MEANING OF WEMBLEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 12

MEANING OF WEMBLEY.

DOMINION'S OPPORTUNITY. WAVE OF EMPIRE SHOPPING. THE COMMISSIONER'S RETURN. NECESSITY OF ADVERTISING. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] WELLINGTON, Monday. Mr. A. 'F. Roberts, New Zealand Commissioner at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, returned by the Tahiti to-day. Interviewed he said he could not say much about the future of Wembley, but as far as the New Zealand effort was concerned the Dominion would certainly benefit by the money spent. " One thing," he said, " is quite apparent. It has , produced a wave of Empire shopping. People at Home are now demanding Empire goods, which must result in an increased demand "for our produce." Another of the greatest aspects of Wembley was its remarkable educational value in the general dissemination of knowledge regarding the various parts of the Empire and their activities. • Wembley brought the Empire homo to millions of Britishers to whom previously it was only a name. Tho great supporters of Wembley wero the people of the provinces. Train loads of excursionists used to arrive every day from all over England. Dominion's Popularity. One was delighted to find in Great Britain how high New Zealand and its people stood in the general estimation. Some instances that came under his personal notice were almost incredible, and this feeling to his mind was almost entirely due to the splendid conduct of members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force when in England. He came across this feeling of appreciation evferywhore he went in England. " I will tell you the sort of thing I had to meet and counter," said Mr. Roberts. " One country gentleman with whom I was chatting quite mildly and pleasantly informed me that during the war about a 1000 New Zealanders passed through his home, only a 1000. ' How is it,' he asked, ' that they aro all gentlemen ? ' What could I answer to such a facer except to say that they all came of good old British stock." "I am firmly convinced that it would pay New Zealand to spend a considerable sum annually in advertising New Zealand's products in England," said Mr. Roberts. " Wembley has done its part well. It is for us to sustain the spirit engendered as well as we can. With our £40,000,000 to £50,000,000 worth of products it is surely worth while spending a big sum each year to keep that market buoyant. Our products are the best the world can give, and England really wants them, but she has to be told about them year in and year out." Wealth ol Hospitality. The hospitality of the people of London to the representatives of the overseas Dominions was something amazing, and its very warmth and sincerity wero sufficient to keep one up to tho mark as the ambassador for the time being of one's country, said Mr. Roberts. Although there was hospitality in plenty offering from the country people it could not be accepted often, as naturally he could not move far away from Wembley. On one occasion all the Dominion's representatives were the guests of the City of Manchester for three days, and on another the guests of the City of Hull for two days. During the visits they were shown most of the great industries of those fine cities, were lunched by the Chambers of Commerce and dined by the corpora- | tions.

The exhibition had given its millions of visitors wonderful mental pictures of the countries of the Empire and had shown what each one of them could and did produce in quantities greater than their people could consume. They, therefore, grasped the primal fact that we had I something to sell them, and wanted to sell them, and that it was all of the very best the world could offer. When he told many of the people that New "Zealand was only 85 years old, as far as the white man was concerned, it astonished them beyond measure to learn what had been accomplished in such a short space of time. ■ ; Efficiency of the Kinema. In some instances the plain recital of these facts would fire the imagination of visitors. He remembered one man coming to him who said he had especially asked for New Zealand butter at his grocer's. The latter had replied that he had none, whereupon the enthusiast had informed the grocer that if he did not stock New Zealand butter he would transfer his trade altogether to one who did. Mr. Roberts said he found the opportunity of trying an experiment in the direction of giving illustrated lectures on New Zealand under the auspices of the British Empire League. "I lectured at Norwich to 1100 people and at Bristol to 1200 people," he said, "and,, judging from the questions asked and the inquiries made I am sure those people were genuinely interested in this great little land of ours. At Wembley we maintained an interest in New Zealand, usually through the means of a free kinema, which was most efficiently controlled and run by Mr. James Dykes, formerly of Wellington, who was in Scotland when the show opened. Although the hall seated only 400 people I was called in iust before the exhibition closed to. present the halfmillionth visitor, a lady, with a Maori tiki in remembrance of the occasion.