THE SHOW.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 June 1924, Page 4

THE SHOW.

WEMBLEY THE WONDERFFf.

EM I’lllK IN .MIN I ATT Rl'

WEMBLEY, April 2.T

Jmurine it stretch of undulating park itiul :i twilling si ml twisting brook; picture liosiutitill gardens iiml dclightl iil lakes ; vision llowcrs and .- h r u 1 1 1 1*. * i * ies, sliiulv trees. si ll cl terraced lawns; conjure uii inviting: walks anil rnsi.it* bridges, and then carry your imngination still rurlher, :tnd rcinceive thi» already housing wonderful palaces—palaces here, there, and everywhere, titling in with the contour ol the hunt and harmonising with the surroundings, the whole making a pielnre oi wondrous beauty. imagine this, and in your mind’s eye yoll will have seen the British Kuipire Exhibition at Weltthley l’ark, as it appeared to-day, on the occasion ol its oincinl opening. Ii is not diflieult to imagine the lieauty ol Wembley—the work ol nature, the artist, and the landscape gardener—hot the grandeur of the conception, and the bigness ol the creation, the diversity of the exhibits, the activity, the colour, and the amazing cosmopolitanism of it all are beyond imagination. To vision and realise what the Exhibition really is, one has to imagine the whole ol the licit Mi Kmpire, its territories and resources, its peonies and custom-, concentrated and confined within the hounds ol 2-10 acres. At that the imagination baulks, and yet that i- what Wembley really i-. Here yon are in India ; the atmosphere, the architecture, the surroundings are all Indian. Walk a lew steps and you are in Newfoundland; everything around you breathes the spirit of that ancient colony. Take another walk, and you are in Australia. You know your homeland and cannot he mistaken. The very air you breathe seems as if it. has blown straight across from the Vaeilie. The gum leaves and the native ferns are there, and you etui smell them. You look around, and you recognise the country ; the llawkesbury ranges, with their beautiful citrus orchards, the northern tablelands with their sheep and scattered shelter clumps and ilia peculiar rusty green of the grass, the wheat lands of lliveriita, the rich grazing country of the north, the dairying and timber distric ts of the North and South Coasts. It is all there. You come from New South Wales, and you know it so well. If you are from Victoria or from Queensland, or any of the other State's, you see country equallv familiar; and no matter from what part you hail you are certain that j you are home. You cannot he mis-, taken, and as you gaze upon it you he-! come homesick and more convinced J than ever than there is only one coun-j try in the world. A lump comes iulo your throat, and then you suddenly remember where you are. You tool a glow of pride straight front your shoulders and move on. And so it is right through the Exhibition. Each dominion or colony lias succeeded in re-creating the atmosphere and the characteristics of its country to such an extent that- the mind is immediately captured and transported thence. Y'ou can journey from Newfoundland to India by a route such as ship never

took before, and you can learn in alt hour more about a country than you would in a week’s actual visit. Ihe Empire has been condensed and concentrated, and whatever the mental -And physical capacity of the visitors they cannot but absorb knowledge and understanding. LONG COMING, It has taken seventeen years to create this Exhibition. In 1007 it was conceived; to-day it was born. Imagination conceived it; ability, determination, and courage created it. Exhibitions Imvo been conceived and created before, and they have been very imposing affairs, but never before was there conceived and created anything like this. For this reasqiv Wemmoy cannot be compared with past exhibitions. It is too different. In size, in splendour, in design, in diversity, in range or influence, it no more brooks comparison than docs, say, tho Royal Agricultural Show with the store of a small country produce merchant. Its magnitude is colossal. The actual cost of the grounds and buildings Is c |OOO.OOO, and the exhibits ate estimated to he worth more than that amount. One of the exhibits alone—that of the British cotton ministry—has cost LMOOdXIO, while the coal IrniJ chemical industries have each spoilt a sum of ,0100,000 on Uioir displays. The amusehieius park represents an outlay of 0H,000.000. In the six mourns thiil the Exhibition will lie opened an attendance of .’id,ooo,ooo is required L prevent financial loss. The .total attendance of the Great Exhibition ol 18,71 v.:is 0.(100.(K)O, and its sueeessoi of H(i_» only attracted 200,000 more

