N.Z. CENTENNIAL

Evening Post, Issue 30, 4 August 1936, Page 6

N.Z. CENTENNIAL

LOCAL EXHIBITION

OTHER CELEBRATIONS

COMMITTEE SET UP

Anotlier important stage in the effort that is being made to celebrate New Zealand's centenary in 1940 was readied ycslcj'day, when a representative meeting of various bodies interested, presided over by the Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop),' agreed to mark the centennial of the Dominion by holding, an international exhibition in Wellington, and to join in providing provincial and local celebrations and memorials. A provincial executive committee an<J delegates to the Dominion Centennial Council were elected, . and it was agreed to' urge the Government and the Dominion Council to allocate £100,000 by way of subsidy for the exhibition. v A feature of the meeting was the spirit of unanimity that was * evident. among the 150 representatives of the many organisations , concerned1, and the-desire that every tiling possible should be done to mark the occasion in, a suitable manner. On behalf of the Wellington Harbour Board,' Mr. T. R. ; Barrer , (acting chairman) announced that as approval had been given to the holding of an exhibition in Wellington, the board ' had decided to make a contribution of £10,000 towards the" pur-' chase of exhibition 'debentures. v This', announcement was greeted with much applause. Mr. ' • Barrer went on to say that as time went on it might be necessary , to supplement the amount. promised. The board might not be . called upon to make a further financial contribution to the gen-- ■■• , eral fund, but he could safely say that it would actively co-operate ' in the matter with a view to making the project an outstanding ' success. ' " ■' •

