A WELCOME VISIT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 125, 23 November 1943, Page 4

A WELCOME VISIT

Valuable and lasting results should follow the visit to the Pacific area of the British Press delegation, members of which arrived in Wellington today. In an interview on his arrival in Auckland, the leader of the delegation, Sir Walter Layton, said that there was not sufficient first-hand knowledge of New Zealand and Australia among members of the British Press, and ideas about the two countries possessed by the average man In the street were vague.- It is with the object of overcoming this deficiency in knowledge that the delegation is visiting this part of the world. It is to be regretted that the time members are able to spend in New Zealand is so short—theirs is, in every sense, a flying visit—but that will be offset by their experience in observation and inquiry. They can be relied upon to present to the British public a true picture of what New Zealand is doing on the home front to assist in the common war effort and of her hopes for the future. The many problems' that will arise after, the war, problems which will be as difficult of solution as any that have arisen from the war, make it desirable that there should be the fullest possible understanding between the peoples who will have to deal with these problems, and the best way to reach that understanding is by personal contacts. Sir Walter Layton and those associated with him in the mission are worthy representatives both of th<? British Press, whose high traditions are known and respected the world pver, and of the heart of the British Commonwealth. Their visit is welcome as a means of strengthening the ties of kinship and common interest which bind us to the Mother Country and which must endure if we are to solve the problems of the post-war period.