THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, MAY 29, 1933 WAIKATO WINTER SHOW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21503, 29 May 1933, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, MAY 29, 1933 WAIKATO WINTER SHOW

Even in a time of anxiety for the industry mainly served by the Waikato Winter Show, it would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of this annual fixture, to be officially opened to-morrow. Indeed, such a time adds to the reasons for maintaining the organisation of the show at a high level of efficiency, and its promoters are to be commended for their unflagging zeal. It bespeaks an unshaken confidence in the prospects of dairying. That is justified. A glance at the commercial history of this staple industry of the Dominion reveals earlier experiences that tested courage and enterprise. Fluctuations of price and difficulties of marketing haid to be faced, and the remoteness of this country from the great body of buyers and consumers of dairy products had to be recognised as a handicap. Fundamental in all efforts to overcome the handicap has ever been, and will always be, the achievement of a high standard of quality coupled with a maximum volume of production. Because their plans were shaped to aid this achievement, the founders of the show richly merited the success that soon came, and, so long as the lines then laid down and since extended are followed, the service they sought to render will be well performed. Come good times or bad, the exhibition of products and the incitement of friendly rivalry in production cannot do otherwise than assist the industry ; and the coming of bad times is a clear call not to slacken in this service but rather to redouble efforts to make it effectual. As the district has developed, the show has registered an advancing tide of prosperity—with inevitable recedings of constituent waves —but it has done more. It has embodied a faith in the future, never allowing untoward circumstances to check endeavours to make every aspect of the exhibition, particularly the competitive, contribute to prosperity—not necessarily immediate but always envisaged as attainable. The promoters have had their best reward in the evident influence of their service and the establishment of their enterprise as one of the most notable of its kind in the world.

In the development of the Waikato district is one of the outstanding facts of New Zealand history. Seventy years ago it was a region almost untouched by civilisation. Save for missionary activities and the entry of venturesome travellers, the upper reaches of the waterway were almost unknown to colonists, and events in 1863 threatened to make them more difficult of access. Trouble in Taranaki over a matter of land purchase spread in that year to the Waikato, and in July a native force, in two columns, was despatched thence to attack Auckland and make good the rebel threat to drive all the Europeans into the sea. It was a critical hour. Governor Grey felt compelled to counter the outbreak with a stern threat of military measures,,, and these had to be adopted. The campaign ended in the confiscation of Maori lands and the armed occupation of certain areas. Settlements of military, naval and militia men, as well as of others accepting military obligations, were located in the region, and by this means, as Kirikiriroa, Hamilton was founded. Much water has flowed past that military outpost since then, and the feud has vanished with it. Now it is a centre of pleasant industrial settlement, a town with a population of nearly 18,000 and many of the advantages of a modern city, its main support the dairying that natural conditions eminently favour. Secondary industry has its opportunity, and the future holds possibilities for its increase, yet t,here is every sign of permanence for this dairying enterprise. Farming i$ the Waikato is practically synonymous with it. To give sedulous heed to the dairying enterprise, therefore, has become and will remain an urgent duty, perilous to neglec-t and promising, in spite of drawbacks that can be temporary onty, an assured return for all the wise skill that can be put into its performance.

To the adequate doing of this duty the Waikato Winter Show is giving again its valuable aid. This is partly done by the manifest confidence of its organisers. They have not allowed anything to interfere with their year to year programme of competitive and other displays, and the warrant for this, in the aptitudes of the district and the spirit of its community, has appeared again in convincing fashion. A record total of entries, 3066, has been received this year, and these entries include a total in the butter and cheese sections unequalled in any similar exhibition anvwhere. Already, in this way, the show is to be accounted a success worthy of its history of twenty-seven years. It is increasingly useful in its impact on the qualitative side of the dairying industry of the Dominion, tending to improve the standard. "The Empire producer," as the position was once put by the Imperial Economic Committee, "will experience little difficulty in obtaining the highest price for his produce if he concentrates his attention on supplying butter and cheese of the highest quality to the United Kingdom market." That dictum stands, however other factors of marketing may alter, and their wise management will be altogether unavailing without practical and enthusiastic acceptance of its truth. Incidentally, the quantitative aspect is benefited, for excellence of standard quality means increasing demand. It is not saying too much to affirm that this exhibition, consequently, deserves the whole-hearted support of all able, in any way, to do it service. As a > great "industrial fair" and a social institution it has manifold attractions not likely to be overlooked, but the congratulations to which its controlling association is entitled are best accorded in acknowledged recognition of excellent work for a ■ pivotal industry of the Dominion^