SPECIAL INTERVIEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11869, 22 January 1902, Page 3

SPECIAL INTERVIEWS.

CHAT WITH MR. ANDREW BELL. A Herald reporter had a chat yesterday wi i Mr. Andrew Bell, a well-known Aucklander, who has just returned from an extended visit to the Old Country. Mr. Bell spent a goocl deal of time in Scotland, and is in consequence better able to speak of the state at affairs there than in any other part of Great Britain. " Did you note anything, Mr. Bell, th regard to the sale of New Zealand produce at Home?" asked our reporter. , , "Yes; I was struck with the great ho la Danish butter has on the " market, and i. endeavoured to get both wholesale retaJ people to make a trial of New Zealand very ter. There seems, however, to be a very strong prejudice against New Zealand , b " ter. and thoy were very reluctant to ma trial of it. My own opinion, formed trom seeing various classes of butter at Home, is that the New Zealand butter is a little bit over-wrought. I went through the freezing chambers in Liverpool, and there is no 3^® tion that the New Zealand frozen rrnMm came out of these chambers in P. ect in but I noticed when it was exposed for sale in the shops it had a washed. and beached look, which keeps back its sale. That seems to be one of the great difficulties to bo got over in the frozen mutton trade. In several hotels I insisted on having frozen mutton, and I always found it everything one could desire. The weak point about the New Zealand produce business at Home is that it is ! mainly centred ,in London. Now Zealand butter finds its way into the small towns in Scotland, but you cannot get frozen m outside the great centres. 1 tried ■- butchers in Aberdeen to introduce IN cw /.ealand frozen mutton, but the prejudice was so srreat that they did not care to take the risk. One matter I noticed connected with the dairy business should bo of great interest uo New Zealand. A patent has been taken out for the manufacture of an article of looa named ' Plasman,' which is extracted lrom milk. It consists of the nutrient material separated from the milk and dried, and is sold in the form of cocoa, chocolate, biscuits. etc. I think it would be a good thing for the dairy industry in New Zealand it tho Government were to offer a bonus lor a. marketable article of-this class. At present the prospects for the maintenance of prices of butter and cheese in tho Old Country are bright. The wages now received by the workers enable them to purchase more luxuries than they used to. I think tho result will be that butter will maintain its price. "You find the conditions of life are improving then, in the Old Country.' _ . "Yes; the working people of Scotland now indulge in luxuries that were not dreamt of 30 years ago. ■ There is clear evidence that Scotland is in a highly prosperous condition, and that its wealth is enormous. Inere is evidence of it on all bands. Wages have amproved far more than we in the colonies conceive, and men in all departments of life have risen from the lowest rung of the ladder to the very highest. There is evidence ot prosperity in the improved stylo of houses now being erected, and in tho_ general affluenceoorf r the people. There is also a higher social ideal among the people of Scotland. The general mass of the comfortable people are recognising that they are their brothers' keepers, and the problem of slumlife is being taken seriously into consideration by the people of the large cities. In Glasgow companies have been formed to purchase slum properties and eroct better dwellings for tho poorer classes, and the movement lias the sympathy and support of thousands of people of all classes. . In every, city : Scotland the narrow streets are being cleared away, and there is a determination everywhere to rive the peoplo living in cities more air space." . . , , Mr. Bell mentioned that ho visited tno Glasgow Exhibition, and was much struck with the art gallery and the machinery exhibits. The Exhibition was a credit to Scotland, and he considered the exhibits from West Australia a credit to that, colony. One thing he was not quit© satisfied with in Scotland was the prospects of agriculture, on account of the evident reluctance of the agriculturists to adopt the latest improvements in , farming implements.