NOTHING COSTLY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 100, 30 April 1938, Page 8

NOTHING COSTLY

CENTENNIAL PLAN

DISTRICT MEMORIALS

STATE SUBSIDY

'•The Government does not regard with favour for subsidy purposes any proposal for the erection or establishment of expensive Centennial memorials in respect of which the cost cannot be raised by the people of the district directly concerned," the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry) stated in an interview today. He said that the Government's decision was based on the opinion that it was undesirable to ask posterity to meet the initial cost of Centennial memorials, and therefore the Government did not propose to grant any subsidy for those memorials to be erected with loan moneys.-

'■The total amount to be made available by the Government for Centennial celebrations and permanent memorials was £150,000. As this amount would require to be allocated on a definite basis to the several provincial districts, it was obvious that memorials involving heavy expenditure would have to be excluded from participation in the subsidy. Some organisations, it is understood, are contemplating the erection of hospitals, museums, etc., and the Minister suggested that buildings of that type were hardly appropriate as Centennial memorials unless practically the whole of the cost could be met by the com-, munities they would serve.

"I have been asked to state in definite terms," ' the Minister continued, "the type of memorials which, in the opinion of the Government, would be suitable for consideration by the provincial Centennial organisations. Although the matter has not yet been finally considered by the National Centennial Council, I would suggest that such memorials should be of a comparatively inexpensive nature and have a general community interest and value. A type of memorial strongly appealing to the Government is that of a recreation ground, or playpark, with community buildings and, where practicable, a swimming pool and children's playground. Without heavy cost suitable areas could be made places of public resort and enjoyment for successive generations. By giving the name 'Centennial,' the parks would stand as a monument not only to the first century of our national existence, but also to the foresight of the present generation." PLANTING OF TREES. Another form of inexpensive memorial, said the Minister, and one ■that could be used for the embellishment of existing recreation areas and public reserves, was a definite scheme of Centennial tree planting. "Both these types of memorials," the Minister said, "were advocated by the Coronation planting committee, constituted in London in 1937 under the patronage of her Majesty the Queen, to initiate, in commemoration of the Coronatjpn, a nation-wide movement for the general improvement and beautification of the countryside. It is a movement appealing to the Government, and one which could be appropriately applied in connection with New Zealand's Centennial. How better could that great event be marked than by having in most parts of the Dominion a Centennial park, acquired either by way of a new area or by replanning an existing domain or recreation reserve and planting it with long-life trees to commemorate individually the pioneers and others who have rendered signal service to-the district? Those parks and trees would be enduring memorials, combining natural beauty with utility, and would carry a sentimental interest and appeal to all succeeding generations." The Minister pointed out that the mere acquisition and planting of an area, small or large, would in itself be an acceptable Centennial memorial, and its development could follow according to a definite plan. The dedication of suitable areas by private individuals would serve the double purpose of commemorating the Centennial and commending the memory of the donor to a grateful posterity. "In making these suggestions," added Mr. Parry, "I am not unmindful of the fact that in some cases a memorial of the aesthetic- type would be most appropriate, but it is suggested memorials of the kind be erected at a focal point in the landscape or that they mark some spot of undoubted historical interest. I feel the public will appreciate the objection to a general policy of monumental memorials. The result of its adoption would be, probably, a host of objects of indifferent aesthetic merit and a standing reproach to the people of today."