THE. WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2675, 21 June 1905, Page 53

THE. WEEK.

«(l>qo» »Uu4 miteri, aiiud upieitU iiztt."— Jutiru. "•••* amtor* •»* (Mil leaie must mr J»i«.' r — Por«. !The success of the Winter Show held in Dunedin last week is a . A Record matter for all round conTTinterSlioir. gratulation. Sir Joseph Ward, in the course of the forceful and happily conceived speech delivered at Winton* last Monday evening, •aid that in his judgment there should be no such thing as setting class against class, town against country. There can be no^inanner of doubt that such functions as the Winter Show work wonders in the' breaking down of the prejudices referred to by the Minister of Railways, and lead to a better and more intelligent understanding of one another's aims and ambitions. Town residents whilst inspecting the marvellous collection of produce exbihited in the artistically arranged bays devoted to the country exhibits could not iail to be impressed with the splendid productiveness of the country in which they live, and to recognise to what a large extent' their prosperity and happiness depends upon the vellfaeing of" the denizens of the back-blocks ; whilst the country visitors, on their part,, must have welcomed the intelligent interest shown by the town dwellers in a display which formerly appealed almost entirely to the bucolic mind.- Such mutual recognition of interdependence and community of interests fostered by Otago's' periodical" winter shows — at once the envy and admiration «f* all other parts of the colony — cannot but be helpful to the future development of the province. It is therefore exceedingly satisfactory to note that .Dunedin's Winter Show for 1905 -has proved a record both in the matter of the number and high quality of the exhibits, the attendance, and the cash takings. Indeed, so great was the crowd every evening upon which, the show was open that the absolute necessity of enlarging the Agricultural Hall has been forced upon the attention of the A. and P. Society, so that This much-needed improvement will have to be put in hand without further delay. While there is much in the success of the Winter Show which calls for congratulation, yet success must not so blind the eyes of its prompters as to render them heedless of some serious defects in connection with the arrangements. The gathering together of so many men prominent in the agricultural, pastoral, and dairying industries ought to be made the occasion for an - exchange of experience and for the imparting of practical instruction on the latest and most scientific lines to a far greater extent than is at present attempted. And sad to say, so deficient were the arrangements at last ■week's show that even the fixtures arranged were only taken advantage of- by a email percentage of the visitors. The Chief Dairy Commissioner,* Mr J. A. .Kinsella, ■whose first appearance in Dunedin since liis return to the colony was hniled with delight, had only a comparatively email audience- when he commenced an intensely interesting, and highly valuable lecture upon the manufacture of butter and cheese ; I , indeed, it was only by accident •ihatV some of, the leading cheese-makers in Southland were present.. Mr Kinsella •was also- desirous of reading a paper upon the cool curing of cheese as practised in Canada, but owing to the absence of a decent audience he was compelled to forgo the attempt. .Mr Gilbert Anderson's comprehensive and informing paper upon €he frozen meat industry was only listened to by a handful of folks, mostly from Canterbury, and when gentlemen of the standing of Messrs Anderson and Kinsella take the trouble to come to Dunedin to deliver such addresses as those to which we lave referred, it is highly discourteous, to say the least of it, that steps are not taken to ensure them a respectably-sized audience. The fault lay, not in the un■willingness on the part of the people to tear the addresses, but in the absence of adveiiiised information as to the time and jplace of. delivery. We understand there as some difference of opinion as to who is responsible ; the Society's secretary 'looked to the Dairy Association's secretary, and the Dairy Association's secretary relied upon the SoHstv's secretary, end between the two stools the public and the lecturers came to the ground. It is to be hoped this defect may be remedied next year, and that the educational opportunities which the Winter Show presents wilL be utilised to the utmost.

Amongst the multitudinous topics touched upon by Sir Joseph Ward Wiat. D.L.F. at Winton was the good Stands For- service done to the colony by the illustrated pages of the Otago Witness in advertising the scenic beauties of New Zealand in all pails of the world. The wide circulation en-

1 joyed by the Witness in the Old Country and other places conduces, in Sir Joseph Ward's opinion, to attracting to our shores many tourists who otherwise would have known little or nothing about the delights of the Lake District, the weird grandeur of the West Coast Sounds, or the varied pleasures which attend a visit to the beauty spots of the colony. But the services rendered by the Witness do not by any means end with its claims as an advertising medium to attract visitors to our land; it is doing good and excellent work amongst the young people of Otago and Southland by means of the D.L.F. page. In proof of which we may refer to the testimonies given at the annual D.L.F. social held during Show Week. If, as many people fondly hope, New Zealand is ultimately to possess a literature of its own, redolent of the soil, and characteristic of the clime, it is by such a medium as the D.L.F. pnge in the Witness that it will be brought about. John Foster Fraser in writing about Canada, says of Winnipeg, a city of 75,000 inhabitants : " Not yet — though now and then is a flicker of light — can Winnipeg boast of culture. It is raw. uncouth, hobbledehoy. The men are well set, alert, strenuous, the best material for settling a new country. The culture will come in time, as it has come in the United States." In Otago we have got past that stage long ago, and with the coming of culture has also come the yearning to build up a literature all our' own. How many of the best of England's litterateurs of to-day have graduated through the school of journalism it is impossible to say, and how many embryo journalists discovered their vocation through their attempts in the children's page of a popular weekly will also never be known. Thus the D.L.F. are treading on a well-beaten track which, for some of them at anyrate, will, we" trust, lead to fame and fortune. The annual socials, debating; clubs, and what not are all so many incentives for the young folk to discover themselves and to realise the stuff of which they are made. The Witness has done much for the D.L.F. and the D.L.F. have in their turn done a great deal to popularise the Witness. Thus the obligation is mutual, and long may it continue on the present happily-conceived and carefully-carried-out lines.

