The Centennial

Year
1883
Month
3
Day
30
Article Title
The Centennial
Author
-----
Page Number
2
Article Type
Language
Article Contents
The Centennial One thousand dollars have been voted by the City Council towards paying the expenses of some kind of a Fireman’s and “Calithumpian” display on the anniversary of the Landing of the Loyalists. Some time ago the city voted two thousand five hundred dollars towards a general celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the city; but the Board either thought better of this, or got alarmed at the complaints about the heavy expenditure, and receded from its position. Now, it has taken a thousand dollar step forward. It appears to be inevitable that the city must spend something in the celebration of its centennial anniversary; but we must regret that the expenditure so far seems to be in the direction only of torches, fireworks and grotesque disguises. These, in any popular display, are seemingly necessary, and everybody enjoys them. But there should be an advance beyond the mere delights of a semi-barbaric state. We have made material, moral and intellectual progress, which ought to find expression in some way in any celebration of our Centennial. Whilst we do not despise the fireworks, and know well that our Firemen can make a very interesting and pleasing exhibition, one which everybody will enjoy, we still regret that there has not been in the community, or civic government, sufficient force to call into activity other resources, so that we would start on a new century of our civic existence with the placing of some well defined landmark to mark the closing of the old, and the starting of another, hundred years. The “Centennial Exhibition,” as it is termed, desirable as it, of course, is but very little more than any other exhibition, and will be largely a fleeting show, from which, no doubt, there will be some advantage. But we can only regret that there is not something more permanent.