THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14 1905, TOURISTS AND SETTLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13049, 14 December 1905, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14 1905, TOURISTS AND SETTLERS.

The speech reported to have been, made by Mr. Seddon at tort Chalmers on the subject of improved steamers foi the Australian trade invites, like nearly all the Premier's speeches, both approval and criticism. There can, of course, be no difference of opinion on the point that larger, speedier, and more comfortable steamers running between the chief Commonwealth centres and New Zealand would result in a greatl increase of passenger traffic during the summer months. A chief feature of any pleasure trip, it need hardly be said, must always be found in the comfort of the surroundings, without which pleasure is hardly attainable, and the waters of Tasman's Sea do not, even in summer, lend themselves uniformly to smooth water sailing. To a large number of people nothing is much less agreeable, in expectation at any rate, than a voyage 01 even a few days over a rough sea in anything but the very best of vessels, and there must be many hundreds, if not thousands, of people who would prefer the summer ills they know in Australia to the risk of others, in the shape of close cabins and lively seas, to be encountered in the effort to reach; the cool regions of the "Fortunate Islands." Even visitors from Europe to Australia, accustomed to the accommodation now provided by the great passenger lines, have, no doubt, in many cases paused before coming on to New Zealand in the comparatively small boats hitherto provided, and so deprived themselves of the benefit and this colony the advantage that would have followed a visit. There can be no doubt, therefore, that everything that can be done to improve the means of communication, either in the direction of speed or of increased comfort for passengers, will prove beneficial to all parties concerned. As the Premier pointed out, the heat-weary Australians will certainly find pleasure and advantage in paying us a visit; visitors from more distant lands will obtain pleasures of,, sight-seeing hardly to be found elsewhere in the world, and nowhere in-so concentrated a form. The shipping companies on their part will be the gainers in a vast increase of trade, and the colony will realise something at present of the wonderful scenic capital with which Nature has endowed her, and much more in the future by the appreciative reports of those who had enjoyed them. The picture, as drawn by the Premier, is a pleasant one, and ithas the advantage of being one that seems likely to be realised. That the Government should do its share in the way suggested by Mr. Seddon, by an increased activity in advertising the facilities and attractions provided at all Australian centres, is also reasonable—though it can hardly be said to have neglected the advertising role in the —for it must be admitted the age is one of commercialism, and even' Governments do well, within certain limits, to conform to the times. It may be asked, however, whether this is all which is naturally suggested to the mind of a statesman by the prospect of increased intercourse with the rest of tie world. The purely commercial side of. the question, as we have said, is one which it is reasonable for even Governments and Premiers to bear in mind. There is no reason why the fact that a large influx of visitors and sightseers brings trade and employment to our people and added traffic to our railways and coastal steamers (should be overlooked, or why we should neglect to make all reasonable provision to attract attention to the wonders of our scenery, the charms of our summer climate, and the 'facilities we have, provided by public and private enterprise for their enjoyment on reasonable terms. It rqay be asked, .however, \vWilier this is all. It is isasonable, no doubt, that the question of immediate profit should bound the horizon of the Union Company in considering the desirability of increasing the v- umber of their large and luxurious

■: .. rhino steamers ; it is not unrea- , nftble that the visitors attracted by the beauties oi oar country, and the facilities we provide for 'seeing and enjoying them, should In. '• on the visit as one wholly of pleasure; but for the community itself and for the men who form its Governmentand are accredited as its statesmen, are there not considerations beyond, and wider than these? It seems to us there are. New Zealand considers itself fortunate for many reasons, and these are not confined tc the beauty of its scenery or the perfection of its temperate climate. The greatest of all perhaps if; thR that amongst all the colonies of England it is the one which is the vsK'St essentially English. In its population, hi its laws, customs, and ideals, we pride ourselves upon being true to the traditions of our race, and occasionally, perhaps, on being a sort of advanced guard of our peculiar civilisation. If we are right in this, there should be no country in the world so . attractive to the best classes of our own people as New Zealand; and it. follows that our country needs only to be batter and more widely known to become the great point of attraction for the very best class of intending emigrants from Great Britain- It is admitted on all hands that few* if any,, parts-

of the world have the same advantages for the support of a large population in comfort and well-being as New Zealand can show.' Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of our countrymen are fioiking" to Canada and the United Slates, where conditions, both of soil and climate, can bear no comparison with those we have to offer here. It may be said that the distance is & barrier; and to some extent this is true. So far as it is the truth, in the case of the kind of population we should most desire, the improvement of rapid communication should lessen if it does not wholly remove it. Of the thousands whom Mr. Seddo'n hopes to attract here each summer by the charms of our climate and scenery, and the facilities offered for their enjoyment by private enterprise or public policy, we may expect that very many will desire to settle among us. What are the attractions and facilities which Mr. Seddon proposes to offer them? New Zealand, though a rich, is not, it may be said, a very large country, yet it contains about 115 acres of land for every inhabitant. In such a country, endowed with such a, climate, and on the whole with so fertile a soil, it need not be said that there is room for ten times as many people without risk of crowding. Here then would seem to be the opportunity for the statesman. It is well to assist in attracting visitors ; it is well to advertise the advantages and facilities we have to offer; surely it is better and more statesmanlike to look a little further than this; to provide attractions that may induce desirable people to cast in their lot among us, by throwing open land on which they can settle, subject to terms which are likely to prove attractive to people of our own race.