The Management of the Exhibition.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 778, 22 March 1905, Page 2

The Management of the Exhibition.

Meeting of the Guarantors. Some Plain Speaking. The Council Chumbxr was well lilted on Tuesday night when the lOxh-i----biiion Committee subiiiittud their balance-sheet to the guarantors. There was a good attendance of both Committeemen and guarantors. The Mayor occupied the chair, llr 11. Cock (I're.si.ilei.t of t'e Exhibition CommitU'e) said he (lid not intend to deal with the criticism levelled at the committee, or the financial position the committee had got iiieuibU>i.s lino, but tuu.c i. answer questions that might be put to them by 'the guarantors. He ex-, plained the circumstances lending up jto the obtaining of the guarantee. lie anil the secretary had first got £IOOO, but the committer thought il would l.e better to get £201)0 gunrmtee, so that in the case of failure it would not como so heavily on the individual guarantors. A sum of E220 was guaranteed'in town. On interviewing a solicitoi, the latter suggested that the, guarantee should be worded slightly differently. They accepted that suggestion, which appeared to him to be a very good one, namely, that the loss should be home pro rata to the amount of the guarantee. They may not have been advisable, as some argued that the systo.m should have been to have first exhausted the calls up to £5, and then made a call up to £lO, and so on. Of course they had not come 'to this stago yet. Proceeding to deal with the exhibition, the chairman said they called for tenders for the building, and the lowest tender was arranged by the building committee at £SOO, the renting ' value for the whole period. When they proceeded they found that re- ' quests for space, a great many promises to exhibit not being afterwards fulfilled in conseknK'.nce of the Government's announcement of a

colonial exhibition, exceeded what they anticipated. The committee took a lot of trouble to obtain promises to exhibit, and thought the display would be very large. They addsd to the builning in various ways, such an by providing' kitchens, dining-roonisv and various other conveniences ; and they now found that ' the coNt when it was all totalled up was double the £5oO voted. This included everything in connection with the building, the art gallery, and a lot of other necessary additional work to house and protect exhibits. The executive set up various committees, and voted them certain sums of money, and he had boon blamed sometimes as chairman for putting on the hobwiailed boots and endeavouring to repress those who were trying to "run riot" as it were. He had taken exception to some of the accounts ; for instance, the advertising committee had to be checked, as they seemed to his mind to be. almost "going mad," and some additions were then made to the committee. A Rum of i3IVO had , been voted for advertising, which, ho took it, meant advertising and printing', but the amount spent in this direction had, it was now found, 1 crept up to the enormous ligure of £BOO. They found advertisements 1 published, on whose authority no ' one could trace, and it was very ' hard to get at the bottom of it. The prices charged had also In most cases been very prohibitive. Some of the leading papers had charged : only cightpence an inch, while othct smaller papers charged six times as much ; the charge of the local papers was Is 6d per inchi. The advertising and printing hud run them 1 into a very large proportion of the deficiency. As for his own part in 1 connection with the exhibition;, he] had never worked harder in his 1 life. (Hear, hear.) The exhibition had deceived him, inasmuch as it ! was double as large as they antici- ' pa ted when they first started. The "xhiihition had been a great success in every way but financially. (Applause.) He had paid his £25, ami

.smiled, as he considered the exhibition money had been very well spent in advertising the town ami province. He paid a tribute to the work of the eoinmit.tee. Without individualising, lie had newr niel a lot of men who had worked horjei in Ll.e public iiiu'i'tsts. C)u the Friday previous to closing the exhibition the- coiiiniittees' reports indi- j cjied I hut there was sine to be a .surplus, and to make sure the exhi- I bit ion was ICept open until the 'ruesday night, 'ili; probable surplus was variously estimated by prominent members of the committee up to £SOO, and us snowing how certain they fell that then; would be a surplus it was agreed that, he should at the closing' thank tlu> guarantors ami announce to them that the committee would not require any call from them, it was announced at the ceremony, but he did not think anyone specified a £IOO surplus 1 . Questions awl discussion were now invited, and as the executive committee were on their trial, he trusted they would come out all right. (Hear, hear.l Mr l'arker said he noticed on the expenditure side of the balance-sheet •tol 10.s .Id for medals. Surely there must lye some receipts, V et none were shown. The Chairman exp'lainod that only the debits or credits of the various account.') were shown on the balance- ■ sheet. 'lhe details of the different accounts were made up on separate sbps. A balance-sheet did not give details, but* was a digest of the credits and debits. Me explained how the debit was made up. Mr itucklelon asked how general expenses, £»7is. 8a 3d, was made "P. 'J'he Chairman explained (hat this comprised secretary's salary, £75 • secretary's travelling expenses, £as : ?°n,f V - , ex( * a ''S<> »nd telegrams," VsT ,- ,' dol ' icul ass istu>iee, £2O IMS , diploma, prize,, £5 5s ; law costs £y 7s (M , ' nW(l . llls

