THE RECENT EXHIBITION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 53, 26 November 1907, Page 4

THE RECENT EXHIBITION.

♦ i In another column will be found ' particulars of the expenditure involved ' in the recent International Exliibi- ( tion in Christchurch. Briefly put, the ] position is that the total expenditure 1 was. £239,970, and the receipts about £77,500 less, the total cost of the ' affair being, therefore, £77,500. When ' the final vote of £17,000 in the Sup- ' plementary Estimates came before the House on Saturday evening, there was ! practically no criticism of the finances I oE the Exhibition, and this may be 1 taken to mean that Parliament either 1 saw small ground for. complaint, or ) else recognised that there was little to 1 bo gained from lamentation.. It will be observed that the outiay was, roughly, half as large again as the re- 1 ceipts. In other words, for every £3 that was expended, only £2 came in. When he first brought the project forward, the late Premier suggested that the State need not fear any greater loss than £20,000, and it was generally felt that, if the deficit on the balancesheet were no more than that sum, the result would be quite satisfactory. Very few people, however, would have listened to the suggestion that the •State should set aside about £80,000 for expenditure on any kind of exhibition, and most people will doubt the suggestion that the affair has been really worth the money which it has cost. There appears to be no case against the management oil the general score of extravagance, although the disparity between the receipts and expenditure in connection with the orchestra and the concerts points to defects in some of the details of management. 1 Nothing but genius could have met the real difficulty, namely, the natural impossibility of carrying out at a profit, or at a loss so small as to be extinguished by indirect benefits, such an extensive project. In the present instance there are doubtless indirect gains, but they cannot be large. Railway traffic was largely increased, but the public cannot grow rich by rushing about in trains. The trade benefits are an incalculable quantity, but nobody will suggest that the Exhibition has given an impetus to our exports. The visitors, pcrflaps, stimulated business, but they probably took care to get value for their moiiey. No doubt it will be a very long timV before the Dominion embarks upon another such venture. A report tha/ has just been issued by a committee of the British Board of Trade tends to show that British manufacturers are growing tired of international exhibitions. They urge, amongst other things, that the charm of novelty has gone, that for advertising purposes there are better things than exhibitions, that individual exhibits may be overlooked, that the value of exhibition awards has decreased through their,- commonness, and that the public interest in exhibitions is largely confined to the incidental amusements and entertain- . ments. At the same time the Committee thinks that manufacturers will be unwise to discontinue their representation, and that the opportunities for national benefit afforded by the exhibit of- national industries at large ex- ' hibitions are as great as ever. This would indicate ■ that in future it will be better for this country to spend what money can be spared in securing representation at foreign exhibitions, and to dispense with such costly and unprofitable carnivals as that which for six months created such bustle in Christbhurch., > V J