following were appointedßepresenting Wellington, Messrs. Hislop, D. J. McGowan, chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board, and C. J. B. Norwood, chairman of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce; representing the Lower Hutt. Petone, Levin, Otaki. Eastbourne, and Upper Hutt Borough Councils, Johnsonville Town Board, the Hutt, Makara. and Horowhenua County Councils, the Hutt and Horowhenua Power Boards, and the Hutt River Board, Messrs. P. W. Goldsmith. Mayor of Levin, A. Scholefield, Mayor of Petone, and D. R. Hoggard, chairman of the Hutt County Council; representing the Masterton Carterton, Pahiatua, Featherston, Martinborough. Greytown, and Eketahuna Borough Councils, the Masterton, Castlepoint, Eketahuna, Featherston, and Wairarapa South County Councils, and the Tararua and Wairarapa Power Boards. Messrs. T. Jordan, J. W. Card, Mayor of Featherston, and D. McGregor, chairman of the Wairarapa South County Council; representing Wanganui and Palmerston North City Councils, Feilding, Shannon, Taihape, Ohakune, Foxton, and Marton Borough Councils. Bulls. Mangaweka. Hunterville Town Boards. Kaitieke, Kiwitea, Manawatu. Oroua, Pohangina, Rangitikei, Waihenio. Waimarino, Waitotara, and Wanganui County Councils, and the ManawatuOroua and Wanganui-Rangitikei Power Boards, Messrs. A. E. Mansford, Mayor of Palmerston North. T. Collins, Mayor of Feilding, and W. J. Rogers.