PEACE FESTIVAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 192, 9 May 1919, Page 3

PEACE FESTIVAL

STREETS TO BE DECORATED

ARRANGEMENTS FOR

CELEBRATIONS

APPEAL TO SHOPKEEPERS

■■ If tho attendance at the public- mcet...'.ijDß held in the Concert Chamber of tho Town Hall last night to decide upon a scheme of decorations along the route'of - the procession to Newtown Park in connection with the peace celebrations is to be taken as any sort of criterion, it would appear that little interest is being evinced in Wellington in regard' to a fitting observance of the historic event which is , about to _be consummated at Versailles. Ine meeting was convened under the auspices of tho Peaco Celebrations Committee, and shopkeepers occupying premises on the main thoroughfares of the city were (Specially invited to attend, but there were only about 30 people present, ' of whom fewer than half a dozen were shopkeepers. • • The Mayor, Mr. J. P. Luke, presided, and he said it 'had been desired that t\ . very representative meeting should be ' held to decide what form the scheme of decorations should take, and to- ensurq that the people should show their 'hearty ' appreciation and" gratification that a new era of peaco was being ushered in. Hq explained that the present arrangements ' were that the celebrations should com.mence with n, religious service at the Basin,Reserve'on tho Sunday week'following the receipt of advice that the Treaty had been , signed. For instance, if the .Treaty was signed on a Monday the service would not bo held on. the next Sunday, but on tlie Sunday of the week following. In.the afternoon there would be an open-air service at the Basin Reserve, and in the evening another eervlcp would take place at the Town Hall. 'A massed choir under the leadership of Messrs. Rob'ert Parker and Temple White would assist at both services. On the Monday, a'liuge'naval,' military, and civilian profession would start from the Government Buildings at 10 a.m., and march through the 1 main stroete of the city, to Newtown Park, where a snorts gathering would take place. A concert ■would be held in the. Town Hall in the . evening, and on the Tuesday a children'e demonstration would bo held. Tho arrangements event had .been left in the hands of Ipio education authorities to promote. Thero would ho a-monster torchlight procession , ' on the Tuesday pvening, staTtine from the Government Buildings at 7.15 o'clock, to be , followed ..by a fireworks disnlay from a hulk moored off Oriental; Bay. Possibly, bonfires might also be arranged for." He ; felt sure that all sections of the community would unite for tho purnose of njakiTii»"irsuc ; cess of the.celebrations. The City Council were naturally desirous of ■ having-a ■very effective displnv, but ,as'their obligations, for" tlio .comjwr vear nr two-were going to be very great" they "had not got money to, Durn." The council had set flsido a sum which, with thn donation of .£350 from the' Harbour Board, would represent an nmonnt of : about .£2soo.>He thousht.it was a'fair suggestion'that'the fihopkeeners.'ori thn line of route of the procession should be invited to do some decorating on their own account. •' Mr! Luke, concluded by expressing "tlm assurance thn.t the peonlo of the Eranire Cirv would, do ..their share in' ehowirirr their ]ov and gratitude that the-.'world was about to enter upon a , new era of peace and. happiness. ■;•■■- ' Cost Rather Heavy. • ,

Mr. John S. Swan stated that a.survey Sf the route, of the procession had been made,by himself and, Mr.. C. A. .Lawrence, and .they, had come to the conclusion that tho centreway tramway, standards from Government Buildings, to Kelburn Avenue should be,decorated. Coloured streamers and .greenery might be swung from the tops of the poles to the verandahs o.f the shoos on either side of, the.'roadway, and tfei poles, might be , festooned. . Prom Kelburn Avenue onwards there were no centre poles, eo the only, tiling was.',for..the shopkeepers, in Lambton Quay,- Willis.' Street'.' Manners Street, and Cuba Street to decorate their verandah:posts themselves. The cost'of decorating ,the. tramway poles would. However, be rather heavy. Mr. Lawrence estimated that to decorate one pole with, festoons, or with bunting, would cost about .£3O. , iThere were twenty poles from the Government Build- ■ Hiss to Kelburn Avenue, including nine with a large lamu on top of each. They thought it would be wfee to. decorate only those poles on which there were , lamps. It was also' thought that the shopkeepers in each.of the streets ehonld have a uniform scheme of decoration for each street, ; thus making the line of march moro effective. Mr. Lawrence said he thought it would nc woll if thoy concentrated the decorations on Lambton Quay, where they had the centre standards. So far. as street aecorations- were concerned, they were Mndicapped by the tramways, and he did not suppose-the City Council would asyree to stop the traffic in'any-one of the busy streets. . .So far.as the streets other than the thoroughfare 'from- Government Buildings to Grey' Street were concerned, eatisfactory scheme would be for the ■ shopkeepers to form eub-committcps and arrange ; their ■ own decorations, if possible, having a uniform' syiiemc >m each of the respective streets Uiba Street: might; be decorated ■-•in ' a totally- different--etyle-froin- Manners btreet, and eo on.'- "■".'.' .'.

