A LEGISLATOR ABROAD

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1679, 4 May 1904, Page 69

A LEGISLATOR ABROAD

MR BEDFORD, M.H.R., ON HIS TRAVELS IMPRESSIONSOF AMERICA. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON. March 18: Mr H. D. Bedford, M.H.R., is a fortunate man. During the course of a single fortnight in America he went through two collisions, and has emerged from both without injury. Luckily neither “smash” was a severe one, ana no lives were lost on either occasion, but to meet with two such accidents in the course of a fortnight’s travelling is certainly an exciting experience, even in America-. The first occurred on the journey from San Francisco to Chicago, when the express by which the New Zealander watravelling ran into a goods-train. The shock of the collision jerked Mr Bedford out of his sleeping-bunk and bumped his head against one of the seats of the ear. Fortunately he was in the centre of the train, and avoiding the full force of the collision escaped witn a few slight bruises. No one was seriously hurt on either train. The. second experience occurred at Washington, where an electric car on which Mr Bedford was travelling smashed into another car coming in the opposite direction. One of the drivers and a passenger were rather badly hurt, but everyone else, including Dunedin's senior xnember, came off scathless. Mr Bedford made the most of his time in America in other ways besides collisions. Between February Ist and February 26th he visited the fruit-oountry in the Western States, saw the sights of Chicago and New York, interviewed President Roosevelt, made the acquaintance of many Senators and Congressmen, including Senator Fairburn, the Republican candidate for the Vice-Presidency at the next election ; picked up a good deal o f information on the labour question, and visited some of the fine educational institutions for which America iis justly famed. “Altogether,” he said, “I enjoyed my trip through America very much.” You met some interesting men? I queried. “Ye 9,” was the answer, and chief among them the President, with whom I had a twenty minutes’ interview. There is on entire absence of formality about Mr Roosevelt, and I had no difficulty in getting access to him. He spoke of the strong feeling amongst the southern whites against the negroes, and was very interested to know what we do with the Maoris, and what the feeling is towards them on the part of the white population.

He also appeared to take a great interest in our labour laws, and said he regarded New /.o:, and as one of the most advanced democracies in the world. “I think Mr Roosevelt will win easily at the next Presidential election,” continued Mr Bedford, “lie is intensely popular, although he has.:the trusts against him, and the moneyed interests generally, and also the extreme section of the labour party. The Democratic party seems to be hopelessly split up, and now that Mark Hanna is dead I do not see any possible competitor with Roosevelt, for the Repub bean nomination. Hanna seemed likely to gain the support of the trusts, but now Rooreveit appears to have a perfect tv c 1 <?:■'r field.” And what impressed you most about America? “What struck ‘me more than anything else in the United States,” said Mr Bedford without hes tat ion, “was the educational activity. There is no false economy, no stinting of money -when it is seen that exnendituro is required to increase educational facilities. As soon as they see that money is needed for education. the money is forthcoming. Public bod ; es set the example in this respect, but education owes much in America to private generosity also. I spent a- good deal of time amongst educational institutions, including the second best school in America—Armour’s Institute of Technicology in Chicago, It provides a really admirable combination of theory and practice in the training of youths in every branch of engineer ng. The commercial schools established all over the country are another splendid feature. These teach everything connected with com-merce—book-keeping, stenography, political science, and so on. There is no doubt the Americans make a feature of tlieir education.”

Mr Bedford came through California* and made a point of visiting the great irrigation works in Colorado. “These/* he said, “are a splendid lesson for Dunedin people in the way of shoving what could be done in connection with the Otago Central. The country where it is not irrigated is very like that in Central Otago—barren-looking and uninviting. There are hundreds of miles of bare desert, but every now and then you come across a little patch like a veritable garden of Eden, and voti find that this oasis has been irrigated. The "United States Government is now getting in hand a scheme for irriaating two million acres, and private companies are developing similar projects in other directions. In this way a big slice of the desert land is going to be reclaimed.” Mention of the h : gh wages paid at Armour’s great pork-factory in Chicago, where expert slaughterers and butchers receive from <£l to 25s per day, led Mr Bedford to speak of the labour question in America. He found the trade unions very strong, and although personally in strong sympathy with unionism, in America it seemed to him to be imbued! with a spirit of great intolerance. Capita] and labour struck him as having both gone to extremes’; on toe one hand! was the oppression of the trusts, on the other Land the tyranny of the trades unions, whose favourite methods seemed to be those of violence and intimidation, “One striking feature,” he continued, “is that the trades unionists seem to be just as strongly opposed to independent labour —non-union labour —as they are to capital. Nearly every manufactured article has to bear a union brand, and the unionist will boycott a firm that sells goods made by non-union labour. I came across a work which had To bs pulled! down at the dictation of the union because it had been done by independent labour. In this respect President Roosevelt is fighting the unions. He does not like these attempts at coercing men into unionism. Altogether the labour difficulty in America seemed to me to be very acute—very different from what it is in this country.” The New Zealander was struck with the lawlessness, the crime and immorality, to be found in the great' cities of America. “The laws there don’t seem to be made to be inforced,” was liis somewhat despairing comment. “They have actually found it necessary to start a society in Chicago which calls itself ‘The Society for the Proper Enforcing of the Existing Law ’ !”* Mr Bedford travelled from New Zealand to America by the "Ventura, reaching San Francisco on February Ist. He sailed from New York on February 26th, and landod at Southampton last week, hut spout some days with friends at Weymouth before coming up to London. His chief object in coming to England is to study the fiscal problem in this country, and although he has arrived during a lull in the campaign, he is making the most of his . opportuni ties. He ~ has paid! several visits to the House ancl met a number of the members: he has also called at the offices of the Tariff Reform League, and has had a long talk with the secretary of the Free Tfade League, his object being to hear both sides of the question and collect as much information as possible. On the 22nd inst. Mr Bedford will attend a pro-Chamberlain meeting in the suburbs, but he is naturally; disappointed at not having an opportunity of hearing Mr Chamberlain himself before leaving England. After visiting Birmingham, Manchester. Leeds, Glasgaw and Edinburgh, he leaves England about the middle of April for America, en route for New Zealand. Landing at Boston, he proposes going through Maine and Vermont to study the effects of prohibition in these States, and compare the one with the other. Thence he will go north, to Ottawa, and drop down thence to St. Louis, to spend a week or two at the World’s Exhibition before taking ship for New Zealand.