THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1912. THE EXHIBITION SITE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14924, 23 February 1912, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1912. THE EXHIBITION SITE.

The popular movement against the occupation of Victoria Park as an Exhibition site has been so strong and so unanimous that the decision of the City Council was necessarily predetermined before the question was considered last night. The Council had no option but to refuse the request of the Exhibition Committee unless the members of the Council were prepared to set themselves in opposition to the expressed feelings of a great section of thenconstituents, whose right to be heard and considered must be recognised by all reasonable people. Had* the public not intervened in this unmistakable manner it would have been an exceedingly ungrateful task to oppose the proposal of the Exhibition Committee; but as the subject has been thus unavoidably reopened we do not hesitate to say that apart from the decisive objections to surrendering for many months a most useful recreation ground the Exhibition will be much the gainer by being held in a more attractive locality. Victoria Park is in constant and beneficent use. The action of the City Council and the Harbour Board in conjointly and amicably arranging for its dedication to public purposes has been wholly justified by its advantage to a densely populated neighbourhood. It is a centre of wholesome and generous sport, and a blessing to many thousands who can ill a.'V xl to be deprived of it for the prolonged period required to prepare an Exhibition and to restore tho ground to its original condition. It is very regrettable that the Exhibition Committee should have taken such a decided stand as to lead to the deduction that unless Victoria Park were granted the whole movement would be abandoned. We refuse to think that the civic spirit of Auckland is so small and faint that the manifest opinion of our citizens is not thought worthy of consideration by such representative bodies as the Chamber of Commerce and the Industrial Association, in whose hands is the management of the movement. The judgment of the Exhibition Committee itself may very well be so enlisted on behalf of the Outer Domain, as recommended by the Council. For if gas and water are laid on, if the cost of excavation work is participated in by the Council and if the Tramways Company lays down a convenient loop line, the main objections to the Domain vanish altogether.'

From the first projection of the Exhibition idea, the Herald has urged the superior claims of the Domain as a site. In speaking to the question last night,, the Mayor very aptly pointed out that the beauties of the Domain, its surroundings and its approaches, constitute an advertisement for Auckland which would be lost if the Exhibition were set up among the surroundings, and with the approaches, of Victoria Park. The most modest Aucklander may claim that there are few views in the world more lovely than those to be obtained from the Outer Domain, and if we can conveniently choose between exhibiting to visitors our beauties and our uglinesses what possible reason can be advanced against showing Auckland at its loveliest and its best It would, of

course, be a complete answer to any site proposition if it could be shown that access thereto were irredeemably awkward or that a sufficient space would not be available. In spite of the assertions of the Exhibition Committee, we do not hesitate to say that the suggestion formally made by the Council last night, on the motion of Mr. Entrican, cannot be thus answered.- The Domain site is quite convenient to tram and train and if the Tramways Company run in a loop line—as may be confidently expected if the requisite representations , are made—access will be distinctly good. Within five minutes' walk of the Newmarket Junction, within ten minutes' walk of Grafton Bridge, within two or three minutes' walk of Manukau Road and of Khyber Pass—how can it be held that the Domain is inaccessible or that its approaches are wanting in plentiful transit facilities As for space, there is abundance, and any levelling required should bo assisted by the Council, for the ground would afterwards be most convenient and desirable for additional cricket pitches; this was suggested last night by Mr. Parr, and removes the final objection. Little more can be said until the Exhibition Committee reconsiders the position and replies to what is practically the proposition of the Council. We sincerely hope that the claims of Victoria Park cricketers and of the park-using public will be viewed in a sympathetic spirit, and that the Committee will recognise that the Council, under the circumstances, could but refuse to grant the Park, and would only have wasted time if it had delayed its reply. And we reiterate that tho Domain is an ideal site, incomparably picturesque, exceptionally attractive, sufficiently accessible, and as. spacious as can be desired. An Exhibition on this site would not be merely a commercial success, but would be remembered with pleasure by every visitor from i near or far.