HOME AGAIN. THE HON. W. HALL-JONES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 27, 1 February 1908, Page 5

HOME AGAIN.

THE HON. W. HALL-JONES.

WILL RESUME MINISTEBIAL DUTY. GREATLY BENEFITED BY HIS TRIP. A WARM WELCOME. The Hon. W Hall-Jones, Master. Qf Public Works and Railways, who" lift New Zealand some months agp, orolzen down in health as a result of his arduous Ministerial labours, returned to Wellington by the , Corinthic t#-day, and received a fitting and warm welcome from his colleague* and friends: ' " The Corinthic steamed into the harbour »in tjic early hours of the inorning, and shortly after seven o'clock ajl tj:6 Ministers at preßent in Wellington wenj; out to bid their colleague welcome. The public will bo pleased to learn tlus Mr. Hall-Jones is in excellent sprite/ and will resume dupy afc an early'%te/ f n the matter of weather, the. trip was "not all that could perhaps ha desired," but it nerved its pui-pqse, and served it well. The other merabors of -tha party, Mrs. Hall-Jon2s, lljss -Hall-lJoneSi'^ud tlie Minister's' private secretary, Mr. G6o. Schmidt, who . accompanied tjia Minister on l\\& voyage, are also in apod health. ' ■ AN I^TEEYIEW. "" In an interview with a representative of The Post, Mr. Hal}- Jones expressed himself delighted with the- results of his tiip, and his temporary i-eleas,e Irom duty, and wqs optimistic- about the'futiU'O. ■ "1 am glad," ho said, ''£6 ". be able to state that I' anf feeling in first-rate health- Wo have ijad an enjoyable trip out, and ohis ha.? added io, fcho 'benefit % 'received in ihc Old Country. I w« t>oni{* fow weeks in England before I bega'j£ to feel a markocl improvement, in' ni y health, bul I am thanful to say that I now feel my old self again.. Acting upon advice our trip throughout ha» been a quiet one, the time bcing> occupied in visiting different parts o£ England and Iroland, and, of course,' l rolled as much as poesibl6. I now feel ro well that I have no hesitation hi resuming my duties. I cannot speatj too warmly of the. kindnes# r and cpitfidsration which was shown to us on all hands.'' RAILWAY ALGIERS. ''Did you find time (o loofy iaii railway mattc.ro whilst in England?" our reporter asked. '•Xot %o much as I shovild like to have done, or ns.mocli as I should have done, had -the oiirumslances of tie trip he,en different,' 1 tho Minister aiweie'd. "Naturally railway matt'ors attracted my attention, and I think that, considering tho requiicmonts our railway system has to moat, ft compares very favourably with the Homo, lines, especially when one considers the very great expenditure on the English lines. We 6ometimes hear of the greater speed on tho lines at Home, but, this i?. to a lurgo extent, owing to the long distance, nonstop, trains which only a large population renders possible. Take, for" instance, the Great Western Gomi?K Express, which rim,? from' Paddington to Plymouth, a distance of 22^ miles without a siAp, and compare it wilh tha Chrifi'ichurch-Dnnedin express running about a similar tjisfcanca, a n< j. vhej-o i thers arc nearly twenty stopping places I where tha train has to be slowoti down, stopped, suid f-tarte.d Agaii^. When you i rajako a compjir-isiSn between Home trains and Isev; Itesland trains, which stop at every station, there is not tuucb to choose between tho two services. On the fast, through trains in Great Britain tha lolling stock is good, but oji tho slower trpias and branch .Jinas it is mostly out oi date. , 'Ihp. proposal for / the nationalisation of British .railway*, althougii piobuWy a 'Jfluff way fvopi realisation, is, I think, gaining ground, arid recrat weats have nnrloubtfcdly tended to strengthen, the arguments in its favour. When one considers tho competition between the different companies serving tho various centres, and observes tha traffic, it is soon recognised (hat under one cmtrol there matt bo a greal reduction in •'he cost of running. * At 'an instance, between London and- Manchester, where several companies run train&, there are no 'dss than fifty tfaiw a day, and on most days v very greal deal of spare room is noticeable in a!! the trpins. , Again> from London to Edinburgh, there are Iwenly-threi trains per day { in either caw far mor« trains than are,, necessary to inset thf real requirements of ,tUe traffic, except, of course, op every 'special ocqaf.ionE r when sperial anangemcnti could hi made. Xegotiatiori& are new in progress, between SOW? of the different companies with" the object of amalgamating a numbar-> of the 'service?, and Umi minimising the Va^ta' ai ospenditme. but it is doub'tfnl to what extent t!i< authorities wijl 'spjnove thp proposal On the qthev hand, too, the proppsal oi the companies presents the possibihtj of some uudesirabio features veeen,tlj disclosed jn connection v.ith Americaz railway administration. s A COMPAEISOX. • "There were no* very important N rail way construction woiks in 4l*-.ud whrt III I was in tho Old Land,' and,' spjajun^ oi those I did see, I prefer' tlie.'^iv Zealand method*. Some years ago th< narrow, or tv.o-foot gaug.S vaii\v*isy tv<). advocated by many as kging, smtabli to. our • sfjuirenunts; but ::u a"iW»!' of my visit to the "*Bar-U'taplo..Liutpi line, the btest example o,f iw^foni gauge construction, • I am VrcoVe • Uyas ever convinced that our decision! 'Siit t« undertake this class oT .work was atopl' justified. . "During our visit l ( > England \h?v> was talk of a strike- oeeufr^ng umongs railway employees and from what • learned of the hours of work and iattf of pay, etc., of tho men I must con fess that I think there was room foi ■ improvement, and I am hopsful tha/ the 'agreement arrived at, bstween th/ society and the directors will roaul in the removal of many legitimate grie^ ances. At one stage of the negotiation matters assumed -a very grave aspect and Mr. Lloyd George's eucessslyil in tervention and settlement of the dispuu is deserving of the highest cemmen^a tion." NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. '"Did you, give any attention to mat' ters affecting New Zealand produo?!" "Yes, mid I fo'uucl our product's w?n much appreciated. I visited the Smith field market, and was most favourabJ} impressed with the appearance of oui mutton and lamb. In comparison witl tho English product it suffered nothing while it showed to grea,t advantage against the /Arcsntine and some of the ' Australian produce. From enquiries } made at various places 1 was surprisee to learn to what an extent ox\v muttoi nnd lamb is dispossd 'of by retailors ;tf native-grown. It is only necessary U sec the two articles at Smithl'eld t< realise how easily this can be dQna; From this point of view, how&ve^, w« suffer nothing from tho practices o( the retailei^-on ti& contrary," it is rathaf 6uv gain 'thai wa are abl& to take ad vant^te of such an ojutkti. but i(