Although we naturally disagree with much that fell from Sir The Crux Joseph Ward's lips when of the addressing the Awarua eonBatter Freight stitnents, yet, with one exQuestiou. ception, his speech was a fair statement of the condition of things -from the Government point of view, and it is a pity that he was not more explicit in this particular. We refer to the question of the reduction in the butter freights. Sir Joseph said : "Early- last month I became aware that two new contracts had been arranged in Australia by which butter was to be carried from Australian ports to London at £3 10s and £3 13s 4d per ton, against the contract rates from New Zealand of £7 and £7 11s 4d per ton. I therefore again approached the shipping companies, asking them to reconsider the question with a view to reducing the freights to something approaching the rates obtaining in Australia." The obvious inference is that the reduction in butter freights was due to Sir Joseph Ward's intervention. In an article which appeared in the Witness last week dealing with the butter freights question, after congratulating the National Dairy Association upon the substantial concession which they had obtained under the new contract, we went on to say : — It is also a tribute to the influence which such a combination as the National Dairy Association exerts that so satisfactory an arrangement should be possible of consummation. Fro.n it fche publio ma» reasonably dra-.v ihe conclusion that independent enterprise ou the part of any section of the community is oapable of accomplishing much which if left to tiho Government would only be discussed and bungled. The gradual reduction in freights upon dan'ry produce has been the unaided work of the combined dairy factories. Ii is well to ■emphasise this point, in view of the probability in a month or two's time of Mr Seddon, through one o- those lapses of rwemory for which he is so remowned, claiming the £50,000 saved to the colony on dairy produce freights as one more reason why he should be permitted to retain office. Tfc is a pity therefore that Sir Joseph Ward should even to this extent have appeared to constitute himself Mr Seddon's mouthpiece. What Sir Joseph doubtless meant to convey was that owing to his representations the New Zealand and African Steamship Company had reduced their freights, but so far as the dairy industry is concerned that line is a dead letter. Sir Joseph himself stated that the service had been a failure, and had in spite of the subsidy been carried on at a heavy loss. It is certainly regrettable that under the existing conditions the direct steamers do not make Dunedin a port of call, but the crux of the whole matter is contained in Mr Gilbert Anderson's address. So long as Otago farmers are content to send their sheep into Canterbury to be fattened and frozen, so long must Otago as a shipping port be kept in the background. The company which holds the meat shippine; contract has the key to the position, and the only hope is that Otago farmers will wake up, and, by paying sedulous attention to the fattening of their own sheep, make it - possible for the direct steamers to call at Dunedin.

We are in entire agreement with Sir Joseph Ward in the wise Reciprocity words he uttered concernwlth the ing the desirability of enCommonwealth, deavouring to bring about reciprocity with Australia. We are glad to note that the same question is agitating the minds of commercial ir>en on the other side. The commercial editor of the Sydney Morning Herald recently remarked that the making of some reciprocal arrangement with New Zealand is of some importance, and should re-

ceive careful consideration at the hands of both traders and politicians. The New Zealand manager for Messrs Huddart, Parker, and Co. has laid some interestinginformation on this* subject before the Australasian Institute of Marine Engineers. He pointed out that "large and expensive steamers were constantly plying between Australia and New Zealand, and yet in the last 12 or 18 months they had been practically empty, boats that could easily carry 2000 tons being quite glad to be able to take away 300 tons of produce. Of the incoming cargoes a great proportion consisted of transhipments from Europe, America, and other outside countries, but of a bona fide import business from Australia there was very little, and it was not growing. It would prove enormously beneficial, not only to the shipowners, but also to the communities on both sides of the Tasman Sea, if the products of Australia and New Zealand could be exchanged more freely. He was glad to see that there was a movement towards a freer exchange of commodities, and he hoped that the movement would spread until it at last irrew to an absolute free trade between New Zealand -and the Commonwealth. Here were two democratic countries growing up side by side, members of the same empire, populated by descendants of the same stock, striving towards the same political ideals, having practically the same standard of comfort and living, and each producing what the other wanted ; and it was a pitiful thing to see them separated by lit stile tariffs on each side. If any statesman could break down these tariffs he would do a brilliant piece of work, and would reap the benefit in years to come." It is significant that a paper like the Sydney Herald should give prominence to such a statement, and to those who remember the prophesies freely indulged in on the other side that New Zealand would sooner or later be forced into federation, this change of attitude in favour of reciprocity is both welcome and encouraging.