THE ROYAL VISIT.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4304, 13 March 1901, Page 3

THE ROYAL VISIT.

I'II IvMIKK. AND CITIZENS IN CON FERKNCK. SKETCH OF PRO I i ABLE ARRANGEMENTS, A QUESTION OF FINANCE. AIR SEDDON DISCLOSES THE A 1 AILED FIST. A nicotine of tho representatives ol the Citizens’ Committee and a number (if n'pi'ivenlativcs of (.!;<’ City Connell presided over by the Mayor, was hold yesterday afternoon for (ho purpose cl Hi ; 'cus-dug details in eonneo;inn with the approaching visit of La 1 Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. The oliiiirirnm said lie had had a conference with (lie Premier that morning, and .had repie-cnied to the latter thar, seeing (he calls v.ddch during the h’.-.t twelve months had heen made upon the cnnti Uniting public; of Wellington—for those who hud responded liacl always re. sponded, ami those who had never responded never responded—(la lighter) ho was not prepared, as Mayor of the city, to call n|«on the citizens for fur. (her contributions to meet the expenses in oonneetiem with the impending visit. He had suggested to All Seihlon. therefore, that Parliament should h” asked to make special provision to enable tho vote of C2‘i() which the Conned was by Jaw enabled to spend for general purposes each fear, to ho increased so as to enable these expenses Co he met. The Premier re-ponded at (nice, and in. tirnated his intention to do what was necessary in the wav of advancing a Bill for that purpose. Air Sodden had also expressed a desire to ho at their meeting that afternoon, and he (Mr Ailken) had assured him they would he glad to see him It remained for that meeting to say what was to ho done, and what money was to bo spent. It was decided to appoint Air F Shaw secretary to the Joint Committee, on the understanding that he was to devote the best part of his time in carrying out tho duties of his office. The Premier having pat in, an appearance, and having been welcomed by tho committee, said ho considered tho opportunity which we were to bo aflorded of having our future King amongst us was one which should he embraced for the purpose of exhibiting to onr Royal guests tic special regard in which they were held by tho people of this part of the colony. As New 1 Zca. .landers, we had a duty to ourselves and onr colony to perform, and that was to send only Royal guests away with as good an impression a.-; possible of New Zealand and its people. A high standard in the way of display would be set I by Sydney and Melbourne. Tho former ; city had its arches arid decorations left 1 over from the Commonwealth celchra- ’ lions, and the latter was determined ' to outdo everything that hud gone he- ! fore—as evidenced by tho modest request of tiie Commonwealth Premier for a contingent of 1000 men from Now Zealand. Wo had all that to consider; I and while lie did nob for a moment pro- | pose to encourage extravagance, he was I desirous that wo should not fall behind. Therefore, as this was a contingency j which the Legislature had not. and could ' not have, contemplated, and ns there ■ was bound to be an expenditure over ; and above the amount allowed by law, ' ho considered it would be the duty of Parliament to take the necessary steps I to legalise any'exnenditure which might be so incurred. It might happen that the Audit Department would be inclined to pass much of the expenditure incurred, but it would not be fair, if n. , strict interpretation of the law were in- I sistod upon, that any man sitting on a local body should bo surcharged for any reasonable amount expended, and his Government had decided that they would j not put the local bodies in this position. , If that eontinKonqy arose, they would t submit to Pari lament an Empowering . Rill, nnd they would do tlicijr best to i Kft it passed by Parliament, pud if he knew this legislators of this colony, they would not dbjoot to passing legislation for such an emergency. tic had weihcd to consult with that mramitree because thin won u matter iu which the Government and tho municipal authorities inuild yvnrk harmoniously together* He imped the result would be that their Royal guests would bo accorded a reception worthy of our colony, In regard to (ho arrangements, there would no doubt i ho some little delay after tho arrival of i thp Ophir to enable tho horses nnd carriagqs of their Royal Highnesses to be got ashore. When this had been neeom-1 plished, there would no doubt bo tha. presentation of an address of welcome) by the