DUNEDIN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 244, 12 October 1907, Page 6

DUNEDIN.

(Bey. N. A. Davis.)

To a passing visitor, Dunedin, apart from'" the peculiarity of its situation, seems merely the average Xew Zealand city, "only this and nothing more." The expected Scotch dialect is not heard. Gaelic names are not particularly notice- ~ able, there is not a kilt to be seen, not a pipe to be heard, and the only indications of its actual is a monument in the Octagon to the Rev. Dr. Burns, the first Presbyterian canister settled in Otago. and the graceful - spires of its two finest churches, "Knox" .- and "First, -, both Scotch kirks. If you have come oversea, you will have awakened at Port Chalmer's railway pier somewhat surprised to find that you are some seven or eight miles from the outer heads, well into the harbour. Transferred to the train, you are charmed with the foreshore, if the tide is in, as you are whirled through Ravensbourne and the northern suburbs to the great city station —a noble pile of grey stone that is enough to turn an AuekInnder positively green with envy. The building is lavishly fitted Tip. Glazed tiles, marble copings, epacious offices, elaborate waiting rooms, an expanse of platform that suggests a London Metropolitan terminus, radiators, electric clocks, and goodness knows what else suggest another "injustice to Ireland." at least to the North Island. Yet, of course, some place had to get its worthy station first, and I suppose it was just as fair to begin at the South end and go up as to start at the Xorth end and come down. Auckland will have its turn some day, if it is eternally vigilant in demanding it. But the railway station is not the only fine public building that Dunedin boasts. The Law Courts, Gaol, Hospital,

High School, University, Art Gallery, 'Free Library, Town Hall, and Post Office buildings are all a cut above any+hing of their kind in the northern city. And the Tvise early settlers, with characteristic Scotch shrewdness, reserved a belt of native bush lands, some thousands of acres in extent, along the slope of the heights that rise sheer from the city, that give the whole city the appearance of a park. The city itself, too, is well built, the streets .are clean and well kept, and there is aa appearance of solid prosperity. The Aucklander will think it a quiet place. If he seeks to purchase anything, he -will perhaps almost resent the indifferent nonchalance of shop attendants, the "take it or leave it" air of them. There is no suggestion of hustle. To an American it seems like a city rcm on funeral lines. Bat you Boon get over that, and find that, belind all that apparent indifference, there 35 a keenness that will cut with any razor, an alertness that is ready for any emergency. When the original settlement "was made, after a most deliberate search for a site had resulted in a calculating selection of Dunedin, the founders of Otago divided up their property, reserving large areas for Kirk, Education, and •Municipal purposes, and vesting these areas so that they can never be alienated. This is therefore a city of leaseholds. All sorts and conditions of build- - ings are reared on these leased properties, and freehold is, in some parts of the city, practically out of the market. Is the system a practically successful one? Well, opinions differ. Anyway, it has neither ruined nor hindered the development of the place, so I suppose that to any adverse criticism the defender of the system can at least say with com- - placency, "Not proven. 5 * . For easily-reached pleasure resorts, !.. Dunedin is easily first among New Zea- _ land" cities. A short tram ride takes one on to a glorious beach, upon which the sonorous Pacific rolls its foam-flecked waters in mighty waves of eroding surf. It is eating with alarming rapidity through the densely populated isthmus connecting St. Clair with the peninsula. ~ A tidal wave would sweep thcosands of ~_ souls into eternity. But in the mean"jtijne. the thousands enjoy the rich ozone of sea, salt-laden air. An equally short tram ride takes the sightseer up startling inclines, over dizzy rises, through —the '\Belt."' and apparently through the bush, high up on to the summit of the ■Roslyn and Mornington hills, and over into the Kaikorai valley. By day or night the. view across this valley, looking towards Flagstaff Hill or Mount Cargill, is one to be remembered. Sweeping North and South isa broad, green valley flanked by noble hills. Ross and Glendinning-'s mighty woollen mills, the largest in the Southern hemisphere, are here, and the settlement is dense. It is just what it appears, a thriving sub-