Thy Paris Exhibition of 1807 was utteiided hv I),000,000, the Vienna Exhibit ion (if 1870 h.v 0,2.70,000, the Paris Exhibition of 15100 by 12,.700,000, and the Glasgow Exhibition of 15)01 by 8.1100,000. Then take the areas of the various exhibitions of by-gone days. The Exhibit ion of 18.71 covered 20 acres, the Franeo-Britisli Exhibition of 15)08 covered 111) acres; Wembley covers 210 acres. The Australian pavilion at Wembley alone contains a floor space nearly live times as much as the entire space allotted to the colonies in 18il, ami the pavilions of the other great dominions are on just as large a scale. The Stadium at Wembley is the largest in the world, and accommodates comfortably 110.000 people. These figures have been taken at random from the official statistics, and they may enable, an idea to he gained of the immense nature of the enterprise. Everyone realises, of course, tluiL the Exhibition is an affair of tremendous proportions, but only an actual visit of inspection can reveal what tremendous proportions. The idea front out of which this great enterprise sprang was suggested to Sir Pieter St ewart-liam and the late Dr Jameson hv tho South Alrican Products Exhibition in 15)07. That exhibir.nii led them to conceive tt display

showing the resources and products of the whole Empire. They hrougut the mat ter under tbe notice of it small group ol Imperialists, of whom the late Lord Stratbcena was the chief, Mild the outcome wtts that the project was adopted and the great movement which culminated in to-day’s wonderful display set in tram. THE BEGINNING. On November 14, 15)10, the scheme was publicly launched at a meeting ol the Royal Colonial Institute. Active organising work followed, hut little general interest war. shown until December 1!)B(, when a public meeting was held in Mansion House, and arrangements were concluded lor the holding of the exhibition in the Crystal Palace in 1571.7. BuL soon after war came, making postponement essential, and limn peace, with its dissipations, and ;j looked as if the project would have to he abandoned. The idea was never last sight of. and the small body of eothusasiasts kept working away, hut rebuff .after rebuff was experienced, and tho faith of even th ino-l confident was sorely tried.. Then in 15)15) the British Government extended odicinl recognition to tho pioneers, the King gave his patronage, and the I'rineo of Wales became president ol tile committee. The support of the Government and tln* lloyul Family was of tremendous assistance, but tbo public were apathetic, and obstacle alter obstacle had to he overcome. In 15121 came the Imperial Conference, and to the delegates to this conference the Prince of Wales addressed it. great appeal. His words were heard, and all apathy disappeared. The Austra-j Man Government, upon the return of .Mr Hughes from London, appropriated a quarter of a million pounds to the scheme, and'that lead was quickly lollnwcd hv the other dominions and colonies. while the British public commenced to subscribe and guarantee, funds, and industry set about organising exhibit-. In that year the accomplishment of the great scheme became assured. Difficulties had still to he encountered, hut public intrest had been awakened and euthnasism kindled, and the rest was comparatively easy. The conception grew and grew, and so today Wembley is the .Mecca of the Empire, and pilgrims from north and south, east and west, an* (locking into it.

Willi the exception of the Irish Free State every part ol the Empire has participated in the Exhibition and is represented by a display. Combine those displays and you have an epitome of the Empire, its resources, and its potentialities, its industry and ils commerce, its Ide anil its culture. Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, .South Africa, India. Newfoundland, Burma, Malaya, Sarawak, Ceylon. Malta, Bale-tine. Cyprus, Hongkong, Bermuda, Fliji and the T’acilic Islands, the East and Wc-t Alriciin and "West Indian group-, are ail there, and eaeii has faithfully presented an exhibit typical of its country and its activities. One comes away from a visit to Wembley with a multitude of impre-ioiis—the vastness of the Empire, tile remarkably unity of it- people, the amazing productivity, tho diversitv of resources; they tire hut a few of tile things that are implanted in one’s mind, hut the great and the oii’tstanding impression one receives is the wonderful possibilities it hold- for -development. One sees the Empire at Wempley as a living thing, ptils'aTing with life, and the conviction is forced upon one that the future of all the nations that go in the making of it, politically and industrially, tire homin' up with it. That is the purpose of the -xliihition. Tt was created to show what the Empire is. and what it may he. It has achieved the first, to achieve the second it lias to stimulate Imperial trade. It can only fail to do that if we are all blind to opportunity. But it is inconceivable that it will fail; if is rani; heresy to suggest such a thing.