The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 19 1905.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1562, 19 September 1905, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 19 1905.

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION It ia time that our public bodies wore giving attention to the forthcoming New Zealand Exhibition which is now being discussed in all the centres of population. The Auckland Star, in an article on the subject, states : The preparations now being actively pushed on in Christchurch for the International Exhibition which is to be opened there in November, 1906, have attracted much leas attention in Auckland than the importance of the occasion merits. So far as the project has been noticed at all here, there seems to be a general impression that the Exhibition is a more or less Idea enterprise deserving no more support from Auckland than the Midland railway. The visit of Mr Munro, the Executive Commissioner representing the Government on the various committees that have taken the Exhibition in hand, should go a long way toward disabusing the public mind of this misconception. As Mr Munro pointed out at the public meeting convened by the Mayor last Friday, the Exhibition ie not only colonial but international in its scope. Nor is it a proprietary concern like the Dunedin Exhibition of 1890, for it is being practically financed by the colony, and there is no private interest to be served by its success. Mr Munro and the promoters are confident that it will be possible to attract a large number of exhibits from abroad, and negotiations are now proceeding with America, France, Germany and other great - commercial centres for the allotment of space. There is still a considerable time to elapse before the Exhibition opens, but it is not too soon to consider ways and means to ensure the adequate representation of Auckland in what promises to be the most important enterprise of the sort yet attempted in New Zealand. ‘ " The plans already drafted for the Exhibition have been sketched on a scale of generous magnitude. The buildings are to be erected in Hagley Park, the great public reserve of Christchurch, and certainly no other area of anything like the same size could be found anywhere in the colony so easy of access and so well adapted for the purpose. The 'buildings will front the River Avon, which at this point is one of the most picturesque of all Now Zealand streams, and they will be less than.„ten minutes’,,,walk from the centre of the'city. "Surrounded on two sides by the river, and on the other sides by beautiful plantations of English trees, there is a space of perhaps 70 or 80 aores open for all possible requirements,' 1 and the large artificial lake near the centre of the North Park will be especially useful in connection with the numerous “ side shows.” Already a Melbourne firm is in treaty with the management to put up various erections, such as “switchbacks ” and “ waterchutes,” at a cost of £IO,OOO. There is to be a [concert hall capable of holding ”000 people ; a well-known musical troupe propose to erect another hall at their own cost. It is expected that delegations and bodies of representatives from foreign countries will add public interest to the Exhibition, and the promoters have I reason to believe that arrangements ! can be made for the presence ,of some member of the Royal Family at the opening ceremony. Considering all these attractions, Mr Munro appears to have good ground for his confidence that the attendance at the Christchurch Exhibition will far surpass, that recorded t at the Dunedin Exhibition in. 3889-90. Remembering that this exhibition was in no sense international, that our means of communication within the colony and with other parts of the world were far inferior then to what they are t-day, and that our population has since increased by nearly 50 per cent., we may fairly estimate the probable attendance at the. Christchurch Exhibition at something like twice the number recorded fifteen years ago in Dunedin. This would give a return of quite £40,000 for attendance alone, and the estimate of

£25,000 for space allotments seems quite reasonable. Unless tbo thirty or forty committees noyr at work is

Christchurch run to noedloss oxtravaganco—which Mr Munro, who rapresonts tho Govornmont on all tho committees, is in a position to chock— ■ tho income dorivod from tho Exhibition should reduce tho actual financial liability of tho colony to very small dimensions. With tho colony in its presont prosperous condition, it is lilcoly that a vory largo numbor of pooplo will visit Christchurch botwoon jNovombor, 1900, and April, 1907. As to strangors, it is to bo hoped that Mr Munro’s suggestion to tho offoct that tho White Star and Shaw-Savill Companies should put on somo of thoir largest stoamors at special rates (for tho Southern summer - is, of courso, tho “ dead season ” in tho Atlantic trade) will bo carried into ©fleet. But wo do not think thoro is much reason to faar that when tho Exhibition is once opened it will rouse all tho interest that its promotors anticipate, not only in these colonies but in countries which so far have had little direct contact or acquaintance with New Zealand. As to tho value of Industrial Exhibitions in general, the civilised world seems to have made up its inind decisively in thoir favor. To all countries, the importance of commercial advertisement, and the enlargement of commercial experience is a most serious consideration; and a young country in the position of New Zea- j land is certain to profit by extending its acquaintance with the latest commercial methods and industrial developments of other lands, and by attracting the notice of other communities to its own rich natural resources. Taken in conjunction with tho inducements that we already offer to tourists in the way of scenery and sport, this exhibition should bring many strangers to our shores, and. cannot fail to increase the interest in us already evoked in other parts of the world by this country’s prosperity, its many social and legislative experiments, and its wondrous endowment of natural beauty.