CANDID CRITIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22389, 8 April 1936, Page 14

CANDID CRITIC

"VISITOR FROM ENGLAND SLOWEST TRAINS IN WORLD FISHING A GREAT ASSET [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] "WELLINGTON, Tuesday Candiil observations on various features which impressed liim during a long tour of New Zealand have been embodied by Major G. L. Ashley-Dodd, a prominent English visitor, in a report which he is presenting to several members of the Cabinet. Major AshleyDodd, who lias been in Now Zealand for the last five months with his wife, will leave for England by the Kangitata on Thursday.

"The New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau," states Major AshleyDodd, "is on the whole excellently run and is superior to any similar body with which I have had experience in other countries."

The hotels were mostly none too good or up to date, especially in Auckland, he said, and were expensive ior the accommodation and feeding offered, the former consisting of very small rooms and a lack of bathrooms., and the latter giving no variety. Me praised tha fishing camps, considering them on the whole infinitely superior to the hotels, and their proprietors assets to New. Zealand in attracting tourists. " Unworthy of Country "

"The railwavs," continued Major Ashley-Dodd, "from what I saw of them, are not worthy of the country, and if they are going to hold their own against motor traffic they Mill have to gird up their loins considerably. The small gauge of the railways is greatly against them. They are, as far as I know, the slowest trains in tho modern world, and their lack oi comfort is quite remarkable. They have no dining cars, but have stops for passengers to rush out and have scrambles for tea at frequent intervals, which tend to inako the trains ridiculously slow and which is simply archaic. If tea is wanted every hour or two it should be served on the trains. The cars arc dirt}', and. on tho wholo travelling is so utterly uncomfortable that I cannot understand a civilised country putting up with it. "Tho fishing is undoubtedly tho greatest financial asset of New Zealand, just as it is in Scotland, and its development should be very carefully watched. The New Zealander must be educated to realise that it is not only his own sport that must be considered, but that he must look at the subject as a national asset to bring money into the country from abroad. " Jostling " in North Island

"If a visitor is jostled in his sport, as frequently happens in certain places, in the North island especially, lie noes away with a nasty taste in his mouth and damns New Zealand fishing morals with no uncertain voice. More control here *is obviously wanted to ensure a fair deal for the visiting fisherman and for the true sportsman. In my own case I was cautioned by former visitors from Britain to avoid these places, and thanks to my New Zealand friends 1 have avoided any of these unpleasantnesses which, if 1 may be allowed to say so, are a scandal to New Zealand and to sportsmen generally. "One more word on this subject: the various acclimatisation societies are responsible for their various districts and in their own areas have plenary powers. This is excellent in theory, but in practice it is not so good. They have no united policy and their boards of control, so far as I havo ascertained, have not been elected necessarily for their knowledge of the subject. They seem to be elected more by pull than by piscatorial knowledge. Only people of practical knowledge should serve on these bodies, and tlio various societies should meet together at intervals to get a common agreement for the general benefit not only of their own districts, but also of the Dominion as a whole."