AMUSING CONTRASTS. CRITICS OF NEW ZEALAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 32, 7 February 1908, Page 3

AMUSING CONTRASTS. CRITICS OF NEW ZEALAND.

BLACK AND WHITE. It has been said befoie in The Post that New Zealand seems to bo the most inspected country in the world. Whether the local authorities do too much or too little inspection ia a matter about which opinions vary, but thcro is no doubt about the quantity dons by visitors from over-seas. They come in battalions from Europe and America to gaze at the hissing, spluttering infernos of Rotorua, and to look upon the cold purity of Aorangi. But they do not stop at scenery, 'lney enquiie about the Labour laws and other experiments in advanced legislation. The foreigner with the notebook is already a type in the land. Between them all, the.sr, investigators sometimes make quaint reading for tho inhabitants of lueso inlands. Some find that the sheets are too short iD the hotel beds, others discover that beer is not abundant enough after 10 p.m., and ' some tell us that we are perfect in every way, tho apotheosis of loveline^. Striking an average, it seems that the Kew Zealandors are a fairly respectable people, happy in a tolerable country. Hero arc some violent contrasts, gleaned from ,a batch of papers lent by Mr. T. E.,Doniie: — A Mr. A. B "Campbell, 'writing from Wellington to a Leeds paper, uses "'a thumb-nail dipped in tar," to describe this country. "To give you an idea of their summer," he says, "it is, simply like going into a room where the air is neaily all excluded. It is a kind 1 of stuffy, choking, muggy heat, and on tha damp clammy side, made worse so by the terrible rainy climate that New Zealand has, and also by the shortness of the days." For two summers tho cities and country districts alikn have not had quite enough rain to satisfy .them, and the mention of "shortness of' days," when the sun rises at something near 4 in midsummer, and sets ot something towards 8, makes, one wond?r where Mr. Campbell put in his time, but these details, do not distress him. "The winter," he continues, "is a deathly, clammy, damp, cold period, like what it is in. the Arctic regions, but a deal worse." Mr Campbell also convinced himself that the houses were' "wooden shanties," that fires were a -rarity, there was "very little drainage of towns or villages." The people were "filthy and dirty in their iiabits, and with their tongue; also they would rather utter a He- "thin tell tho truth, if they could gain anything by it." "The qualities kindness, civility, or generosity are unknown, or hospitality either," the same writer resumes. "They believe in payment in advance for anything they do." The droll Mr. Campbell then warms up to his work, and brings charges of "cheating" against the people, and adds that "horse-racing, card-playing, and gross immorality are rife throughout New Zealand." Mr. Campbell's "facts"' are topsyturvy, like the one with which he begins his indictment. '"From April," hg states, "to tho end of September, con stitutes the summer in this southern hemisphere, and from tha 'first of October to the end of March constitutes the w-inter months, that is as we generally, speak of them in everyday conversation — summer an,d winter. "' Exactly the opposite of Mr. Campbe]l"s doctrine is preached by Mr. W. \V. Wheeler, a very prominent and wealthy business man of St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.A., who, with his wife and family, paid a visit to this country last summer. As usual a book followed the tour. Mr. Wheeler found tho place, tho people,, and the climate delightful. Here are some extracts. "We did not see a drunken man or hear any profane language while wo w-ere in New Zealand. 1 ' "Tho whole city (Christchurch) is neat and clean." Christchnrrh, by the way, is a degree or two behind Wellington. "There is absolutely no poverty in New Zealand,* at least nono that could be seen by a casual traveller, and we often hoard the remark — 'There is no poverty in New Zealand.' *' "We believe that they are the most reliable and trustworthy people — en the face of the earth to-day; — at least as far as onr knowledge, experience, and acquaintance goes. We have at all times heretofore 'made it a rule to lock our room doors in hotels afc night, when asleep or_ in daytime when away, but here it is not so. We travelled the whole length of the two' islands, and never locked our room doors at any time, day^ or night, after tho first day." Mr. Wheeler s remark about poverty needs qualification. However, his statements aro given to show that all the critics are not s,o one-eyed as Mr. A. B. Campbell.