urb. In summer it is emerald green and bright. In -winter, after a fall of snow, it has another beauty, but not a lesser. And over those Mils there are tracks that entice the pedestrian to wandei' tmtil be feels the eshilaration of mountain air. and, turning back, sees city and sea at his feet in glorious panorama. Dnnedin has not the evergreen beauty of Auckland. The glint of the Waitemata is of a sapphire hue not easily to be excelled. Tlie cerulean skies and sunniness of Auckland are its own; but if Dun-edin-s charms are of another sort, still they are charms. And the Scotch! They are here. The skirl of the bagpipe is to be heard. The rich brogue of the lowlands is in evidence, and the Gael forefathers, ■with his -am folk" in his special kirk, innocent of a "Kist o' whustles" on the Sabbath. But this is Dunedin in NewZealand, not Edinburgh in Scotland, after aIL And in spite of all precautions the übiquitous Englishman, and the verdant Irishman, and the '"other sorts" are all her*. Lika the "Scotch mixtures" sold by lollie vendors, this mixture is varied enough, and not bad. either. How could it be? This is New Zealand. And is this not one Dominion? Aucklanders are here, a≤ Dun?dinites are hi Auckland, and seem content enough, although they do growl sometimes about the scarcity of fruit, the price of coal, the greater general «ost of living, the sharp cold of some Otago winter days, and the quietness of the Dunedin way of doing things. Each of the great centres of New Zealand has its own peculiar glory, and in no land of similar extent is there more oi the tharm o{ variety. But in no land, certainly in no English speaking land, is prosperity and intelligence so evenly spread out. In these respects it must be conceded that the New Zealanders are fairly homogeneous. Neither Maori nor pakeha is angelic as a rule, smt as a mere Human he is a fait sample, and of that sample th* Otago settler is at least typi- £ ~S Ildiass to ° well f « Auckland &£&£?^-^stt-^ to W -„ • • y " U P to AucKiand «££ ** tte of H borough of Mon.in!+ ™ tbe lole

around the enty have no water supply other than the catchment from their house-tops. Consequently, a few weeks of fine weather puts bathing in peril, and at all times water has to be used with a carefulness that is perplexing to the newcom.sr. In case of fire, and fires are very frequent, as is not to be wondered at in a cold climate, with so many wooden houses, the neighbours simply gather round and enjoy the bon-fire, while the fire brigade empty the neighbours' tanks and save what tbey can out of the doomed home.

To the public speaker Dun—in is a delight. The long winter evenings have developed a habit of attending meetings, and whetted th?. appetite of the people for entertainment of a substantial sort. The inherited patience of the Gael under dreary sermonic homilies helps to secure more or less alert attention when volatile Northern audiences would either sleep or fidget and depart. And when a fighting speech is made, a speech with an argument in it, Dunedin is ready for the fray.

I am persuaded that there is an undeveloped market here for Auckland fruit. Given fair transit conditions, our Northern fruitgrowers should be able to find an outlet in Otago for much of their surplus at a fair price. In years to come the clay lands of the Kaipara should be a rich ssset, and und?r its sunny summer skies harvests be produced to find a gold-en reward in these colder latitudes. Dried fruits, especially, should prove woith attention. Ther.3 seems to be a good deal o* trade between North and South in manufactured goods that indicates commercial waste, whereas a natural exchange of special products might profitably occupy the attention of business men. It looks absurd to the uncommercial man who isn't in the arena of business, but only sees things and thinks about them, that boots, for instance, should be sent to Auckland from Dunedin, and from Dunedin to Auckland,

whils little or no effort is made to supply [ from Auckland articles such as fruit, which the North can so well produce. Perhaps, if there were a Government Department of Commerce, with a responsible Minist3r, charged with the development of our home markets, a more rational inter-provincial trade might be opened up. Harbour dues are in some degree an obstacle to trade in some classes of goods. But since harbours are a national asset, surely the cost of improvement and maintenance might be remitted to a Dominional (is that the right word?) board, and the du?s equalized. "This arrangement ■would not be unfair, since every single harbour benefits by the general expansion of seabourne trade, consequent on improved facilities. I am inclined to think that the insularity of New Zealand is not sufficiently valued. Our shipping commerce is not inferior to overland trade. We shall probably realise this more as the years pass by. Australia may become the Europe of the South. Xew Zealand must be its Britain. And if our railways, our ports, our trade revenues generally are developed in line with a definite policy to secure this destiny, our ascendancy in the Southern seas may yet be as_ real as that of the Motherland" in the Northern. But if this is to be, paroeSialism must perish, and Otago and Auckland vie with each other in desiring the other's prosperity. In short, a national sentiment is worth cultivation. If calling our land a Dominion helps to do this, thsn it will have been well done.