AN AMERICAN'S VIEW OF NEW ZEALAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 128, 30 May 1914, Page 14

AN AMERICAN'S VIEW OF NEW ZEALAND.

"Picturesque New Zealand" is the tide of a book recently published in I-ioston, U.S.A., by the Houghton Miflln Company. The autlhor, Air. Paul <J_od- . ing, toureed the Dominion some time ago, and has as the result produced a very readable book which may convey to Iris .el-ow-countrymen some muchneeded information respecting New Zea-. land. The Ibook is largely descriptive j of natural features and resources: but it has the. following political references: I In this stronghold of Liberalism there is, in a happy degree, government of, by, and for the people. There the "interests" do not exerciese a dominating influence; for "special privilege" it is 'practically n barren field. There the evils of private commercial monopoly are not tolerated. "Trusts" have been sighted from atar and warned off, and the growing menace o f those uncovered within New Zealand _haa been ctrrbed hy legislation. ln New Zealand, Labour and Capital meet as "man to man." Wiesely conceived labour lawse provide protection for both, and, combined with rational land-tax and land-settlement legislation, have for more than twenty years assured general industrial p".aee and widespread prosperity. For poor and suffering humanity of all ages substantial iState provision has 'been made. There the people arc the predominating owners of public utilities; with them State ownership has become so varied and general that it has been called State Socialism. The railroads in New Zealand, he points out. aro slow but safe. The speed mania has not yet Touched her 'shores. Thorn are no recordsbreaking specials, the Covornment roads being satiwfled with an uverage hourly speed of twenty-five miles, including stoppages. West Coast trains arc even more conservative, and the author tells us of two i young men who missed their train, and although it had twenty yards start they I caught it victoriously after running about two hundred yards, but tfiey I were fined for a violation of the tres- , pass law. presumably on the ground Hint there must be no competition with Oovernment property. Spepd in construction is another popular joke subject with New Zealanders. A hundred miles of railway takes many years to build. "When will the North Auckland line be completed?" I asked nn Auckland manufacturer. "Cod knows.'' he ansvrpred, wilh a sigh. "When do you expect railway connection with Oishorno." J inquired of an Opotiki hotelkeeper. "Not in our day." he grimly replied. Once a Government Minister assured ft deputation that the Opotiki-Gisborne line was "pushing ahead rapidly"; whereupon a member of the delegation inquired: "Do you think the railway will reach our district during the life of our leasees?" "What is the term of your lease?" asked the Minister. "Nino hundred and ninety-nine years," responded tho delegate. The author gives us a description of ■his first ride on a "tram" in Auckland, an experience that offered some contrasts to corresponding experiences on the American street-cars: No, I did not want a cab; I wanted to ride in a "tram." The factory whistles were blowing five o'clock when, soon after landing, 1 snw a sign reading: "No standing in this car." Recollecting strpet-cars of the United States with pnsscngvrs crowding platforms, fenders, and roofs, 1 thought: 'That's the car for nic." Following the example of a score of workmen, 1 slid hastily into a scat, it was hare and hard, hut that sign was so comforting that I read it again, and wished for a similar order on American car lines. Then 1 chanced lo look at the aisle. It was little more than a foot wide: All the scats were narrow, too, and shoulders ami legs necessarily encroached on the aisle, to the discomfort of the conductor. Along this passage the conductor squirmed with a leather pouch or bug slung in front of bim. In his band he carried a box-like alTair holding a row of tickets in blocks of various colours, To aid him in removing the tickets he carried on his breast a small sponge, with which he frequently moistened his thumb and forefinger. When I handed him a coin his hand dropped into the bag. Immediately there was a igreat rattling. Tbe conductor was drawing on his stock of coppers, each as big as a half-dollar, but worth only two cents. As most of his fares were pennips quarts of coin seemed not unknown to him. Just past a comer our car was stopped. Something lind happened. "What is the trouble?" 1 asked a man. "They put a bloke ofT." said be. "There, were too many in the car.*' Too many in the car! Oh, America! Passing over descriptions of the Rotorua Wonderland and other parts of the Dominion, -we quote tho following Wellington experiences: — A feature of the Wellington streetcar system is tho civility of it employees.' The most obliging ticket inspector I mot in the Dominion was n tramway employee, and not yet have I encountered a conductor so polito as the one who opened the door of the compartment in which I was sitting, and saying, "Thank you," shut it without having entered or collected a fare. What did that "Thank you" mean? No one had given its speaker anything or done him a service. On inquiry, I learned that he was merely looking for unpaid fares, and that bis thanks meant he was satisfied everybody in the compartment had paid! Wellington also ha-s an nrt gallery, but apparently many of its residents had never heard of it. when I inquired for it. "It is a -little beyond Ore library," my first informant assured mc. ] wpnt a little beyond that. disdanoo, but I saw nothing resembling an OTt gallery. "Can you tell mc where the art gal]prv is?" I -asked another man. "No. I'll be blowed if 1 can." he replied. 1 repeated the question to a third man. "Blest if 1 can," said he. "1 didn't know we had an art gallery." Then I went into the public library | and appealed to a young woman nsvsisrt- ' anr. I "It is hard to direct you." she laiigli- , ingly answered. "It is so small: it is . a little red brick building with some I trees around it." Finally I found this secluded building', after inqu'ring the way I again "f a group of four men, j only one of whom was able, to direct we. The gallery building was nf ! modest proportions, as 1 had been told. and the collection was small. But the name was entirely satis>ac;.oi-y. Over the gallery's portals were these words: "New Zealand's Academy of Fine Arts."