a Nov. 21.
Tue British Empire Exhibition at Wembley has been occupying a very great deal of attention for several months} past, and it now has been decided that it will go on for another year. As a preliminary observa. tion we may mention that this is a fortunate circumstance for! those who are going"on leave in 1925, but that is a matter beside: the mark. Shanghai has talked of holding an exhibition of its own, and Chinese officialdom has resolved that if anything of the kind is to be done it will be by officials and not by private enterprise. Now, if, in the usual official way, they want to find one, Wembley presents. apparent excuse for not proceeding with it, Fortunately it is only un apparent, not a real excuse. The facts on the surface are that Wembley lost over a million pounds during 1924, and that in addition it brought a number of people into financial difficulties. It was the greatest thing of its kind ever essayed and carried through, and possibly because of its magnitude it met with financial - failure. The thought may have occurred that those at the head of it were not big enough people to make it a success, but we may dismiss that almost in a sentence. They were men accustomed to think in large figures when it came to finance and equally _accustomed to the exercise of authority over hugo staffs of men, and they laid their plans with very great care. They induced people to flock from all over the world to see this wonderful creation, and these people marvelled at it and admitted its rare quality and greatness, but still it refused to be a paying venture, One great factor was that it took place during a year in which England experienced worse weather than for a decade: it was one of the unknown factors in the case, but from one aspect it spelled failure.
To suggest, however, that because of its "internal finances Wembley should be considered a failure is the most preposterous thing on earth. So much work has it done that one is inclined to welcome the suggestion of Wembley being made a permanency, and not only to be carried on for another year, as has been arranged at present. Wembley to start with presented to the visitor a huge conglomeration of things: he could not escape from the greatness of the resources of the British Empire wherever he went, and sooner or later he went on the scenic railway or some other of the stupendous entertainment extravagances to rest his mind. That would be described as a typical preliminary visit.. After that, however, in a great many cases came the business visits, and these showed the real value of Wembley. They,. in fact, demonstrated that the British Empire is one commonwealth, and as such is self-supporting. It is perhaps an amazing fact that.people nly learned at Wembley that they could obtain within the Empire produce which for years they imagined must be bought elsewhere, and in-!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.