There were present representatives from the 'Wellington City Council, local bodies throughout the "Wellington Province, sports bodies, Wellington Harbour Board, trade, industrial, and social organisations, bands and musical societies, and kindred organisations. Apologies for absence were received from the chairman o& the Wellington Education Board, the. Mayor of - Eketah'una, and from the Pahiatua County-Council. , • • The " conference unanimously approved of the following proposals, and directed that Nos. 1, 2, and 3 be brought before the atHhe earliest opportunity:—, x , , 1. To mark the centennial of New Zealand by the holding 'of an international exhibition-in Wellington in 1939----40. 2. To join in providing provincial and local celebrations and memorials as suggested' by the Government. 13. To urge the Government and the Dominion Centennial Council to allocate £100,000 by way of subsidy for the exhibition. 4. To set1 up, a provincial executive committee, to .make recommendations to the'provincial delegates-to the Dominion Council regarding the nature of the provincial and local celebrations and memorials, and to decide'all provincial centennial questions. -5. To elect three delegates to the Dominion Council to act1 with the Mayor of Wellington for the Wellington Province. , In connection with proposal 5, Mr. Hislop explained that the Government had particularly requested the Mayor of Wellington to act on the Dominion Council. The three, electorates for the election were as follows:—(1) Boroughs of \Ldwer <Hutt, Petone, Levin;. Otaki, Eastbourne/ Upper Hutt;, town board of \Tohnsonville; counties of Hutt, Makara, Horowhenua; power boards, Hutt, Horowhenua; river board, Hutt. (2) Boroughs of Masterton, Dannevirke, Carterton, Pahiatua, Featherston, Martinborough, Greytown, Eketahuna; counties of Masterton, Dannevirke, Castlepoint, Eketahuna, Featherston, Wairarapa South, Pahiatua, Mauriceville. Powei; Boards of .Dannevirke, Tararua, Wairarapa.", (3) Boroughs of Wanganui; Palmerstph North, Feilding,' Shannon,"'Taihape,' Ohakune, Foxton, Marton^towh; boards of Bulls, Mangaweka, '-Hunterville; , counties of Kaitieke, vKiwitea, Manawatu, Oroua, Pohangina, Rangitikei,. Waihemo, Waimarino, Waitotara, Wanganui: power boards of Manawatu-Oroua, WanganuiRangitikeL 1 The following were elected to the Dominion Council:—The Mayor of Wellington; Mr. J. W. Andrews, Mayor of. Lower Hutt; Mr. T. Jordan, Mayor of-Masterton; Mr.'W/J. Rogers, Mayor of '- Wanganui:" ft ; , '%. . The 'election of the provincial executive 'committee resulted as follows:— Electorate iNo. 1:-Messrs. Goldsmith, Mayor of' Levin; A. Scholefield, Mayor of Petone; D.'-R. Boggard, chairman of the Hutt County Council. Electorate No. 2: Messrs., T. Jordan, Mayor of Masterton; J. W. Card, Mayor of Featherston; D.-- McGregor, 'of the Wairarapa South County Council. Electorate No. 3: Messrs. A. E. Manslord,. Mayor, of Palmerston North; T Collins, Mayor of Feilding; W. J. Rogers,- Mayor of, Wanganui. Wellington: The'-Mayor of' Wellington; Mr.- D. J. McGowan, chairman' of, the Wellirigton Harbour Board; Mr. C. J. B Norwood, chairman1 of the' 'Wellington Chamber of Commerce. OF. NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. Mr. Hislop welcomed' those present and expressed pleasure at the representative attendance. 'The meeting, he said, was held to discuss a matter of great national importance—that of the celebration' of the centennial of New Zealand in 1940 The same year also marked the centenmal of Wellington and of Auckland. The matter of the appropriate celebration of this great national event had been the subject of consideration for a long time. As far as Wellington was concerned it was initiated some years ago-by his predecessor in office and preliminary work had been continued by a group of citizens co-oper-ating with him (Mr. Hislop) since his election to the office of Mayor in 1931 Representations were, made to the past and present Government, which hl S+i ltetL ln a conference being called /Jt^rr 6114 and t0 which were invited the Mayors of each of the old provmcial centres. This conference took place on March 2 last. A subsequent conference took place on June 18 last, presided over by the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon .W E Parry) On that occasion the Minister presented a report setting out in genoral lines the proposals of the Government. These proposals, taken from w.f'SS 8 r2 >ort' briefly were as fo™ ows:-"The Government has decided that the event be celebrated: (1) By permanent memorials, including a national memorial to be erected by the Government. (2) By a series of historical surveys of the first hundred years of I °«r national life. (3)' By suitable, selebrattons, both national and local throughout the year 1940" ' Dealing with these in turn, Mr. Hisn? ?2 ldi hat the -Government would provide the cost of, and would erect a permanent national memorial The form of the memorial was at present under consideration by the Government, and an announcement would be made in due course by the Prime Minister. With regard to local memorials the Government would make provision lor subsidising moneys raised locally lor memorials. Witli regard to the second Government decision a special national committee would roauire to

