A VISITOR ON NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 773, 23 March 1910, Page 8

A VISITOR ON NEW ZEALAND.

FOSTER FRASER'S TOUR; i;; AND WHAT HE LEARNED HERE. !'.-'■:'■ :'.-.' /: '■ ' "'■ ■'~.; '',: ' '■• ■'■ ' ' H;; ; - : ■;■;,■ SOME CANDID COMMENTS. b:;;'/, '•:. -Under the- title "A Vision' of : New J : ■; ; Zealand—my stay in the' most 'British j-.' of our coloniesj and what I learned i^.. , .:;/.there," Mr. John Foster Eraser, the (■;'.-; -well-known .writer,;-ttUs the British h..; public the impressions iormed .of. this ; .... country and its people, during his re- ('■.- cent, visit. •Wβ republish. the article bejy;; : :r low jiom the Chronicle":— , 1.. ■, ,-In; appraising New. Zealand—theßrij.; . -': tain of'the southern seas, there areelev . -meatary facts'.to be kept in mind. It is ;..■■ 16,000 miles from the Motherland. : . The I' : ; population is less than 1,000,000. That j■■: ;■ -reduces the adults .to about. 200,00G,..0r |v \ say 100,000 men. ■ Arid the' colonists are t . -.:•; only" in their second .generation;, -... f' , ;. ';■'ln. Auckland. Itdked to an old man i , .... who remembered when the white popu- (;; -lation was' about' a dozen;', now. .the :... ■-;'. town-and.its suburbs have a population -. '/._:.-. '■■'■_ '. tv;.; > -At the other end of the Dominion I: ;.',- smoked pipes anH', "cracked" with !;'.;. Scotsmen who, came xj'ut sixty years ago :.•;.. in ;'sailing ships, which;' took four. i .-■ months, 'to journey 'from .. the - bleak : : :. Jhores. of .the Old' Country, to Dunedin.. I•.'-■', . I saWythe. ,' ! tangled, f". ynigh, impenetrably forest lands.. '..Then' (■■. I • saw;clearings, .sheep,lands, stretches !.' _•,-.-■ of. rich ."agricultural • soil;V happy home- ;■',-■•.. stejids.- 'Much of..the short sis.'weeks >.';..■':; I.was in,the colony w.as;spent;travelling {{• ;••■;■; M motor-cars over;'roads ': well-; builtv •;•:•. 'well metalled; -and-as good as.most of. ; '".fyour.roads;at Home. Ten, twenty, years "----pago' most of these roads' were' recent. When I.saw what the. settlers h"a<i j;'. ' -done I ■{ ook off my haj to them!,'. ''■ p/SLijie the" Curate's Egg. '■.:.'■■■ ■;. "-. }:,-'"...; New Zealand' is a curate's : egg; of a. ;:'::.; in. parts;. When'-far f ■■ south,; at Invercargill,' T'. went through f. .: i ;an oats-growing; region which < I-. was J .. ■ . assured had not' its equal in the._Do(.['■■,minion, and probably not in the world. j;.;. .'At Oamaruniy.attention was directed !■;.;.' -to;.land .which could not be surpassed. , !;• :!At Ashburton a deputation told me'.'-1. [■ . was.in the paradise of agriculture.: ,In ;;...: the 'North; Island I - did a 'tremendous ; J ; tour Tound Palmerston and. Masterton, j , and heard bf'the amazing prolifioness of \'[', -tie' earth:.. In;the;Hawke's : Bay terri-. iy.--:;.-'*ioryi at the back of-Napierj limotored i.-i.'fchrough farming lands which nobody I:.:.: could deny, were, the finest in theworld. f: ;■ 1... listened; a'hd ,'made few comments. ■. It was 'good. to hear ..the' enthusiasm,f ,to...note'. the glow .on the 'cheeks' of ';'■ '.men who had done valiantly in clearL" , -ing awav the "bush"—firing it till the ;;. ■ '.trees .stood lank, forlorn, -miserable, ;,.;. chopping them,, uprooting them,- draid- ;.-': ing ..the soil, ' producing ■ rich pasturi.;'.: and.furrowing .fields now. rustling i:'. with the young,shoots of wheat. ' i ;•'■'"■. In these "callow, discontented days, it f,.-..;.js;.fine t«-meet'.men,:who aresure their, ;^--valley, is:a.; veritable Garden ,of'.Eden.'. '.-., ; 'It .is; positively ' bracing to 'hear the P,: ; ; average- New Zealander on his favour- |:'.-:'; ite superiority of New Zeai' :•;, |aad overe'every -.other"country, r. ■. ;- ';.-;!