THE HOLIDAY QUESTION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1290, 19 November 1896, Page 19

THE HOLIDAY QUESTION.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sib, —So the Wellington Traders’ Association decided that there should be no half-holiday on the Show Day this week. Well, perhaps no other decision could have been expected from people who show so little sympathy with or interest in country affairs, or in the country people, who, being the producers, are the makers of the town, and biit for whom the town would no existence. This, apart from the lack of public spirit displayed, is but short-sighted policy, for of a certainty the existence of a successful agricultural show would be an advantage to the tradespeople of this city ; yet how can that show become eith r successful or popular if the people who find the sinews of war in gate money have t no opportunity of getting there. Wellington, from its central position, as has been frequently pointed out, offers many advantages for the most important show in the Colony, especially for the sale of prize stock from the South Island, and should, in connection with the race meeting, in time attract as large an attendance of people as does the carnival week in Christchurch. Surely it ought to bo the business of Wellington’s business men to assist in bringing that about. Some time since I heard a resident here, but formerly of Christchurch, remark on the total lack of interest taken in country affairs by Wellington tradespeople, that, as far as he could observe, for any mention of or notice taken of the country the country might as well be a thousand miles away or even non-existent. He said that in Christchurch during the summer months the one topic of conversation among business people was the harvest, its prospects and the effect it would have on the prosperity of the city, but that in Wellington he had never heard a tradesman utter a remark that indicated that there was a country in the neighbourhood. It is quite true that our harvest is of a different kind to that of the Canterbury district, but our wool, mutton and dairy produce in their way are of as much importance to Wellington as grain is to Christchurch. I am, &c., Beta. Wellington, 12th November.