OTAGO’S PART.

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 33

OTAGO’S PART.

COURT ANT) ITS ACHIEVEMENT. Otago’s commissioner, Mr W. B. Steel, in his review of the province’s achievements. shows a record of which Dunedin may well be proud. “When the nebulous idea of holding an Exhibition first struck Dunedin there were many and varied ideas as to its scope, its site, its management, and its attractions,” he writes. “Of course while many of us had seen exhibitions, large and small, there w«® practically no one who knew enough about them to put us upon more than a nodding acquaintance with their practical details. So in a spirit of cheery optimism we set to work in a valiant endeavour to form some sort of method and order out of the medley mass of suggestions. proposals, plagiarisms and imaginings which we had brought upon ourselves by our decision that Dunedin should hold an Exhibition. “After the international question had been fought to a finish and the secondary industries finally launched on their ambitious voyage the question of local displays in* forested tho powers that controlled the destinies of the big show. Just what form they should take and how they should go about carrying the selected method into practice. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the home province would come out alright, for the directors spent most •f their time in valiant endeavours to work

up the enthusiasm of distant and lukewarm centres, so much so indeed, that Otago’s claims to recognition and co-operation were not over closely looked into. “It is just a year since the directors mado a request to the Otago Expansion League that if should undertake the task of organising a provincial display wrthy of the history, the fertility and the accomplishments of the province. The first ana most important consideration in such a compaign is finance and now the questions to bo faced were: How much shall we want? and How shall we get it ? It is easy to be wise after the event and 1 want to say right here that had we only known as much about exhibition running as we know to-day things would have started differently, although we can lay this salve to our conscience that like the famous Indian statesman “we stand amazed st our own moderation.” “Blunder?—Yes, we blundered. Did you ever know a British community begin anything without blundering, and equally, of course, in the end they continue to blunder through. The first thing to do was to interest the contry folk in tho Exhibition and give them an idea of what it meant and how we proposed to handle it. This was accomplished by getting representatives from all local bodies into Dunedin, showing them over the then well advanced buildings and outlining a proposition as to ways and means. It was a rough and ready computation that was ma > of the estimated expenditure and a levy varying according tp valuation was made upon the local authorities. To their everlasting credit be it said that they gallantly took the plunge and committed themselves to the venture. And right nobly they have responded, on!v the merest fraction of the original levy is left . npaid. and the writer is confident that by the lime these lines appear in print the full sum will be accounted for. “The board policy laid down by the directors was that the provincial courts should be utilised to display the natural re sources of the district as primary producers. agricultural, pastoral, mining, timber producing bein'? most stressed, such exhibits to be accentuated only by the minimum u-splav of examples of finished product? manufactured from the raw materials. ‘The faithful carrying out of this policy has given the opportunity to No. 6 Build ing to make a most comprehensive display of what a little country can do in the way of supplying its own needs. Having defi nitefv settled the lines upon which the court should be run the Executive Committee, under the tactful chairmanship of Cr W. B. Taverner, set Ij work, and, receiving from tb® producer's wholehearted support, made a display of wool, skins- grain, timber, fruit, and gold, which have held their own for intrinsic value and attractiveness with any in the seven building®. But there is another asset of Otago which the court has done all in its power to bring into the limelight of popular notice so that H might grow in public esteem—the tourist attractions of our mountains and lakes. One of the claims of the Exhibition as a whole was that it would he educative, and truly that was needed, for even our own people have di played a marvellous ignorance of the wealth of beauty and form and colour almost at our back doors, for to them ‘Otago stretches still from Flagstaff to Saddle Hill And they never thought of all that lay beyond.’ “Well, they, and a great many more people than they, know better now, and the thousands who have been interested in and have visited the hinterland will make its beauties and potentialities more widely know*!). There is a call in these days for greater production for more things to sell, so that we may meet our pressing engagements Here is something to sell which does not waste in the process, but, like the widow’s cruse, is always full. Here we have a country brimful of unique scenic splendours, and beyond a world willing to •spend tnanv shekels in order to see them. Follow* up the splendid advertisement of the Exhibition and it will not be many days ere the bread that ye have cast upon the waters will come back to you multiplied, and so through the long weeks since that fateful November 17 the court has proclaimed to all who came within her antlered colonnades the charm, the fertility, and the resources of her mountains, her valleys, and her plains. “We have shown of our best and have been satisfied, and many there are who have gazed thereon And they have been courteous and complimentary, these starngers from beyond the seas and from the far corners of our own land. Like the famous apostle, the commissioner of a court has to be ‘all things unto all men,’ and he is often called upon to explain process, describe exhibits, and combat fallacies raised in diverse way by many visitors. “Well, it is all over, the last turnstile has checked, the last tune has been played, the last ’amp extinguished. It has been a glorious medley of hope and work and trouble and success, a burden sometimes which almost frightened us. a crown ing glory beyond our fondest hopes. It represents the dream of a community brought into actual being because that community had the courage to dare the tenacity to hold on. and the grim Scottish dourness and magnificent unity to make its dream come true. It is not given to one man or even to a body of men to secure such results. Only by a perfect faith in themselves, by a continuous unitv of purpose and a magnetic optimism can •uch task? he accomplished. Now that the great venture has gone down to history, what will Otago do with this great spirit she has displayed? Here is a problem for our leader? of thought and action, a problem which if correctly solved will add many more laurels to her chaplet. In the meantime the tributes to our success may well turn our heads if they bo weak enough to be turned. It, used to be snid that the good Scotsman prayer was. ‘Lord gie us a guid conceit of oorsels." Tt almost seems as if thnt prayer hnd been answered ’’ The president of the court,, Mr W. B Taverner, rpcorda his impressions as follows : “My. difficulty in telling of my impressions appears to arise from the necessarily close-un view which even in the closing davs of the Exhibition is all that is available. The impressions will doubtless erystalize as time passes, meanwhile they ore apt to crowd each other. Memory cells which had to be created in order to store them will react better when thev have had time to get used to the unusal charging rate which the Exhibition dynamo demanded. The impression of which I am

