THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 1932. DEVELOPING THE DOMAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21120, 1 March 1932, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 1932. DEVELOPING THE DOMAIN.

In the coirso of his suggestions for the futu.'e development of the Domain, the city engineer was frankly critical of what has been done. " There is scarcely a single feature," lie said, " that is wholly satisfactory and that is not capable of considerable improvement." This judgment is so downright and extreme that it provokes question, and thus may invite defeat of proposals designed to effect a change for the better. A great many, particularly those preferring Nature unadorned to the statues and the terraces, and peacocks strutting by, as Kipling would say, will bo wondering whether so-called improvement may not mean philistine destruction, by whatever sort of lawful authority it may be brought about. Unfortunately, ideas of what constitutes a park often run counter to canons of beauty learned from earth's native loveliness, and when these ideas are given rein they reduce to fantastically prim order what was earlier delightful in its errant freedom, developing in accordance with a supreme law written in its own heart. This is no justification for letting the wilderness reassert itself over the city, nor an excuse for doing nothing; it merely recalls the undeniablo fact that places like the Domain are bits of Nature, to be cherished for the boon they give to townsfolk eye-weary and soul-tired with the stiff lines of street and building and appliances essential in their wort aday routine. It is sadly possible to' " improve " away such sources of recreative relief, and to lose the very "amenities" in the namo of which the changes are made. V'hen entrances and approaches, drives and pavilions, are discussed, let this be dutifully remembered. along with the hopes of these win gave this particular pleasance into the city's keeping seventy years or so ago.

When there was proposed a motortraffic road interfering with the sylvan glade near the Domain Drive, the outburst of protest was inspired more or less consciously by ihis sound principle of saving Nature from desecration. It was a revolt deeper than any zest for native flora in preference to exotics. After all, a tree is a tree, a thing of beauty if not a joy for ever, unless it be shamefully barbered into some shape totally unlike its real self. It is an innate appreciation of natural delights that will set itself stoutly in defence of the bush path near the stream, a remnant of an erstwhile pervading abandon of growth. "Natives or exotics" does not enter the real question; it is one between the natural and the artificial. To discipline a thicket is good ; to decimate it for the sake of access e isewhere is immeasurably bad if the;:e be no utter necessity for the destruction. To do away with " the straight track up the hill " a.nd form one in keeping with the contour of the varying slope is to be commended. It was a mistake to pul; that track there in the first ins tar ce—an instance of the terrible things city authorities may sometimes do in their zeal for " improvement " —because it tragically violated the principle that should havo been honoured. Concerning th<> use of that track, in competition with the path beside the stream through the bush, the city engineer lately had a tally taken lor a week, and drew from l the figures a contention that the latter was comparatively unfrequented. His recourse to a statistical argument is instructive. Statistics are dangerous things to handle, as all who have technical training well know. There is always lurking some upsetting element not in the figures themselves. Was this question of the worth of the sylvan pathway to be settled by counting the footwear treading it ? There is somewhere a forceful word about spiritual tilings needing to be spiritually discerned; they are no more measurable by material standards than they are enjoyed by mechanical acquisition. There may have been Fewer in that week on. the bush path than on the straight track, but where was the greater ecstasy of experience 1 ? When it comes to " amenities " there is something that no statistician can catch. The engineer's figures, however, supply their own answer to the conclusion he mistakenly drew from them. It was irrelevant to take into account the total number using the Domain Drive near the ponds, for most of these admittedly traversed it without reference to the slope offering the alternative routes in question, and to base on that total the. percentages of those using the bush path and the straight track was gratuitous. But the other figures are important: Monday to Friday daily average, 44 by the bush path, 218 by the straight track; Saturday, TO and 228 ; Sunday, 293 to 188. Thit is, on the day that offered leisure for observation and reflection, the bush path was superlatively attractive, and even on Saturday, inclusive of a halfholiday, the Monday - to - Friday record was vitiated. It will always be the case that, under workaday conditions, tie shortest route will offer an advantage in getting from point to point. That advantage has never been claimed for the joyous path ?iear the stream. Its attractiveness is incomparable, however, in circumstances permitting enjoyment, and this the engineer's figures indisputably prove. The whole subject of Domain development calls for recognition of the principle that natural features should be preserved as far as possible. To treat the region as a thoroughfare merely would be a grave error. Instead, to encourage use of it as a resort for recreation, mental and spiritual as well as physical, should be ari immovable basis of policy. Everything in keeping with that will be welcome.