THE OPERA HOUSE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 August 1938, Page 7

THE OPERA HOUSE

PRE-ELECTION BOOKINGS. Sir, —In a recent issue of the “TimesAge” there appeared a report of a decision arrived at by the Masterton Trust Lands Trustees regarding a letter received by them from the Masterton Labour Representation Committee. The report read: “It was decided to inform the Masterton Committee of the Labour Party in reply to a letter complaining about the method of booking the Opera House that the policy adopted was ‘first come, first served.’ No preference was given to any particular party.”

As this report may have a tendency to mislead people as to the nature of the protest raised by my committee, 1 would ask that you publish the contents of the letter I wrote to the Trust Lands Trust in reply to a letter from them informing me that all advance bookings of the Opera House were subject to the date asked for “not being one of the nights immediately preceding the general election as these nights have already been reserved for both political parties,” and also their reply.

In a letter to the secretary, Trust Lands Trust, Masterton, dated August 9, 1938, I wrote: — Dear Sir, —I am in receipt of your letter of the 15th ultimo, which, with other correspondence was duly placed before my committee. I have now been instructed to write you pointing out the position which arises from your accepting bookings for letting the Opera House for an occasion for which no date can yet be given. Apparently you have booked the Opera House for the two nights preceding the day of the General Election, the date of which is unknown, and all other bookings can only be made subject to the dates asked for not being either of those two nights, the dates of which are of course also unknown. Are we entitled now to assume that any other applicant can, by applying, have the Opera House booked for say the 3rd, 4th, 10th or 20th night before the election, and that all other applications for .bookings would only be granted subject to the dates asked for being other than those enumerated. You will doubtless agree that this is the logical implication of the course which has been followed. You will also, no doubt, further agree that this would be most detrimental to the Opera House revenues, which the public have been given to understand require augmenting. We need not remind you that the Opera House is public property vested in the Trust Lands Trust to be administered for the benefit of the inhabitants of the small farms area without special favour to any individual or party. We respectfully protest therefore against the letting of the Opera House to any individual or party in a manner which makes it impossible for others entitled to do so to book for a specified date. I wish to assure you that my committee is concerned only with the principle involved, and is quite prepared to forego any advantage it may be presumed to have as regards to foreknowledge of the date of the election. •

My committee hopes that the Trustlees will now see their way to disallow bookings where no specific dates are given and so remove any suggestion of unfair discrimination.

A copy of this letter with copy of correspondence is being forwarded to each Trustee.

Yours faithfully, (Signed) R. E. WILTON, Secretary. To this letter I received the following reply, dated August 12, 1938. Dear Sir, —I am in receipt of your letter of the 9th inst. I have to advise that your letter was fully discussed by the Trustees at their meeting last evening, and I have now been directed to inform you that the Trustees are satisfied with the system that has been adopted for the letting of the Opera House. Yours faithfully, (Signed) W. B. YATES, Secretary.

The position, according to Mr W. B. Yates, secretary of the Trust Lands Trust, is that the National Party has booked the Opera House for the night immediately preceding the election and Mr J. Robertson, M.P., has asked that the Opera House be reserved for the second night before the election.