NEW POST OFFICE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 890, 9 August 1910, Page 6

NEW POST OFFICE.

■;• ; ;,•;';;• '-——-« — •. . : : FOUlfelON STONE LAID. .... ""■■' SPEECH BY THE PREMIER. C ' POSTAL PROGRESS. The ceremony of/laying tho fonnoVtion etohe of the now General Post Office ' building in Featherston Street was- performed yesterday -.afternoon by Sir Joseph .'.-■' 'Ward, ..Prime-'Minister■ arid PostmasterGeneraj. The. moist uncomfortable wea- .'. ther did not prevent;the assembling of a considerable'crowd. ,, 'The Mayor (Mr. T. AVilford, M.P.) presided, and those on the dais included Lady Ward tind Miss :.V Word,'' Mrs. Wilford, the Hons. G. Fowlds; R. M'KenJ-.ie, T. Mackenzie, members of\ the Legislative Council, the Hon. ,".. . A V R. Guinness (Speaker)',- Mr. W. F. Mas- . .sey (Lpailef of the Opposition), nnd other • ■ members of the House of Representatives, Mr. K.Fletcher (chairman of the Har- ' . boiir Board),.Mr.VD. Robertson (secretary), and other officers of the Postal Department, councillors, beads of State . . . Eepnrt'nienta,' and others. ■■■■'>■■ ■■ ■'. ■ V Remarks, by; the Mayor. ' 'The Mayor, before calling oii the Primo j '■■'.■ Minister to . perform the ceremony, said that there was no question that for o, '■ . long tiihe past.the citizens and the postal . tfa'ft litfd suffered from the itiudeiiuany : of thc. : aceommodation at the Tost Office. '/-■:■ The ociv building which was thus rendered necessary would be a sign-post on the "path of progress. Another post office was . ' soon to l>o oronted in Adelnidc Road, for ..-...' which tho City! Council was selecting a . ~.«itc. The Prime. Minister had -made .: himself; a name throughout tho- world by his work'iii postal veforin, and his efforts iu the-direction of cheaper postage : vere' much .'appreciated by the people of : the Dominion.. (Applause.) When Wellington had a new post office, and a new .'.■. ; railway station the citizens would have ; '..._' to rack - their brains to find what they '■': rould u=l; foi next, .-lit'conclusion, Mr. :' r ■ WilfonV congratulated the Prime : Minis- . . ~ ter and tho./citizens on the commencement of the new-post office, and, on be-- . ; half of the contractors (Messrs. J. nnd . A.-Wilson), presented Sir Joseph Ward with a memento -of the- occasion, in tno form of a silver-mounted spirit-love!. . suitably insorib<v;. . ■ ' ' .. Underneath the stone, which is a large ■ .-. block of granite a few feet above tho ground on the. Fe'atKerston Street ■ side .. '/.of the buildingi small-cavity had been -~-.• prepared, and in .this the Prime. Minis- - ter. placed a .casket .containing copies of .;'..'. +he Wellington newspapers of the date, ■an official-list, and one each of the cur- ' Tent coins of the , realm. ■ '/■'' ■ Prime i-Minister's Speech. : _■ The Prime Minister .thanked Mr. Wil-' ■ ' ?ord for his kindly' introduction and '. the contractors -for their, presentation. iThe' contract price 'for the Post Office : ■tvas...« I J6,!)Ut); VAs .'there.might be somo •''. "people who would 'term l'.-. this-expenditure .. ... fxtravagauce.'.Sir'Joseph stated, that dur- .. •■ ing .'the .progress'.'of the contract ' over ■-.: 0140.000 .would be spent on' that" site for wages, but of that'sum, and in addition -about '.£20,000. would be .spent within, the. country .in'wages. fpr v the preparation of' ■:- ■■'.■ the material .for the building while the ; I ■;: : -wages, in' connection with other materials ran into about .£IO,OOO. It was impos- :■;. Bible, to carry .out: such a large undertakv> ing /without a/very., large expenditure, ■■■•..' or ;to .provide a postal service like" ,; , New- Zealand's,., at, anything like, tho : '•■'.'.. ■amount.some pedple-talked of. The.new ■'; ■ building wduld : do no more than reason-, . . :ably' provide for the accommodation of ,-•■■■ . the staff and public requirements. It .