OF NEW ZEALAND INTEREST

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 76, 31 March 1922, Page 3

OF NEW ZEALAND INTEREST

LECTURE AT CAMBRIDGE

THE DOMINION AS IT IS.

(ritoai ODit own corribponbznt.)

LONDON, 20th January.

"No<w Zealand: A New Engiarid," was the subject, of a lecture by Mr. B. G. Ridling, of Queen'a College, Cambridge, given at the Cavendish Laboratory, under the auspices of the New Museum Club. One who finds geography, a« understood by the average schoolboy, as rather a dull subject—due, perhaps, to; the fact that those who teach it have no particular personal Interest in it— : pays Mr., Ridiing the compliment of saying that he presented geography in a new light, and because he is a New Zealander and had enthusiasm for his subject hs made his lecture enjoyable as well as educational. Mr. Ridling (late N.Z.R.8.) is a N.Z.E.F. scholarshipholder, and he is making agriculture his subject of study. "New Zealand," said the lecturer; "can be called a really successful country economically, and the cause this success is the great development 'of .'the agricultural industry." Sixty-one per cent, of the people were agriculturists. All had their gardens, and the children were impressed with the importance of this industry. The first sheep were introduced into the country in 1844; at the present time there were more than 26 millions, and the value of the wool clips in 1918 was some . 13£ millions sterling. At the woolsheds on some of the farms over 20,000 sheep were sheared each year. The well-known Canterbury lamb was a New Zealand product. The killing and freezing were carried out. under- strict Government supervision, and. only the best carcases were sent to this country. Butter and cheese were also made under very pure and clean conditions. The country could boast some very picturesque scenery. "Truly," he said, "New Zealanders have every reason to be proud of their country." He added that the people, of New Zealand realised the value of education for the children, who were also taught to appreciate Nature. In the building of their towns they had profited from the faults of the Old Country, especially in the width of the streets. AN APPRECIATIVE TRAVELLER. Miss Hibbert-Ware, F.L.S., a recent visitor to the Dominion, addressed the Chingford Branch of the London Natural History Society, on "Nature in New Zealand," but she did not confine herself wholly to Nature as understood by the naturalist, as human nature was not forgotten. She told her audience much about the manners and customs of the Maoris, from whom she got far more mr formation of interest to the naturalist from .these true lovers of Nature than from the British Colonial. She spoke highly of their character and disposition, and showed many slides of their . Co3tnmes and dances. Miss Hibbert-AVare had an excellent selection of scenic and natural history, slides, covering the principal features of the country completely from north to south, and she remarked upon the wisdom of the colonists in arranging that where the land was being cleared a ring of bush country should generally be left round the towns, whose inhabitants could stroll about and picnic in exquisite surroundings. The great fjords surpass, if possible, the .magnificent inland waters of Norway. SPIRIT OF EMPIRE. To the Empire Review Mrs. J. M. Coulter contributes another of her little informative articles, this time on "New Zealand and Imperial Preference." She explains that "without safeguards in the •shape of import duties, it would be impossible for the industries of a young country to develop in the face of competition with countries where labour was cheap, transport excellent, and capi-.-tal plentiful." -The growth'of Imperialism, however, has borne, fruit in the strengthening of mutual sympathies and interests between the various parts of the Empire. Whatever change in the tariff law may be made, we may rest assured that while everything will be done to encourage manufacturing in the Dominion itself as regards imports, the principle of Imperial preference will in no sense be impaired. Quoting a portion of Mr. Massey's speech at the Empire Producers' Conference: "A well-thought-out policy of Empire Reference would create production within the Empire, would bring waste places into cultivation, provide remunerative employment, and assist 'in keeping our citizens under their own flag. If a system of Imperial preference could be made general, the people would soon be surprised at the prosperity it would bring with it."—Mrs.. Coulter comments: "Here we have the true Imperial spirit, the true spirit t of Empire. What a splendid thing it would be if the States of the, Empire worked into each other's hands a good deal more than they do.' 1 WAGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT. , Mr. S. Malkin, prospective CbalitionLiberaJ candidate for Bursiem and Tunstall (Staffs), told an audience that when he visited Australia and New Zealand, he found unemployment just as I rife as here, asd all over the world conditions were very difficult, so that the need' was great for the co-operation of i the wisest brains to solve the questions. It was necessary for all the best men from every part to join in devising ways and means by which the country could bo' led into liberty, freedom, and the fulness of enjoyment of life. The Government had dona its best in the facing of the difficult problems of to-day. It had faced the question of the 'enormous annual expenditure. The usual first etep in cutting down expenditure was . decreasing the wage bill, which meant a mighty nasty knock for somebody. The Government had felt that it could not. give the "permanent push" to large numbers of men and women too coon, because it would only mean that they would swell the ranks of the unemployed. The Government had not been unkind in holding off as long as it could, before it brought the drastic cute, which were now suggested, into force. HOW NOTE ISSUES ARE MADE. The Auckland correspondent of The Economist states that, the "Government continues to observe much secrecy with regard to its financial policy. The Premier han definitely stated that he did not intend to go to the London money market again during the current financial year, but, with regard to future financial arrangements he could not yet take the public into his confidence. WheD asked how some funds obtained for educational purposes had been raised, he declined to give fuller information. His statement, had been raised, he dedined to give fuller information. His statement, however, that 'there was not enough currency' in circulation would seem to portend, taken in .connection with other facts, a farther increase of the inconvertible paper issue. It is just a year since the las' issue of new paper money -was made, so far as ascertainable, for such issues are not discussed in Parliament, bat made in a semi-clandes-tine manner, through an Order-in-Coun-cil, published in the Gazette, which is the first announcement to the public of any increase in the note issue. Tho. financial difficulties of the Government are enhanced by the great fall in tha value of all New Zealand pToduce, and the decreased returns from customs and railways, wbjle accounto bars yej to be