■when the retailer disposes of inferior mutton as New Zealand that the injury is done, and the prejudice- against frozen meat strengthened. "1 believe there is scope for great extension of our trade in food products. There- will naturally be variation in prices, but, with care in sending only products of good quality, we need have no fear that we shall always retain a strong position' in the. English markets. >? PREFERENTIAL TRADE. The feeling in favour ot preference ■within the. Empire, Mr. Hall- Jones believes, is making great strides. Similarly the feeling in favour of a power of retaliation against foreign countries is being strengthened. The extent to which foreign manufactured articles are being dumped into English' markets- is, he stated, no doubt beginning to impress people more and more. He heard considerable adverse comment upon certain features of the new Commonwealth Tariff. Although ,in many items preference was giyen to the home country (as against foreign countries) the duties iniposed on British products w^ro increased to such an extent that they would, in the opinion of many people, prohibit export to Australia. , Comparisons were- drawn from the New Zealand tariff of lasb session, and it uas fhown to be much more advantageous to the English manufacturer than tho Australian tariff. "Speaking generally-,--' he added,' "I should say that our new tariff was very favourably received in the Old Country " WHERE EXTREMES MEET. Asked if hs .had any observations to make regarding the relative condition of the people in the United Kingdom. and : " New Zealand, Mr: Hall-Jones said he was afraid this opened up too large a question, to discuss in an interview";; ,b.ut,, .certainly ,the_most striking sdcjgl- r feature ■to- a■■ New Zealander visiting the Old -Land was the- extreme wealth and poverty which one' noticed, and ,in the larger centres of population. ''On the one hand," he saia, "you see evidences qf enormous personal, wealth — sometimes well 1 used; nior© "often extravagantly 'ill-used. On. the other" Hand, 'there* are thousands iip6filiboustcrids_ seeking , employment j from day to day, going hungry, leading a lite of extreme and bitter hardship. These people have not, the means j of seeking fresh avenues, of employment, or' leaving for younger countries. The ■majority ai them could not exist but for the 'aid of private and public benevolence. ■ "Canada has recently boen boomed for the purpose of inducing immigration to> its-- shores. "'I was informed by the managing director of one of ,the big Canadian railways that, for some eighteen rifonths past immigrants have been pouring" "into" the country" at the rate of 1000 per day. At this rate the Dominion could not properly absorb them, and the result, has been, that many 'have had to return. ' Apart from this I think it. yet remains to bs proved that Ca.uadn.'s 'policy in "this respict is going to- be to her permanent advantage. "So far. as immigration to c-vtr own country is concerned 7 have no doubt that Jarge numbers of suitable people (who- would prove desirable , settleis without disturbing the labour market) will come of their own volition us they are -made aware of the advantages which New Zealand possesses. "I am very glad to be back once more in 'Go'd'fj Own Country' " he concluded^ "The Wither . Aye " have experienced during the greater part of our trip, especially in England, has been such as will causo us to more fully appreciate our own climate. The reunion with my family, my warm-hearted friends, and my colleagues, who were so kind and considerate during my illness, is a pleasure to me. I feel it is good to be- home once more."