THE CORONATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10175, 9 June 1911, Page 1

THE CORONATION.

K NTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE. ARRANGEMENTS NEARLY COMPLETE. Mr J. A. Frostick, chairman.of the Entertainment Committee, speaking to a reporter last evening, said that arrangements had been definitely made Tor matinee performances for children at His Majesty's Theatre, the Colosseum and the King's Theatre on the .afternoon of Tuesday, June 20, Wednesday, Juno 21, and Friday, June 2-' i. There would be no matinee on the Thursday because it was felt that it would be in advisable to congregate the children about the streets on that day after being massed in Street early in the afternoon to see the procession . The first part of the matinee entertainments would consist of pictures of the Empire, and speakers were being arranged for to address the phildren on Imperial matters, explaining to them their duty in upholding the prestige and securing the unity of the. Empire. The second part would consist of pictures showing the social life in the British Empire, and an address of live to six minutes' duration would be given on the social duties of the children. The entertainment in the evening of Thursday, June 22, would also he of an imperialistic character. The first half would be a concert, with some addresses. and the set-owl; as far as possible selected pictures dealing with the 'Empire. The committee had communicated with many ladies and gentlemen inviting them to give their services for the concert, which it was hoped would be very successful. Bishop Julius, Bishop Grimes, and Mr G. T. Booth had been invited to give addresses at the three theatres. The accommodation provided at the matinee performances would be for 12,000 children, but the actual massing of the scholars of the respective schools would be in the hands of the Schools Committee. of which Mi- A. Binnie was chairman. At the matinees souvenir cards would be given to all attending. The Coronation souvenir that was being compiled by the committee was practically completed. It would comprise seventy pages, not eighteen as previously reported, which was twelve or eighteen more than had been anticipated. The souvenir would contain twelve to fourteen articles on Imperial subjects by -well-known writers, collected under the direction of Dr Flight, and in addition there would be some splendid articles on local matters. The book would be illustrated, and lie thought it would be one of the best things turned out in Canterbury tomany years. It was intended" that 10,000 should be printed, the sale and distribution being left to the Ladies' Committee.

THE MEMORIAL FOR CHRISTCHURCH. FURTHER DISCUSSION IN THE CITY. The action of the General Coronation Committee in referring back to the Permanent Memorial Committee its recommendation that a statue should be erected, was the subject of discussion in the city yesterday, and many opinions are still expressed as to the form the memorial should take. At Wednesday's meeting of the General Committee attention was drawn to the fact that the subsidy promised by the Government for memorial's would not amount to more than £250. Mr T. H. Davey, M.P., pointed out that it had been stated that under the Charitable Aid A.ct of 1909 any voluntary contributions for such an object as the establishment of a Home for Incurables would be subsidised to the extent of 18s 3d for every pound collected. That subsidy, however, he said, applied only to sums levied by Charitable Aid Boards, and all voluntary contributions for the object named would receive a subsidy of 24s in the pound. The chairman of the Permanent Memorial Committee stated at the ing of the General Committee that his committee was handicapped in its discussions by the fact that it did not know what sum would be available for expenditure, and that it was considered inadvisable to propose an expensive schemt. Yesterday Mr Davey sent a telegram to the Hon G. Fowlds as follows:— ■' In the event of the citizens of Christchurch deciding to erect a Coronation Home for Incurables, would the Government subsidise the amount raised by voluntary contributions by 24s in the pound, as provided by the Hospital Act of 1909r" Last evening Mr Davey received the following reply : "If the money raised for a Home for Incurables is handed over to the Hospital Board, it will carry 24s in the pound subsidy." In conversation yesterday, Mr Davey said he had feared that if it were decided to erect a Home as a Coronation memorial, the Coronation subsidy of £250 might be lost in the event of the larger sum beiiig gained, it was possible, however, that the Permanent Memorial Committee might devise some scheme for submission to the General Committee which would enable both subsidies to be obtained. It might be possible to erect a suitable but inexpensive memorial, and to obtain the larger subsidy for a Home. That, however, was a subject for the committee to consider. He added that he had tried to get an interview yesterday with Mr H. Holland, chairman of the Permanent Memorial Committee, bub had not been successful, and felt that he should let the members of the committee know, through the newspapers, what he had done.

It is expected that there will be an interesting discussipn at the meeting of the Permanent Memorial Committee this afternoon. Mr Holland stated yesterday that he hardly thought that the Mayor's proposal to pit the schemes against one another in pairs would be very satisfactory. Ho believed that the method of preferential voting suggested bv -Mr Davey was a. nmch better one. lie added that ho wished to correct aii impression that his committee iiad rejected the Home for Incurables because members were not in sympathy with it. The sole guide of the committee in that respect was the fact that tlie Home, was evidently quite out of reach. The comnwttee had no lead in regard to the cost of the memorial. It bad to consider a large number of circumstances that affected the position. St Albans wanted a 'park and Sydenham wanted a creche, and sums of money for those objects would be taken from those two large districts, winch could hardly be expected to contribute largely in other directions. The position was a most difficult one. The difficulties increased in number the further the question was considered. There was no doubt whatever that a Home for Incurables was the best form the memorial could take, if it could be attempted with hope of success. Even on that point, which seemed to be so obvious, the committee found difficulties. It was told, for instance. that there would have to be two homes, one for incurables suffering from infectious diseases, and one. for incurables suffering from diseases that were not infectious, otherwise, numbers of people would be thrown into danger of infection. The sum of £60,000 was mentioned as being necessary. He thought that it was somewhat high, but it showed the financial stumblingblocks in the way of carrying out a project which,, on the face of it, seemed to be simple enough. It might be

possible to start with a very small home for a few people, and add to it from time to time. That appeared to him to be one of the ways out of the difficulty, and it was one of the recommendations he had to make. In regard to the means of voting for the schemes, Mr Davey said last evening that the method adopted by the committee of eliminating the schemes fen-st favoured might not be the best, but. it was probably better than sending schemes to the ballot in pairs, as in that case the two most favoured schemes might- be placed against each other. The means he had suggested was quite pimple. All the schemes were named on the paper, and the voter numbered each 1, 2, 3, and so on in the order of preference. When the first count took place all the primary votes were counted. The scheme that had the least primary votes obviously could not be carried. But in order to give a voter who had voted for that least favoured scheme an opportunity of really exercising his vote his second selection would bo placed to the credit of the schemes selected by him that still remained in the competition. That course was followed until the scheme that received an absolute majority of votes was ascertained.

Arrangements for the Coronation celebrations are well in hand in Kaiapoi. and a great, deal of interest is being taken in the festivities. The Oxford Coronation Celebration Committee met on Wednesday evening, Mr I). Hawkc presiding. It was reported that the focal branch of the Farmers' Union had voted £5 towards the Coronation Hall, and the Road Board had voted £4O, provided the law gave it authority to do so. A roll of old identities was prepared, and it was decided to request their attendance on Coronation Day, and to make provision for their conveyance. The Salvation Arinv offered its band for the occasion, which was accepted. The plans for the Coronation Hall wereconsid°red, and it was decided to deal further with them at a meeting on Monday night.