£«o; suudric:.,, £-, ' J<)s .;,.;,; portion of printing und adwrtis . m. £OO2 J() S .«!. Two „th v r items wcit also included,: £6O to reimburse the secretary' /or the large amount „ money out of pocket, *"*,, dOl 'M »»>«ry on exhibition work and £l.-, l ss auditor's fee, which was £lO 10s additional to pa.V for the very large amount of work over and above that expected "hen the fee was first lixerl. The execut.velmd go n e fully into these two items, but as thei . c vvas no sul ._ Plus would not pass them without the sanction of the guarantors, lie gfcrve- particularsjof . a |, tta iu>lns under th e heading tf ge„ o ral expends, the loss on. .the exhibition porton was £737 12s t „ d awl ho carniya!| £3(io 7sl lid, The proportionate- amount of general expenses debited to the carnival was £2OO. Mr -Samuel said that in regard to the two items of £«0 ami £lO 10s i or the secretary and auditors, the guarantors had Uo voice. If the accounts were right the committee must pay them, The Chairman said these were «'»««'' l« over the contract prices uisi apvKlj, before it was known V,v, ; K entailed would be so . -V> 'loin of medals being set. down twice was questioned by Mr George "iul Mr Corkill s ol the matter clear. .Mr Samuel: It j s v erv phasing to Have to get outsiders Lo exp'lain accounts in this manner. (Laughter. ) ° Mr Kwin- said 1i... took it what they wanted to get, at was where where the enormous loss occurred, and who was responsible. They could go on a.l night discussing- items and still leiiiain in the dark. Jt appeared to him that none of the guaran-lors-at least he did not think so- \\ ere desirous ,„■ their liabilities (hear, hear), but they did wish to le-irn clearly where the loss was mad- by tlie committee, considering that the committro Ihkl distinct l.t announced , m „ n(! occasion that there Mould be no loss. There were a very l„,-g u mini her of items lie would like to know more, albout. He thought into best way to sui'*fv the guarantors would be to n m : n 'i a small committee to meet the linance committee of the exhibition go into, the various sub-committees' accounts, and submit a comprehensive report on the whole mutter. J he balance-sheet as prcscnUd was w,'!! I '. "! 1 al,ol ' tiol V mm he would , wondu- at anyone passing if. (A p. \ J£-h Ha T Vl ■ ,,,a ' :,C a V, ''- V fo «--">le I Hon that had called on him, ami ■ went on to agree that if was impossible to discuss the position at such . a meet.ng aB that, with such scanty ' information before them, He tren- < elmntly criticised the lack of man- • Wgciuttjt shoiui. A* the Chairman :

suit! tlio committees had run riot. ' They had no doubt worked hard and all the rest of it.but, it scorned to him that it was of llieir I'nni work the guarantors had to bear tho disastrous results. (Laughter and applause.) It was a general that when men wore oleot/id to positions of trust and management they should endeavour to to conduct the business which they iiulerlook or which wits inipo. eJ on ii in as to devote ordinal.v intelligence to it, and when the occasion aiiit-e to subordinate their own intei ests to llie inlfivhts of Ihos,. whom they served. (Hear, hear.) lie did not say this had not been dollf, but he for one wanted to scrutinise (he accounts to see whether it was

so or not. As to the remarks pub- , I ill lhe pitss' and liue oJ that I eveiii.ig by the I'resiilcnt. In' v.aal .horoufclilj ills ;aii.slic I with them us • ,iti eM-lana'don. As to the taiiM'tig tlie amount was set down 011 ii.e jalunce-s-luet, jvt the buikler_said l-c j onfly received a total o(! £762 Is. Where did the diiTerencc epme in ; [ some explanation vas required. I) I the gentlemen of U>e committee ima- j gined the guarantors were go:ng to . bo satislied with that balance-sheet, 11 ivy must put proluibly as low an esiimaU} oil the guarantors' intelligouce as the latter had on the committees' business ability. (Laughter.) '1 lie deputation had promised that in a day or two, when the < auditor had linished his work, it would lie made known where the accounts could be seen and examined, and he would avail himself of the opportunity as quickly as he could, lie wanted 110 '.'special concession," but considered he should be nliowwl to see, at the conven ietiO'i of the committee, a list of guarantors and the amounts guaranteed toy them, a list of the members of the committees, and the amounts they had guaranteed. a list of the persons who had received money l'rom the committee, a list of those who had received expenses in connection with tlie exhibition,, and a list of those who had received space free. He also criticised the actions of Mr (j'o»dticre and the committee in regard to the former's working exhibit. Until they

Sot, a report, irom a suu-commiiAee appointed by the guarantors it would be silly to take steps either to refuse to pny or to consent to pay the guarantees'. (Applause.) The Chairman explained the- building account. The £1413 lis' 3d included liability still on building £157 7s 3d ; schjdo*, £27 8s : arohjir tect, £52 : gardens. £4l fis ; di-a'ins;. £O3 10s 9d ; ground liability, £3O ; fence, £37 5s lOd paid and £B7 17s owing ; power, £53 12s lid ; shafting, £O7 l'-'s 2d ; light, £2 (is ; water,, £2B 0s 7d ; tents, £3B Is Gd,; furniture. £4-1 7s 3d ; 'decoralions, £27 2s lid. The sales amounted to £27 7s 3d, and the assets wore set down at £B3 2s lOd. Mr Jlayly, the auditor, arrived at this stage. The Chairman explained that a few actuals had yet to be certified to before the auditor would sign as to the correctness of the bb lancesheet. The adjustments since it was made up would bo £lO or £l2. Mr (Jeorge asked the names of the advertising committee. The Chairman gave the names as follows :—.first committee, Messrs Carter (chairmanl), Main, Morey and Lennon ; second committee, Messrs Bain, Morey, .loiks (chairman) und I'. Koss ; third and final committee, Messrs C. Carter (chairman), Watkins,; C. Ilelslringer, Syl?e* Stocke.', lloss, and the President and chairman, ex officio. Mr Caiter had been away a month during the very time a considerable portion of this ad\ertising, etc., had tjcen incurred. Sun.e discussion, most critical, ensued. The Chairman (Mr C o ck) e»plained that he had not had time to attend many meetings. Mr Jones defended the second commitue, denying any "madness" on their part. The reason the advertising crept up wus that the last committee had hardly had one meeting at aIV. Th'ey got a gentleman named Roberts and gave him carte blanche to advertise as he liked. ("Shame.") Generally speaking the committee

novel- supervised tin- advertising at ill. A paper in Danneirke hud 18 inches space. Fault had been found with the. original; committees for not advert i.s'ing enough,. Tlie Chjvinuiin (Mr Cock) ; I was not a member of the advertising conmiittee, hut used to till end occasionally, ex oflicio. Mr Hillringcr : AMn.ii we were appointed we found the whole of the money voted by the Committee already absorbed. .Mr Boss denied this. Only about £IBO was spent. Mr l'aul thought this discussion very informal, and the wrangling in public, very objectionable and unnecessary. The most businesslike way was for the committee to appoinl a couple of their number to investigate, and import later. l'roceediny, he caused some laughter by recalling the fact that he had on one occasion!, when they were patting each other on the back, said the committee should be bnnquetted as a reward v'or their services. Since —in a moment of irritation—he had suggested that the chairman of committees should get twelve months in gaol and the other members three months. (.Loud laughter.) He did not wish at this moment that that ientence should be carried out. Many of the committeemen were his personal friends, and he was sure they had worked hard, though they had not displayed much business* ability. The guarantors only wanted a tittle more inrA-stigation hefoiepav ing up. (Laughter.) Mr Coodncre, in the course of a reply to Mr Samuel, defended the committee, pointing out that he himself had attended 800 meetings, and gone to considerable expense, for which he had not received one penny pice. His display cost him nearly £IOO, and he had only taken lho space when it could not be otherwise lilled. Jle replied very feelingly to Mr Samuel's inuendoes as to

his exhibit. His statement was supported by tho oflicial minutes, which the secrotury read for tlie information oi the meeting. Mr Alexander paid a tribute to Mr Goodacre's efforts to make the exhibition: a success. Tlie committee had in several instances technically exceeded their powers, but he contended that thc committees were perfectly justified in departing in some cases from the lines laid down, for the purpose of making the exhibition a success. As a guarantor and committeeman he was sorry Mr Samuel had shown such a spirit of carping criticism, , Thev had no doubt made errors, but' had done their •••dnmdest" (Jlaughter), and he trusted tlie guarantors would give them tlie bent-lit of the doubt and say they had done- their best for them. (Applause.) Mr Samuel, after the explanation, made, unreservedly withdrew his imputations regarding Mr Goodacre's working exhibit, and expressed h,s- regret. n c hllti own j ms '" Vlew ° f '»'S «nnoj-ance of the. statement that ho (the speaker) wanted a "special concession." p v . oryone who know him knew that Z,J a " " ot lho 01,e t0 lr > «»MI •shuffle out of any obligation he had (Applause.) It was no uso the guarantors trying to carry a nv resolution in tt room in which " Ihey were in a minority. u 0 thanked them for the info:niation given and the candour ana frankness with which thoso who had spoken admitted that thero had been yen grievous mismanagement, lie favoured the appointment of u committee Alter making an investigation they mid better mako tho best of it close up the affair by paying all the money that Wari due, and'say ~o more about it. . This closed the discussion, and tl-« meeting unanimously agreed, on tlie motion of Mr Haul and Mr George ' o authorise Mr Samuel to appoin C«o other guarantors to go in-', the accmnts with him ami report at another mo.t,M.g to lx- comened. OFI'KUs <Jl'' STIISCIUfTIOXS. ' At a meeting of the co.mniUe, ' s n,,d e ' U , e r Uy , lhc ""'"••'"iition ; «as made public that .several gentle- ' men who were not already guaran- ' tors had intimated their willingness * to subscribe to the funds. (\p- ' pluuse.) It was decided 'that the ' oners le thankfuliy accepted ' ' di, eth °"" ""' «"»'«ssed to ris- : »lit.\ on the guarantors. It was ' believed that the effort wouhi .»$ l with generous supporj,. t 'l'he committee passed a resolution f expressing it s appreciation or the J valuable service rendered by Mr l tu.odaere. who had at great pecuni- ' ar.s sacnliee devoted much time and ° labour to working up ifo e,\Jiibilj.on.