be set up at an early date to go fully into the question. The Government, after giving the question of celebrations full consideration, felt that the celebrations should be divided into five classes as follows:—(a) Celebrations of events of national importance which occurred in 1840, these celebrations to be held at the places where the events celebrated actually occurred, (b) Purely local celebrations in honour of the centennial, (c) Special Maori celebrations, (d) An exhibition at Wellington, (c) Special tourist attractions for overseas visitors. ' Continuing his own statement, the Mayor said that the Government proposed to allocate the sum of £250,000^ to cover these various events. Of'this' it was' proposed to allocate the sum of £75,000 towards the exhibition project the balance of £175,000 being allocated to (1) national celebrations by the Government or others on behalf of the Government, and (2) in the form of subsidy towards' local celebrations or memorials based on a subsidy of £ 1 for every £3 raised locally. The amount proposed to be allocated to the exhibition, £75,000, was proposed to. be allocated in the following way: £25,000 by way of loan, free of interest, and £50,000 by way 'of subsidy based on £1 for every £2 subscribed share capital. "I think," said the Mayor, "that the proposed allocation for the purposes of the exhibition is not sufficiently great, and on my suggestion this matter was deferred for further consideration at a later conference to be held with the Government. ... it should \ be' pointed out that the actual Government donation to the whole of the celebrations is not a straight-out* donation of £250,000, but one or £225,000. The reason for this is that there is included' in the £250,000 the sum of £25,000* by.' way of loan to the exhibition, and which is to be repaid to the Government." GREAT ATTRACTION. The first and moat important matter they were^-called upon 10 deal with was the question of the exhibition. He thought it would be? generally agreed that there could be no better way of marking the centennial of the country than' by an international , exhibition. Such an1 event" if properly conceived, designed, and managed could not fail to show to the people of :his country the great development that had taken p]"ce over the past years and the standard, of progress that the country had now attained. Such an event-"'must attract to these shores many thousands of overseas visitors and give to'them an opportunity of seeing through the form of the exhibition the development of this country, and give to the people in the country many advantages, that flow from the visit of large numbers of people from abroad. , .■■' The "exhibition held some years ago in Dunedtn was an outstanding success, and thero was every reason to believe that, workv.s"on. the lines that were then' followed, an even greater success should result from" such an event in Wellington on the -of the national centennial. ' It was proposed v with the" concurrence of the Government that the exhibition should be run on lines similar to , that adopted in' Dunedin—that the organisation be [ that of:' a public company having associated with it, of, course, 'Government and local body representatives. "I have had the good fortune .of being assisted in preliminary inquiries by t eminent citizens, some of whom were closely associated with the Dunedin Exhibition," continued the Mayor. "We have gone most carefully into the matter, and are satisfied that a great success can be made of the undertaking. We have had the assistance of Mr. C. P. Hainsworth, who was the general manager of the Dunedin Exhibition, and who subsequently to that managed other exhibitions in other parts of the world, notably the great exhibition at Newcastle some few years ago. '•It is proposed that the exhibition itself shall be a fully international one and shall comprise all those features characteristic of such events. Not only will all the usual accepted features be provided for, both of local industries and of overseas exhibits, educational courts, artisans' section, womons' sections, and all the multifarious appropriate sections, but there will be on a large scale the usual entertainment and amusement section involving a visit of -a world-famous band and all the other various forms of entertainment; "After carefully investigating -we have been able to decide on an appropriate site ;in Wellington at Rongotai, which gives an area fully adequate for the purpose and which will enable buildings with a greater floor space than those of the Dunedin Exhibition to be erected. The site is ready and requires very little preliminary work upon it. We have in the Kilbirnio Recreation Ground nearby an area suitable for athletic sports.. Promises of support and assistance in organising sports events in Wellington on a generous scale have been received from the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association, the New Zealand Swimming Association, the Olympic Association, etc. ( FINANCE REQUIRED. "But, of course, the all important question of. financial provision .must be faced. After a careful analysis of all the factors, we have come to the conclusion that capital to the amount of £225,000 would be necessary for the purpose as a bare minimum. As already stated, the Government proposes to assist to the extent of £75.000. I think that tins should be increased.

The total Government assistance to Dunedin was £90,000, being £50,000 by way of direct grant and £40,000 by .way of loan which was repaid in full. "I think it can reasonably be suggested that the Government contribution to an exhibition of the type now contemplated and to celebrate an event of great national importance should be greater than that, given on the occasion of the Dunedin Exhibition. "I therefore suggest, and will later move in connection with the; whole matter, that the Government be asked to increase the total amount of its provision'up to' a sum of not less than £100,000, which the Wellington committee advised was a fair allocation. I suggest that this £100,000 be all given by way of direct subsidy £1 for £1 of ,the share capital raised by the public. If they do this will leave the sum,of £125,000 to be raised by the public. lUiave little doubt that we will be successful in an effort to raise this £125,000. lam satisfied from my conversations with people in Wellington and elsewhere that the exhibition project meets with their favour. I mention this because some suggestions have been made that I cannot get the support necessary for this exhibition. The best answer I can give to this suggestion is to say what I have already been able to do, "and I can tell you now-that I have already, with very little effort and without making ; any wide canvass, but just by approaching a^ few representative people and institutions, been promised an amount of approximately £50,000. (Applause.) It seems, therefore, that the project is assured of success. "In the event of the public not subscribing the full £125,000 share capital, or if more capital' should be required, Chen the Wellington City Council would'be agreeable, subject to getting statutory authority, to itself lending the sum of £25,000 in the way the Government proposed to do. This would make the contribution by the city £50,000." PROPOSALS OUTLINED. Mr. C. P. Hainsworth, wlio has had a lengthy experience in the organisation and management of exhibitions, including the Dunedin Exhibition in 1925-26 and the Newcastle-on-Tync Exhibition in 1929, outlined proposals in connection with the Wellington project and showed lantern slides of the proposed layout of the exhibition at Rongotai and views of the Dunedin and Newcastle Exhibitions:

