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COMMUNITY BUILDING.

HON, J. C. HERBSMAN SHAKES TJP THE "DRY BOXES." y

AN INSPIRING ADDRESS. j If the address given by the Hon. J. C. Herbsman (the late Theodore Roosevelt's campaign organiser) at the Chautauqua tent on Saturday afternoon was a specimen of the type being delivered in every centre visited by the Chautauqua, it. is safe to say that these communities have never had such a splendid lesson read them as that given by the American exSenator. Mr. Herbsman is n line specimen. of virile manhood, and his words must have inspired higher ideals for the welfare of the district in thos> who heard them. There was an undoubted relation between the philosophy of Dr. Andrew ,k .isoii and the practical teaching of Mr. Herbsman, and the conviction is irresistible that there is a definite design in the Chautauqua as laid out for eacli centre The addresses of Chancellor Bradford, of the Oklahoma University, which are to be given to-day, will doubtless confirm this. It is plain to the dullest intellects that Mr. Herbsman comes into a community not as a critic but as a constructionist—not as an iconoclast but »s an architect of community life. His smile is an immediate rebuke to every "Dismal Jimmy," and his sublime faith in men and in the ability of any community to develop it* life on uplifting lines, simply" radiates froiu every pore of his being. He is, in short, an inspirer of men, and New Plymouth must be the better for his presence and influence, even though his visit has been but short

In liia address on Saturday afternoon he divided communities mainly into three sections —first, the public-spiritil men who did things; second, the big crowd who looked on more or less indifferently; and third, those who criticised and found fault, and who always wanted to know what there was to got out of anything—people who in America were known as ''knockors." His first and most emphatic point was tliat in order to do anything, communities must "got together," and he illustrated this with some pointed anecdotes, in which he showed the achievements of some of the American communities. He put in a strong; plea for the development of the great national highways of the country, and the means of transit. He advocated for New Zealand a great national highway from one end of the country to the other, and instanced the lessons of the war as to the advantage of such a thing even from a military point of view. He confessed that his opinion was there was no iiner country in the world from a tourist point of view than' New Zealand, and yet very little was known in America about any place excepting Rotorua. Money spent in the development of tourist trallic Would be returned through the money spent by those who were induced to visit the place. He was sure that if the attractions of New Zealand were known in America, thousands of tourists would come here every season. Coming to particular places, the speaker said that in most cities and towns the streets needed surfacing. For this purpose, in order to have the necessary amount of tar, he thought the gas production works should be municipally owned. He then spoke of some means by which New Plymouth could be more fully developed, and it was plain that Mr. Herbsman had, in the short time at his disposal, made himself wonderfully well acquainted with local conditions, his practical eye and alert brain taking in quickly the needs of the community. He said the present breakwater with very little development could be made to accommodate almost any ocean liner, and so open up this part of the country to the trade of the world. He appealed to the men of the community to catch the vision of the/ future. The cirne would come when the prime products of the country would be developed right up to the finished product in New Zealand. (Applause.) What would help more than anything else in this direction would bp the development of hydro-elcctric power, He Baid the first impression a visitor received of any town was always an abiding one, and it was with pleasure he had learned that the civic authorities of New Plymouth bad been bold enough to sacrifice a certain amount of annual in come for the sake of securing the site which was the real doorway into thi. community, and the site on which the big tent was erected was in his opinion the proper place for municipal offices, theatre, ete, He complimented the town on its post office and present municipal offices, and then proceeded to a discussion on the development of parks and open spaces He praised the beauties of Pukekura I'ark and urged that the controlling authorities should institute band concertsand such-like attractions in order to make the park even more popular. He warned the authorities against allowing private individuals to erect buildings on public reserves, and stressed the importanec of securing as many open spaces and parks as possible. On the question of education ho was emphatic against the practice of crowding a large number of children into elmsrooms, and urged that 30 was the limit of the number of children who should be taught in a single room by one teacher, and not 120 as Was the qase in some schools. He referred to what had been accomplished by" means of a Parent Teachers' Association in America, and stressed the importance of the part women could play in this direction. He then pleaded for adequate playing grounds for school children, and said that in America they had teachers whose only work was to teach the children to play—they were playground directors. In this direction much might be accomplished, though he admitted in general that in the matter of public parka, »r also in the development of music, New Zealand was much in advance of some other countries.

Ia dealing with tow Mr. Herbsman spoke of . "eauliea of some systems of tree planti' ■ and eulogised the work in this dire/.i ! : carried out in soma of the towns in the British Isles. He had a thrust at some private property owners, who he urged should pull down their dilapidated fences and plant live hedges in their place. To bring about these changes and realise these ideals, the first essential for the , members of the community was a real faith in themselves, then in humanity and the future, and last, but not least, a •strong faith in God. He put in a strong plea for support for the Mayor alid councillors in any prog-'. !s ,ive policy undertaken, and he gave the people who stand oil the sideline and criticise and find fault a fairly good roasting, and urged all'to join 111 the parade of community progress. If there were those who would not join in then they should keep their mouths shut ana let tnose who would do something He referred to what he had heard nboui the empidemic organisation, and said that was the true community spirit fl 1!? /'"u "°, cl " d , II P against 'that and found fault with it they were not hurting the community but themselves t J Pe ° ple r re su, ' e t0 a3k where all the sioueg wag to come from to carry out

sucli progressive ideas, and his answd was in better taxation. In conclusion, the speaker pleadofr fa) brighter environments and cleaner cH« zenship. He suid the time had gone by for believing that the only preachar KK Christianity was the parson in his pfflpit —that was as much the doty and prhtfc lege of the nuiyor and councillors in a community, the lawyer in hit pleadings, .the merchant in his office, and the farmer in his farming—Christianity in these places would make this and any town the best place in which to bring up children. IJe pictured a vision of the fntare in which all men sacrificed personal inrterfor the advancement of the commoniiy, and put up the ideal of common s*rviee as the only one worth living for. The boys who went forth to light for freedom were serving the community as truly as _ Christ served men. Selfishness meant the 'destruction of manhood, but service Was the only means to the natural and spiritual advancement of Ove community, and by it alone could civic and national ideals be achieved. Mr. Herbsman's address was list/.ed to with the closest attention, and bis remarks frequently applauded.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19190317.2.48

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 17 March 1919, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,422

COMMUNITY BUILDING. Taranaki Daily News, 17 March 1919, Page 5

COMMUNITY BUILDING. Taranaki Daily News, 17 March 1919, Page 5

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