at present most conscious is one which cud best be described a? the ’family party idea.’ The Exhibition was a big family party, and its hospitable doors stood wide to welcome everybody. “As it was a focussing point for the many activities of the country and beyond, so it appeared to be the nucleus around which gathered in one great circle of appreciative friendship all the good wishes of its three million visitors. Everyone had something nice to say, and found much which called forth appreciative comment. “Those who possessed the advantage of travel and who had visited other and larger demonstrations of progress and development never permitted the Exhibition to suffer by comparison. I never heard one solitary expression designed to detract or diminish the wonderful show. This is one impression that will long abide. Perhaps the next in importance was that concieved by the opportunity of meeting under one roof, as it were, so many people of divers experience and of expert knowledge in so many different lines of commerce and industrv. As one result of the Exhibition will he the increase in the sum .t knowledge possessed by the community, the presence of so many specialists of all kiuds and the countless demonstrations of applied intelligence and genius will surely tend to produce impressions which will provide new starting places for the further development of our town and country. Auother realisation of which one has become aware is that inner satisfaction brought about by the presence of oversea visitors. Jt served to shew that although far distant from the rest of the world we were not forgotten. The visitors’ book contains the names of visitors from many lands. A glance through some 24,000 names discloses that well-known place names of the Old Country are well represented, and every uere an:l there is the signature of someone from little old London. “Rotherham, England,” is followed by “Tussock Creek, Southland,” the U.S.S., the Argentine, Brazil. Java. Bolivia, Finland, and Russia, are all mentioned, while the unpronounpable Maori place names are quite a feature. 1 never knew we had such an extraordinary .assortment of Native names. A Christchurch lady, who evidently arrived at the court when a tea narty w as in progress, supplies the pleasing remark, “The home of hospitality.” One signatory gave his address as the “Sunny South,’ and then, apparently a® an after-thought, added the cryptic remark. “I don’t think.” One place name which for a long time defied elucidation has since been spelled out, and has proved to b enothing more foreign than “Ravens bourne.” Some Chinese visitors signed in their picturesque characters. It is noticeable that most of them hailed from Hongkong. Another signature is that of “Breadalbane. Scotland.” which makes os wonder. Did we entertain the earl unknown? “B-liam, England/ is evidently meant to indicate Birmingham. “It is surprising the number of visitors who, when signing the book, added the information as to the date they arrived in Dunedin, and some, indeed, the date of their birth. “Amongst the more humorous are ‘The Kid from Tinmru/ ‘CLuiles I, England, and ‘Henry VIII, London/ but the daddy of the lot has come all the way from sunny Italy in the person o.f ‘Signor Magnesia. Italy, born 1774.’ It will be agreed that it is regrettable that this ancient personage should have passed through the portals of the Otago Court unheralded by a fanfare of trumpets, ami that his visit should not have been made the occasion of some more speeches by the talking members of the executive. Scottish visitors were very numerous, and amongst the tongue-twister names from the North of the Tweed I notice T’ighnabruaieh/ T can’t say it. but it looks as if Mr Ricketts could play it. “From the provincial court standpoint a very pleasing result has been the stimulation of a healthy provincial pride. Not only does this refer to Otago, but to the other provinces, and the people at large have had an opportunity ot learning more in regard to their particular district, its early history, its present developments, and its future possibilities than they could ever have gained in ~ny other way. “Materially the ~ro*’nce should benefit and as a community, which in the past has perhaps been too prone each to laboui in their own particular spot with little thought or reference to the other portions of the province, has been brought closer together and made to realise that in that wonderful spirit which has made the Exhibition possible, but we are all ‘John arason's bairns.’ “Altogether, it has been a wonderful and happy six months. The affairs of Otago Provincial Court have run smoothly, and the executive worked in a hearty manner. We are tired, and shall be glad of some fireside leisure, but the generally expressed opi ’ i is, ‘I would not have missed it fo.* w'orlds.' “We think very highly of Otago, and we hope we have helped to make others take an added interest in this favoured portion of the Dominion.”