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Otago Daily Times, Issue 7654, 30 August 1886, Page 4

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CONFERENCES. AND LECTURES.

(FltO.tf OUIi Sl'l-fJIAI, COBKESPONDKNT.

,' London, July 2. The session 'may come to an abrupt conclusion, the 'Parliament may bo dissolved, and tho Oovernnient overthrown, but the " Colir.deries," goes on the same as ever, and the crowds which flock to it are continually increasing. Already a million people have passed through the turnstiles. The sight during the Whitsuntide holidays was perfectly appalling. There was hardly standing room in. court, passage, or garden ; it is said that on Monday the number of visitors exceeded 80,000, and that they consumed 00,000 rolls, fiOOO loaves of bread, and CO tons of meat I Yet this vast throng were perfectly orderly and well-behaved ; I have not heard of a single act of wilful damage being done. But I need not say that to get anywhere near any of the most popular sights—such as the Indian bazaar, the jungle, the South Australian scenery, the Cape diamond workings, or the Maori house— 'without being squeezed perfectly flat was absolutely impossible. The Tuataras held a continual levee of astonished visitors the whole day; tho popular, opinion, so far as I could learn, being that they aro young croco-

ciues, or a variety peculiar to New Zealand. Tho lectures and conferences are interestng anel well attended. There appears to be no want of speakers, as the hall is engaged each afternoon, and often in the evening as woll. The arrangements mado by the Society of Arts are thoroughly satisfactory; they have secured a good variety of subjects, so in to attract various classes.of listeners and to draw attention to each of the principal groups of colonies in turn. Last week two conferences were held on the subject of emigration. The former was under the auspices of tho National Association for Promoting State-directed colonisation, the chair being taken by Lord Brabazon, the president of the association. The meeting mi largely attended, but must have been disappointing to those who expected it to lead to any very practical result. Various speakers—representatives of chambers of commerce and others—delivered addresses on tlie over-population of the mother country, the advantage of transplanting the younger generation to the unoccupied territories beyond the seas, kc, which were very admirable, but hardly new. It was quite a relief to colonial minds when Sir Saul Samuel had the courage to get up and say that, carefully though lie had listened to all the speeches, he had not heard a single practical suggestion brought forward. He pointed out clearly and ably how much is actually being done in the way of emigration, and doubted whether any better system than the present could be devised. "Sir Francis Bell followed with an admirable speech, explaining that before the colonial governments could be asked to co-operate with the Imperial Government they must, at least know what the latter proposed to do; but that was exactly what they had been so long endeavouring in vain to discover. As an evidence of the readiness of the Government of New Zealand to take part in any well-con-sidered scheme of the sort, he related what had been done with reference to tlie proposed emigration of Highland crofters to Otago; and yet after all it had led to nothng. Lord Belmore, who also spoke from a colonial point of view as ex-Governor of Now South Wales drew attention to th*. i-act—obvious to every colonist, but app* 'ently new to many people in the room—that the waste lands of the Crown no longer belonged to the Imperial Government, but to the colonies themselves; and that however ready the colonial authorities might be to welcome immigrants to their shores, matters might be very different were they asked to give back a portion of their territory in order that new colonies might be planted over which they might have no control. A number of other speakers followed, but none seemed to throw much light on the subject. The second conference was held by the Royal Colonial Institute. A paper was read by Mr Frederick Young, the honorary secretary; Sir Henry Barkly being in the chair. Mr Young's suggestions, stated very briefly, were as follow :—(1) That money should be provided to the Imperial and Colonial Governments for the establishment of a central bureau in London to which intending emigrants should go and purchase

