THE EXHIBITION.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8047, 2 November 1906, Page 2

THE EXHIBITION.

THE OPENING CEREMONY. (Bv Tb&egbafh—Press Association.) » CUBISTCM'URCH, List night. Only otos in its liictory has the Cty of the I'imus I'oen so thronged and entbueiastic as to-day. '1 ho previous occasion was the reli f of Mafoking, a j jjous ending to a sanguinary struggle; the presenWone was ent'rely joyous and peaceful and signallul a progress of a new land, of which history gives uo oxamplf. It is scarcely two years ago that toe late Premier, Mr Se idc.ii, visited < 'hrutehuruh to set hs exhibition scheme on foot.

The opening ceremony, which was satisfactjry in every retpect, and was carried out a single hitch, was witnessed by a gathering containing more prominent men of the Empire than probably any function which has been held in the Southern H. mi?phere. The Governor of the Colony and his Ministers, the representatives of the Mother Country and the tister coloniwj the committees which have worked for,the promised success, the army of workmen and exhibitors, and, lastly, the crowd of uninvited citizens outside the gates, eager to h-'d all the assistance in their power; all these comhined to form a gathering that will lung he remembered in the annals of the cuy and the colony. The Exhibition cuid not hiive hud a more auspioioSs start in life tnan the wtrtu " send-off" that has gone f.t towards securing its BUCces". At qu.te an early hour in the mcrning, the volunteers in their gsyest tin-forms commenced to move i-buut in town and to congregate at the King Edward Uarrncks. I'.y teu o'clock moat of them had paraded and they moved off to the Exhibition. The various orj ; on foot formed a guard on part of Ki!more-?treet and over the bridge at the main entrance. Three brass bands stood inside the entrance and o.her corps guarded the way from the bridge to the miin doors. The rest of the volunteers—cne various mounted corps arrived in a long procession, as a guard to His Excellency -the Governor, and as they reached the entrance gate turned to the right along Park Terraoe. The arrangements were nicely timed so that His Excellency arrived at the pre-arranged time. While the opening ceremony was being preformed a fair number of the public found their way to the sports ground behind the quildiogs, where a mlrttary display was given by the mounted men and a contingent of men-of-warsmen from the warships in port. The attendance of the publio was compirativeiy small, because the number admitted to the grounds prior to the ceremony was very limited.

The proceedings opened rather tamely, as the mounted men were unable to reach the ground at the proper time. As the jnrty asoended the steps and Sled into the grand ball the choir and orchestra rendered the ode written by Mr J>baones C. Anderson, and set to mueio by 1 Mr Alfred Hill, the musicil conduotor, and a verse of the National Anthem. The Nos. 1 and 2 Battalions of the North Canterbury Infant ry lined the passage way it the salute, and the.prooession of notabilities passed on to the reserved seats, The ceremony was a very brilliant one. The National Anthem was played, and there was a ripple of excitement in the gathering when Sir Joseph Ward, accoraoanied by Lvly Ward, the Ministers of the Crown, Sir John Gorst (representative of the British Government), Captain Atkin (British Commissioner), Colonel Bauohop, Lieutenant-Colonel Slater and Sir A. A. Langden (rnpresentitive of the British Governtneat in arts aud oraftß) arrived, and a few minutes afterwards His Excellency and Lady Plunket took their seats.

His Excellency amidst tumults o! applause, rose to address the vast concourse He said it was with feelings of deepest pride and satisfaction that he rose to curry out the honorable duty whioh had b«eo jonferred upon him. That satisfaction wis h iwnvf-r, tempered with sorrow that tie New ZjaUnd stitesman and British [raperhlist, who laid the faundation atone, fi ruratively and ac'ually of the undertaking was not there to oomplete the largest -nhibition etrst held beneith the Southern Cross, and to witnets the response which the Mother Country and her children had made to New Zealand's invitation. (Cheers) ■* W.-oall this the Ntw Zealand International Exhibition," said the Governor. " Proud as lam to be ass ciatedwith so important an undertaking 1 am even more interested in the object UQlt-rlyincr its c mciptioa. That objeot if [ interpret it rightly was to show to their fellow cit'z-'ns of the Empire what New Zealand, with a history of but a man's life'ime, his accomplished. It was also ti demonstrate to tho world, that there it rising here a y ung natioa which though furthest from the Mother Country md nine huQdrelirailes from her newest neighbour, is British in thought and blood happy and prosper us standing only on rne threshold of her splendid It maybe th ujht by some that it is presumptuous if not ridiculous, for lesß than a million people living on a mc re speck in the Pacific Ocean to anticipate becoming he New Eugland of the southern seas, or for a land of but yesterday to expect to empire with the greatest maritime and ' manufacturing nation of the old world, but it is in no such doubting spirit that the New Zeilander regards his future. He points to the thirty-seven millions of Great rit«in and proudly tells you that his own country is as large and healthy and as fertile. Indeed nothing has impressed me more during my visits to ditlerent parts of the oolony than the fact thatlbeneath of their gereral content the pioneer and the farmer, the merchant aud the artisan, are looking forward o«nndeutly to t.lieir children's heritage. Proceeding to to the colony's natural resources th.9 G iV( rnor slid if this country had materials to build her ships she hid also men to man them, for the New Zeilander had eminently the sea-faring nature of the Englishman. Was it, he asked, difficult to believe that with humanitarian legislation for the workers and the wise treatment of capital < there will arise before long manufacturing towns ditlenng only from those at Home in that grinding poverty, overcrowding and dirt, smoke and fog will be absent!' The present was a fitting ocoasion to dwell upon the future of the oolony. I he Governor then welcomed the visitois in the name of the King and expressed his appreciation of the honour the people of the oolony invariably paid to the representative of the sovereign. His Excellency sat down amid applaue.

Sir J. G. Ward expressed deep regret at the absence of the man who had started the Exhibition. He had that day received the following telegram fiom Llrs Seddon : "T -day .>ur thoughts turn towards Chrietohurch, and we sinoeiely hope everything will pass otl satisfactorily and that the Exhibition will be the sucoess that Mr H>ddon would have wished it. Jane Seddoa" (Applause). He also expressed regret at the ah ence tnrough i.lnesa of Sir John Sal', tin extended a wirm welcome to the visitors, naming primarily Sir John Gorst, representative of the Biitish Government, and thnn mention d those of rhe Commonwealth reprerentatives. The Premier oonc'ud.'d as follows: "The late Premier iu-

liunated in ChrUtohurch that this greiT undertaking was to be gune on liter on Mr Muuro, the Chairman oT the lixhibiiioa Commissioners, ,wa« cppointed '•y the Government to initiate the work, and on him the organisation at the inoep'ion was cast. It is due to him to say that he hag cirrind out the enormous mass of work done, which reflects the highest credit upon him. (Applauae.) I desire to say, ladies and gentlemen, that it is known only to those who are aotively engaged in connection with this Exhibition the nun of work that has been done by the Chair, man of Commissioners, Mr Munro, and I take this opportunity, the first since the Exhibition has been inaugurated, of saying that the Government reoognißed that he had a most difficult task to discharge." Sir Joseph was loudly an, plauded. When he sat down the one hundredth psalm was sung and Sir Joseph then handed jewelled gold passes to Lady Ward and the Hon. Kathleen P.unket on behalf "f the Exhibition Commissioners. Alter that His Excellency d.c'ared the Exhibition open and disp itched a cab'egram to His Majesty the King announcing tbo fact. The mussed bands outside, the orchestra and the chorus inside joined in the National Anthem, the Exhibition bells -ere rung/the flags i f till Dations were unt'urlod and the public wore admitted.