• fe A Phrase to, bei Dropped. v , ■ ' ; .if is- by no fv, '.means ; tha, country''he thinks , ' it 'is. ; I';■; -ffis belief,' however, '• a lichen-like conf; Kγ yiction, has' had itsiises; being happy, [: ; prosperous,., : and 'cocksure,-lie , has. :.y .'pushed; .aheid, afecomplished wonders,. f; v .'and'.- intends ■; to.- dp more.,: - Hβ-; knows ;' ; V e ry l"ttle_ about otiier countries es-', i;';r;Dßpt. that it-is.sheer nonsense to sug- ! , ■ gest any, of ■. them can. he anything _ap- \\■': "■'■ proaohing' New Zealand in capabilities.'. |: ;;As success breeds success,'so confidence' i: 0 Btimulates'energy,'and -the New Zea- ;; ■;. knder- has/- toiled 'and ? moiled.' ■■.". Hβ; ;/■'■', knows what the country .was less than j; a- generation, .'ago; he Bees, wha-t it is ; r-.,Eow, and he can,;pnt. iis hands, in .his \irpockets, jingle his money, and say, is.best- ishere."-:, ■-■■ , • .';•■: Only.-r wish that'he! would drop .the. \ :■■■ '.phrase he' loves'.so; inuch of: never; : ; v sag an opportunity to call New Zea- ■.; land "Sod's. Own .Country." First,' it C: -■ 'is not original, for i3ie Americans used ':. .it in regard to the.United States before ■ . New Zealand: began: to be, settled. ■ Second, it.savburs of national oonceit. ; Third, there is a touch of olasphemy h .. abotrt.it -which .is-offensive to many ■;.: people. ■■There are' plenty of -things of i-i:,.; ghjoh the; New Zealander can be legi-- \: temately'-proud ■ without blatant politacj.fiaas 'and others bawling that the Alf. ■ mghty has singled out New Zealand as; ••;■ EJ3 particular, garden. " . /

!; Agriculture the Staple Industry. '■'• !.■ v ."Good in parts".is the description I {■ ■;.. have given of New Zealand. 'Geologic-. '■V: ellyii is.a bit of the old world, . There' J ■ are jagged, snow.-crested peaks,, but [ .most, of/the hills have been,worn round- : . shouldered by the. elements. The rains j: and the ms iave carried down the t;«arth,, filled the old valleys, and made i .wide and quite flat plains which are !' radiant with.. fertility. But much, of ?; ..'it is' mountainous and the soil is-poor, ; ■ ■ smd. 1 only Ssmtable for feeding sheep. Y;■ There are: other parts, hundreds of square, miles, not even capable, of . be- ■ ing turned.into sheep runs.' But there :\-,-"-is-. p ooal: mining, .gold mining, and the ..'■' heights, throw down the gullies an ...enormous water power, already being p Titilised for manufacturing purposes at .' Dunedin, and ■ capable of enormous de- • " rrelopment in tiine to come. :. : . • But New Zealand is foremost an i . agricultural /country.■•. " people;', be- ;\ Eeveit : is capable of carrying a.popuifiition .of 20,000,000. That wouH be ;-.' possible.if New Zealand took to manui facturingfor the. outer.world., , ''. That ! : .she is. capable of carrying a population ? far greater titan she now has is right i; : enough,_ but with agriculture as. her : stable industry I. do not .see' there.;is ; .loom for a population greater than five : »r six .millions. ■■•.'■ : Excepting Palmerston North there 1 is'. ~-80. inland' town in the Dominion milch' ;■ Kgger than ..an English village.. -Of ::' course you quote (Sjristchuroh. '.■"• But : . Christcfroroh was originally intended s to he where Lyttelton now is, arid : tad to climb over the hills and settle ■ m.. the Canterbury Plains—where tie j Canterbury mutton ooines from—to pre--1 vent.tumbling, into the- sea.' All the • towns of. any account were originally : placed at tie far end of a sea-arm.. The !■ town plans were sketched in London ; .and. Edinburgh; flat plans with no in- |". dications of iiils, and so in Dunedin, i for instance, you find streets running :■-■ up hill faces. \':' ■■..--.;! ■ / , [Municipal Debts. ■ There was just room for an - encamp-j ! Kent. When the town-on the level had i to be enlarged, the sides of hills had ;■ to be shovelled out to make foreshores/ .