IMPRESSIONS OF A TRA VELLER.

Evening Star, Issue 15968, 23 November 1915, Page 7

IMPRESSIONS OF A TRA VELLER.

Under the .auspices of the Dunedin Expansion League Mr Mark Cohen, as the. guest of that- organisation, of whose publicity department ho was chairman for some time, was entertained at luncheon in the hall of the Dunedin Y.M.C.A. today, and in tho presence of a representative .gathering of business men (Mr ,T. Hutchison presiding) detailed his experiences during his five months' sojourn in the United States and Canada. His "half-hour talk" was divided into two sections. In the first he doa.lt mainly with matter!? that came under his ken. as a New Zealand Commissioner at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, with inter-t-rade- problems, as well as matters of civic activity and expansion. Then he discussed rapidly but tror.cha.ntly the attitude of the United States towards the Allies' cause.

As to trade relationship between this Dominion, Canada, and the United States, ho declared that the time wa.s ripe, for a complete overhaul and reorganisation of our so-called commercial department. J.t was absurd to expect beneficial results, from present-day representation, which was neither ornamental nor serviceable, because the officers stationed at Vancouver and San Francisco resiwctively wore inadequately remunerated and never iii touch'with home requirements. To be of any service whatever to the producers of tho Dominion these officers must possess commercial instincts above tho average- and be salaried accordingly, not treated as mere adjuncts of tho tourist branch. Above all, we must forthwith take- a. leaf out of Australia's book and appoint without delay a Trade Commissioner afc New York, who should not bo a hide-bound Civil but a live, up-to-date commercial man of proved business capacity, and who could uphold the dignity of this Dominion among tho consular representatives of other parts of the world. As to how far it would pay New Zealand to continue her postal and commercial relations with the port of California, it was beyond his power to say. From the passenders' point of view the San Francisco routs_ did not possess the advantages of tho Vancouver one, and overshadowing all was the need, in view of possible complications hereafter, for maintaining an evident All-Red connection, which would .give the best passenger accommodation, the fastest, postal service, and ensure safety of travel as far as was humanly possible. - y These, desiderata were already recognised by . the Union Steam Ship Company and by the C.P.R.—two most potent agencies in solving this Imperial problem —Jti giving to the. Australasian-Canadian trade such a fine sceciment of marine architecture- as the Niagara, which huttor the war would have been supplemented by a ship of 15.CC0 tons burthen and capable of steaming 20 knots, as well as by the reduction of steep grades and by lessening the. curves on the Transcontinental railway, so that contract- time should be kept and heavier trains transported across the Rockies with comparative freedom from serious accident \nd tho C.P.R,. by the establishment of a chain of palatial hotels along the entire' Transcontinental stretch, had found tho best means of enticing the traveller to "stop-over" and enjoy" the manifold and yaned scenic charms that Nature has so lavishly endowed Canada, with. If the Australasian-Canadian trade crew during tho new decade :.n the pronortioti it had uono during; the last one. it did not require a. prophet to tell'them that the fleet would have to he augmented till thev equalled the fastest ships afloat, and that the time occupied on the would have- to he materially reduced.'But any such progressive policy would he shaped by the success or otherwise- of the Panama Canal ;is a fade route Over a thousand miles of steaminwould he saved when our ships were able to negotiate the canal without risk of detention, and when Mexico becomes a normally tranquil State her extensive oi] uekis will be able to sunniv all the -dims using- the Panama route with their motive powor.

