SOOTT MEMORIAL AT QUEENSTOWN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18763, 17 January 1923, Page 7

SOOTT MEMORIAL AT QUEENSTOWN.

TO THE EDITOR. '• Sin,—Kindly epare me a little space to ! call attention to the ivay in which the small plot of ground around the Scott Memorial at Qucenstown is kept, or rather [ neglected. The memorial itself is as appropriate and inspiring a tribute to the memory of a band of heroes as any I have ever seen or imagined, but after one has gazed at it in eilence and read Scott'a last message and the simple, and yet dignified, record of how he and his companion* met their death, it gives one a nasty jar to look down and see nothing but weeds and a few scrubby-looking green plants that * might be anything. A short distance away is the bowling green, the surroundings of which are a perfect blaze of colour, with .• climbing roses, stocks, and hosts of other sweet-smelling and many-hued flowers, making the place a delight to the ©ye. lam ' not complaining about the beauty of the bowling green, but I do think that at least equal care and attention might be given to the Scott Memorial, and if I had my way, it would be mads the most beautiful spot in tho whole domain. Surely those con* ccrned will make some permanent arrangement to have this sacred spot kept as it should be, and thus remove a reproach from , the district.—l am, etc., TODBIST. THE OTAGO A. AND P. SOCIETY AND TAHUNA PARK. TO TFTB BDITOB. ' Sir, —"Committeeman" in your issue of • thi3 morning says the mortgage on Tahuna Park is £5600, and what the society requires to save the show ground from sale is cash. I beg to suggest that the society should • adopt the manner in which, the North Otago ' ■ A. soul P. Association got over its financial difficulties a few years ago. A special meet- ' :-t ing of members and the public was called in | Oaniaru to consider how the aesociation could - carry on and pay interest on its borrowed money. One of the firm of the association's solicitors (Mr Albert Grave, of Lee, Grave, and Grave) attended the meeting and propounded a scheme to get it out of its troubles. This was that the association should! issue £lO debentures, free of interest* to the amount of its debts (£2SOO), the de—. . bentures to be redeemable! by annual draw- ;■:.'. ings of not less than £SS until the wholeshould bo paid off. The proposal was at once taken up by the members and public and the association's debts were wiped off- ■ As tho funds of the association admit, a V number of these debentures are paid off ' every year after a ballot is taken, and in a . few years the Oamaru show ground will bo free of debt. Surely the Otago Society's committee will have no trouble in inducing a number of the members, the wealthy inhabitants of the town, arid more especially the hotelkeepers, tea-room, proprietors, and shopkeepers who benefit so much from the influx of country people at show times, to take up 560 £lO debentures to free Tahuna Park from debt. They would have all their money refunded, and would lose only the interest, I enclose my North Otago debenture to show how the scheme was carried out. —I am, etc., John Macfkersoh-, Member Otago A. and P. Society. Roscneath, January 15, Sir,—l have read the letters and your arguments in a recont leader on this sub- - ject, most of which condemn (he proposed move to the Taieri. As a resident of Dun- '■''■' edin for 20 years, and also of the Taieri for about the same period, I think those opposing the change are entirely wrong. The same arguments wej-e used when the D.J.C proposed to move—"loss of trade to Dunedin and patronage to the -club." The reverse has proved the case in both instances. The IXJ.C. would have been bankrupt had it continued at Forburv, while progress commenced and has solidly continued ever since it moved to "Wiugatui. The samo ' result would follow in the case of the A. and P. Society, and it will not be many • years before the Forlwry Trotting Club will . migrate to the Taieri. It is the natural expansion, and only requires concentration by all bodies and the public concerned to > get a suitable service on the railway by fast through trains. Dunedin business men as a whole aro singularly selfish and vshort-sighted. They want a monopoly of everything, and forget thd fact that expansion *ar the Taieri means expansion in Dunedin —all the trade, work, and profits naturally flow to the city. The surest way to promote prosperity in Dunedin is to promote development outside. What has made v Auckland? Most surely tho development of her suburbs. It is time this narrow spirit .■-...; was squashed in Dunedin.—l am, etc., , January 16. Onwaed. . .