A WELLINGTON EXHIBITION.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 13 November 1902, Page 4

A WELLINGTON EXHIBITION.

Those who are concerned in the progress of our city will have read with interest of the decision come to by the Wellington Industrial Association to hold an exhibition in Wellington in connection with the opening of the new Town Hall. The contract time for the completion of that building expires in May,. 1904, and the proposal is to hold the Exhibition in November of that year, so that the promoters have just about two years in which to complete their arrangements for what bids fail" to be an undertaking of considerable magnitude. It was first of all suggested that Mercer-street should i be olosed to the public during the Exhibition, and the ground given up for exhibition purposes, but Captain Hugo, of the Municipal Fire Brigade, pointed out the supreme necessity for me Brigade having ready means of exit from its headquarters to every part of the city, and the City Council, rightly, we think, Upheld him in his objection to that proposal. The promoters will, instead, erect a bridge over Mercer-street from the Town Hall site to the vacant sections opposite, and as they Avill also have the usti of the vacant land between the Education Board buildings and the Town Hall, together with the greater part of the new building itself, there should be ample accommodation, without any interference with the Brigade or restriction of the rights of the public. At present, of course, only the bare preliminaries have been arranged ; details will nave to be worked out later on, but the men who are giving the time and taking the trouble to carry out an undertaking of such magnitude are the same citizens who did such excellent work six years ago, and the experience they then gained should stand them in good stead on this occasion. There is no reason to fear that the Exhibition will not prove a success financially, and in every other respect, bub it is n6t too soon to urge upon the manufacturers and the citizens of Wellington, and, indeed, of the colony generally, that that success can only be assured by hearty co-operation on their part, and that such co-operation will result in benefit to themselves and fco the community as a whole. Even at this early hour there is one subject- in which the general public could with advantage take an active interest — viz., the provision of an organ for the concerb hall Avhich is to be the main feature of our new Town Hall. The Industrial Association proposes to give 75 per cent, of any profits it may x make out of the Exhibition towards the cost of tho organ, and there is every probability of it being able to hand over a handsome sum of money when all is . over, but the city ought to decide as soon .as possible, whetlier the organ should not bo purchased in time to be used during tho Exhibition, and, if so, where is the balance of the money to corns from? The City Council may be expected to ullimotely provide the necessary funds, but tho fcinn required will be a. large one, running into some -thousands of pounds, and it is quite possible that tne .Cpuncil will not bo anxious to incur the liability sooner thr.n is absolutely necessary. If the musical people of VVellington are really interested in the matter they will urge on the Council ihe necessity of having the organ installed and ready for use on soon after the completion of the building as possible, and their arguments would curry considerably greater weight if they could persuade some of their wealthy fel-lovr-citizens to come forward with handsome donations towards its cost, in addition to the 75 per cent, of the profits which will b? given by the Industrial Association. Then, again, in regard to the Exhibition itself, we understand that the promoters a.re desirous of being allowed to use the Mayor's reception room and the corridor in the new building for the purposes of an art gallery. If that request is acceded to — and we Can see no reason why it should not be — the Government should be • asked to approach the various Australian Governments for the loan of some of the great pictures of their art galleries. These would be at once a source of great attraction, aud of high educational value, and would put the Wellington Exhibition on, a higher plane than has yet been reached by any previous exhibition in this colony.