GOLD BOOM IN RHODESIA

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21386, 31 January 1935, Page 8

GOLD BOOM IN RHODESIA

EFFECT OF HIGH PREMIUM INCREASED PRODUCTION EASES DEPRESSED CONDITIONS New Zealand is not the only country in the Empire to benefit considerably from the high prices being received for gold. In Rhodesia, where gold production ofice attained a level which would probably greatly exceed the total production for the Dominion, there is a real boom. Mr R. A. Letts, a solicitor from Bulawayo, Rhodesia, who is visiting Christchurch, said in an interview last evening that this revival in go&d mining in his country had provided a bright lining during depressed times. With the fall in prices for maize, tobacco, and cattle, the three principal primary, products of Rhodesia, there had come a period of depressed conditions apparently along the lines of that experienced in New Zealand. But when gold rose so sensationally in price there was a renewed activity m mining which had led to the opening of many small quartz mines and the reopening of some of the older concerns. Rhodesia, Mr Letts said, had formerly exported gold worth many millions. Mr Letts is interested in cattle, ana was impressed during a long tour of the North Island with the quality of New Zealand's dairy herds. He visited an agricultural show at Raetihi and saw what he described as "some real cattle." In Rhodesia, he said, naturally conditions were not suitable for extensive dairying, and settlers confined their pastoral activities chiefly to raising beef cattle for export. A Green Country "We are delighted with what we have seen of New Zealand so far," Mr Letts added. "What strikes us particularly is the greenness of everything and the many fine rivers and creeks throughout your country." There was a paucity of rivers in Rhodesia, most of the smaller streams drying up completely during the dry season. Mr Letts visited the "Thames and Coromandel districts, and was greatly impressed with their possibilities and pleasant appearance. Marlborough Sounds, he said, reminded him of some of the Swiss lakes, with wooded shores, smooth waters, and lovely hills. Coming from a young country (Bulawayo had recently celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its British occupation), he could also appreciate the wonderfully engineered road£ in the Dominion.

Rhodesia was intensely loyal to the Crown, Mr Letts said, and .would have nothing to do with the Union in any suggestions of fusion. This attitude was taken up for two reasons—the dual language problem and a fear of republicanism. Recently Rhodesia had had its general election, and the Reform party, a fusion of conservative interests, had been returned with a majority of 24 in a House, of 30 members. Mr Letts and his wife will spehd two months in New Zealand—a month in each island. They have already toured some of the North, using an itinerary mapped out by a friend who visited New Zealand from South Africa two years ago. They arrived .in Christchurch Trom Picton, and while in the south will visit Dunedin, the Southern Lakes, Mount Cook, the Eglinton Valley, the Westland glaciers, and other resorts.