SUNDAY CHARGES AT THE ZOO

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 83, 8 April 1933, Page 12

SUNDAY CHARGES AT THE ZOO

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I was pleased to read in your paper that Councillor McKeen intends to move that the Sunday charge'at the Zoo be abolished, but as an ex-city councillor I know the methods by which such resolutions are placed at the bottom o£ the order paper, and do not expect that, as it is the last meeting of the present conn-, oil, it will ever be reached or discussed. At the same time I congratulate Councillor McKeen on having courage and initiative in bringing forward his resolution, as it has been the means of disclosing the figures, which prove conclusively that the abolishment of the free Sunday was an error of judgment on the part of those who voted for it. v Recently you reported a discussion which took place at the City Council meeting on March 16, in which it says'"that one of the councillors, who is also a member of the Reserves Committee which controls the Zoo, said that his personal view was that the best thing would be to 'empty the whole box of tricks.'" I should like to remind him that the "bos of tricks" contains an elephant worth at least £700, besides a very valuable collection of animals which it took the Wellington Zoo-' logical Society nearly twenty years to collect from all parts of the world. His remark reminds me of one which a great artist made when some clodhopper accidentally destroyed a beautiful picture which he had just completed. He said: "Oh, well, it takes an artist to paint a picture, but any fool can put his foot through it." After having held the position of secretary and treasurer of the Wellington Zoological Society for eighteen years, perhaps I may be pardoned if I resent such flippant treatment of. this valuable educational institution which since its inception has enjoyed the patronage of such men as the late Sir Robert Stout, Sir Walter Buchanan, the Hon. W. F. Massey, Sir John Luke, Sir Joseph Ward, and Rev. John Crewes, also Sir James Allen, Rev. D. C. Bates, Sir Thomas Wilford, Sir Lionel Halsey, and his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, all of whom have been pleased to advance the interests of Wellington Zoo. The first result of the Sunday charge was to put out of existence the Wellington Zoological Society, which was like removing the mainspring of a watch, all progress was arrested, and the City Council has "done practically nothing since in the way of introducing new exhibits, and also very little in the way of advertising the • Zoo. The free Sunday, quite apart from the increased revenue received on the trams, was < absolutely the best advertisement the Zoo could have, as thousands of adults and children visited it regularly and the interest was perpetual and ever-increasing. In Auckland the City Council uses its zoo to increase the tramway revenue, by issuing through tickets from all parts of the city, the price of which tickets includes admission to the zoo. It also has a Zoological Society, which" has been encouraged by the City Council by the granting of a free annual pass to the zoo for every member who pays an-annual subscription to the society's funds. Sir, I am confident our zoo is here to stay, and that eventually, in spite of great apathy, futile opposition, and trade depression, it will yet take its place amongst many other zoological collections in the world. Meanwhile we shall possess our souls in patience and~on May 3 endeavour to elect a more appreciative and progressive City Council. —I am. etc., JOHN CASTIdS,. 4