LIFE IN U.S.A.

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 December 1926, Page 8

LIFE IN U.S.A.

ENGLISHMAN’S POINTS OF VIEW (Our Own Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 3. When Mr. Thomas T. E. Cadett, a foreign sub-editor of the London Times, took up liis ’ temporary journalistic work on the San Francisco Chronicle under the Walter Hines Page Memorial Scholarship plan, there was general interest to follow the English point of view about things American. The central thought was- to foster a kindlier spirit between the two great nations and to learn from each other. A brief summary of some of Mr. Cadett’s articles will be appreciated by New Zealanders. Mr. Cadett found much to .amuse him in the “doings” of the average service club. . Badges as large as saucers caught his eye. He was half amused ,half impressed, and wholly “naif” at the patriotic songs, the large brass bell and mallet, and the buzz of conversation. He touched up the rotary idea by stating that evidently when some of the candlestick makers found they could not join the one-in-dividual-in-each-calling organisation, they promptly started clubs of their own. • “At the worst,” wrote Mr. Cadett, “there cannot be a great deal of harm in such things. At the best, there is an organisation ready-made through which generous impulses may run as easily as the ungenerous.” Then he expresses the belief that a means of contact between busy men must have elements of advantage, and he thought it a pity that in England business men see so little of each other because the service-club movement has not developed there as it has in the United States. Mr. Cadett was satisfied that anything which takes hold of the public imagination is worthy of the respect of anyone who prefers to think of humanity in the mass as essentially good-hearted, rather than as being a crude mob. He did not - refer to the custom of having the best speaker obtainable each week talk on his favourite topic, or tell of his travel adventures. The discussion of the numerous service clubs in all American cities delighted the natives. • “SMARTNESS” TO “GARBAGE” “American business efficiency, ‘hustle,’ and the remarkable mecanicalization (Mr. Cadett’s word) of life, as shown in the many conveniences that this country enjoys, have doubtless augmented a prosperity that was nevertheless inevitable in view of the world situation of recent years,” continues Mr. Cadett. “There is, for the foreigner who is not too proud to learn, a wealth of valuable lessons to be gained from the observation of American conditions to-day. Even so. archaic as many English methods and customs are, they suit us* well, since we are bred to them. And, in the last resort, the fundamental causes of success are identical the world over.” The visitor thought “the vocal form of smartness,” which makes people smart in a different sense from the smartness done on a large and profitable scale, was too superficial for discussion.

Mr. Cadett confessed a conference on garbage in San Francisco shattered his early-acquired reverence for City Fathers. The subject was delicately postponed to a future date, after everybody talked at once and it seemed impossible to make an incinerator built to consume 400 tons a day undertake to consume 600 tons during twenty-four hours. This problem stumped the officials. The “magnificent City Hall” of San Francisco and the “impressiveness of the great antechamber” appeared strange settings for zoning, circus objections, apartment-house opposition, and other prosaic matters, thought Mr. Cadett. He inwardly groaned “for our own little place called London so firmly thrust into second place” when one orator asserted that if San Francisco permitted too many apartment houses it would make a second New York of the city. 'Phe health of the people was in the hands of the Supervisors, and they showed their sense of responsibility, concluded Mr. Cadett. “Here one saw the performance of civic duty at its best sober, not captious, anxious only for the well-being of a vast city.” FILM INDUSTRY “There' is no such thing as the British film industry,” wrote Mr. Cadett. This was stated to be because there was a Hollywood in California, though he claimed there had been a British industry of the films in past years. He realised the survival of the fittest held here, as elsewhere. Climate gave Hollywood advantages, money is “tight” in England, while Hollywood’s “lowest common multiple is a million dollars,” although England’s annual budget of 4,900,000,000 dollars tended to show there was a li'J le money left there.

American picture monopoly was said to be both apparent and real. Mr. Cadott told about the “block” booking, by which the British distributor (.i exhibitor is forced to take many films that he does not want in order to get one that he does want. He said many Englishmen knew more about certain phases of American life, not always the more desirable k:i..i, than they do of certain aspects of their own country. “America sends us many bad films and a few that can soberly be called very good indeed,” said the goodnatured and truthful critic, although he admitted there was no unfair discrimination, because Americans saw the bad films as well as the others. He favoured “judicious censorship” to overcome the evil in picture productions. Mr. Cadett believed sensible Englishmen thought the much-dis-cussed “Big Parade” film was not propaganda in support of “the claim that America alone won the war.” It was an American war film, just as there have been British war films. ADVERTISING A REAL INDEX British manufacturers have taken many years to appreciate the importance of advertising, declare® Mr. Cadett. No longer can a sound piece of work sell itself. There is no comparison between advertising as an industry in the United States and in Great Britain, although the • latter country was waking up to the need of extensive publicity. Mr. Cadett claimed the honour of discovering modern advertising for his own country, but admitted it had been developed in America, though he asserted our best work had “remarkable quality,” while our worst is “absolutely bad.” He gave deserved criticism to the advertising system that decorated trees, hillsides, and spoiled scenic beauty. SAN FRANCISCO AND EDINBURGH The London Times’ sub-editor found that fog is the long suit of both Edinburgh and San Francisco, and that they are a good deal alike in outward aspects. True to the journalistic flatterer, he wrote: “San Francisco is one of the most beautiful places of those many that' I have seen in a restless, life.” He had to admit that the responsibility for avoiding ugliness by placing appropriate buildings on the hills had not been taken into consideration in many instances, San Francisco’s Chinese.. Italian asd Jap-

anese quarters interest the foreigner, far more than they do the natives of California. Mr. Cadett took a mild “swat” at the failure of some of the ladies to permit the refreshing fog to play on their natural cheeks without having to penetrate artificial beauty. One of his strongest impressions, and he‘is not alone, “is the constant shriek of motor-car brakes,” and he then scores one by saying that British manufacturers of inexpensive cars can teach their American, colleagues to avoid this trouble, even if this is “the only lesson” that can come from, over the water to the U.S. automobile world'. Very kindly, Mr. Cadett praises the softer and more pleasing “accent” of the west, compared to the east and middle west. Wealth, fine hotels, and a marvellous climate, stay in the memory. “But long after they are forgotten, which is unlikely, there will remain a picture of a beautiful city, a glorious city, in which people live who have much kindness and hospitality in their hearts.” Is l any surprise that San Francisco took Mr. Cadett to her heart and wonders if the London Times can spare a few more sub-editors?