LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14906, 3 February 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BY UEECUTIO.

Now that it has been decided to hold an Exhibition in Auckland next year, it behoves every man Jack of us to throw ourselves with enthusiasm and determination into the undertaking. It is only in that way that success can be achieved. We must all work together and work with a will, and if wo are only unanimous and resolute wo need not fear the result. Wo have a splendid opportunity of showing the W»t of New Zealand not merely the stuff wo are made, of, but our resourcefulness, imagination, enterprise and capacity for organisation. It should be our aim to make the Exhibition the- most original and attractive thing of its kind ever held at the Antipodes, something that will draw visitors from all parts of Australasia and which will bo spoken of in the clays to como as the most memorable event of 1913. The first and foremost thing to be done is to select a small but unique Executive consisting of the brainiest and most energetic men in the community, men chokeful of ideas and tingling to the tips of their fingers with enthusiam tempered with the serenest sanity and the finest business acumen. Next in importance is the selection of a site which shall lend itself to all the requirements of an Exhibition and at the earn© timeshall be central at.d easily accessible. The site of an Exhibition may make or mar it, and the consideration of this vital question will call for all the wisdom and shrewdness of the Executive,

There is one site -which will instantly suggest itself to every Aucklander, a site which seems intended by Nature for such 'purposel refer to the outer: Domain. It requires very little effort of the imagination to picture what a splendid scene could bo her© created by the happy combination of artistic taste and • practical utility. Behold a fairy-like structure approached by palm-lined avenues and many a rustic path, fronted with broad lawns and splashing fountains, and noble terraces and parterres gay with a-thousand brilliant blooms. Then what an enchanting paradise could bo made of tha wooded grounds! There would bo grottoes ablaze with glowworms, and myriads of twinkling lights amidst the trees, and on summer nights everywhere the 6oft and chastening rays of the moon. What a fairy land to wander in, to dream in and perchance to mak« love in! Then to drop from poetry to prose think of the convenience of such a. sit©, approached from all quarters of the city by tramcars and within easy walking distance of a railway station. I know of no other site that can be mentioned in the same breath, and I would strongly urge that no time should be lost in securing it."

Anniversary Day this year was remarkable for the evidence it furnished of the extraordinary prosperity of the community. Everywhere there -were record crowds of holiday-makers, and as you can't go jaunting without spending money | the total amount expended must have reached an enormous sum.. This is a very gratifying sign of the times regarded'from' the standpoint of human happiness, but it is nevertheless calculated to give us pause. , Wo seam to be , giving ourselves up more and more to pleasure needless of everything else. The motto of all classes appears to be to extract the greatest en- , joyment possible out of life and hang the consequences. lam not inclined to blame theai bat" I feel at times some misgivings. •History has a habit of repeating itself, and \ I cannot but remember that in the olden ' times \ when a race began to live for pleasure it invariably perished.

"It seems ages eince Sir Arthur Gordon was Governor of New Zealand, and tho news of his death as Lord Starimore will awaken no memories among the younger generation, of colonists. -He took little interest in New Zealand after he left it thirty years ago, and perhaps that is not to be wondered at. Sir Arthur was a well-meaning man, but he came among us with extraordinary notions of vice-regal dignity and aloofness. He surrounded himself with the most elaborate and pompous ceremonial/ which in those plain and 'simple days at first excited ridicule and iL then resentment, and His Excellency became universally unpopular. I fancy, ho was not sorry to leave the colony when he found himself in an uncongenial atmosphere, out of sympathy with everything and everybody.

The experiment which is about to be ' tried in some of the City Schools of beginning the day's work at 8.30 a.m. and finishing it at 2.30 p.m., will be watched with great interest. I for one should rejoice if it led to a radical change in our business hours. Why should the whole of the city not be up and doing an hqnr or two earlier than is the case at, present? lam certain it would bo better for all of us, especially in the euwmer time. .

The attitude of the suburban bodies regarding tho electric light is, it must be coafesfitd, a littlo unreasonable. They want it, but, they want it on _ terms which are simply impossible. Now there seems every likelihood that they will be unable to get it on any terms unless they start their own P-ants, as the Tramway Company is negotiating with the City "Council for all the ei*3tric power it is capable of supplying. Tllig surely is short-sighted policy on the Part of the suburban authorities.

, He scandalous indifference with which some members of the present Ministry : •Mat communications to them on public ' ; business is strikingly exemplified in connection with a question addressed by Mr. «■ Peacocke to the Minister for Public Works. The Minister was asked when i,.v*e intended to start the East Coast railway from the Waihi end for which purI pose Parliament last session voted £15,000Instead of giving a plain and direct "; answer to this plain and direct question, *** Minister sent the stereotyped reply, our telegram of the 22nd duly to hand and contents noted." The absurdity of a uch a reply would be screamingly ludicrous were it not for the fact that it belays an underlying note of superciliousn fe* which no member of Parliament or .■■ "'the Government has a right to assume. . Member*) and Ministers are the paid ser- ::; writs- of the public, and the public liavo . ft right to address them on public business , and to receive frank and courteous treat-|;-:»«nt at their hands.

Strikes are very much in the air at the present moment," and in the prevailing sniper of Labour anv day may see a genial suspension of all work, 'and a com- ■ Wet© paralysis of all business. That, of r?? r *ji would bo a national disaster which «ould bring in its wake untold suffering, Iff? " it did not lead to more tragic reaitj. The 'general strike is a terrible 1, 2 Pon ' and * regret to see that Labour .*» ■ T ' r ?" aro showing a disposition to use ,< ' *« is tantamount to waging war against t le $'• and if society is not to be des-■-rayed it must devise "some means of pro- , i<CWnj{ it sc if against this new danger. •fne Teal significance of the situation that •*.*»pidly developing may not be fully ;.r*Pad yet, but I believe that when it 11 <Yk,i * shall see a rallying of the forces > -'- make or law and order. HIH • 1