The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES." GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1948. VALUABLE LESSONS FROM BRITISH VISITORS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22623, 28 April 1948, Page 4

The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES." GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1948. VALUABLE LESSONS FROM BRITISH VISITORS

NEW Zealand lias every reason to be well pleased with her visitors from Great Britain. The more prominent among them invariably bring the voice of true culture to our shores, and it is quickly made apparent that they have a remarkable talent for absorbing accurate knowledge of our national life. Sir Patrick Duff, the United Kingdom High Commissioner, is not a visitor in the ordinary, short-duration sense; wherever he has travelled in the Dominion in the course of his public duties he has been able to make a swift but comprehensive study of conditions, industrial and otherwise, pertaining to the district in which he finds himself, and citizens cannot be in his company for long without being impressed by his clear-cut understanding of local problems. Of his gift of oratory there has never been any doubt. His inspiring addresses in Gisborne have been among the highlights of our year so far. Lady Baden-Powell was another visitor from England whom we have been glad to welcome here. In the south the breadth of interests of both Lord and Lady Beveridge has made a strong appeal to all who have heard them speak. As an economic and social security authority, Lord Beveridge might have been expected to devote himself exclusively to the subjects of high finance and planning on a national scale, but instead lie has revealed the happy faculty of being able to reach common terms on the everyday problems of individual New Zealanders. These perceptions have been fuly shared by Lady Beveridge, who quickly applied herself to the task of learning the conditions under which New Zealanders live. Lord Beveridge’s broadcast address on Sunday night went further afield than the cultural lectures he has given as the guest of the University of Otago. It showed a refreshing and sympathetic interest in the Dominion’s social conditions, and gave a valuable insight into progress of a similar nature being made in Britain. It, will be remembered that be was the originator of the plan from which sprang the British system of social security, and that in 1944 he acknowledged some resemblance between his own ideas and those adopted by the Now Zealand Government. The impression gained from his address, however, was that some fundamental differences exist. Perhaps the most important is the variation in aim and effect, for, while the British scheme was designed not only to insulate the people from want but also to preserve the incentive for betterment, it is being felt in some quarters here that the New Zealand system tends to make people rather too dependent, on State aid. It is important to note that Lord Beveridge, in the depth of his wisdom, believes that we can have economic security without destroying incentive and effort, and that the great majority of men can he led by ambition and hope and do not have fo he driven by fear. It is assuredly a question of education —of teaching men to be ambitious, for themselves and their children, to wish to be above the minimum at all times, and to want to do things, not simply to enjoy them.