"NEW ZEALAND." MR. W. PENBER REEVES'S

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 139, 11 December 1908, Page 4

"NEW ZEALAND." MR. W. PENBER REEVES'S

BOOK. REVIEW BY THE SPECTATOR. COMPLIMENTARY OPINION, (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 30th October. "Mr. W. P. Reeves signalises his retirement from the office of High Commissioner for NeW Zealand by writing as charming a book as we ever hope to read abotrb the country he has so well represented," says the current number of The Spectator, which devotes more than two of its columns to this latest book on the Dominion. " The authorship of it," says the reviewer, "even though it be unofficial, is, we think, ono of the most considerable services he has rendered to New Zealand. It ' is written with enthusiasm ; it does not pretend to be .either a'guidebcok or an exhaustive treatise ; it' de--scribes what is in the" heart of one who dearly loves his country/ and it, -touches nothing without illuminating, it with some learning, humour, or curious observation Mr. Reeves, in fact, has written the book in his own way, and a very good way it is. The text is more than worthy of the numerous illustrations, which are a true pleasure to the eye, and are by far the best pictuies of New Zealand we have overseen in a book. "It is not pernaps common for Englishmen now to think of ? New Zealand as a kind of annexe of Australia, uniform with Australia in character and not very far distant. That was the prevalent impression when Sir Charles Dilke wrote his "Greater ßritain, "about thirty years ago, and the- majority of his readers were probably surprised to learn that it took as long to go from Australia to New Zealand as from England to America. And no two countries could be more unlike New Zealand has not even to be learned to capture the imagination ; ■ the country is as green as Ireland, and as imposing as Switzerland. It gushes with abounding streams and rivers. New Zealand stands for herself and is complete in herself. Some of the misunderstanding as to her geographical position, Mr. Reeves thinks, is due to Mercator's projection. This is not the first time he has fallen foul of that 'conventional sign,' as it is called in 'The Hunting of the Snark,' and we suggest that 1 he should finally expose it in a pamphlet as a first charge upon his energY before he allows himself to be absorbed entirely by the London School of Economics. Mr. Reeves insists on the extraordinary changes which have come about in the standard of ' living in New Zealand within a few years. "One thing which we are specially glad to hear on such good authority as Mr. Reevejp is that the Maori are not dying out,' as was supposed not long ago. Till the end of the nineteenth century, at least, it was never doubted that their numbers were dwindling, not only constantly, but rapidly. We must conclude, now, either that the Maoris have regained their vitality, or that the estimates of the population were too low. Or perhaps both explanations are true ; the _taking of Jdie census meets with less opposition, and the effect of. the first shock between civilisation and primitive custom has passed away." ■ -After mentioning the. chapter ia.~_the book devoted to Sport and Athletics, the Spectator comes to "what seems to be more* in Mr. Reetes's heart than any other matter — the destruction of the foruots." After quoting a lengthy extract relative to this, the reviewer comments : "Forestry ,is a province in which all nations fail in foresight. It requires one to look so far ahead that to a young people it hardly seems worth while, and to an old one the devastation often seems too hopeless to ,be retries cd. We hope Mr. Reeves's words will do something, however, to make the New Zealanders sbop and think. " Mr. Reeves gives a capital account of the hot-lakes district, and he writes of the Maori legends in a way which shows that .the spirit of Sir " George Grey is .yet alive." Before concluding, ' the reviewer observes "that he used to find it less easy than Mr. Reeves apparently did to keep his hat on at Wellington, where the wind rushes through the funnel of Cook Strait. But this is a matter of opinion — or a matter of comparative experience, which is almost the same thing — "and it is natural for Mr. Reeves to defend his . capital. We respect his motive, but we retain our belief in the hat-removing power of the wind. "One question in conclusion : Why is Hawkes Bay, as every one without exception in New Zealand calls it, frequently called 'Hawke Bay* in maps? It is so called in the map in this book, yet probably Mr. Reeves never spoke of Hawke Bay in his life. That form of the name was vanquished by usage long ago. Will not he remedy this even before he undertakes the abolition of Mercator's projection?" The critic unreservedly commends this book : "It is romantic because Mr. Reeves is a poet, yet it nowhere exaggerates. New Zealanders will behold here the lineaments of their land glorified ' yet truthful; those who have never seen New Zealand will not die happy unless they do so after reading this book. They may not thank Mr. Reeves for this, but that is i not our affair."