adjusted with the Mother Country; in a few years' time an obligation of at least £50,000,000 must be met. The proposed financial measures are calculated.to maintain the credit of the Dominion, and there is a possibility that another loan may be attempted in London duringHhe ' coming financial year.' 1 The industrial outlook is reported as good. | HUNTING IN NEW ZEALAND. The Field publishes a snapshot of Mr. and Mrs. D. G. Jtiddiford taking a fence in New Zealand, and it is mentioned in. tile earlier days of Mr. Riddiford's mastership of the Rangitikei ' Hounds that the country was nearly all big gorse hedges and timber, but as time has gone on much oi the gorse and timber has disappeared, and has been replaced with wire. _ The horses, however, jump wire quite freely, and falls are no .more numerous -over wire than over any other jump. "Mr. Riddiford, .who is a heavy weight, h always with hie houndo and goes as hard in his sixf.ythird year as he did in his young days. Mrs. Riddiford is well known for her bluck and her beautiful hands on a horse." PRAISE OF NEW ZEALAND ifUTTON. - '' News that sheep in New Zealand have been selling for ninepence each gives the Nottingham Guardian subject for comment: "The idea of a whole sheep being soid for nir.epence suggests that the cosu of living in New Zealand is low, z'ld it ceexris a pity that we cannot have something of the same kind here. New Zealand iruitton is good, and there • cannot well be too much of it. The English supply would be lamentabjy insufficient if it were not for the supplies from the colonies, and it is good news that efforts me being made to develop the meat trade with the overseas States. A*, tiie present tim«, in 'England, there ore runny poor households in which good meat is an unobtainable luxury. "The people simply cannot afford to buy it, and in such households, where the knowledge of the value of different sorts of food is smnli, there is no good substitute for meat.' ADVICE TO MARRIED MEN. Mr. A. Kdwards, a Masterton resident, who has been in New Zealand for eight years, writes to tho Stoke-Newington Recorder (North London), describing the Dominion as "no doubt an ideal place for the single man, though I might say there are plenty of them looking for work at the present time, owing to the general_ depression in all trades, but for a married man, with a family, to come out here looking for work: 'Well, he is asking for trouble. The housing problem in New Zealand i 3 very acute, and one has 'great difficulty in obtaining a house, and if there should be one to let, they ask a fabulous rent for it, and the usual conditions—no children.' Yes, New Zealand is decidedly the country for the single man. Providing he is willing to. take on anything—hump his swag and go anywhere—he will make good. My advice to anyone getting a fair living at home is to stick it. They might run into mud, mutton, and monotony out here." SOLIDLY BRITISH. The British Export Gazette congratulates Now Zealand on the celerity with which the Dominion House of. Representatives passed the ,new Customs Tariff BiH through all its stages. , "Seven days sufficed, and the most striking feature of the debate wa.s the enthusiastic reception given to the extension of the principle of preference to British manufactures. There is no more solidly British part of the Empire than New Zealand."