lho_ of trade expansion through _ th,- Panama Canal were in the- opinion of competent observe illimit able. Galveston and Xew Orleans must be our objectives in the not-distant future U dris route wore onto permanentlv openad ,t would mean a savin- of nearlv imle.s to the producers of Australia and Nov.- Zealand. Those seaports once reached, the wholo of ot_ the great States known a- the Middle vest , vl t|, their teeming populations would be brought within reach of our producers, also not improbably the West Ti> Cuba, and even the Northern States fi'rovw A m " ica " Steamers of nearlv 0.000 tons burthen were now navigated o'n tne water.-: of tlie Mississippi as far as Ft Louis, and it would not' be manv years ere there was a navi-able waterway 'n vm S, Louis to Chicago. The latter Scheme had been pronounced eminently practicable bv a board of eminent engineers ; the. legislative influence of several State's was behind it: and the financial credit of of Illinois, with Governor Dunne at die head oi the organisation and Mr Lyman )•;. Cooler as the chief constructing engmeer. was staked on the tinnl issue to the. tune of several million dollars the only; point at issue now being whether the navigable channel shall be Bft or 12ft df>ep If the internal troubles of Mexico continue' and her vast oil deposits cannot be exploited, then a coaling port would have to be established at Colon, on the Atlantic side, where cheap coal is readily obtainable, now. These considerations only served to the. ueco-sitv of New Zealand being properly represented at -S T ew York—destined some dav to be the clearing-house oi the entire American continent, if not of the world- -with the 'east possible delay. That moraine h* had read Mr Massey's reply to the representatives of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce on this subject, but the Prime Minister was only begging the question. Tne present so-called trade representation in Canada and the United States was quite iarcial. So long as a mere pittance was voted to men" who were primarily interested in the pursuit of their own' private affairs, and who possessed no power (■I initiative, it was useless to expect any beneficial action on their part. To those of his audience who were connected with agricultural interests the.se Matters ought u , appeal with directness, because the more profitable markets for the absorption of New Zealand's prime products' that could be opened the b.-tter tor everybody. Me might be wholly wrong m his deductions, because anyone making a rapid tour of a country 'was liable! to obtain false conceptions ' about that country's trade and so forth; but he had been most careful iji hi; inquiries, and had drawn on reliable sources for his information. Those deductions led him to believe, that the volume, of our trade with San Francisco and the Pacific Slope was likely to diminish rather than inereaso in the near future, because the State of California is beginning to develop her dairying industry, audit is in that direction that our chief exports to that country must obviously lie. With British Columbia, on the other hand, there would lor some time, in all probability, bo an increase, of our dairying trade; 'but thev must not shut their eves to the fact that that province was vigorously planting agricultural colleges, was educating her young farmers in the value of co-opera-tion, was eliminating the middleman, and was putting her dairying industry on a staole footing. R xcn on f] lP . Eas t er „ s ] ftpKS of t.io Rockies numerous herds of dairy cattle were now to be seen, so that the time would eventually come when the people to the west of the Rockies would be self-dependent on their own herds for their butter and cheese. While in Canada he had seen a number of things that made, him think hard. It was quite, certain that some of our dairying products were not receiving a fair deal tnere. A case m point was the butter trade, m connection with which some laiuastic tracks tvero being played bv unscrupulous tradesmen. It was notorious .Uxap at Vancouver, for instance, spurious

Zealand butter was being passed on to t'iwi consumer in boxes of allegedly NewZealand make, and hearing a brand absolutely unknown in the Dominion, when as a matter of fact the- product earno from Alberta, or somewhere .east of tho Bookies, ft had. been explained to 'him on the spotthat there were practical difficulties in the way of stopping such dishonest practices, inasmuch as the Ca-nadian authorities declined to interest themselves in requiring that tho country of origin should he stamped on all products offered for sale. On the other side of the border, however, it was quite, different. Thehealth authorities in the United States were most particular in enforcing the provisions of their Pure Foods law, and insisted in every instance on a- clear distinction being drawn, between tho foreign and the domestic product. Tn Vancouver many of the produeo linns s>n- out on show all sorts of butter bearing the label "NewZealand'"; and it, was impossible to snvoa.r what- the article was once the case was removed The retailer.? "block out" fh-3 label, and pass the article on to tho consumer, presumably under the name of the product of their own best-known dairying districts. Re had been assured by several Vancouvians who were well acquainted with local methods that a. considerable portion of an admittedly inferior domestic product was during the time of our visit passed on to the consumer- as New Zealand butter. But it was onlv fair to say here that these same people declared that New Zoahi.nd exporters were- not above sending an inferior article across to tho Vancouver market. There 'was actually landed in Vancouver in September butter that had been graded in tho preceding March. Boxes lauded from the ship and inspected before being sent to the produce merchants' stores were found to be in, a disgrarelul state, some being in a broken condition, while all were "dirty. They bore the appearance of having been either knocking about the factory for some timo or about a, refrigerating" works in NewZealand, and then stored with the. coals. And some of his informants were suffi«.uent!y inquisitive to follow up this shipment m order to discover its quality. 'l'hey declared that it wa-s. a product thev would ha.ve never allowed to he used on their own table- in New Zealand. If it were, as bad as that, surely it should have been prevented from going to Canada to give our products a had" name. If our Department of Commerce wore doing its duty it would put a stop to this sort of thing, which is quite as censurable as dishonest practices on the part of the retailer at the other end.

