The Daily News. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1904. BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 37, 13 February 1904, Page 2

The Daily News. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1904. BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

Tim opening of the exhibition ut Ilawera last week led the Premier, in liis""speec!i in the (>j>eiu House, to refer to the British Empire Exhibition, which will take place in the m'ttr future. He called this a much greater exhibition Lmm any yet attempts I, the idea being to bring together tiie aits iviMl industries of the various British colonies and dependencies in competition with one another, ami with Um? products of the Mother .Country. 'H.|e proposal was lirst diseussed in England two years ago, tviijKi a committee was set up. Numerous meetings were held 'during the past two years, and thu proposal took 'definite shape at a meeting lwld in December last, when, on the motion of Sir Walter Buller, it was resolved :—"That it is desirable to hold u general and industrial exhibition of his Majesty's pof;sessions u.ml protectorates (under the name of 'The British Empire Exhibition") suijjeel lo the recommendations made by the Provisional Exhibition Committee of the Council." Sir Walter Buller, in moving the adoption of this resolution, said that since 'this proposal for H British Empire Exhibition was lirst discussed, the su'h-coinmitten set up for that purpose had iuld very nunierous meetings and luad been almost conskimly in making inquiries and collecting statistics on the subject. They had come unanimously to the conclusion that such an exhibition an that proposed could not he held at ix more opportune time, that it would «pj>ea.l ppivorfully to Hie imagination and stntiment of iJm> public, ami that, if conducted on intelligent commercial lines, would have a great lSuamial success. .Nearly twenty yours had einpsod since the holding of the Colonial and ludiuu Exhibition at South Kensington ; and most of those present would that that Exi.vbitio'n was an immefise success, no fewer than five and a half having passed the turnstiles between the months of May and October -in 1885. The success of that imdertakhij;. was assured from the

first, in spite of mwny d'iflicullics and some serious dirawl/aeks such aE depression in the colonies, and so forth. Those present who had oilicial association with the exhiliition coukl not fail to' remember how unabated was the interest up to the very last, and how .general was the desire thai the exhibition, a» a whole, should be reopened in the following year, although that was found to lie ipiite impracticable. The hist twenty years had been a period of unexampled activity all j over the Empire in the way of expansion and development. It had witnessed the birth of the great Australian Commonwealth, the addition of one or two small colonies and protectorates to the Crown, and the ac'ipiisiliim by connpiest of a vast territory in South Africa. It was only by bringing together, in friendly competition, the various parts of the Empire -and their products ami comparing the present with the past that we could adcqunlcly understand or measure the marvellous strides that had been nuncio during the last twenty years in material weal Hi and prosperity. At no lime prolwbly in the history of tiie Empire had the qoloilios attracted so much attention and inteiest us ut this moment. All this favoured the scheimj of a public exhibition, the main objects of which would be to demonstrate the natural resources and capabilities of our colonies and to illustrate the value to tlie nation of extensive over-sea possessions only awaiting for their full development trie necessary expenditure of Hri'lish and capital. Pho sub-committee believed uiey were .iuslilied in con.-Jiuling that if the exhibs'tioin should he carried out on the lines proposed, it would prove to be the finest' exhibi-tion-e\er Keen in England ; that it would benelit alike the Mother Country and the cwlonies, tend to slreng't'hen the bonds of union and good fellowship, and great I.}- promote the main aim of the League, namely, the expansion of the national trade by a closer intercourse and the better consolidation of the Empire. The resolution was carried unanimously, and . subsequently a strong Finance Committee Was appointed, with Loi'd ItotliKchild as chairman, to cany through tile necessary ariamgenionts. There seems no reason why such an exhibition should not be the greatest in the world's history. The Empire on which the sun never sets includes possessions in every clime, and the products of these countries from the ha-nd.s of the colonists and from the foimer owners of the soil, should piovide a display of almost astounding magnitude. Nothing would bc-llcr serve to imjiress on the people of (iivnt Britain the enormous wealth of the colonies, whose people wifl doubtless unanimously endorse the remarks of Sir Walter Jluller. 'Khe whole Empire must he iiHereMod in the management if the exhibition is to be thoroughly reI.iresentative of our vast dominions, and in order to gain thus end influealial working executives should be formed in the various colonies.