HIGH COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1912, Page 3

HIGH COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE

A CRITICISM. [BT TBLSGftAPH — SPECIAL 10 THZ POST.] . AUCKLAND, Thie Day. ; Sir. R. J. Coatee, LL.B., barrister and solicitor, of Dargaville, who recently returned from a twelve months' tour of the Continent and Great Britain, has some interesting things to sa^ about the High Commissioner's Office in London. He considers New Zealand ia far behind Canada in its advertising methods in the Old Land with a view to inducing people to emigrate to the Dominion. Chiefly, he says, the work of New Zealand's Commissioner is confined to office routine, and a. circumstance which renders this less effective is the fact that the ofj ficials, though very courteous, have no knowledge' of colonial life. They have continually to refer to books to supply commonplace information asked for, and the knowledge given is not stamped with great value. Mr. Coatee thinks that a A'ew Zealander or two amongst the un-der-staff would be a great .improvement. Throughout Great Britain Mr. Coates met Canadian lecturers giving illustrated discourses to the people, which were eagerly' listened to and largely attended. This example, he thinks, might be followed with advantage by New Zea- ; land in London. One day Mr. Coates * looked across the street, and saw a , dozen sandwichmen, placarded back and i front with posters, bearing the inscription, "Why don't you go to Canada, tne 1 place to make ' money?" These were marched in Indian file down through the crowd, and attracted the attention of thousands. Nothing in this direction of popular advertisement of New Zealand was seen by Mr. Coates, who thinks that , Canada has a specialist at work in London, and gets her moneys .worth; iut he questions whether our Dominion is as much to the front as she- ought to be. PALMERSTON AFFAIRS. [by telegraph— special 10 rax. post.] PALMERSTON. This Day. The need for a new railway station at Palmerston. North was discussed at some length by the Chamber of Commerce last nignt. The Chairman (Mr. M. A. Sliott) urged that the chamber should at once place the matter betote the Minister of Railways. Ft v.as stated that the Postal Department w&p hope- . lessly cramped at the railway station, and as soon as the station was enlarged it would open a branch office there. Mr. Eliott gave figures showing , that of all the main stations of the Dominion Palmerston had shown the second biggest increase- in revenue during the period from 1907 to 1911, the increase ip revenue being 76 per cent., and the only stations showing a greater increase were Hamilton and - Frankton. In spite of this, the Palmerston station remained hopelessly ■. inadequate, and far behind those stations where the increased revenue was only a very small percentage. It was decided that a strong re?onuij«ndation.be made to the Minister v of Railways as soon a* Parliament meets regarding the necessity A a new raiivay station, and that a deputation wait on the Minister at the first convenient opportunity to place the position before lim. A movement is being set on foot by the Chamber of Commerce vrith the object of having a motor-bus service established between Palmercton North and Rongotea, in order that the trade of that township, which now mainly goes to Feilding, may be diverted to Palmerston. The matter was discussed at the Chamber of Commerce meeting last night, and the chairman (Mr. Eliott) was empowered to get all possible information on the matter, and to report at next meeting, after which a public meeting will be called to consider the proposal. ' A requisition is being largely signed by residents on the Manawatu line to have the Longburn Railway Bridge made suitable for passenger traffic, and the Chamber of Commerce at Palmerst&n is co-operating in the matter. A petition is also to be circulated" in Palmerston. If the movement is successful j it will make a difference oi several \ miles in the distance from Wellington i to Palmerston by road, and will bring the township of Linton and Tokomaru into much closer communication with Palmerston. BATTLE^T ROUTES. (lT itLTQZATIt-SttCIAL TO XHS POST.] AUCKLAND, This Day. Considerable interest has been aroused hare* writes the Dargaville correspondent of the Star, by a report that a deeplaid scheme is afoot to reopen the battle of the routes in connection with the North Auckland Main Trunk Tailway. It is stated that the promoters of the scheme believe 'that 'with Mr. Stall' worthy, ex-M.P., out. of the way ? the political situation opens up possibilities of the whole question north of M'Carroll's Gap being reconsidered^ PBESS ASSOCIATION. GISBORNE HARBOUR BOARD. GISBOBNE, 29bh January. Twenty-five applications were received by the Harbour Board for the position, of engineer and secretary combined at a salary of £700 per annum. These were considered to-day, when the number was reduced to three. It was then decided to ask Mr..^, A t M./ponAJd,

! of Adelaide, to interview the board. Mr. M 'Donald has had extensive experience in South Australia and ' Johannesburg, and- was a student .in England and America. The Harbour Board decided to-day to remove over 6000 cubic yards of rock from the river channel at a coat of £413. WANGANUI GARRISON BAND. WANGANUI, 29th January. The Wanganui Garrison Band, which won th* championship at, the Christchurch contest, arrived home this evening and received a warm welcome from several thousands of citizens. Speeches were made by the Mayor and the member for the district. AUCKLAND ANNIVERSARY. AUCKLAND, 29fch January. To-day, being Anniversary Day, was observed as a general holiday. The weather was excellent, and rthe attendances at the "anniversary and Mercer regattas, the Takapuna races, and various other outdoor fixtures were very large. The only accident reported ia that which befell some children through the collapse of a- form of amusement at Motukorea (Brown's Island), known as an " ocean wave.'" One tittle girl sustained a broken ankle, and two others were also injured. They were brought to town by a special steamer, and the two most seriously injured were taken to hospital. SHEARING BY MACHINERY. TIMARU, 29th January. The installation of machines at Mount Peel Station enabled the shearing to be got through with ten men, or less than half the number of blade shearers previously employed. The men made good tallies on each of two days, fhe ten averaging 196. The highest individual tally was that of Taylor, a Timaru man, 'of 245. HARVEST COMING ON SLOWLY. TIMARU, 29th January. The harvest is coming on very elowly. Usually at, this date much has been cut, but so far only a few fields are in stook in this neighbourhood. PUBLICAN FINED, . TIMARU, 29th January. An up-country publican was fined £5 for keeping his bar. open after 10 p.m., and two men found in the bar • were 40s each. The Magistrate said he wished the fine could be made heavier in the latter cases, as men refusing to leave a bar got a publican into trouble. FIRE BRIGADES' DEMONSTRATION. PALMERSTON N.,'29th January. A movement is being set on foot by the Palmerston Fire Brigade to, arrange for a guarantee for the. New Zealand Fire' Brigade demonstration, to be held here in 1913. A public meeting was held last night, when good support was accorded to the, scheme, and the "superintendent and secretary, were appointed a committee to endeavour to arrange for a guarantee. ALLEGED. BREACH OF BANKRUPTCY LAWS. '- PALMERSTON N., 29th January. ' At the Magistrate's Court to-day, ( William. Thomas Bowater, a bankrupt, was committed for trial, at the Supreme Court on a charge of obtaining 6tock by mak- ■ ing a false statement as to his petition to Abraham and Williams, Ltd. " The a mount, involved "wae £596 15s"6d. ' -