He had read, with much, interest the report <?f .Mr Tnimoek's recent lecture, on town plamu'ug, especially that part which oealt with making provision for children's play grounds. T!ioug.h nearly all the schools in the Uniied States wore closed, owing to it being tho sun;mer vacation, during the period.of his visit, he had bad opportunities, of seeing what many, of the- great cities had done to minimise the evils of juvenile delinquency. In this matter the local authority worked harmoniously and energetically with the educational authority, with the result that spacious playing fields for tho children were provided it: nearly all-tln- public reserves, and iu many instances these beauty spots -were reserved religiously (as they should be) for the young people, the o'ulv adults'permitted within the enclosures being their nurses or attendants. And in many'of the cfies the boards of educations "supplied competent instructors, who directed and controlled the games of the younL'steis. so that any disposition towards' xoivdiuess was promptly and suminarilv chocked. Every form of amusement, dear to the child heart was provided within those encln-sm-es. and. it was only too evident, that the local authorities in America, as well as in Canada, were, fully alive to tho necessity of giving the child a sound body as well as a well-stored mind, if hs or she were to develop into a citizen cf whom the State had reason to be- proud or thankful lor. In this relation, many excellent publico servants, lik? Mr M-Laren—that.extra-ordinary magician who was responsible for the creation of the wonderful gardens adjoining the Palace of Horticulture at. the Kxposition. and who on the shoies of the Pacific Ocean had converted a veritable waste- of sand into a succession of delightful oases, rivalling in beauty of scene ami in wealth of color the most'famed gardens in the Old World—had recognised the value of the opeu-aii school in winning back to health those children whose environment made them weaklings almost from birth. In every -conceivable way. these men were assisting the public educator to give all such a fairer chance to sustain themselves iu the tierce battle of life bv providing schools of the rough-and-ready 'kind in the parks, when' a maximum of sunshine was combined with innocio.it play until the youngsters were voted strong enough phvsically to face the ordeal of class examinations. The climate of Dunedin was too einitie to justify im experiment on the scale attempted in many of the cities of America, but all the same the lecorded results of this open-air treatment of school children of weak hifcllcct and poor physique weie so satisfactory that our newlyestablished Council ~f K:!ucation might note them, and risk a similar experiment in parts of the Dominion where a long spell of wa rni. dry weather could he counted upon.

Dwnnrr his alienee there had Iven a rotable advance towards the realisation of the (J-matcr Dunedin project, as .ot.tlined by its ]jromotei>. All thai; vcere vw no-edc-d \r, give, completeness and scienliii- roundness to that ideal ctw the absorption hy the Citv of the two inde-' pmde.ni hod res--the Drainage' Board and Hip Domain I'.oard—and the" resolve of St. Ki'da in ),•;,-!•.:(' her future, fortunes in those <d the City. Certain advantages to Dune.dm as a. whole covdd. onlv aicrti" : when this result- was achievod, because experience liad ,diou n that concentrated effort, was only possible when litre was one powerful body ivith tin; ;ibili!v to iinancc all schemes of improvement" and poss-essine the machinery to effective!-.' and economically carry them to fruition. Eh; was hold -nnti-h to declare that Duuedin, once- endowed with tho powers of a metropolitan hoard of works and in control of ihe entire area ombrared front *he Chain Hills and Fla-staff to 'he sea, could vith pnxhnt management .-md faith in her destiny ent-?r upon" an era. of public works construction that would once-" more place her in the van ot progressive iroinnmniues in this Dominion." He would here endi/a.vor. to -anticipate- the criticism of those who mijiht lie disposed to ;tc,-;i'->e liim of inconsistency. He kis .irnoiithose who had worked for- and -voh-ed the scheme that stave- roii'-rete shape to tho Creator Dunedin seh<'iiie : vet- he had stood by the tide of tho.se who success lully o ;i pose<l the Borough of St. Kikla joining the f';iy three ve:o s. aeo. But. his opposition to ' the hitter proposal was; founded ..it the- one-sideduess and injust-ke 01 the comjw.ct soutdn- to 1« enforced. ■St- Kikla. was promise*! two things prior to union— inn, tha-t the Citv under h,s j ncu- constitution would be a'utn'ted borough, and .next- that. Proportional Representation should constitute- the basis of <iectsou to the unified council. Now, the Citv Council went back on both thoseutiderfpkings, and in consequence St. Kildalooked askance at her wooer. He, doubted whether anyone, who had experience of our City Council would venture to contradict him when he. said that the ward system was not conducive to healthv civio administration, for there was alvvays a strugido to provide a.s much as possible ot the municipal loaves .ajid fishes for expenditure within the- ward, and this necessarily inoticed log-rolling of a pernicious land. Tito claims of the Citv as a whole should be the iirst studv of the council, and experience all the world over had demonstrated that an undivided city, elected under proportional representation, was the best form of civic government that the wit, of man had vet been able to devise. Let those who vcero inclined to doubt bis assertion consult Captain btmson, of Johannesburg, who was now m tins country engaged on a campaign, and ask him how tho scheme, had worked since its inauguration there otr the establishment of the South African Cnion. Despite, his absence from tho country, tho captain, had just been returned in triumph at tho head, of tiho poll, finis proving that the community know a. good man when they had got him, and would not. part with his services. Tho sentiment in favor of proportional representation was also th&. United^.

