OUR NEW GOVERNOR

Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1929, Page 3

OUR NEW GOVERNOR

A LAND BEFOIUJKR. LONDON. Nov. 30. Lord Bledisloe, the newly appointed Governor General oi’ New Zealand is a line type of the English .-•country gentleman. He is of medium height and is athletic in build, being greylmired and grey-moustached.

Lord Bledisloe is an enthusiastic

agriculturalists, and he is the largest practical farmer, with extensive estates in. Gloucestershire and Wiltshire which areas lie farms on the most modern principles, securing the highest wheat averages. Ho is an expert in the treatment of

grass lands and in the improvement

of the breed of live stocks, and he is also a strong supporter of the principle of small holdings that are worked by a farmer andi his family, as opposed to the tenant system. Lord Bledisloe advocates co-operation by the farmers, not merely in the sale of their produce, but also in the purchase of their raw materials, likewise in transportation and on the use of credit facilities. He; considers, ; that the farmers should organise for the control of the : wholesale markets; and should regulate the sale of their products.

Lord Bjedisloe is particularly interested in New Zealand’s, dairy produce market system, and he keenly anticipates observing this scheme in actual operation in New Zealand. He had intended to.lead the Farmers’ Delegation which will shortly visit Australia and New * Zealand. ’ .

Lord Bledisloe expects to embark for New Zealand in January.

In an article published in the Spectator, Lord Bledisloe said :—The creation of smalll family farms has become an urgent need for the output of homegrown food and for the production of efficient men and women, well equipped for the task of peopling our overseas Empire. It is indeed the human products of the peasant proprietary system, • such hs exists in Scandinavia, which have provided , Australia,_:Canada, and New Zealand with a far more experienced and more confident typo of settler than, Britain is able to do either from her urban unemployed nr from the ' ill-equipped donjons of the devitalized countrvs’de. who are, operating helplessly under a wornout territorial economic system. Loyd Bledisloe, Sima kin* to-night at the Dinner of the Gloucester Institute of Bankers said that he was rather Tvpoccunied because three days ago the Kuig, on the recommendation v of th« Government of one of the foremost o f the Dominions, had asked him to undertake the Governor-Generalship o f New Zealand. Tt was with the deepest vnr,-'-n+ +l,o+ lip would have to absent himself from the dear old country for five years. He felt most diffident. h"+ he would try to justify His Majesty’s selection, and would do the best in his" power as an Englishmen and a Gloucestershire mam- •• ■■■.: .

The only discordant- note as to LordRledisloe’s appointment was struck- by ‘the Lnboiir “Dnilv Herald,” which askk ‘why the Government should appoint a Tory to the position. I t says the Government might as well have followed the precedent/which it set in-the case of Tasmania, where Governor O’Grady fa Labourite") has acquitted himself with distinction.

•SIR J. WARD’S CONGRATULATIONS

WELLINGTON, November 30

The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, has cabled Lord Bledisloe, Gov-ernor-General elect of New Zealand, as follows:—“On behalf of the Government and people of the Dominion, I desire to extend warm congratulations upon your appointment as Gov-ernor-General of New Zealand. I beg to assure you that a very cordial fi’eleotno awaits Lady Bledisloe and yourself.”

SIR C. FERGUSSON

FAREWELLS N.Z. NAVALS

AUCKLAND, November 30

Sir Charles Fergusson to-day took Farewell of the officers and men of the N.Z. Division of the Royal Navy at the Devonport Naval Depot. He inspected a parade of the crews of the Philomel, Veronica, and Laburnum. Sir Charles congratulated them on their smart appearance. Proceeding to H.M.S. Dunedin in the stream, his Excellency was welcomed by Commodore Blake- and Commander Jeffries. He took the salute on the quarterdeck, the whole ship’s company marching past in single file, every officer and man saluting briskly. His Excellency addressed the company. He said the Navy in these watei's represented a service whose traditions were second to none in all that was fine and honourable. Every man individually held the honour of his service in his hands. Each man should strive to he a credit to the King’s uniform which he wore. This applied particularly to men out here, pant of whoso duty it was to cruise among the islands of the Pacific. He said: “You must remember that when in the islands you carry the traditions, not only of your own ships, but of the British Navy, and indeed of the whole British race. By what you are, the native's judge the British race, and that is a great responsibility.”