Mr. Hainsworth said that he had been officially. connected with 50 exhibitions. The site at Rongotai, in his opinion, was an admirable one. The area was sufficiently large for the purpose; it was level, and therefore economical to prepare and adapt, and it, was readily accessible. There - was ample accommodation to provide courts' for various Governments, provinces,1 I secondary industries, overseas exhibits,' motors, educational, women's work,1 artisans' work,'engineering, and general exhibits; also refreshment pavilions and1 concert hall, in addition to smaller1 buildings, in which to house fire bri-,

gade, ambulance, police, and administrative staffs.

The concert hall would provide accommodation for concerts, entertainments, and conference meetings; also in bad weather, the"principal band could play there instead of in the.outside band stand. He had beeiv informed that it would be possible to take over for the period of the exhibition the stadium which adjoins the site, and which was equipped with grandstand - and other1 necessary facilities. Here could be ar-. ranged special events in all branches' of sport, pageants, band contests, pyrotechnic displays, and all kinds of outr door attractions.' An essential part of every exhibition was the provision of a large amusement park containing devices of a hovel and thrilling character, together with a children's playground and amusements. In these days "of motor transport, it was necessary, also, to provide a large motor-car parking area.

Electricity played an important part in every exhibition of this kind, and he had therefore recommended that a reasonably large sum be allocated to provide ample flood and other decorative lighting. Another attractive feature would be the introduction of a small lake witli an electric fountain1 in the middle of it. Broad, well-laid avenues from 150 to 200 feet wide must be made, together with turf and garden plots tastefully laid out.

It was also necessary to engage a first-class military band from England for the whole season, supplemented, on occasions by the booking of bands,' etc., in New Zealand. , •'

He had-given very careful thought to the financial side, and he was of the opinion' that as the Dunedin Exhibition returned to the shareholders 16s Id in the £~ Wellington would return 20s in the £, and in all probability yield a surplus over and above.

The scheme he had outlined was, he thought, a complete and practicable one. i LOCAL MEMORIALS. I Councillor J. Burns spoke of the inadvisability of the erection of a multitude of local memorials. 1 The Mayor said that he quite agreed I that it would be unwise and wasteful ito diffuse effort in many directions, i but, at the same time, it might be I that some provincial memorials were | advisable. At the moment the proposal did not go further than supporting the principle that "appropriate memorials" should be 'erected. The provincial council would go fully into the matter.' No one would * support the idea that memorials should be built here, there, and everywhere. . ( Mr. C. H. Chapman, M.P., said that he was of the opinion that local memorials were important. It might be considered necessary to establish memorials in all the provincial towns' of the Wellington area, in the form of public libraries or buildings, which, he considered, Would best mark the centenary of the Dominion. . The Mayor of PetoneVMr. A. Scholefield,. said that a memorial ' which should not be overlooked was one to

record the landing of the first settlers at Petone. Mr. Hislop said that the provincial memorial was certainly required, and if might be that the Wellington memorial would be locatedr in the centre of the province, and, whatever its form, might :bo something from which the • whole of the - province would benefit. "Possibly the Mayor of Masterton will suggest a turjiei under the Kimu-'

.takas,", said Mr.. Hislop, with a/smUe. The motion was carried. In seconding the.^proposal that the Government and the Dominion Council should be asked to allocate £100,000 by way of subsidy for the exhibition, Mr.. Barrer said that the amount of subsidy had been investigated "by the preliminary committee, which considiered that an appropriation of £100,000 would be a reasonable amount. I The proposal was -carried unan> Imously. ' " .