plates, where several cities had adopted -it, the latest being Ashtabula, in the Sfate or Ohio, that had just retarned a eiy council of seven under the scheme, a'i 'nr, ™ riuont Jurist and publicist, -*ir J'.lihu Knot, had stronglv recommended, its inclusion iu the new' Constitution wna-h the State of New York is about to adopt. He mentioned these wings tiiat day not to discourage the amalgan-iatiomsts among us. but rather to »arn them against endangering a food project. Ny declining to carry oi.it reforms wiat.wul make for and not mar the cause oi. pure civic administration. I lumiig for a moment, to the work of tile i-xpaiision League, he said that what J-e .iad s«eii m his travels had only served lo coiiirrm his previously-expressed opinion mat tho operations of the league must <-> r etitually he foctissed in and controlled J.v tho City Hall. The great lesson w ud to learn wiw how best to advertise the assets of tho City M - a « (x .„i ( , ttnd hoalth resort, as u-e.ll as a centre of educational activity. To do such things proPwly a publicity departnwnt must" be attacnec, to the City Hall, and the City Council must bo endowed, on the model of J'.nglish cities like, Blackpool ami Scarborough and a score of other places with power T . O yatp over ;l defined ai , Ca iu okl<ij , to properly bring the advantages of Dunwlm bcio-ro the travelling public. With Lie. ample ererdse of tho power of eo, option there was-no l-enson why the en-tlii-.Ki.-i-m and knowledge and public, spirit oi worthy citizens of the tvj» of Mr Alex should not. bo retained bv the City tor many a. day, nor why tho experience of Mr J. 8. Wright should not Iv enlis.ed without misgivings about adequately remunerating his "services. BoMi in and the States it had been proved in a, hundred ways that co-ordina-tion oi effort was a goal worth striving on. .He could not better enforce bus contention Hum by citing tho Ocean Beach Drive, which had almost been mined at the outset from the local bodies concerned deciding to play a game of err*-?.purposes And here, in justice- to the Expansion League, he desired to coiiect a misconception likely to arise in the public mind over the published account of the annual visit to the lieach by the. members of the Domain Board. It was not true that tho beach, road had yet to be tested as to its stability, because from' Augus- to Decernb»r of hist year it had been put, to the most severe test it- was ever likely to have. and its weak point was then clearly indicated. But whose fault was it that that dancer was not immediately removed ? And "with a knowledge of the circumstances, he denied that the league had ever made an authoritative promise to deal with private-interests in" order to secure a rond ot full width up to its junction with the Esplanade. He could appeal with confidence to the members of Parliament, who formed the deputation to the Minister of Works when the league's scheme and Mr M'Curdie's plans were submitted to the Hon. Mr Eraser, for confirmation of his assertion that he (the speaker) was at particular pains to inform the Minister, an,', did so in explicit, language, that the league would be no party to the exploitation of the public funds'bv persons who owned properties abutting'on the foreshore. If the road could not be made to its full width at that corner—a very proper thing to- do in his judgment—without buying out certain interfTts- r . t . l,?n t,lilt duty must lie upon the • s t. Kilda. Borough Council, which was the only local authority that could resumo the hind uudcv the Public Works Act. There ought to be more healthful co-operation than was now the case in matters of this kind, because, after all. the welfare of Dunedin in particular and the advancement of Otago interests should be their only watchword. Nature had been exceedingly prodigal in her t'ii'ts to our City, and it was the dutv of one and all of her citizens to make Duiicdin the finest, as it.wtis the most, picturesque, citv in the Dominion. Given u maximum of civic prole, backed up hy a display of courage, enterprise, and enthusiasm—qualities that had m the past made our merchants, traders, professional men. and others responsible for the development of the North Island and for the prosporitv that prevailed there to-day—and be had not tho slightest fear that our City and province would plav a part second to no other place, in the Dominion in making this country the abiding place of a hapnv and contented neople.