Festive Finance
When Mr. Herbert Morrison announced on March 6th that, on the best figures he could then obtain, the expenditure on the Festival Gardens in Battersea Park would amount to some £1,625,000, the most obvious comment was that the expenditure of such an amount on a fun-fair was a remarkable feat in itself. A forbearing Press, which for the most part is unwilling to do anything to crab a celebration that is going to take place in any case, refrained from dwelling on this record-breaking perform- ance. And since the best available figures turned out to be, as so often in these cases, incredibly bad ones, it was just as well the Press held its fire—for the latest estimate of the cost is £2,500,000. The figure of possible revenue, in six months' work- ing, naturally remains unchanged—so that the probable loss is now thought to be about £1,500,000. An air of mild insanity is no doubt deliberately cultivated by the proprietors of fun-fairs. But is not the Government—or'rather the company known as Festival Gardens, Limited—entering too enthusiastically into.the spirit of the thing? Mr. Morrison, at any rate, seems to think so. He has said that he is " pained and irritated." The estimated loss, after all, amounts in the current calculus to one twenty-fifth of a groundnuts scheme, or nearly two Gambia egg fiascos. The possibility of dropping the whole project has rightly been dis- carded. The suggestion of going on with Festival Gardens at least until the capital cost is paid off appears reasonable. But it will be as well not to rely too heavily on appearances. We still do not know what the final capital cost will be. We still do not know whether the best estimates of revenue are any better than the best estimates of expenditure. It is doubtful whether a body so slapdash about its finances as Festival Gardens, Limited, has made reliable estimates of running costs. In fact. the decision about the future of Festival Gardens had better be postponed until November, lest a worse thing befall.
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