EMPIRE EXHIBITION

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 4, 5 July 1922, Page 9

EMPIRE EXHIBITION

ITS OBJECTS EXPLAINED BIG MEETING Of BUSINESS MEN THE PROJECT SUPPORTED. Th» objects of the Empire Exhibition^ to 'be held in London in 1924, were explained to a large meeting of business men held in the Dominion Farmers' Institute yesterday afternoon, by Major 0. A. Belcher, C.8.E., who, with. Lieuten-ant-Colonel A. Christie, O.M.Gv, and Mr. F. W. Bates, is, visiting the overseas Dominions in connection with the* Exhibition. Mr. W. F. Cuthbertson, president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, was in the chair, and among those present were : Messrs. R. W: Dalton (H.M. Trade Commissioner), J. W. Collins (secretary .of the BoaTdi of Trade), A. L. Hunt (president of the Central Chamber of.Commerce), and 0. J. 'Ward (president of the Wellington Industrial Association). LieutenantCblonel Christie was present at the meeting, but did not address the ingEMPIRE TRADE CO-OPERATION. Mr. Cuthbertson, on behalf of the business community of Wellington, extended a hearty welcome to the visitors. The Exhibition would be the largest project of its kind ever hold in the world;, andl the speaker trusted that New Zealand would be adequately represented) with a proper display of its products. New Zealand wanted the Empire to take all its products, and this could only be brought about by ; co-operation between the Mother Country and the Dominions. Major Belcher said that the credit of the Exhibition wafi really due to the late Lord Strathcona,, who origina-tedi the idea in 1913. It had been Lord1 Sti-athcona's ambition that the Exhibjtion should be held in' 1915, but the war intervened. When the war was over, a committee of business interests took up the project, which had'the patronage of His Majesty the King. The Prince of Wales was chairman of, the General Committee. Major Belcher explained how the British! Government had passed an Act of Parliament to assist the guarantee fund at the outset with; a sum of £100,000. Consideration had been given at length to the question of site. It was desired to find an exhibition centre which would! be permanent in, nature, where business' expositions could be held on any future occasion. Accordingly, it liadl been .agreed that the Exhibition should beheld at Wembley Park, which was five miles from the Marble Arch, and a spot ! easily accessible from all. points of | London. Another advantage was that Dominion exhibits could easily be transported, to the site by rail._ Wembley Park was situated, in a. beautiful part of Middlesex:, and ,it had very attractive; surroundings, PROFITS FOR DOMINIONS. Whatever profits were made from tih/e Exhibition would be devotedi to Imperial purposes, it having been agreed that 50 per cent, of the net profits should be handed over to the Dominions, to do a3 they liked with. Should there be any loss on tine Exhibition^—which was not anticipated—the whole of it would be. born© in the Old Country, and m parti would fall on thr Dominions. (Applause.) The General, Committee of the1 Exhibition was representative. of shipping, banking, and commercial interests, aiid the great leading manufacturing andi agricultural industries. It also hadi the support of the Government Departments, which were concerned with trad' 6 matters. Trade associations . were left to arrange their own form of exhibit*. For instance, the British Engineering 'Association and 'the British Electrical^ Engineering Association had each, reserved) 200,000 square feet of space to show what these industries were ■ capable oB producing., Business firms at Home hadi put up over a million pounds sterding,' which : showed how they \ viewed the importance of the' Exhibition. It was also proposes to show how research had been successful in the interests of mankind, particularly so far as disease was concerned, whether it related to human beings, plants, or animals. It was for the good of the Empire that the results of research should be concentrated in one building at such an Exhibition. Art would also ho siven space, and the speaker hope'l that" in the Dominion's pavilion attention would he given to art in its relation to crafts. Major Belcher suggested, that New Zealand should exhibit specimens of craft production from its timbers, which would show to others that it was unnecessary always to go outside the [ Empire for hardwoods, "

EMPIRE PRODUCTS FOR VISITORS.

Dominions would be given full autonomy at the Exhibition, and no rent would be charged for the various pavilions, a thing which had not been done before in-the history of exhibitions. , It was estimated that at least 10,000,000 people would visit tho Exhibition, and the people would be fed in restaurants, at which they would get nothing which was not produced in the British Dominions. There would be no Argentine meat — (laughter) — Danish butter, or American cheddar. This would give an important impetus to the merits of the Empire's food products, and would give the Dominions an opportunity of showing what they could produce. It was no use having immigration schemes unless the .problem of settling the migrants was solved, and in Major Belcher's view the three great questions of immigration, production, and markets were interwoven. It was hoped as a result of tfie Exhibition that the people of Britain would be educated regarding the potentialities of the whole Empire. Major Belcher added that he intended to learn what the prospects of the New Zealand markets were, and he would be most happy to give any information concerning the Exhibition. (Applause.)

Mr. C. J. Ward stated that there were difficulties which New, Zealand industrialists' would encounter so far. as the Exhibition was concerned, but greater problems than these had been settled before. For instance, there was' #ne matter which, no doubt, could be explained, and that was: How could New Zealand secondary industries benefit by an exhibition held in London? Mr. AVard moved: "That this meeting of representatives of the Wellington Chambers of Commerce, and of the Wellington Industrial Association; heartily thanks Major Belcher for his ;address, and assnres his mission of the hearty co-opera-tion of tlio interests represented here to-day in the British Empire Exhibition enterprise. That this meeting further resolves to afford the Government every assistance in organising and. arranging suitable exhibits representing the Dominion's, resources." ...

Mr. A.-Ij. Hunt seconded the motion, and, in doing so. said he hoped that space- would 'be utilised by "the Dominion iit the Exhibition towards illustrating New Zealand's mineral resources. Those resources needed outside capital to develop them, juirl New Zealand should iiol discourage that capital from coming here. INDUSTRIES AND CAPITAL. Major Belcher slated thai, Australia. whs spend} iis v. quarter of a reillian on the Exhibition. The Australian m»au-

facturers realised that they must encourage British capital to develop their secondary industries, and to do that they had decided to put on exhibition the things which they could produce. The more secondary industries were developed, the better for the future history not only of the Dominion concerned, but of the whole Empire as well. He considered tnat the practical outcome of the participation of - New Zealand secondary industries would bo the encouragement of British capital to support those industries. So far as fruit-canning was concerned, there were markets in Great Britain waiting for New Zealand to conquer.

The motion was carried amidst hearty applause, and the meeting closed with the' singing of the National Anthem.