The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1885.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 3387, 5 August 1885, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1885.

It is an old maxim among people wlioro bueinosa it is to cater for the ontortninmont of tho public that the best way to induco them to throng to any place of amusement is to impress them with a belief that they won't bo ablo to get m when they get there. Hence tho announcements wbioh

we see advertised relative to the " crowded houses " — " hundreds tinned away every night " — and so forth. It must have been on some such principle as thiß that the Exhibition authorities at Wellington acted on the occasion of the opening day. We venture to think, however, that they a little overdid it. It might have been a stroke of genius to provide only one turnstile for the admission of everybody whom business or pleasure called to the ceremony, but it was hardly fair to the ladies who had kindly consented to take part m the singing that they should have had the clothes torn off their backs as a preliminary to their public appearance, nor was it quite respectful to His Excellency the Governor that he should have been compelled to elbow his way through the crowd. With every disposition to make allowance for the hitches usually inseparable from the inauguration of such an important undertaking, we cannot help expressing the opinion that very gross mismanagement and want of forethought must be held accountable for the deplorable muddle which existed at the opening of the New Zealand Industrial Exhibition, 1885. Apart from the badness of the arrangements for the admission of the public, there seems to have been fair ground for congratulation on the general character of the opening. The speeches of the Governor and Sir Julius Yogel were excellent and appropriate, and contrary to the general experience on such occasions the public were able to inspect at any rate a very large proportion of the exhibits, and were not compelled to content themselves with gazing on an exasperating array of packing-cases, half-erected stalls, and workmen m Bhirt-sleeves endeavoring to make up for lost time. The quality of the products on view is also said to have even exceeded expectation, and the public at large will no doubt be both astonished and gratified to find how great is the progress which. New Zealand has made m the arts and manufactures during its brief but eventful existence. As might have been expected Canterbui-y and Otago carry off the palm, although there is also a good display from many other parts of the colony. Whether the Exhibition will prove a financial success, or rather whether it will escape financial failure — which is, perhaps, as much as can be expected from a Government undertaking — yet remains to be seen. A great deal will depend upon the ingenuity and enterprise of the management m providing a succession of fresh sources of attraction. After the exhibits have once been " dene," it is hardly to be expected that even the most ardent enthusiast m the cause of local industries will go into the building day after day to gaze with fond affection at the Mosgiel blankets, the Dunedin ironwork, or the Timaru barbed wire, excellent as all of these are m their way. Something m the shape of miscellaneous amusement must be provided daily and nightly to attract the public, or the Exhibition will be a howling wilderness, beside which even the solitudes of Siberia would appear bnsy and full of life. " One man m his time plays many parts," and the Hon. Sir Julius Yogel, K.C.M.G., Colonial Treasurer, and financial luminary, the erudite Dr Hector, 0.M.G., F.R.S., learned authority on a dozen 'ologies, and the unerudite but hard-working Mr Oallis, Secretary and Major-Domo, now find themselves before the public as the responsible directors of a huge Variety Show. We wish them all a good deliverance ! Upon the success, or otherwise, of the Wellington Exhibition will probably depend the question whether it is to be followed, as originally intended, by similar gatherings m other towns of the colony. If it prove a heavily-losing speculation, it is doubtful whether Parliament would sanction any further expenditure m the same direction. These local exhibitions, when properly managed, undoubtedly serve a useful purpose, but, as the Governor very pertinently pointed out on Saturday, anything which can be done m this way m the colony cannot free us from the duty of taking part m the larger exhibitions of Europe. Ob this subject His Excellency remarked — It is impossible that the dwellers m all parts of the colony should roalise tho progress that tho wholo is making:. But it is essential to tho dovolopmont of Now Zoaland as a productive country, and a country whioh Books an increasod population, that the outside world should have a correct idoa of tho history, sconery, fertility, and general capabilities of this rioh and boantiful country. So early as ' 1851, whon tho English population did not amount to moro than 20,000 souls, and the oolonial rovonno was not .£50,000, 1 find that I no loss than 40 exhibitors connected with Now Zealand took part m tho London International Exhibition. What, thon, oannot be done with a population of half a million, and iudastrios dovolopod as we sco hero to-day ? With these observations it is impossible not to agree. We arc glad, therefore, that Dr Von Haast, who is energetically endeavoring to secure a good representation of this colony at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, to be held m London next year, included Timaru m his field of operations, and we hope his attempts to stir up a little local enthusiasm on the subject will be crowned with success. The inducements offered by the Government are of the most liberal kind. They take the exhibits from the very doors of the exhibitors, convey them to England, and, if they are not sold, bring them back again, all free of expense. They thus offer, gratis, facilities which manufacturers and producers m other parts of the world are usually ready to pay for handsomely. It only remains, therefore, for the local Committees and exhibitors to do their duty m order to make tho New Zealand Court of the Exhibition really worthy of this rnpidly risincr colony.