THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1882. THE EXHIBITION SITE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2431, 20 January 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1882. THE EXHIBITION SITE.

We are glad to see that the vexed question of the Exhibition site is in a fair way of being settled. Luckily the law ha 3 been discovered to make provision for securing to the people at large the fall benefit of their estate, notwithstanding the opposition of obstructionists, who are always ready to raise a cry and declare that the rights of the people are being invaded. These latter individuals find it an easier task to raise the outcry than to define what they mean. " The rights of the people " is a convenient phrase, and has a ring about it of which these gentlemen are particularly fond. Wo have a strong impression, however, that if

" cornered " they would have to confess that their definition of the people's rights is that every man, particularly the individual in question, should be allowed to set up a standard for himself as to what -should b. done, and what should not be done. They do not seem to recognise that the basis of all civilised society is that the individual will bows before the general will, and that when the majority declare that such and such a thing is for their good, it shall not be within the power of a small minority to say them nay. If any small obstructionist is to have the power of vetoing the general wish, a state of confusion would eventuate | under which all rule would be an impossibility. A very amusing case has just occnred in "Wellington which illustrates well the state of things that would constantly be going on if such gentlemen always had their own sweet will. The Empire City is not noted for its rural aspect. It is well situated on a hill overlooking a fine harbor, but there are but few trees scattered over the hillside, and the town itself presents a somewhat bleak and barren look to a visitor. In Hawkestone street there is a magnificent weeping willow which was planted years ago on private land, but which has forced its huge trunk a foot or two on t he foot path. One night, a short time ago, a citizen on his way home ran his head against this trunk. History does not say in what exact state this citizen was. That he knew of the existence of the tree is evident because he lived in the neighborhood, so it may be presumed that he was not very wide awake at the time. But one thing was perfectly clear to him, namely, that the liberty of the subject had been infringed. That the wide spreading tree was a delight to ninety-nine out of a hundred of his fellow citizens was as nothing to him. He could point to the bridge of his own nose to show that a gross violation of his private rights had taken place. And so, as obstructionists can always find people willing to sign anything that may be put before them, this valiant gentleman got up a petition praying the City Council to destroy the tree ! The sequel of the story is not yet to hand, but the whole is a very fair sample of the people's rights' theory carried to its extremest limit. We would beg to remind obstructionists generally that the government of the world is carried on by compromise, and that any man who wishes to force his individual will on the people at large has evidently a good deal yet to learn. However, as we have already said, it has been found that the law in the present instance provides the machinery necessary to secure to the majority that which they desire, and Messrs. Joubert and Twopeny will not after all be driven into outer darkness.

THE PARKS. Mb. Peatt has written a letter .to thia journal commenting on our article on the present state of the Parks and setting forth his panacea for existing evils. That panacea includes the letting of sites for villa residences in the Parks and the raising thereby of revenue which could be utilised on a large scale for the purpose of beautifying the People's Domain. We cannot hold with Mr. Pratt. We should be extremely sorry to see an acre of the Parks pass out of the people's hands for any purpose that was not of the most purely temporary character, like that of the Exhibition. Mr. Pratt draws a tempting picture of a domain dotted with statuary and stocked with wild beasts, but the majority would, we think, rather have the whole of the Parks and do without the lions. The sole gist of our article was to endeavor to prove that the present state of the Parks could be infinitely improved at a very small cost, and that what was really wanted was not so much money as good taste. The planting of a few clumps of trees here and there would not be expensive, nor would the breaking up of the present formality of the hard lines that enclose the plantations. A few men set to work under the direction of a man with an eye for the picturesque would soon transform the Park into a place of real beauty.