COLLECTING DATA.

Auckland Star, Volume LVXIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1937, Page 9

COLLECTING DATA.

N.Z. DELEGATION. WIDE FIELD OF INQUIRY. MR. NASH'S FORESIGHT. (Special.—Bγ Air Mail.) LONDON, February 12. The wisdom shown by the. Minister of Finance and Minister of Marketing, the Hon Walter Nash, in the choice of the i personnel of the delegation to accompany him to the United Kingdom hasj for some time been apparent.

i Tn addition to providing essential material for the negotiation* in connection with the proposed trade agreement, the members of the MinUtcrV .-tiiiT are • spending much time in collecting and compiling data that will be required in New Zealand'* administration in the next live or mx year.-. Great as the .importance of this is to tho ordinary citizen, the value of the information ihat is being obtained will be more fully realised by those who arc. or ha\ebeen, actively associated with the DominionV administration. Investigation Methods. J From time to time questions arise in 'New Zealand upon which knowledge is I required as to the procedure adopted! i in similar cases in the United Kingdom.

i Mr. Nash i.» endeavouring to anticipate such question?, and by allocating to each member <»f lii> staff particular branches <>f investigation, ir- making anj effort to rmer the whole lipid of inquiry in the few months available. Frequently prn'ileni* demanding urgent; attention menu concentrated work, but so far members of the -tafT have succeeded in overcoming tin- difficulty and have kept to their programme by working long hours. Rc-nntly Mr. .T. P. r>. Johnson. Mr. 0. ■ A. Paseoe and Dr. \V. B. Sutch made a . -hurt visit to the chief cities in Ireland, ro investigate the procedure followed in . .ilie establishment of new industries, a numbe* , of which ha- been established by arrangement with the Irish Free State Government. ] I Mistakes made in the past, possible ■ development* in the industries in the | future, method* of administration and safeguards de-i;;iiefl to protect the public interest, have been examined thoroughly.: DisciisMOiiis were ln'hl with Oovernment official- and with thor-e in charge of the industries. Dr. Sutch has also spent much time at Tooley Street and at the Smithfield market investigating methods of adj ministration, distribution and marketing lof New Zealand produce. J Public Housing Schemes. I Tn view of the Dominion's national housing project, much attention has ; been given to the subject of municipal low-cost housing. For many years this ;has been a question of vital importance in the United Kingdom, where the :failure of private enterprise to meet the demand for suitable working-class houses has led the municipal authorities of the large cities to embark upon huge | housing schemes financed out of public j funds. I In collecting information upon these ■schemes—finance, administration, building materials, design and fittings—thf [delepaticn has been very fortunate in having the experience of corporation? such as London. Liverpool, Glasgow and Bristol placed before it. For evid>ne«» of flip amount nf infor ;mation that has already been ohtainec jby the delegation in the course of its | investigations, one needs only to pay a ;visit to the sixth floor of New Zealanr i House and >ee. the number of report* ithat have been and are being preparec ifar the .New .Zealand Government