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BISMARCK.
THE CHANGE OF NAME OPPOSED.
OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION.
A number of Bismarck residents
waited on the Premier yesterday, and
presented a lengthy petition setting
forth reasons against the proposal to
change the name of Bismarck to that
of Collins, which was made by a depu
tation which saw the Premier last
Saturday.
Councillor G H Voss said the depu
tation, which comprised himself
Mcssis Alfred Totenhofer, H J
Smith, Levi Newman, Walter Neilsen,
W Brockman, Fred Gall, and F and
H Fehlberg was composed entirely of
residents in the postal area of Bismarck
of Biitish and foreign extraction. Some
of the statements, made by the previous
deputation were entirely unfounded.
The petition he had to present contain
ed 120 names of settlers residing in the
postal area, whereas the names of the
signatories to the former petition were
drawn from the Bismarck ward, com
prising Claremont and other districts.
The petition opposed the proposal to
alter the name on personal grounds,
and the petitioners were practically all
of Tasmanian birth, including descend
ants of the Danish and German settlers
who had really founded the settlement.
The name Bismarck had been given to
the place out of compliment to the Ger
man settlers. On general grounds it
was urged that the change of name
would create bad feeling amongst set-
tlers who had hitherto dwelt in amity
together. The petitioners appealed for
fair play, for which the British nation
was noted and quoted the recent pro-
nouncement of Senator Pearce in re
gaid to the treatment of Germans with
in the Commonwealth. Mr Voss said
that the produce of Bismarck would
compare with any in the State and
their shows had won a good reputation
Referring to a statement made by a
speaker of the previous deputation that
the produce of the district might be
prejudiced owing to its place of origin,
Mr Voss contended that there was no
foundation in that argument. On the
contrary it would be a serious thing if
the name were changed seeing that
the produce of Bisniaick had an excel
lent reputation and always fetched top
prices. The petitioners were not in
fatuated with the name of Bismarck as
such and did not base their case on the
fact that it had been borne by a Ger
man statesman but the name was a
reasonable one and was not difficult to
pronounce like so many German names.
The settlers of Bismaick all spoke the
British language and they had no dif
ferences on racial matters. The previ
ous deputation had really other motives
than those put forward. Bismarck pro-
duce was branded with the name of the
grower and the settlement and he had
never heard of any objection on account
of the name. As a tourist resort the
name was an attraction and if the
name were changed the traffic would
suffer. Bismarck shows had been fam
ous for the quality of the produce ex
hibited. The war in 1864 between
Prussia and Denmark referred to at
the previous deputation had nothing
to do with them. The fact that Ger
many was abolishing British names was
no reason why Tasmania should follow
the example. He believed that a large
majority of the settlers within the
postal area were in favour of the name
of the distnct being retained.
Mr Gall said he had come out to
Victoria with his father and had rear
ed a family of nine in Tasmania, all
true British subjects. If it could be
proved that the settlers interests were
endangered through the name he would
support the proposal to alter it. Some
people had signed both petitions the
reason being that they were misled into
signing the first. The name should not
be altered at least, until the war was
over.
Messrs Totenhofer Brockman, and
Smith also spoke the tenor of their
remarks going to show that the settlers'
interests were not jeopardised on ac
count of the name of Bismarck.
The Premier expressed his sense of
the good taste and moderation with
which the deputation had placed its case
before him. He regretted that, any
feeling should have been created
amongst the Danish and German set
tlers who were of the best. Person
ally, no one more regretted the calamit-
ous war than he did, and no one had
a greater abhorrence of those who
caused it. He would be the first to
resent anything which would cause un
happiness to the Bismarck settlers of
German descent, or interfere with their
habits. They must admit that, in the
circumstances a name which perpetuat
ed the memory of one of the most un
scrupulous but clever statesmen the
world had ever seen and one largely
responsible for the causes of the pre
sent struggle must be distasteful to
the people. He regretted, and they
must regret that the name was Bis
marck. The deputation desired to re
tain a name under which they had built
up a reputation for good produce. In
Germany today the Germans would not
tolerate a town called Asquith or Lloyd
George. There was bound to be feel
ing it could not he helped. He would
give the matter careful consideration,
and whatever decision he came to they
could rest assured that the feelings of
the Danish and German settlers woud
be fully considered. He would have to
weigh the arguments adduced by both
parties and do the best he could. Had
the name been any other the difficulty
would not have been so great. How
ever he would try to do what was right
in the matter.
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