-■-... would/bo next:door to madness if the . - 'Administration,did not erect a thorough- . •'-. )y substantial -'building. Over one mil- / .lion bricks were being used in the ,buildi ) ing, together with/-1000 tons of stsel, and ;-.- KOOO tons of atone. -Mr. Campbell, of .this ■ Public Works Department, was the ar- : ■ chitfct; arid Messrs. J. and : A. Wilson, .-.'■ J.td.,-.who had built'the Public-Trust ".'• . Office,-'were' the contractors. The Prime Minister-complimented Mr. Campbell, on ,■■'-.-. having planned a very fine building.' ' . ;.'■ • The Post and Telegranh work was de- ... : veloping with such strides all over New Zealand'that the staff, of the head office of the Post arid Telejrraph Department, ■ < together with the Public Stores Oflicc, now -.;■;numbered' nearly.'-'SOO. • The new bnild- - ins would'be the'pivot of the Post and ■-..,. ■ Telegraph world in New Zealand, and it .■■'•.. would provide-only reasonable accom- .■ ■ ' modationfor the.' , large staff he had fnen- ... tionedJ'; In the>' years to comej though extra ' accommodation • would , not bo . .wanted in the principal office,' buildings 1 would be required in other parts 'of the ■. : . city : to provide for the increasing busi- • :. . "ness. .New Zealand was, if not "the -..;■■■ cheapest, one-of the cheapest countries in, the world for postal and telegraphic •■■.- facilities. He was afraid, that the only : -way. to please some people, however, woulil ,'■■ be to give them ; everything for nothing and a contribution in addition every time they came. -'TVe have as perfect a mail, telegraph, and telephone service as -.. Tve'.can Sir Joseph. "Genor- : ally; speaking" that* is the; case to-day, and it is conceded,by the public, except for .occasional-persons'who' are never satisfied with-'-.anything, that' the employees do good .work generally and give a splen-' did; return for the money which the ; ..'ppblic pay for every branch.of the •ser- ;' 'vice'."' ' : ' ',; .: '_■ ; ' ':. '' .. ■ • The Pnme , Minister .then' related, in / some detail'the history of local postal '• nrrangements down to the- present , day. The this respect will ; be fonnd in another column. At tho conclnsion'of the Prime Minis- ■ . , ter's speech, cheers were given for Sir Joseph Ward and Jthe Mayor. - ■ Speeches by, Local Members. "■•• Local mcnibers of Parliament ■ wero asked'by--the'Premier-'to-address tho gathering. - .- , ■ ... Mr.. B." A...Wright,,M.P., congratulated those concerned in the ceremony, und e.v . pressed complete agreement with tho Prirno Minister's, , forecast of tho progress of Wellington. Ho was glad the Government intended to erect other'new , post offices in the'-city. Sir Joseph Ward had done a. great deal of good in postal matters. . (Applause.) " . . Mr. A. L'." Herd.man, ; JI.P.-, said it gave -.''him •' very.-great'pleasure to be present on an occasion : which Sir JoseDh "Ward had rightly described as ono b£ great' importance. Like Mr.. Wright, he. had con- . . -ndence.in the future of the city, and'he also had confidence in the future'of the ' country. ■ We' had gone through a ; time of depression during the last eighteen . . months, but he was satisfied that tho in- '■-.'■ berent •-wealth .of the country,-, and-tie-inherent strength of the people would pull us through, and our .prosperity would, in a short time, bofulJy restored, i (Applause.) ■■.-•■•- Mr. D. M'Lareii, M.P., said that in ■view of tho falling-off in the number of buildings erected in the city during last year, as compared with "the previous year, the erection of such buildings as the new Post Office was particularly welcome. The Premier had a right to feel proud of what he had done for postal reform in this' country. ' He thought there was no public service in the conntry which gave people better value for their money than the postal service (Applause.) This concluded the ceremony.