■ The most'-valuable part of Dunedin is •■- artificially - constructed. The time-be-j ing 'capital, . Wellington—picturesaue, I: like an Italian city clinging te "the j ■; cliffs over a beautiful lake—is built iu f layers except for • an artificial forei shore. ■ All the towns are , , prettily ' placed, but in the wrong situations ■ from a commercial point of view, with ' ■ the consequence that the local authori- - 'ties are up to the neck in debt, for 'improvements and harbour construction -." and wharfage. .■ -: Air this is excellently done. Wel- ' Ungtdh has the finest wharf-frontage ; in".the whole- of Australasia. Minor towns, difficult"" to. .find on small scale '.-•■ Jrisps. are ambitions to bo ports. Manj

thousands of pounds are being pitched into tho sea in breakwaters , and harbours which are not yet necessary. It is not difficult to borrow money. So New Zealand is piling up mortgages on its future. There are folk who say that New Zealand will one of these days break her back under the weight of debt. The New ■ Zealauder laughs, and tho Prime Minister borrows another million. Prlile in tho Towns. As the.: New Zealanders are country proud, so they are town.i proud. They love. their towns, ' for, most' of them have seen-them grow. Little places of ten thousand ■ inhabitants have their nice-looking public buildings; their" parks, gardens, racecourses, libraries, swimming .baths,, technical schools, municipal theatres,' cricket and lawn tennis plots, agricultural show grounds, all inclined to be showy aid out of proportion,to the needs of the place. Ungenerous, however, would , ' bo tho man who would find fault because the inclination, is toward showiuoss. .That is from the European standpoint. Tho blase traveller who knows Europe sniggers at the pretentiousness—l havo seen him at it.' ■■'■■'■', ' But the builders of-these towns are farmers;.; they, make .no claini to know anything about European culture; they are genuinely anxious to- make their towns' beauty spots, and the" thing to admire .is. that they have not. been too absorbed in personal well-doing to forget the claims of their, towns. In England we" wait'until there is something ffie.r congestion.be'fore:'..we think of .wide streets, parks, 'and attractive ■buildings. New Zealanders, living in straggling towns of three-thousand inhabitants; or so, arrange' these things at 'the outset.,; , ": '■■ ,'■■'■•._, ••■, ;' : About the Climate. : : :. ■ yDuring- my ■'■ wanderings/; Tj' ran into some ,bad' weather^obld,"damp, bleaK. But, on the'whole,, the New .Zealand climate' is temperate; ' genial, and health-giving;* I any:wßere Ihave 'seen' :; heiilthier,,. men, women, and children. Longevity •is a rule, and not an'exception. There are grand old characters, to be met, men who came out. half a century '.ago, and Tade the country what it is to-day. One'. morning I ■ sauhtered~"iito:'. the Settlers' Hall at Duncdiii, and' looked' at.the photographs of the .'.'old' identities,., sturdy men with determination chiselled into every linfe'of their faoes. This is about the time when several towns are celebrating" their': jubilees. Collecting; the-..photographs of the founders is natural. They were worth ■examining, for;, these; were the pictures of, the-men who:-laboured; and forced New Zealand into r w.ell-bemgf One afternoon,' at Wellington,- after looking at .the photographs of these sturdy pioneers,; 'the 1 'idea 'struck' me* to walk through'the streets -and have :a look at the present generation. It was impossible to resist the', thought that the.young New Zealander-lacks the virility and rugged independence of his grandfather. The modern New Zealanders.; look.' to. Parliaments -obtain for'•.them what their,, sires obtained iqr themselves, with taut sinews and the sweat of their Wow... , The Most British Cblonyi ,v '■'•New Zealand is the'most-British of all • our colonies. < Without any depreciation of the loyalty of other parts of the' Empire it may .be'said that the loy- \ y ' ls i?"