MUCH IMPRESSED

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 56, 7 March 1930, Page 10

MUCH IMPRESSED

AN ENGLISH YISITOE,

DOMINION'S ATTRACTIONS

So favourably has New Zealand impressed Captain J. Grift'yth Fairfax, a visitor from the Old Country, in the course of a brief tour from North to South, that -whereas he had intended to spend only three weeks in the Dominion and seven weeks in Australia, he has prolonged his stay to five weeks and intends to curtail his visit to the Commonwealth by a fortnight. '' And I now wish I were able to remain in the Dominion for five months instead of five weeks," he remarked to-day in discussing his impressions of the visit. Captain Fairfax was the Conservative member of the House of Commons in the last Parliament, representing Norwich, and he undertook before leaving England to report to various Chambers of Commerce upon his observations in New Zealand, particularly on the subject of possible improvements in British trade in the Dominion. He leaves with his wife for Australia by the Makura next week. Captain Fairfax has visited most of the chief tourist resorts in the North and South Islands during his stay in New Zealand, but he expressed regret that he was unable to see all the attractions, notably the Otago sounds, the glacier country on the West Coast, etc. He hopes, however, to return at a later date to complete his knowledge of the Dominion. "For a country of its size," he said, "New Zealand must be unsurpassed in the variety of its charms in scenery. There are its unique thermal district, its semi-tropi-cal scenery, its alps, glaciers, lakes, pastures, mines, orchards, pine forests —everything that the most exacting could demand or imagine. It has a climate in which the variations do not appear to be too extreme, and a population which is genuinely all-British. In fact, its homogeneous population is unique. You don't get it anywhere else in the world, not even in England, where Jews, Italians, etc., make a very mixed population. New Zealand is the only all-British country in the world. It is _ delightful to travel for hundreds of miles and never see or hear the offscourings of European continental populations. It is delightful, too, to find how New Zealanders regard the Old Country with affection and welcome the visitor from Home with hospitality, courtesy, and genuinenessl which make him feel that he.is as .much in Eng-| land as ever and that ho has only extended the boundaries of home to include all sorts of new delights." Captain Fairfax also, commented on the absence of imitation of American ideas and ideals which one found in other countries; in New Zealand the people's ideals were definitely British rather than American. One fact in regard to the advertising of New Zealand's attractions on which the visitor remarked was the disproportionate publicity given to the North Island resorts as compared with those of the South Island. "I think too much stress is laid on Botorua and the thermal districts," he said, "in comparison with the many other attractions. There is a tendency for people who come to the Dominion for a brief tour to be encouraged to spend most of their time in the North Island." POLITICS AT HOME. Touching briefly on 'the political situation in Britain, Captain Fairfax said that it was somewhat analogous with that in New Zealand, a minority Government being in power, with a three-party -system. In New Zealand, of course, the position was complicated at present by the unfortunate illness of the Prime Minister, which rendered the. whole position rather uncertain. Judging by recent cables, the political situation at Home seemed to have cleared a little since Mr. Baldwin's declaration that if he was returned at the next General Election he would press for an Imperial Economic Conference and that if it was/ decided to impose' any duties on food he would seek a referendum. The attitude he was adopting seemed to be likely to gain him support which would unify the Conservative Party and considerably strengthen its position throughout the country. Referring to the Labour Government, Captain Fairfax said that so far it had not given the impression of having achieved very much. After all, Mr. Snowden had not done a great deal at the Hague Conference to bring him much kudos, and had very largely stolen the Conservative thunder. So far the Labour Government had not touched the unemployment problem, and their attitude towards Eussia seemed likely to get them into trouble and perhaps bring about their downfall. / Captain Fairfax has noted-a number of facts for representation to chambers of commerce and manufacturers in England, and he said that in . many ways he hoped to be able to draw attention to trading matters, in which it appeared improvements might be effected. In conclusion, the visitor expressed admiration of the newspaper Press of the Dominion. The papers in the four principal centres, he remarked, were of a very 'high standard, and the cable services were extraordinarily good, adding to the impression that the country was all-British in character. He said he would far rather read the New Zealand papers than many of those • published in England, with the exception of "The Times," "The Morning Post," etc., which adopted a similar style."* The New Zealand papers struck him as being much better journalism than those of the scare-news type. They went for the real news, and that enabled one to form one's own opinions.