The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1888. WINCHESTER JAM FACTORY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1823, 1 December 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1888. WINCHESTER JAM FACTORY.

The position to which the proposed Fruit-preserving Company at Winchester has been reduced is a matter for regret. A couple of years ago, when fruit were rotting in every part of the district with no one to buy them, it was suggested that the only way for utilising them was to establish a jam factory. With this object in view, steps were taken to form a company. The preliminary efforts were successful, but when the canvasser for shares went round he found a difficulty in getting people to invest their money in the proposed enterprise. It was decided that =6IOOO would be necessary, and that no steps should be taken until that amount had been subscribed; but the canvasser failed to secure even half that sum. The thing has been hanging fire since. Occasionally meetings have been held, but the necessary capital was not forthcoming, and so nothing definite was done. .Recently a splendid section of land, containing H acres, was secured near the railway station at Winchester, and now the provisional directors of the proposed, company are anxious to do something with it. They have not sufficient capital to start a jam factory, and they have far more land than would be required for that purpose, and so they came to the conclusion that it would be better to try to establish something else with the originally intended industry. They hoped that by extending the scope of their functions they could get more capital subscribed, and the majority seemed to think that a grain store would be the most likely thing to appeal to the generosity of farmers. They thought that by including a grain store in their proposed enterprise farmers would very readily subscribe the necessary capital; and, with this object in view, they decided last Monday on changing the name of the proposed company! We have been given to understand that 'some people are under the impression that the object of the change of the name is to establish the grain store with the money which has been subscribed for the jam factory. This is quite an erroneous view of the matter. Those who have the affair in hand are quite honest in their desire to take the fruit-preserving industry first of all in hand, and we can assure our readers that they need have no fear of anything being done which is not above board. We do not care to discuss whether the change of name is a wise step or not, further than to say that there was not the slightest necessity for it. If thq proposed company wanted power to extend the scope of their operations it was necessary for them to do other things besides changing the name of the company, for there is nothing whatsoever in that. This change of name is the result of a misapprehension under which some people labor. It is commonly understood that the functions of a limited liability company must be indicated by the name of it. For instance, take the Temuka, Butter, Cheese, and Bacon-Curing Company (Limited), the Temuka Dairy Company would do as well. Then there is the Temuka Linseed,

Oil, Cake, and "Fibre-Manufacturing Company (Limited), the Temuka Fibre Company would do better. There is nothing whatsoever in a name, and if the Winchester people called their company the NutCrackers’ Company they could preserve fruit and store grain, and even fatten pigs, under if, so long as ttye povver to do so was conferred upon them by their articles of association. It is from their articles of association they would derive their powers, and not from their nanje. TJje object tjie Winchester people had in view wag good ~jt tp'try to' raise the necessary,

capital—but it is doubtful whether they took the steps best calculated to secure that end. At any rate, we regret very much that they hare not been more successful. There can be no doubt but that if the necessary capital had been subscribed the industry would have succeeded. There will be by all accounts very little fruit in any of the other colonies this yea r, and instead of importing jam there would be a chance of exporting it at a highly profitable price. But thi« cannot be, and certainly those who have .done their best towards establishing the Winchester industry are not to blame for it.

DUNEDIN EXHIBITION.

The people of Dunedin are setting the whole colony an example of selfreliance. They have decided to hold in that city an exhibition, and from the latest accounts we gather that they have subscribed £BSOO for that purpose. They have determined not to take active steps until £IO,OOO has been subscribed, and the chairman of a recent meeting held there stated that it would only require a few days to get it. Thus the people of Dunedin will have an exhibition without Government assistance, which in this colony is a rarity deserving of notice For years Auckland has had an ambition to be the scene of an exhibition, and meetings have been held there and resolutions passed, and fuss and noise made to secure that object. It was the story of the lark in the field of corn again. The Auckland people depended mainly on Government and outside support, but very little on their own exertions, and now, when the self-reliance of Dunedin is asserting itself, they are indignant. The Auckland Star, in a recent issue, gives vent the popular feeling, and urges that unless determined and immediate steps are taken Dunedin will secure Auckland’s right to have an exhibition in 1890, We believe that Auckland has a prior right, so far as talking is concerned, but what other efforts has it put forth to secure it? None! While Auckland has been talking Dunedin has been getting the necessary funds together, and now she is ready to start business, whilst Auckland is absorbed in the contemplation of ways and means Auckland ought under these circumstances to take time to think, and allow those who think arid act more readily to occupy the place which their enterprise and energy merit so well. Two exhibitions would be ridiculous—they would only spoil each other, for neither of them could be any good. There never was a time—and probably there will not be for a long time again—when so much may be expected from an exhibition as next year. The Dunedin Exhibition ought to be opening just about the time the Melbourne one is closing, and, if so, there can be no doubt but that it would do a great deal of good—not only to Dunedin, but to the whole colony. It would result in bringing some of the Melbourne exhibits, and a great deal ef the money, and many people of Australia to this colony, and some of them may settle down here permanently. The Victorian boom has been bottomed now; all the Australian colonies are suffering from the effects of a fearful drought, and it is more than likely that if many of them once saw our evergreen pastures, and were convinced that our soil is as productive as it really is, they would permaneutly settle in a colony where the risks and misfortunes incidental to life on the Australian continent are unknown. Our Government are now playing the part of the reformed rake, or drunkard. From being most extravagant they have been converted to parsimonious habits. No community knows a more close-fisted individual than the reformed drunkard, but—except where political support is concerned—our Government could give him long odds in point,, of meanness. Still we think that they could not spend a few thousand pounds better than by supplementing the ' splendid efforts put forth by the people of Dunedin, so as to make the exhibition worthy of the occasion. It is no use to decry exhibitions. They have stood the test, and have not been found wanting. If exhibitions were no use every known civilised country would not spend money year aftenyear on them. The fact that they are universally popular proves their utility, and few countries are more likely to derive greater benefit from an exhibition than we are at the present time. We are therefore of opinion that the Government ought to assist the people of Dunedin. They have led the way in self-reliance and energy, and ought to receive every possible encouragement. They deserve support, and they ought to get it, and it appears to us that our Government would do well to lend them a helping hand.