AN AUSTRALIAN EXHIBITION IN LONDON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1359, 21 April 1883, Page 2

AN AUSTRALIAN EXHIBITION IN LONDON.

The following letter" appears in the '• Sojith Australian Register"' . Sir,—When I came before the public as. the originator of a new departure in the system of International Exhibitions, you were kind enough to offer me support, which resulted, I trust, in some gain to South Australia, and temporarily in considerable profit to myself,. I would now venture to ask yoii'r advocacy a scheme whichl projected in a letter from Paris in your own columns\as far back as 1878, and the" expediency of which all my subsequent experience goes to show—that of holding- an Australian Exhibition in London. : :

Thet Need for It,—The greatest need of Australia is to become better known. Were the present condition and future prospects of these colonies properly, understood Jn England their Governments would be able tomorrow, money at 3 J per cent., immigration would pour upon them, and private capital ai

well. It.is as an advertisement princi- .v pally that South Australia has spent some £20,000 in. the last half-dozen years in being, represented at Exhibi- ■. bitions in.differant parts of the world, and for the same reason it is going to spend over £IOO,OOO on an International Exhibition in Adelaide. Whilst an Australian. Exhibition' in London mightnot do.so much to open up relations with foreign countries, , as'' '" ' an international one, I think there can be no question but that it .is to Eng. - land we must look for nine-tenths of our immigration and capital for, many years to come. It is in England, therefore, it seems to me, that we have most I need to advertise, And how- can we' *'.' do so more effectively, or. at. less .cost than by an Australian Exhibition f - Cost.—The cost should be a mere bagatelle. Either the Crystal Palace -j < or the Alexandra Palace would bo ' large enough for the purpose, on the - basis that the ,Court of each colony •• i' was larger than that of Viotoria at Melbourne Exhibiton. Either of these buildings could be leased for a year at j a very- moderate rental. This ' would be the mam head of expenditure. The' other items would be the cost of collection of exhibits, of sending thom , to London and back (for which a Jew •■ ' ' steamers might be chartered) of insuv- - ■> ance, and of management, I don't se» any reason why the debit to each colony should be more than £20,000 to , £30,000 t and against this you have the reciepts at the gates, which, although I would be strongly in favour of at least one free day in the week for the working classes, ought to give tlio Exhibition a fair chance ,of being directly remunerative. Effectiveness .—With the aid which I feel sure H.K.H. the Prince of Wales and all the leading friends of the cole- / nies at home would gladly give, tho Australian Exhibition might easily be - made very fashionable and popular. It would have all the charm of and with free days for the workirjHJ class the attendance should reach.eeveral millions, most of whom would,'for j the first time in their lives, realise 1 that Australia was a civilised country. Beyond this, the whole of tho English Press would.be sure ,to devote leading : • aud descriptive artioles to the Exhibition, and thus information about Australia would be spread throughout the length- and breadth of England more cheaply and effectively than by the distribution of millions of handbooks. Opportuneness.—ln 1886 arepresentative collection of Australian products and manufactures will he gathered together at the Adelaido International Exhibition, Why should this Exhibition not be made a dress rehearsal for an Australian Exhibition in London, to take place in 1887—the • Australian exhibits shipped wholesale to London at the end of Adelaide Exhibition 1 It would certainly tend to jiio.luce a much better representa--tion of the sister colonies in Adelaido, aud for this reason the South Australian Government, should, in my opinion, he the first to moot the project, My project appears at first sight a"/" largo one; but the more it is criticised^ 1 and examined the greater, I- feel" confident, will its advantages'appear, Here is no visionary end, no limitless expenditure, but a scheme founded, on principles which would, I belkve, commend themselves to any'busiiiW; men; and if it is carried .out I believe I shall be able to claim to have deserved well of Australasia, Isay oCAustralasia, because the scheme is Eminently which affords a common platform for ■ ! - each of the colonies to meet upon, When the attention of all England is. concentrated uponanAustvalaiianExlrt bition, the first word of federation will have been spoken. I am, Ac,, R. E, N. Twopenny. ■ Christchurch.

200 pairs blankets can be seen aud bought from 15j per pair at Eapp & Hare's.—Advt, The first Jewish marriage which has taken place in Madrid since the explosion of the Jews from Spain, two centuries ago, 1 was celebrated in January. The bride,' ... who was wedded to her tiret cousin, wag the daughter of a foreign merchant lone established in the Spanish capital. More than fifty persons, including members of the very best sooiety in Madrid were present at the cererqony, A gold snuff box. beating Count V°o Moltke'a coat of arms, with the motto " First weigh, llien venture," on thelid, with a portrait of the Emperor and two of his predecessors, and the German esgle, while oak and laurel leaves and emblematic groups ornameat the rest of the box, was given to him by the officers of the German army at his late jubilee,' he having hitherto used only a wooden one, like a peasant's An incident, which the Berlin cprrespodent of The Times describes aj "the Comedy of the Modern Pilgrims Fathers,"' 1 ' '*■ has just been enacted in Germany. Dr Foster, one of the most prominent baiters in the country, not havinnjlH ceeded in expelling the descendant Abraham from his native country.'-! , with a small but devoted band of au* herents, sailed for Paraguay, where' they intend to found an anli-Semitio colony, Recent emigration statistics show that last

Fencing wire in any quantity can be had lm than Wellington?prices at Bapp& Haro'?,-(ADVT,) • The Duke of Teck became a naturalised Englishman in December, A.handsome. monument in honor of Christopher Columbus is to be built by the people of Calvi, The granddaughter of Count Sobieeki was lately married to i ; raechanip : in Switzerland. The .mother of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the Pretender, • was a Sobieaki. The Queen .has ordered an ornament representing an Egyptian spliynx ' as a birthday present for the Duke of Connaught. 'The base is to be composed of onyx.. / Caroline Bernjieimer, a widow, fell through a skylight, on February 26, directly upon a rapidly running rip-saw. in the Blair Packing-box Factory, New, York, and was immediately ciii in two.: ' ' ■ " ■" v:> -' i't