tickets to any colony they pleased for £2, the balance being provided by the Governments ; (2) that the object to be aimed at should be colonisation, not emigration—?^., that large bodies of men, women, and children should go out to form special settlements. Mr Garrick, the Agent-general for Queensland, then gave a detailed and interesting account of the Queensland immigration regulations, referring with pride to the very successful efforts which had been made by that young and energetic colony to introduce a desirable class of population. After some remarks from Sir Samuel Davenport with reference to South Australia, Mr Pennefather was called upon to speak for New Zealand. He made a modest speech, disclaiming any right to speak with authority on behalf of the colony in the presence of so many other colonists, es pecially on a subject -with which Mr Young was so thoroughly conversant. As, however, he had been asked to say something he could not but point out some objections he felt to both proposals. He considered that if the colonial governments were asked to vote money for immigration they would (and ought to) demand some further guarantee as to the desirability of the intending immigrants than their being able to raise £2 apiece; the old systdm of approval by the Agent-general seemed to

him the best and simplest arrangement. For several reasons he strongly advocated people coming out in small numbers, and buying their colonial experience by working for others before they attempted to start on their own account. A number of other speeches followed from gentlemen connected with the North American and South African colonies.

On the 10th inst. Mr Pennefather delivered

his second lecture, the subject being the Industries of New Zealand. This was'of course not so generally attractive as his former

one, and the audience was smaller; however, the hall was fairly filled, most of those present having evidently come to be instructed and appearing much interested. The lee-

turer gave a careful account of what may be called the industrial history of the colony, thrown into as popular a form as possible. He traced the gradual development of the various industries, beginning with wocd,

flax, and kauri gum; then pastoral pursuits, including sheep, cattle, and dairy produce; then agriculture, in the way both of the temperate products of Otago and Canterbury and tho sub-tropical industries of the

far North; next mining—gold, silver, iron, and coal; and finally manufactures, such ss woollen goods, candles, paper, and leather.

He evidently takes a very much more cheei;ful view of the colony than Mr Froude, as may be gathered from the following passage with which he concluded his lecture:—

" Such is a rery imperfect and a very fragmentary description of a few of the indus-

;ries of New Zealand. If y object has been nol

to give you any exhaustive account, for which I must refer you to the official reports and the numerous handbooks which have been printed,

but io render a little practical assistance to the observations of those who may be passing througli the New Zealand court of this exhi-

bition. I trust that I have made it clem

on the one hand that we have but commenced

Ie development of our rich nnd beauti-

:ul colony;

that in every direction-

whether in the way of agriculture, pasture,

mining, or manufacturing—there is abundant

scope for fresh energy and fresh population, which must lead to fresh success; whilst on

the other hand, that much has been already done of which, considering the difficulties

they had to encounter, the colonists may wel be proud; that the early pioneers who left

these shores nearly half a century ago were no unworthy representatives of the good old country; and that as one by one they passed away, they have been succeeded by a generation in no way inferior to them in intelli-

gence, in industry, in determination; that we have shown, in the words of the poet that r '

" We have hearts and we have arms As strong to do and dure when our ancient banners flew Within the northern air."

The Anthropological Society continue their weekly discussions; the subject for last Tuesday being the Natives of New Zealand and Fiji. Concerning the former, a paper was read by Mr Pennefather, slightly referring to the history of the Maoris, and discussing at some length the present aspect of the Native question. After dealing with the suggestions which have been made by tourists and others, either that, the Maoris should be allowed to manage their own affairs as a separate nation, or that thoy should be treated as in all respects like Euro-

ans, special legislation as to Native land and other matters being abolished, Mr Pennefather stated that in his opinion both schemes wero impracticable; that the Natives were too thoroughly intermingled with the European population to allow of

their having a separate Government; whilst on the other hand, land held by a different tenure required different legislation. His only hopes for the race lay ln religion, temperance, education, and the inculcation of habit.B of thrift. After some discussion the audience adjourned to the Maori part of the New Zealand court, where Mr Pennefather explained Dr Buller's collection of Native works of art and paintings to a large and attentive orowd, amongst whom were several old colonists,

