CHAIRMAN'S REPLY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1933, Page 12

CHAIRMAN'S REPLY

Replying to the correspondent's criticism, Mr. G. 6. Stewart, chairman of the carnival executive, states:— ''The National Confidence Carnival was put forward as a definite plan to help in re-establishing confidence in the city and the Dominion. Upon this basis all good citizens willingly combined to produce a carnival which would be on such a scale: as to attract visitors from other parts of the Dominion, as xvell as from Australia and beyond. "Already a large amount of publicity literature is at work in Australia and elsewhere to bring people to Wellington during the 'carnival week of November 18 to November 25. "Instead of doing harm to local trade, the carnival is one of the surest ways of helping business within the city. "The present pressing need of the Mayor's Fund for the relief of distress was graphically presented to' the management committee of the carnival, and, recognising the urgency of the case, it was decided that any funds made from the carnival should be devoted to this purpose. . "This, however, is not being allowed to interfere with the main objective of the carnival, which is the re-establishment of confidence within the Dominion. It is felt that, when all the facts are presented —as they can be through the pageant and other striking features to be shown during Carnival Week —confidence will be once more firmly established, and that from this justifiable confidence there will come a return of enterprise, an unfreezing of capital, and a general rehabilitation of the Dominion, which will , make the demands of charity very much less pressing than they are at present. '"The carnival committee has the support of the Retailers' Association and of every other association interested in tho welfare of Wellington. "In order to make the presentation of the carnival «an adequate one, funds are obviously necessary, and these are asked for in the confidence that the carnival will not only, pay its way, but leave a substantial balance available for that most necessary work under present conditions— the Mayor's Fuud for the relief of dis- ', tress. ■ . ■ "It has been found, too, that many of the most active workers in the city desired to have a definite objective fixed'in regard to the profits of the carnival, and that the decision in regard to the Mayor's Fund brought them all together in active participation. "Any expenditure incurred in connection with the carnival is under the most rigid .control, and a fully-audited balancesheet will be presented immediately upon the conclusion of the carnival, when it is hoped that a really substantial sum will accrue to the Mayor's Fund."