THE TOURIST DEPARTMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVI, Issue LVI, 26 October 1908, Page 4

THE TOURIST DEPARTMENT.

During fch.© course of tha political campaign, now in, progress! tu good deal of criticism/ has bean levelled against the Govetrnmenit for its expenditure on tourist requirements, -whilst settlors in the back-blocks ciy in vain for raai&a The Government, in, rviply, say that tha Department its self-sup-porting. Whatliier that i.i so or not we cannot at the moment affirm, but a hurried perusal a£ Uia Tourist, and Health liesorta Deipairtme_.tfs report suggests tliat the Department is doing some good work, whatever lha cost may be. We think those take a mi«>tuken view who assert that ihe tourists ara not wanted in this country. To fray that there is a, tendency towards the development of a nation >:.i tiip-takeirs aaid flunk eys to globetrotters is absurd. It should be remembered that apart from tin* njon^y the tourists spe_d, ovary ono of them is a potential advctruisiciment for New Zealand. A natioivii need to-day is y opulaldon — population that can oultdvato the land iund make it. profitrbearing—and every additional unit which, can act as a mouth-piece for this Dominion is valuable. Againj, all the departmental money is not spent for the flying visitor from over-sea. Takej Mount Egmont, for instance. Somei money (not nearly enough) haa been s.pemt theire. Last yciar 5100 visitor.? went to the mountain houses and a. review of the lisits> which have appeared in tilie Star frorm time to time sliows. tha.t there was only a< veiy simall proportion, ot" representatives from, other coimbies. . c o witb Rotorua. Of cO'Uroe, a much larger mimbea* of over-sea, people go there, but the bulk of the visitors) are* New Zoar landers. Thei suune thing applies i<o eveay other resort in the Dominion Tb ha,si to b& remembered tlien that the great part of thai nioaiey ia spemt in a direction which will tend to make this lives of colonists brighter and hap* pier, and it goes without saying that eveay tourist track made is) equally opera for the surrounding settlers. We do noio intend these remarks as a justification of all thet tourist expenditiiuvi made, but as a. suggestion that a great deal of it cau be reasonably defended. The rwpoirt sihows that far the year ended March, 31, 1903, there wa% a decrease of 1082 visitors from oversea as compared with the year 1306-7. This waa not unecq..ectcid* as during Exhibition year an exceptional inflow was recorded. Rut compared with 1905-6 their© avus an increasa last yoa,r of 1460, and the figures year after year have yhown the growing popularity of Xew Zealand as a place in which to spend a holiday. The increased vaJue of last year's traffic was estimated a.t jE7''-,<lo<>. giving « normal inci-o-siL oi" jC3C,SO'j par annum for two years. All uloar.g the bull: of the visitci's has come from Australku. The number of visitoirs for 'the past four years was 5092, 7142, ['68* (exhibition year;, and BGOV, ui\&. the total value of last yea^s traffic was estimatr ed a,t £430,000. The Department claims 1 o play a. largo part in tha eaicourageaneot of immigration and points out than from this source, the population of the Dominion was add- | ed to during the last six yeaa-si by 57,502, as comipcwed with 11,553 for the previous mx-jeor period. It is stud, limit tJie work domei by tiho oversew, agenoieis ia largely responsible few the increetfdng number of immigrants and visitors. The reiporb goes on ta say: "It is hoped to obtain ai laa'ge number of settlers of a. good ©lass from India. To facilitate this, an^iugvamscunifcs liave bean made witib tihei Imperial Government which are particulaa'ly advantageoua to the Domdivani in this inspect. It is the practica of tlie Imperial Goverament to pay th« Jrassages back to Great Britain to military and civil officers, and njen who; have served their terms in India, should they desire to return toi the Motherland. Arrangcmfiinta have now been made with the> Imperial Government to give time-expired officers and men the option of a free) passage ta New Zealand in lieu "of returning to Great Britain. Many of those people retire, on very comfortable pensions." Aa showing thei work donei by tha Melbourne branch of the Department it is re-ported that during the year 11,982 persons visiUod the agency and "wary eiffcrt was made to aend them away fully satisfied andi anxious ta pay a visit to the Dominion!." The same office states that the people wh<> booked their passage® from Victoria, in thei four monttw, December to March, for this purpose of settling in New Zealand, were possessed of n>> less a sum thai* £21.401. "It" says the report, "theses months represent a fair average fcr the year — and there | ia no reason why they should not — it I is ash injdicaticn that tha> Dominion is benefiting through the) medium of its agency in this Statet" The report

gives particular-si of toe metJioda adopted by t_e agents — lecturing, advertising, and disbributioai of literature — to bring iba advantages of New Zealauid inta promineiacei, and it can hardly be doubted that good work is bedng done.