Mayor upon the wharf. No other ; addresses could be personally presented ; they would have to be, sent on to the Governor, and in duo course replies would , bo | received to them. A copy of the address to bo presented by the. Mayor . would havo to he forwarded on in ad- | vanco to their Royal Highnesses, in or- i dor that an appropriate answer mu Id be prepared. As regards the question of tho route of the nroccssion, they must ] nob make it too long. ft should he. ' through the most presentable streets in . the city, and he suggested that tho j route should bo from tho wharf and ' via Cuba street. Manners street and i Lumbton quay to Government House. \ Leaving that question, they came to tho subject of decorations. A vorv pretty , effect had been created in Sydney bv ; attaching coloured streamers to poles | from one side of the street to tho other. ! Ho respectfully suggested, also, that 1 they should erect arches representing the various* products of the colony. They j might have a coal arch, a frozen mutton arch (which would be nniouc). a tlin- | her arch, a tinned -meat arch, an arch j of quartz and one of cereals. Then tho foreign consuls might combine to build ! an arch as had boon done in Sydney; j and some of the local merchants and re- I presentatives of industries might follow I the example .of their Sydney confreres, j As it was customary to utilise fireworks, for displays of this kind, bonfires might bn lit and fireworks exploded, and the spectacle could be witnessed by their Royal Highnesses from tho vantage of Parliament House. The principal eon- j tres might be inclined to join together in procuring supplies of fireworks, or tho I Government would obtain a supply for , distribution. I The Mayor said the Council had al- 1 ready communicated with the other centres as to getting a joint supply of fireworks, and an expert to deal with them. Tho Auckland authorities had responded that they scarcely thought they would need any. Christchurch people said they had fireworks makers of their own. and Dunedin had replied that they had already procured fireworks, and did not want an expert. So Ids Council had decided to call tenders for a supply of their own. His Worship went on to say in regard to tho remarks of the Premier nr reference to tho procession, that it would ho a pity to circumscribe the route so that the whole populace Would not have an opportunity of seeing their Royal Highnesses. He contended that the Duke and Duchess were here partly on exhibition, as it wore, nnd if. as reported, 8000 troops were to take part, and a short route were chosen, a portion of them would bo at Government House before the .others had left the wharf. The Premier said the 8000 troops would not take part in the procession

A section of the mounted troops wonl. probably act as a body guard to their Rovul I[jjf/hnor-.sfs, but tbc inraiur> would lino I lie streets along the route. -1 Mr Ferguson ; Then the procession 'will consist only of their Royal Hig.ii,esses, representatives oi tue Government, and the city official-? _ j Th*> bV(*uilw replied th?it tins ua.-t h j matter of detail, which could he r.r- , ranged later on. , , ~ , Mr 'J'. K. Macdonald said tho people from tho country would naturally crowd (into the city to welcome tho Duke and Duchess, and he suggested that this boil inn- the case, it would he unfair to put ■r the whole cost .of the reception upon the I. Wellington C.ty Corporation. He d thought" the Government might fairly if subsidise the amounts raised by the e Minnicipaiities by a subsidy of LI f.a Cl. • I if (i,o finances wore assured in tins way a better and a bigger display could bo i- arranged for than if the municipality Mono "were responsible for the expondi- ■ time. , ')■],(. ■premier said this matter had not ” oceaned the attention of (ho Governincut, and Cabinet, was prepared to find '■ (he money and recover it afterwards from the municipalities. AVas that what Mr Macdonald meant? (Smiles.) ; i Mr .Macdonald repeated Ids proposition. ’ i The Premier said lie thoroughly im-der-stood what was meant, but lot him j transpose It. and ask: Wore tho local bodice prepared to pool llic total oxI pcndit.ure of the local bodies and tho I State, and pav half if (he Government. ) paid half? . I Tho Mayor said the position was a '.bit, different from that. Whatever was . spent at the various centres came out r ' of tho pockets of tho people of those - four places. Rut whatever the Oovcrnf meat spent was partly borne by the four 1 centres