OPENING CEREMONY

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 6 July 1921, Page 5

OPENING CEREMONY

ADDRESS BY HON. C. J. PARR,

The Dominion Shovv, was Opened by the Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister for Education, at 2.15 yesterday afternoon. On the platform with the Minister were Messrsh DT J. Goodwin, chairman of directors, E. Dixon, M.P., O. Hawken, M. P., White, chairman of the Taranaki Education Board, Dunn, president of the provincial executive of the Farmers' Union, and the directors of the Winter Show.

Apologies were received for the absence of Messrs R. Masters, M.P., and S. Smith, M.P. Mr. . Goodwin, in expressing the pleasure he felt at the presence of Mr. Parr, said they all knew what a busy time a Minister had in these troublesome days, and for this reason they appreciated his visit the more. The exhibition this year was the best they had yet seen in Hawera and the staging showed a great improvement on previous years.

The Mayor said he was very pleased to welcome Mr. Parr to the town. It was fitting that he, as Minister for Education, should open a show which indicated the extent of the important educational work that was being done among, the boys and girls and people of the district. They were very proud of their town, and, as one who had taken a prominent part in municipal matters in Auckland, the Minister would be able to appreciate the progress that had been made. with town improvements which were calculated to induce people to settle in their midst. He congratulated the committee on the success of the show, or, more correctly, the exhibition. The committee had shown commendable foresight in erecting the splendid buildings in which the exhibition was housed.. He would like to remind them, however, that it would be the last time that they would be permitted to occupy part of the street with a temporary building, the removal of wfeich was lq_g overdue.. It was one thins; to remove the building and quite another to "find the money necessary I to build another. He wanted to stress the point that if the Dominion Show

was going to progress and realise expectations the people must.stand behind the directors and see that they have a building worthy of the show. lie understood that the directors had the land and wanted to erect another building at a cost of £10,000. He hoped that some of the people of Hawera would put some money into the concern and if they did they would probably draw some handsome^ dividends. He would like to commend an investment of this kind to them. It was on<r thing to go to a show and aporeciate the exhibits and it was quite another thing to show practical appreciation. Mr. Hawken, M.P., said he was pleased to say a few words as the re

presentative of the outer district of South Taranaki. He remembered when the first show was held and he wanted to congratulate the management on the wonderful way in which they had carried it on and the success they had met with up to the present time. The show was a good advertisement for a good district. Some of their exhibits were especially good and the artistic way in which they were displayed was a great advance on previous shows. He congratulated the committee on the way they had looked after,the children, who had been encouraged in agricultural work. He believed that great good would come out of what was being done in this way. The Hon. C. J. Parr, who was received with applause, commenced his address with a humorous reference to the beautiful weather, which he attributed to the influence over the meteorological department. He thanked Mr

Goodwin for his kindly welcome and the Mayor for the civic welcome that had been given him, and said he was pleased that he had been able to come and see their enterprising and progressive borough. He would take that opportunity of offering his congratulations to Mr. Dixon on his election as member for the district. "Ginger" was one of those qualifications which made for success and the new member, like himself and Mr. Lloyd George, had a large amount of ginger in his composition. He wished to apologise for the absence of his colleague, the Hon. W. Nosworthy, who unfortunately was engaged on important business in the South Island. Personally he was glad that Mr. Nosworthy could not come, as it had given him (Mr. Parr) an opportunity of seeing their town and show. That morning, in company with Mr. White, chairman of the Taranaki Education Board, he had motored round the back of the mountain, passing through Opunake and Manaia on his way to Hawera. He had never seen these districts before and had been delighted with the country i which was as fertile as it was beautiful. New Zealand did not hold a finer piece of country than a stretch of land of about 15 or 20 miles through which he passed. This land, he believed, was known as the garden of Taranaki, and he was of the opinion that it was not only this, but the garden of New Zealand. He did not wonder, when he remembered that land,' that they were able to hold such a successful snow. He resognised, as pointed out by Mr. Hawken, that not only the farmers in the district, but the boys and girls were taking an interest in agricultural education. Not only were, the schools well taught, but he was pleased to know that they had boys' and girls' agricultural clubs, and they could not do a more splendid piece of work for education than to encourage these clubs. He understood that the children obtained the use of about a quarter-acre of their fathers' farms and were taught under trained instructors to grow crops in competition with each other. He wished that the tens of thousands of children in the "cities could ccc what the children were doing in the way of receiving elementary agricultural education. He hoped the work would prosper and extend." People were Leaving the land for the already overcrowded centres of the Dominion. That way led to the destruction of any country. They must get the' population to drift the other way. They must try and get the people way from the crowded centres to the invigorating life of the country. With a happy illustration taken from the came of" bowls, the Minister urged that an effort should be made to create a bias with the population m favour of the country. If they could do 'this the people would go to the country. At present the bias was towards the banks and the lawyer's offices. These were the wrong places to go, and he hoped the agricultural clubs would give a bias to the land. They wanted to keep the country children in the country instead.of allowing them ta-drift towards the towns, which already had too many people. He supposed their district,- like every other district, was up against hard times. Fortunately the dairying industry had not suffered to any great extent so far. What would happen in the future they could not say, but. as far as he could see. the products from the farm would sell at remunerative prices. He had been told by a man thai margarine was going to wipe out butter. A man in Auckland had said that he could not tell the difference between factory butter sold at 2s 6d per lb and margarine sold at s£d per lb. A man who said should get his palate tested. One

thing they must not forget was that the power to purchase would regulate the sales and if the people of England were going to have strike after strike there would not be much money for margarine or anything else. He was pleased to see that the coal miners were showing a little commonsense and had decided to go back to work. This was no time for strikes. They were up ! against a state of things that required I every man to take his coat off and work. Continual strikes meant national suicide. He hoped that now the strike was over their beat customer would coon be in funds and would be able to purchase their produce. He believed that commonsense was asserting itself and that the people were taking the lesson well to heart that they must work, and work hard, if they were to pull through. The outlook of the dairy farmer was, in his opinion, good, but he was satisfied that the shipping companies of the world were simply robbing the farmer by means of high freights, which had gone lip 400 per cent, since 1914. The very first thing the Governments must do was to strain every nerve in order to bring down these freights to a payable proposition. He again congratulated the dairy company on, the excellent show. The exhibition of children's work was easily the best he had ever seen. He trusted the children would continue with a bias towards agriculture, for this was the thing that would make the district successful. He wanted to congratulate Hawera, not only on having such a successful show, but on the condition of the town, which was one of the cleanest in New Zealand. He had noticed that the people -were hot afraid to put a little pahit on their dwellings and he had been most favourably impressed on viewing the town' from the water tower. He asked the people to see that the show had that educational value that would make it worth while, not only to the farmer, but to the townspeople All should be made to understand whit.meant in all its ramifications to alii the interests that were bound up f1" lt-.,.He toped the coffers of the com~ mittee would be filled with golden sovereigns and that the progress in the aYV 0"1 *1 ¥as g°od as in the past At the conclusion cheers were given for the Minister. &