MR CARR'S THEATRE

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 83, 7 April 1916, Page 4

MR CARR'S THEATRE

./■■■■' '■■' ■ ■': -' / [TOv.THE . EHDfcEOBi;] ■•' ' •'.T''I','--'.'o.'--^.' ■ , Sir,—^tb -an outsider".^without.; thonieans /to /see -v into; thfes^myste^Jo"*: ' working^ of ; inner' circle ,■ of the^-: •City/ %i^&: reeeni^excliahge , ; ro^: amenities ;over'. jtheXnew/Jtheatre, vitsji'eported in-your. eolumhs, makes tha^u local body look ridiculous, _ ;As/lo«jg.. as Blenheim is satisfied w;|th things aa. they are an<V fails, to put jat the head of local politics men with';intelligence* above partisanship-, so long' will Blenheim be the> -laughing-stock of the Do—/ minion. On. the face, of it the local laws seem,to. be too comp^es to be in—, •terpreted by; the ■•meh ;i who ma<ie>v them, and it is'Siiggested;athat s an ex--petii (probably1; claiming a fee) from: another town; should be called in tot decide whether certain plans comply;? withv'these "laws.-'Surely Mr Carir,'shpuld be given the credit of .having: his plans rightj as he will have" to pay,* for them, af he has engaged a competent -architect,. it ; ,';is] that person's-^ diity to: know: all; about .the by-laws,.^ and;, even if, for the sake of-safety, the Council "desire ". ah.' umpire thero-r are plenty of local builders, and archi— ■ ( tecte,' who would probably;, jgiye their" 'expert advice gratis.: : This proposed theatre will be another improvement' to,the town, and should be weleomect:. by all as such; but there are alwaysa. few in every community ready torput sand in the bearings. " '; •".* 1 With regard to the inexplicable. desire to import talent for local needs,. this is not confined to Blertheim.^ Each town at some time gets a ranb> outsider to design a public building:: or a water scheme /,or some other" work-that could be done just as -.veil,:; if not better, by a local man who* spends his money locally, Wellington and Auckland sent to Australia for some of their important buildings,, and the work of the imported raea.^ has generally been below the standard:' of the local men. That this desire topatronise tho foreigner is almost universal is apparent from the advertisements of the various trades and professions, in which they usually >stres»--. the fact that they come from some other place. To put up- the sign. '•'Local Grown" defeats the end o-f advertising at once. If I have...got a. false impression of the ways of 6\w chief citizens I.will be nlca c-rd to bo/ put1 right, but I rhb,pe: Mi-'Carr wiJL experience no opposition in carrying:. out his scheme to improve thy towny*. and it is also -hoped that other citizens will' emulate him and erase the eyesore on the opposite eor-ir-r. PROGRESS. •