™- P. ron °,Uß.<;ed .than, anywhere else. -..No-occasion -is. ever missed to parade love of the > Motherland. The Jiing's birthday, the Battle of Trafalgar, are occasions which - seem to be much more to the.New Zealanders than ■even to the stay-at-home Britons.- The ■English spokenjs more, pure than our own masses speak l it.;.- There are no : dialects, though the children of the south .have caught the Scotch ;:intonationof the early settler's;'"Several educated New Zealanders lamented to me the slovenliness creeping into tho young New_ Zealander's speech; .1 looked out; for it, but in all justice, I must say that the clean-cut'; pronunciation amongst air sections of the community .was striking. .'Then; the New Zealander. has the Englishman's love of flowers. • ■In aclimate .like' that. of the North: Island, where there is practically no winter, where roses can be ■ grown all the year round, and tho inclination :of imported English trees is to become evergreens, there is! every inducement towards the cultivation of blooms. The New Zealander surpasses the Briton in his love, of sport—particularly, horse-racing. There is not a ; single' agricultural college in the North Island, but every village has its racecourse'. New Zealand with.one-fiftieth the population of the United '.Kingdom, has twice as many race meetings. Another evidence of the British instincts, deeply planted in the breasts of Naw Zealanders, is that England is affectionately. called "the Old Ccuntry," and when a citizen and his :wife propose visiting England the local paper- inrariably. refers to them goin« Home. .'■';■ '■:■:. .". •••; Sensitive to Criticism. ■ • The one-thing in which the. New Zealander is not British is his sensitiveness ■to -outside opinion.; ;V.Tbe Englishman does not cafe twopence what other nations , think' of r him,', except that he is more, disposed than not '.to'.agree witli those who adversely criticise, him. The New Zealander is perpetually invitins; criticism, but resents the .slightest suspicion of criticism.' I used to think our friends of the United States the most "touchy" people on. earth. They are hardened and 'callous''' alongside the New Zealandor: "Two out of every three persons ■: I met in' the - Dominion fired the/stale ingiiiry ::,",What, d'oyou. think iofc.this:country?" ..In less than a day I discovered they did not want to know what L thought of it; they wanted me to. praise it. "., ; . ''....',. ..-, ;•'''.. -'.There.is much,:to;praiseTrsuph as the wonderful. that was accepted. as-: all - right. - But.' there are other things wherein New Zealand toddles^at.the ,tail,,of.,the.rest of the :world.' '.'A.' hint,',of,.these.; jvas' generally bitterly, resented.- • 'A little -comparison and an example of- how some things were done better,in.'Bome;6tb,er : ,larids— .-well, they Bimply.'ojdndt'-wah'fc-to hear, and the conversation had. to be-shunted to another track. There were" exceptions to-all this—and I keep, ftipse ex.ceptions'in my. mind as I as' 'one_ who has studied national" characteristics in many parts of - the'-world I was.frequently prone."'.to' ''Un':,inward smile at :.the,,,*ay : :.the' New "Zealander would talk to me-by• the'hour, about ; the --marvels >of, his -land 1 arid 'then display a pbsitive"dislike"to"'listeh' to.anything .favourable, about other.Jands. : The ; New!Zealander..is- a fine fellow, but. this • insularism ; only . .-makes <- his friends laugh. ->;Of course'the cause is chiefly.dtio to'.tMe facfhe';',is' l "go,.. : far away from'the.industrial-centre.of the' world and that he-lacks the opportunity of comparison. ■ I-supposo : nibst' ..pf us would have, a.defectiye. perspective if we' were similarly,: situated..',.-"