THE COMPETITIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1764, 31 May 1913, Page 14

THE COMPETITIONS.

CITY COUNCIL GRANT.

(To tho Editor.) Sir,—As tliero lias been much appearing in the press lately concerning the application made by the Xcw Zealand Competitions Society for a. grant of J!SO from tho Wellington City Council, I think it only fair to our society and the ratepayers of Wellington, that the full particulars surrounding the application should be made known.

11l tho first place our society wag formed'by a few well-meaning and energetic citizens who felt that it was time that Wellington fell into lino with other cities of tho Dominion and had some rccognised annual musical ami elocutionary- festival, which would be-tho means of bringing peoplo from all parts of the Dominion tc our city. These gentlemen 'by their own unaided efforts were the means of forming tho Now Zealand Competitions So ciety, which huu for its main object, the cultivation of the artistic side of thi ccmmunity. During the two years of it existence it has accomplished much to wards this laudable object, and incident ally much for the commercial good of th city. If our society had done nothinj else than that it was tho means of givin: us Baxter Buckley (possibly the fines pianist of tho Dominion); if it had don nothing elso than that it was the mean of bringing the leading Church choir fiom places as far as Auckland' and Dun edin; if it had done nothing else thai that it was the means of bringing Mis Lilian Pritchard, the champion_ lady, elo eulionist of Australia, to Wellington then I say in case it would hav< more than justified its existence,'but thes are only a few ont of many cases wher the society has been the means of pro riding artistic treats to the Wellington public. Then from a commercial stand point our society has been none the les a boon to Wellington. Our City Counci has, in the last two years, received fron us no less a sum than ,£534 in rent which after allowing for rebates, or giants o ,£BO, has benefited to the net extent o 31M-. Besides this very substantial con tribution to the revenue of our citv thcompetitions are the means of consiriei ably augmenting the tram revenue by (a) By the crowds attending the eves ing concerts. (b) Day attendances (most of the con

• petitors living in the suburbs. (c) Great influx of visitors and competitors from outside of Wellington, all of whom use the cars to a great extent. (d) By advertising the city in our publication. free of charge. Our official programme last year contained some ten pages describing the side trips of the city, besides several blocks of beauty spots in and arouncl Wellington. Altogether our society is the direct means of spending some .£ISOO annually, of this quite iJUOO is spent in Wellington. Further, the festival brings some 2000 to 8000 people into Wellington for a fortnight, whose averago spending, at a low estimate of X 2 per week, means another d£4ooo put into circulation in our city.

The counoil support ft city organist, municipal orchestra, and various brass bands, iall of whom contribute little or no revenue ,to the city, then why should tliey not foster a society that has for its objeots the encouragement of music, elocution, drama, oratory, debating and literature, surely it is doing good for a far larger body of citizens than all those of, tho previous institutions lumped together, and is, let it be remembered, a source of revenue and not a tax on the ratepayers. A point that docs not appear to have been properly realised by several members of the council, and also by a large body of the general public, is the fact that our society is not making a huge nrofit; «sn the contrary, in each year it has barely covercd expenses. The expenses to run a festival are necessarily extremely high and the income is limited in a city likff Wellington with its many counter attractions, to say nothing of the weather which often affects tho receipts.

With reference to Councillor's Wright's remarks objecting to donations of tho kind while the city has no money for drainage, I would respectfully point out that our society has swollen the revenue of the city by JS4M in the last two years. It seems incredible to me that neither Mr. Wright nor his Worship the Mayor had perused our balance-sheet before tho debate, as a copy of it was sent round to the Town Clerk last April for the expressed purpose that .our financial position bo realised by n\embers of the council.

I might add here that we advertised in tho local papers that our balaucc-sheet, duly audited by a public accountant, might be inspected at my office by any person interested. This offer still holds good as w6 court tho fullest publicity of our affairs.

In justice to our executive I would point out that they arc always personally oht of pocket over the society, yet all work nono the less strenuously for what they consider a most worthy object. Surely the council as representatives of the community as a whole have some duty to an organisation of this kind arid may be asked to do their part as privato individuals.

It may mean that unless tho council can mako up its mind to treat the society more generoifely it will be reluctantly compelled to seek other and oheaper accommodation in which, to hold their festival. If, unfortunately, this should happen tho ratepayers will lose some .£225 a year net revenue. Trusting you will pardon me for taking up so much of your valuable space.— I am, etc., JAMES DYKES, Secretary, N.Z. Competitions Society.