AMERICAN WRITER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22476, 21 July 1936, Page 14

AMERICAN WRITER

VISIT TO DOMINION PUBLICITY IN THE STATES THE AIMS OF JAPAN Very impressed with Now Zealand during a brief visit on his way to Australia several months ago, Mr. Mason Warner, a special writer for the Chicago Tribune, returned by the Niagara from Sydney yesterday with the intention of spending a further fortnight in the Dominion gathering material for talks and articles.

Mr. Warner, who has travelled extensively in the East and the Pacific in recbnt years, has found his latest tour, embracing New Zealand, Australia, the Solomon Islands and Now Guinea, unusually interesting, and instead of the 20 articles ho expected to prepare, ho has obtained material for CO. His visit may well bo the means of making New Zealand a good deal better known in America, for in addition to writing articles, ho spends several months each year giving travel talks and broadcasting. People in the United States were still largely unawaro of New Zealand's attractions, ho said. It was becoming more generally known that New Zealand was a beautiful country with unsurpassed scenery, but there was still a great lack of detailed information. The article which appeared in the National Geographic Magazine some months ago about the Dominion was probably the finest publicity New Zealand had yet received in America, and the results would undoubtedly bo felt for years to come. During his visit to New Guinea, Mr. Warner formed a high opinion of the efficiency of the administration. The territory seemed to be in excellent condition. It was out of debt and the bxidget was balanced. Conditions also seemed satisfactory in the Solomon Islands. The price of copra had not returned to its former level, but production costs had been reduced, and tho people seemed reconciled to the existing state of affairs.

Commenting on recent events in Japan in the light of his close contact with the country for several years, Mr. Warner said the Japanese provided the world's greatest example of a unified people. They were one politically and industrially, and there was no difference of opinion as to the country's destiny and the ideal of restoring Asia to the Asiatics. The assassinations of February were not an indication of differences as to the ultimate aim, but only regarding the speed with which it was to be achieved. The recent degrading of the military officers involved in the plot indicated that, for the moment, the conservative element was in control.