ON A WORLD TOUR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 17 May 1927, Page 6

ON A WORLD TOUR.

AMERICAN VISITOR. A CONGRESSMAN’S VIEWS. A visitor who has come to the Dominion with a- good- general knowledge of the history, geography and- development of New Zealand, is Mr G. Tink-h-ani, of Boston andt Washington, who arrived from San Francisco on the Tahiti on Monday. In the course of an interesting conversation with a “Dominion” representative, Mr Tinkham explained'- that his visit to New Zealand! was the first -stage in a woiid tour. For the last 12 years he has represented the city of Boston in the United States Congress as a member of the House- of Representatives. He is a. member of the Appropriations Committee and a “ranking man” on the -sub-committee, having charge of the appropriations (votes) for the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce and- Labour. Mr Tinkham is proud l of the fact that his forbears were. British, being descended' on the male side from a Devon man who landed in America in 1620. and on his mother’s side from a Suffolk woman- who settled in America in 1624. During the Great War, Mr Tinkham wa-s an American “Observer” on the Italian front in 1917, and when the United States declared war against Austria he fired the first American shot against the forces of that country. He was subsequently decorated for his services by the Italian Government Mr Tinkham is a great traveller and a big game -hunter. In the course of a world tour in 1923 he travelled extensively in Africa, and shot big game- in Tanganyika- Territory (East . Africa) and near the border of Abyssinia. On his present tour he intends to spend 12 days in New Zealand, visiting Napier, Tauoo (where bet intends to test the trout fishing of which he has heard good reports), Rotorua, and Auckland. From New Zealand- he will go on a tour of the South Sea Islands, visiting Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, and thence to Sydney, Tasmania, Melbourne, Adelaide, ‘and l Fremantle. After calling at Colombo, Singapore, Batavia, Bangkok (Siam) he will go to Burma, where lie hopes to get spine tiger shooting. A visit to India, will follow, and if his quest in Burma has been unsuccessful, he will get his tiger there. Returning via the Mediterranean and France, Mr Tinkham expects 1 to reach, New York on November 26, in time to be in Washington for the opening of Congress early in December. Mr Tinkham’s first impressions of New Zealand are entirely favourable. He hinted that from his- previous readiing he was inclined to the view that the people of New Zealand- leaned too much on the State to thei detriment of private enterprise. He expressed very strong views on the -subject of prohibition. It was, he said, unsound in principle, and he insisted that prohibition had proved a tragic failure in the United States. It had-' destroyed the feeling of responsibility on the part of the individual for his own actions. It had also brought the church into organised politics, much to the- hurt of religion. It had saturated the Public Service with corruption, -and had produced great lawlessness and- increased: major crimes.