Mr Pennefather has also been lecturing twice, on both occasions to large and attentive audiences. On the 20th of June/when the chair was takeii by Blr F. Young,' honorary secretary to the Koyal Colonial Institute, tho subject was "'Jlie Native Race." The lecturer gave au interesting account of the Maoris previous to the European immigration, reciting several poems translated by Mr C. O. Davis, referred briefly to a few of tho most stirring incidents of the war, and dwelt more at length on the present state of the Natives, Yesterday evening he delivered a lengthy and careful lecture on New Zoaland as a field for emigration. He did not attempt to conceal the fact that depression exists in the colony, but maintained that what is called depression there is a very mild affair as compared with what may be seen in various parts of Europe. He explained that there were three classes who ought not to go to the colony— retired officers expecting to get positions of trust, young gentlemen who have failed to pass the army examination, and city clerks; and drew a sad, if in some respects an amusing picture of the life that some of them led when there. With these exceptions, however, ho stated his conviction that there was plenty'of room in New Zealand for really good men of every class and grade, and seemed on the whole to be more favourable to an emigration of practical farmers possessing some capital, who may now go out on the " assisted " system. At the conclusion of the lecture, the chairman (the Rev. R. J. Simpson, a London clergyman woll known in connection with the School Board, the Charity Organisation Society, and many other public and charitable bodies) spoke at some length, expressing the interest he had felt in listening to a paper of so very practical a character, which he earnestly hoped would be printed and circulated widely. Several other speeches were mado, all of a laudatory nature, and the proceedings were terminated by the usual votes of thanks.

I am very glad to be able to report to you most favourably on the New Zealand fruit, home 30 cases in all have arrived, chiefly by the Bimutaka. They consisted of apples, pears, lemons, limes, walnuts, and filberts ; there were also some medlars, but they were not a success. Of course it is unfair to judge ofthe permanent prospects of the trade by a first consignment; for on the one hand, the best means of packing, &c, has still to be decided on; whilst on ohe other, the vory fact of the novelty of the venture and the existence of the exhibition", at which the fruit may be purchased, induce people to buy it sometimes at fancy prices. Still, as far as once can say, there appears every reason to hope for a rapid development of the trade. The fruit has been sold rapidly, and at good prices—some apples, indeed, fetching ls each and one case being disposed of wholesale at Id each. Then there is a good prospect 'of at least two months more before the homo grown fruit is ready for consumption. Nor does it seem likely that the English crop will be a large one, many of the blossoms having been injured by the frosts in spring. It is certainly better that fruit _ should be placed ih a cool, rather than in a freezing chamber. lam informed tiiat the most successful case was that which Mr J. Bowman, of Green Lane, Auckland, brought home for himself per E.M.S. dutlej via Suez.. The apples were packed in a close case made of kauri pine, with no holes for ventilation. Eacli apple was wrapped in tissue paper and completely surrounded with chaff, which was packed sufficiently tight to prevent the fruit from moving when the box was shaken. The apples were placed nearly two inches apart, and each layer was separated by a wooden partition. The chaff had not been dried artificially before being used in packing. How thoroughly sucpessful this system was may be judged when I say that of all the fruit sent about 50 per cent, was bad, but of Mr Bowman's 12 per cent, only, the rest being in perfect condition, retaining even its natural bloom. It had not sweated, nor had the dampness from the bad specimens affected the others near.

The New Zealand department of the meat market is also an established institution which must be of immense permanent benefit to the colony. It almost takes one's breath away to see by the notice board that between steamers and sailing vessels there are now ships engaged in the New Zealand frozen meat trade capable of carrying 330,000 carcasses! The business done, both at the exhibition and in the city, by Messrs Fitter has of late beeu very brisk. I see that the prices at the former are as follow—Sheep (ayerageweight6olbtoßolb) (i.Jd per lb; hindquarters, 8d; forequarters s|d ; breasts, 3|d; lambs (average weight 301b to 401b), Bid per lb; hindquarters, 0M ■ forequarters Gd. This is delivered free within a mile of the exhibition; beyond that radius, at a very moderate charge. In one respect, indeed, I am strangely disappointed; I am told that there is no arrangement made whereby visitors can taste the mutton at tbe exhibition. I feel certain that it would have been a useful thing if a luncheon room had been opened—if not at the exhibition, at least somewhere close by—at which strangers might have had a thorough New Zealand meal, with colonial meat, wine, beer, and fruit. However,'if all the meat and fruit are being disposed of under the present system, perhaps it may be answered that the same object is being otherwise and more simply attained.