Major 1 Halpm.did not agree with the idea of a uniform schema of decoration The more varied the shopkeepers made their decorations the more effec- ™ ™iM Jβ the result. To create competition between the various etreets e<l to form sub-committees to arrange the respective schemes. , Mr. W. H. P. Barber resetted that more shopkeepers had not attended the A' to the bfisines people of the city to «ive some response rnmi'frrf' *J ic V tlle ' Celebrations Committee had in hand;

"The War Forgotten." "Personally,. Tarn sorry.';that there is not a larger number- hero -to-night" remarked ;Mr. J, Lewis, secretary and organiser, of the arrangements .'for the celebrations, ".ft appears'to me that now the war is over a great number of peo.ple havo forgotten all about it. I remember very clearly the public 'meeting w> called hero just after the war broke out to consider ways and means of organising a carnival,for wounded soldiers On that occasion the hall was crowded io-night is quite different from. that, lo my mind, this is a greater occasion and one on which the hall should have bo™ : It would show that the people of Wellington appreciated tho work done. But 1 still believe tho citizenswill come forward, and make the occasion, a -fitting; one' when the time approaches for these celebrations." Mr. a'S fTSV ,lat th ° yor sh0llI(1 1» t ?l \ l ? PeC ' aI llntl Is »^ appeal to the shopkeepers to come forward and. makothe ooension worthy of tho great sacrifice* that had been made. I ho Mayor said ho was quite willing to do all he possibly could t<, invoke the twlp ot the shopkeepers. Ho could as..wire those present that the small attendance at the meeting was not due to the 'apathy of the City Council or the committee that had the matter of the celebrations in hand. The City Council had boon-doing the 'best it could in the circumstances. "[ don't want any halfhearted business in connection with the poace celebrations," observed Mr. Luke. Tho resolution moved by-Mr. Lewis was adopted, and tho Mayor intimated that ■he would act as ■requested. "All tho other arrangements ore well in hand," said Mr. Lewis. "The only apathy is on the part of the shopkeepers on Iho routo of the procession. We are anxious that they should fall into lino and do their bit in making the thing a success," TIME FOR CELEBRATION. 'VN -EXTRA WEEK'S NOTICE. Tho following statement was made by Sir .Tames.Allen, Acting-Prime Minister, yesterday with reference to tho timo for commencing peace celebrations: "Cabinet hae ogrced that after wo. hear that peace has been signed it would bo better for local authorities not to commence their celebrations on the next succeeding Sun-' .day, but on tho Sunday after that (in

other words on the Sunday week following recoipt of advice), That will give them a week or more so that they may havo time to; make. their preparations, ino memorandum issued by tho Minister of Internal Affairs still stands in other respects.' Tho celebrations will bo continued on Monday ami Tuosday, but they aro postponed for a week. '" '■ ' Should any information coino to us from the Imperial Government indicating .that it has adopted any dehnito date for the celebration of peace, it is still open to us to reconsider the question, and we very likely would do so in ordor. to come into line with the Imperial Government."

LOWER HUTT COMMITTEE. A well-attended meeting of tlio Lower Hutt Peace Celebrations Committeo was held last evening. Mr. J. Campbell occupied the chair. The Stokes Valley and Taita schools wrote accepting tho offer of tho committeo to take part in the Lower Hutt celebrations. A letter was' received from the Defence. Department agreeing to tho ■ iiso of the Drill Hall.' It was decided to engngo tho services of Jupp's Band for tlie. Monday at a fee of ,£25. It was resolved that certain alterations to the. original sports programme be carried out. .MEETING OF CHRISTCHURCH •■ EXECUTIVE. SIMULTANEOUS CELEBRATION DESIRED. By Telegraph-Preaa Association. Christchurch, 'May 8. At a meeting of the ■ executive of the Peace Celebrations Committee to-night, Mr. H. Holland,, the ex-Mayor, said ho regretted that the Government had made arrangements for celebrating peace without waiting to fall into line with the rest of the Empire. He/would like to think that the whole Empire would be celebrating at tho sumo ..time.

I Mr. A. F. Carey eaid he did not think New Zealand should bo celebrating peaco prematurely before the rest of the Empire. He 'suggested that the Government .should be asked to .hold its hand and, climb down rather than Now Zealand should make a laughing stock of itself. Hβ moved that strong representations be made-to the Government that the peace celebrations be ;held throughout tlio British Empire simultaneously.. Several other members supported Mr. Carey's motion,.which was carried unanimously. : ~.-.. A GREYMOUTH PROPOSAL. ■ ' / By' Telegraph—Press Association. Greymouth, May 8. The Greymouth ,and Hokitika Sawmillers' Association has forwarded'/ tho following, resolution to the Minister- of Internal Affairs-. "Association ie of opinion that, in view of tho necessity for increased production, the proposed holidays at the, peace celebrations be restricted,'and the'.estimated subsidy pnid by .Government for celebrations be handed, to the Sick and Wounded Soldiers' :Fund," ".".".'• . .