The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1935. NEARING THE CENTENARY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 100, 22 January 1935, Page 8

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1935. NEARING THE CENTENARY

4 Reflection on the ninety-fifth anniversary of Wellington opens various trains of. thought, chief of which to most people will he the remarkable progress city and province have made since the first settlement in 1840, and the approach of their centenary. Viewed through the mists of the years Wellington in 1840 presents a picture of beach shacks and tents, Maori whares, bush on the hillsides, and immigrant ships in the harbour. The tide of settlement which throng . years of pioneering struggle and achievement was to create the capita city of a self-governing State of the British Commonwealth had set in Bv 1844 the population of the community had increased to some 4000. To-day the capital value of Greater Wellington is. about £54,000,000, there are some 30,000 buildings in the city, approximately 250 miles of streets, and a population, in round figures, ot 113,UUU. That is a fine achievement for a community not a hundred years old, an achievement worthy of appropriate celebration when Wellington attains its hundredth birthday. . . That event is now only five years off.. If the celebration is to be made fitting to the occasion it is high time serious attention was given to such important preliminary arrangements as the choice and preparation of a site for the Centenary Exhibition, which it is general y agreed should be the main feature. Nothing of a definite nature so far has emerged from desultory discussions which have taken place. The national centenary falls in the same year, and the Goveinmen has intimated that it will be glad to be associated with the centenary of the capital city; but everything is still more or less in the an. Wellington’s resources for exhibition sites are limited. In fact, the greatest tribute that we can pay to-day to those who . have gone before us in the-' building of the city and in the provision of its amenities is that which honours their pluck and perseverance m literally carving their destinies out of inhospitable hillsides, filling, up sullies, and wresting new land from the sea. Problems of similar difficulty will have to be solved in preparing a site for the exhibition. Is it not possible to arrive at a decision now, and put in hand preliminary work which will provide employment for a large, number of men? The site should be chosen with a view to its utility value after the exhibition buildings have been removed. It should be eaimarked for a definite purpose that will benefit the community as a whole. With this principle of action glearly in mind there, should be no difficulty in selecting a site. That is the first essential, and it should be attended to without further delay.