JANUARY 22 OR MARCH 9?

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 1, 1 July 1939, Page 14

JANUARY 22 OR MARCH 9?

CITY AND VALLEY INTERESTS

The main discussion at the meeting of the Wellington Provincial Council of the New Zealand Centennial organisation yesterday afternoon was over the question of the day for the national pageantry celebration. Two dates were suggested, January 22 (Anniversary Day) and March 9, and though no vote was taken it was clear from the remarks of most of those who spoke that January 22 was considered by the meeting to be the proper day for the celebration, notwithstanding various difficulties.

A sub-committee set up at a previous meeting of the council (Messrs. A. G. Barriett, E. P. Norman, W. S. Wauchop, and E. M. Bardsley) submitted an opinion that it would be impossible to stage a street pageant successfully on January 22 at either Petone or Wei-, lington tor the following reasons:— 1. Owing to the races, it would be impossible to handle the traffic by road or by rail. ' j 2. Many business men would be out of town on that day and would not be prepared to 3. On this day thousands of people leave Wellington early in the morning for Trentham, and would therefore, miss any big function, even if it were' possible to hold it. 4. Owing to the school holidays many children and teachers would still be absent, and it would be-.impossible to' organise an effective display by the schools. 5. The Petone foreshore's environs do j not lend themselves to the staging of an extensive display or to the accommodating of large numbers of people. As the memorial will be opened on January 22. the staging of a street pageant on that day would be even more difficult. 6. It would not be possible to arrange for inclusion in the street pageant any ■ of the many floats (including all Gov-i eminent floats) taking part in the Auckland celebrations. "The committee therefore recommends (a) that the ceremonies on January 22 be confined to the opening of the memorial pavilion and to certain pageantry at Petone beach, and (b) that a historical street pageant of floats and. marching parties be organised to take place on Saturday, March 9. "The selection of March 9 would allow the incorporation of all Government floats and of any private floats which have been included in the Auckland and Dunedin pageants, also of period costumes, etc. These would be first used at Auckland, at Dunedin, and then at Wellington." ORGANISATION OF PAGEANT. The sub-committee further recommended that a Centennial committee representing all sections of the community (commerce, sport, music, art, drama, schools, women's institutes, etc.), should be set up to arrange and control the celebrations, and that an organising pageant master should be appointed to secure the co-operation of the business community and to organise the celebrations. Mr. Hislop said that apart from the reasons advanced by the sub-committee the floats which the Government would provide, and which would be a great attraction to the pageant, could not be in Wellintgon in January, when they would be in Auckland. From Auckland they would go to Dunedin, and they could not be back in Wellington until March; at any rate there was no chance at all of their being here in January. EFFORTS OF THE HUTT VALLEY. The case',- for January 22 was put by a deputation from the Hutt Valley Centennial Committee. The people of the Valley; • said Mr.- J: •W. Andrews, Mayor of Lower Hutt, were desirous that a special feature should be made of the celebration of Anniversary Day and the landing of the first settlers at Petone on January 22. Their enthusiasm had been such that over and above the amount required for the creation of the provincial Centennial memorials the Hutt Valley had contributed £1100.:; which would carry a subsidy of £1 for £3 from the Government, and there were still further funds to come in. They realised that the races were on January 22 and that there were other counter-attractions on that date, but the Hutt Valley Committee was not at all concerned about that. There would not, he thought, be

any trouble over transport. By a start of the procession at about 9 a.m. there j I would be no interference with race traffic. The church service on the spot of the landing, it was suggested, should be held at 9.30, followed by the unveiling of the memorial at 10.30, thej rest of the day being taken up by picnics, Maori entertainments, and the like, on grounds nearby. Young people and early settlers were not concerned with the race meeting, and those who wished to go to Trentham could still do so after the two morning ceremonies. The proposed date for the national procession, March 9, had no historical significance whatever. Mr. A. E. Mansford, Mayor of Palmerston North, said that he would certainly favour the holding of the celebration on January 22. He suggested that the possibility of an alteration of the race day should be Investigated. Mr. T. Jordan, Mayor of Masterton, also said that January 22 was the better date. The Mayor of Petone, Mr. G. London, asked whether it was essential tl + the Government floats should be in Auckland and not in Wellington in January. display must be held in city. The national celebrations, said Mr. Hislop, should obviously be held at the place where the most effective display could be made and where the greatest number of people could see it. Plainly that place was Wellington City and not the Hutt Valley. The unveiling of the memorial at Petone could take place with all appropriate deremony and the rest of the day could be occupied by local celebrations. The memorial must be unveiled on January 22, but there was no reason at all why the national procession should not be Ijeld at a later date when Government and certain commercial floats would be available. There were other reasons why January 22 was not the best date for the national celebrations: one was that many Wellington people and their families would be away from the city. Mr. Hislop moved that the memorial at Petone should be unveiled as a national celebration and should be followed by local celebrations in the Hutt Valley on January 22 and that the main national celebrations should be held on March 9. For a time there was no seconder. SENTIMENT COUNTS. One could not get away from sentiment, said Mr. D. McGregor, and unquestionably January 22, and not a date in March, was the right day. From the point of view of the children, tod, January was more suitable. No one could call a procession a national celebration, said Mr. London. The Maoris must take a big part in the celebration, and the correct atmosphere could be had only on January 22. Practically every resident in the Hutt Valley had taken some part in the campaign, and they asked and expected the support of the Provincial Council. Mi1. P. E. Pattrick said that he thought that not too much weight should be given the fact that a certain number of floats would not be available in Wellington. The full national celebration and the Hutt Valley celebration should, he thought, be celebrated on January 22, without qualification. TWO CELEBRATIONS. Mr. Hislop said that his proposal was that there should be two celebrations, on January 22 and March 9. The sound course was to celebrate on both days. Whatever might be the date, the procession must pass through the city. Mr. Andrews said that he quite agreed. The motion was not proceeded with, the meeting adopting a suggestion made by Mr. Andrews that further inquiries should be made into rail and other traffic arrangements for January 22.