HISTORIC EVENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 March 1939, Page 6

HISTORIC EVENT

SOCIAL SECURITY BUILDING. OFFICIALLY OPENED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “This marks what, I hope, will be an historic event in the development of the greatest piece of social legislation that the world has yet seen,” said the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, who was the principal speaker at the official opening of the Social Security Building in Aotea Quay, Wellington, yesterday afternoon. “We had some difficulty in establishing ourselves in these very fine premises,” added Mr Savage, “but we are here, and that’s the main thing. When the Aitken Street building was destroyed oy fire there were people who said, ‘They’re gone now, in any case.’ Well, we are not gone; we are here, I repeat, and we are going on.” Addresses were also given by the Minister of Health, .Mr Fraser, the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, the Mayor of Wellington, Mr Hislop, the M.P. for the district, Mr Chapman, the Government architect, Mr Mair, and Mr James Fletcher, on behalf of the contractors.

More than a thousand members of the public attended the opening. Among tne guests were Sir Harry Batterbee, High Commissioner for Great Britain, and Lady Batterbee. At the conclusion of the ceremony Mr Fletcher, on behalf of himself and his co-directors, presented the Prime Minister with a model of the building in the form of an inkwell stand, mounted on a marble base. Mr Savage, in returning thanks, said he was confident that generations to come would bless the name of James Fletcher and everyone associated with him in the erection of the building. The Prime Minister formally turned the key in the front door at 3 o’clock, and briefly declared the building open. Mr Savage and the Ministerial party, followed by the guests, inspected the building from the top to the ground floor. Afternoon tea was served in the cafeteria, where the speeches were made.

Mr Savage said the new building represented a triumph of craftsmanship and organisation. It showed what New Zealand and New Zealanders could do if they just agreed to differ about details and get into the work. The Minister of Health said the sequence of events leading up to the construction of the building contained all the elements of the best drama. The building was a triumph for efficiency and organisation. The Public Works Department officers responsible for the plants, the architects, and the draughtsmen, and the Fletcher organisation, were all deserving of congratulation. The work set a standard that should be an example to all. He hoped that what had been accomplished in the erection of the building would be carried on by the staff that would occupy it. Already a great deal of preliminary work had been done to bring the extensive scheme of social security into operation. It would banish from this country the fear of want and poverty in its worst form.

"An historic occasion,” was the description applied to the opening ceremony by the mayor of Wellington, Mr Hislop. He said that when the building was started the Wellington City Council had been a little perturbed as to the possible effect of it on the main route into Wellington. He wished to thank Mr Nash and the Minister of Railways, Mr Sullivan, for the way they had met the representations of the city council and completely fulfilled its wishes. Mr Fletcher was taking a very active part in the Centennial Exhibition, and the social security building was just a thing he would take in his stride. On behalf of his fellow citizens Mr Hislop congratulated the Government on the new building. To those who would work in it he wished every "possible success.--