and partly by the rest nt tho > colony. So they wore not, in asking for i £1 for £l. exactly asking that tho count.U’V should pay half the expense—only | that it should pay a certain proportion. .. I Tho Premier replied that, knowing , what it was going to cost the Government before it was over, he had to be 'careful, because when tho bill came to the paid (hoy had to reckon with Parlia- _ I meat. ’ i Air T. K. Macdonald interjected : ( .That is not much of a trouble. The Proj.nder has the confidence of the coimr try! v j The Premier: Yes, but I am very , sensitive, as regards the pocket, i ! Air A. R. Atkinson wanted to know : it the Premier. was going to ask Par- . . liamont iu Ids Empowering Rill to give ! an open order to local bodies to iadenmi>,f.y themselves for any expenditure they ; ’might incur? Did the Premier’s prom be I mean that the amount to be expended I was to bo left to the discretion of local ; bodies, or was there to be any check on I tho expenditure? He could not see why, lif the Government could trust the local 1 bodies with an open order of tins kind, it wa.s not prepared to agree with the proposal to contribute £1 for £l. Tiie Premier said all these tilings bad been'considered by the Government. The , very question of what would he a reasonable amount to fix as a maximum j bail come before them that, morning. It was suggested by one of bis colleagues that £2OOO .should Ihe the maximum, but tins \ was vetoed because it was felt that if ; £2OOO was -fixed there would bo a ton- ; deucy to work up to that amount. 8o they had come to tho conclusion that ■they must trust the local bodies as representatives of the ratepayers not to nr-h into lavish expenditure. But, apparently, if there was any mistake mode at all, it would bo on Hie' parsimonious side; at any rate, as far [qs Auckland was concerned. Ho (Mr Seddon) wanted to do justice to the colony. To any that there were to bo no fireworks Mas ridiculous. The young- ■ stors looked for fireworks on an occaI si on of tho sort, nnd in a case like that lof Auckland, Jtho Government would have to do its host in promoting a pyroi technic display, Ho. had no hesitation, tin head of llui oniony, in saying that - ,if any loop,! body would not dq justice to the occasion, the best thing the Goveminent coidd do would be to sweep it on on a ride and do tho thing tlmmROivOH. .Councillor Evans asked if the finverr)merit was prepared to Mulwidiso local bodies up to £2000? The Premier: The acoustic properties ; of this building must bo very bad. , (Laughter.) My answer was. “ No.” I ; . don’t intend to give subsidies. Councillor Anderson and Alp Allan urged the claims of the children to spe- j cud consideration cn an occasion of this : kind. The Mayor said the City Council had : • intended to suggest that a silver medal should bo struck off for presentation to , the children of the primary schools in commemoration of the occasion. ] Air Macdonald thought be was expressing the views of those present when ,he said tho citizens would co-operate j with the Government in working out i the details so that tho visitors would have a right roval , reception. I Tho Mayor complained that a, citizens’ I reception was not on the official proI gramme for Wellington a.s it was at the other centres. 1 Thio Premier replied that levees had I also heen barred, but cn observing that ,a levee was being provided for at Sydi ney ho had communicated with tho Governor with a view of having a similar function hero. The Government was ! earnestly desirous that everybody pns--1 sifalo should have an opportunity of j meeting their Royal # Hiahnesscs. In j the matter of finance, the Government had to be careful, as it would cost a i largo sum. He had said once that | “ Money’ was no object.” but ho would never say it again—even though it was ! a joke. He was at one with those who j wished to make the children a promii rent feature of tho reception. He knew j he would get into trouble with his colleague the Minister'for Railways, but he j would have children’s trains run to I bring children from all tho nre via rial I districts to see their Royal Highnesses. ' The Government would also pay’ half tho cost, of providing silver medals for the cldldron. Mr Atkinson: Ho won’t pay us £1 for £l, but he will pay the lot if we don’t [ do it properly I | Tho Premier; The colony of New : Zealand is in the van. and shall not lose | ground as far as the Government is concerned. ( The meeting adjourned till 3 o’clock on Thursday.