SHOW OFFICIALLY OPENED

Taranaki Daily News, 8 June 1932, Page 9

SHOW OFFICIALLY OPENED

LARGE GATHERING OF PUBLIC LOYAL SUPPORT OF THE SOCIETY. SPEECH BY MR. W. J. POLSON, M.P. The show was officially opened by Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., Dominion president of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, in the presence of a large attendance yesterday afternoon. The opening ceremony was held in the dance room, an innovation from previous years, and the speakers addressed their listeners from a dais. Seating accommodation was provided for all present, and the. arrangements throughout were a distinct improvement on past shows. Mr. H. C. Sampson, president of the Taranaki Metropolitan Agricultural Society, welcomed Mr. Polson to the show and introduced him to those present. When-the old members of 25 years ago first began the Taranaki winter show, Mr. Sampson said, he did not think they had any idea of what it would become in the future. They began in a small way in what was then the military drill hall, and the first show was small and unpretentious, but it had gradually grown to what it was at the present day. Now the winter show was like a growing boy who' had outgrown his clothes? The society was still in difficulty in finding room for all the exhibitors requiring space. Unfortunately the present was a bad time in which to launch out and spend a lot of money on buildings. The society was therefore at a standstill as regards making further provision for space for exhibitors. All would agree that the exhibitors were standing loyally by the society. The exhibits were quite a credit to the exhibitors, and the way in which they were grouped was an improvement on previous years. The farming displays, Mr. Sampson considered, were a credit to the farmers of Taranaki. He wished especially to draw the attention of farmers to the exhibits from the society’s Katere experimental area. When the society took the land over five years ago it was a dirty, rough piece.of ground but •luce then, with the assistance of Mr. J. S M. Smith and his associate officers of the Department of Agriculture, a great improvement had been effected. In addition the knowledge that had been gained about fertilising land and the rejuvenation of worn-out pastures must be of wonderful benefit to the farming industry.

SUPPORT OF EVERYONE NEEDED.

The society could not carry on the good work without the support of the farmers, and the help of the people of New Plymouth. But because times were grievous; it behoved them to re-double the efforts they had made in the past. It was up to every farmer and every ) business man to stand loyally by the Agricultural Society, Mr. Sampson concluded. Re was sure that if the members would stand by the society they would :be able to -carry on the good work they had been doing in the past. Welcoming Mr. Polson on behalf of the townspeople of New Plymouth, the Mayor, Mr. H. V. S. Griffiths, said he was pleased to join with Mr. Sampson in the welcome to the Dominion president. Mr. Polson took a keen interest in farmers’ affairs from one end of the Dominion to the other and, travelling through New Zealand as he did, would bo able to compare one province with another. Mr. Polson, he knew, would be pleased to find that the people of Taranaki were solidly behind the farmers in all connected with the show. He could assure Mr. Sampson that he could rest on the support of the townspeople in maintaining the show. Mr. Griffiths congratulated the society on its record and the manner in which it had maintained the standard of the show in difficult times. He trusted that through, the difficult days the Taranaki winter show would prove that Taranaki was the best province in the Dominion to be in, and would show the people that there could be won from the soil the products that were available in sufficient quantities to pull New Zealand out of the place she was in to-day.

The Taranaki show stood high among winter shows of New Zealand, said Mr. Polson. He congratulated the society on the success of the show, for it was very gratifying .to both the town and the province that so important an event as * winter show should be so successful

for so many years. He regretted the unavoidable absence of Mr. S. G. Smith, member for New Plymouth, through illhealth caused by the strain of Parliamentary work.

NONE BETTER THAN TARANAKI.

“In this country,” Mr.' Polson continued, “we are carrying on under the trying circumstances which are affecting the whole world. But in no part of the country are we better' off than in Taranaki. I well remember the advice given by a friend of mine to farmers in South Taranaki. It was to keep smiling, and I believe that that is the general attitude that is being adopted by the farmers not only in this district but throughout New Zealand. They realise they have to carry on, and that it is no use complaining. “Speaking to the farming section, I say it is our job to see that production is not only kept,up but even increased, because we have to substitute volume for value in pin- exports to enable the country to carry on. I think; we are going to succeeed in so doing. In the past° few weeks I have been abroad a good deal in New Zealand, and the spirit that I see here, the spirit of grit and determination, is the spirit that I have seen moving the farmers in the South Island and in those parts of the North Island that I have. -‘visited. I believe it is the general feeling throughout the country.” . : ■ ■

After touching upon his hopes for.the result of the Ottawa conference and the need for New Zealand to find new • markets for her products, which together he thought would enable them to turn the corner,, Mr. Polson congratulated the farmers of the province on the display that he saw before him. He congratulated the townspeople also on their exhibits. There was a good deal of criticism by the town of the country, and it was as well that it should be so. A man did not need to be a farmer to criticise the farming question. All the townspeople were interested in farming, and the townsman was just as good a judge of the farmer’s products as the farmer when he ate them. He was pleased that such a close relationship existed between town and country in Taranaki and he wished that a similar relationship existed throughout New Zealand. He believed the townspeople appreciated the problems of the farmer and he thought the farmer was beginning to appreciate the problems of the townspeople. Others present with the speakers were Mr. H. E. Blyde, president of the North Taranaki provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union, and Mr. J. S. Connett, chairman of .the Taranaki County Council. Apologies were made on behalf of Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., and Mr. L. M. Moss, president of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce.