EXPANSION AND TOURIST LEAGUE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 89, 10 September 1914, Page 8

EXPANSION AND TOURIST LEAGUE.

ANNUAL .WXfIXG. I T!ii> amieai meeting of the \ew Ply- \ mouth Kxpuiision aii'l Tourist League was hold last 'evening, Jlr T. C. List j (chairman) presiding over a small at- I tendance. The balance-sheet showed the receipts I to have been £174 15a lid and the ex- ' penditure £1.71 Is, whilst-there were liabilities amounting to £lO6 9s, there being in hand cash to the amount of £fl 12s 2d. The chairman, in moving ihe adoption of tli.! b.iliiuL'e-sheet, said:—The committee has to report a Mieeessful year's work. The big thing undertaken was the production of a booklet descriptive and illustrative of the district. Its ; preparation find printing > ost a lot of ' money, but judging from the manner of l its reception, and the con ,tant demand i for it from every quarter, the trouble, i and cost involved were ful'y justified, i Tt has been distributed throughout the ■ Dominion, as well as outside, being p'ac- ' ed in all the tourist bureaux in Xcw Zealand and Australia, and on the vessels coming to the Dominion. It has proved an 'excellent advertisement for the district. The idea of the committee was to make the booklet serve for at least two seasons. Hence a good supply of the hook'.ets was obtained, and there are sufficient copies in hand to meet all requirements for. the forthecm j in£ season

The League, has uti'iscd the news-' papers and other publications for advertising the attractions and resources of the district. Special articles have been written for Cook's guides and other publications that reach tourists and holi-day-makers. Tlib results have been entirely satisfactory, the number of visitors to New Plymouth, last'holiday sva- :■(:! far in excess of that of any

lb stas.' 11. The Press Association, Xewspaper Proprietors' anil Master Printers' Associations held their annual •on Terences here last February, and the League took a share in their entertainrcr.t. The visitors, who were favored vith ideal weather, appeared greatly ineivsted in and impressed by what I'.-y saw in the district, the potenti-

alitics of which from a holiday poiiu of \iew they subsequently brought liefore the readers of the papers they )••, :Ooonted. This is bound to bear •-ii: I fruit in the near future. The League has during the year changed its public room, a satisfactory arrangement 'having been made with Mr. Collis for u.i of the front part of his ccn- '.- ■'.''/ situated premises. This has been put in suitable order, and should lx' of considerable service to tourists and holiday-makers in future. On the retirement of Mr. A. L. Humphries, Mr. W. A. Collis was appointed secretary, and i 3 doing valuable work. The'balance-sheet shows a debit balance of about £IOO. This has been brought about by the heavy cost of the booklet, which, as I have said, was designed to (To duty for next season as well; also by soma of those who undertook to subscribe towards the funds of the League for a period of threo yeaTs not having paid their subscriptions. The nature of the future operations of the League will of course be decided lay the new committee, liut it is my opini'jn. in which the committee concur, tuat we should not relax our efforts owing to the war, but confine our operations meantime to distributing our booklets and keeping -the central office going and doing what can be done at little cost in keeping New Plymouth before the outside world.

As for liquidating the present liability, I think we can do this out of the sub-si-vipticns promised, as well as pay the cost of keeping the League's flag flying for the ensuing year. I would like to see those people who gain most by the work of the League —certain property-owners and business people—do more than thev have done in supporting the League. If they do not, then the life of the institution, which 1 think has fully justified its establishment, will be short. The members of the committee have during the past year rendered very valuable service on behalf of the town, and :ire deserving of the thanks of the citizens. Much remains still to be. done in the way of bringing New Plymouth anil North Taranaki prominently before tlie outside world, but what has already been accomplished in this direction cannot fail to be of benefit. Results from operations such as -those the League has been engaged in are not apparent all at oner. It takes time for the seed to germinate and grow, but it can fairly be claimed by- the League that the crop already garnered has amply justified the outlay. In the future tlie crops should, if tlie League is 'kept alive, lie threefold as great as they have been. 31r A. E. fiykes seconded the adoption of the report. Probably the people of •New Plymouth, he said, might not appreciate" the work of the League as they should do, but he could assure them that outside people did. They looked upon the league as live and up-to-date. The. booklets had done a great deal of good outside, and so had the advertising, and he was quite sure the publicity efforts would in due time produce.'' good fruit. He was sorry to learn that there were men in the town who, having put their names to the subscribers' list, had not paid up. This was unfair to the League, the members of whith were doing their best to promote the interests of the town.

Mr S. YV. Shaw expressed surprise at the apathy shown by the general public in the affairs of the League, as shown by the small attendance that evening. It was very much'like Xew Plymouth—they blew hot and cold, and soon lost interest in things. Tile work of the League, be felt sure, bad been of immense benefit to the town and tradespeople. .It was a shortsighted policy to let the League drop at this juncture. Tl'i.7 prg-ht to back it up and show their faith in the town and district, and try more than ever to attract visitors, despite the conditions caused by the war; (or if they did not help themselves, how could tjhey expect people, outside to have faith in the town and district? He hoped t.mt in the coining year they would gel in the subscriptions that had been promised. On the strength of the promises of subscriptions, tlie League had iiKiirrcd a considerable expenditure on works of a most useful kind, and it was a gross breach of faith for subscribers not to fulfil their promises. Tlie balance-sheet was adopted. The ollWers of tlie past vear were ro-eleefed.

The secretary (Mr AY, A. Mollis) submitted tlie following report: -Since taking nvi'i- the secretaryship of tin- League at the beginning of April, matters hav:' not been very brisk, as it was the "oil" scitM.n. However, I have had numerous callers and enquiries, both pcrsor.allv and 'by Kter. from other parts of the Dominion. In handing tlie guide-book over to visitors for perusal, they almost invan.ihlv comment upon the alHenec of any guide or time-table for tile local 'biis..». This. I think, might be easily vein 'died by the 'bus proprietor* tSeniwlves issuing a neat little time-table, for distribution with the League's guidebook. The Government Tourist Department have also been enquiring for more '

guide-books, and fu'l supplies have been sent on to the Auckland and V. eilington offices. In regard to the question of transit, especially to*the mountain, this I is sj;i.'l causing difficulty in arranging; ' butthow to solvt! the proliie.iu ij one that | will 'take a good deal of wonting out. ' Enquiries and bookings for tin; mountain j are earlier than usual this \car, ana now only for nearer dates, but forward bookings for November and December are j being made by intending visitors to the ' mountain, showing that the publicity given to New Plymouth and district by the League is having the desired enect, and while (possibly owing to the warj oversea visitors may not be very numerous this year, this factor may tell ' favorably on the district, as people may be taking their holidays in the Dominion instead of going away. It is to be hoped that New iPlymouth will still receive its full quota of visitors during the coming season. I Mr R. C. Hughes moved a hearty vote j of thanks to the committee for their ! past work, which he eulogised. The. fact ; that there had been between 4000 and 14500 holiday-makers to the \ town 1 (as stated by the chairman) during the. 'past holiday season was striking testimony to the efficiency of Uie work done by Uk-- League. Mr !!• Baker seconded the motion, which was carried unac mous'y