THE PACIFIC

Southland Times, Issue 19461, 28 January 1925, Page 8

THE PACIFIC

RESEARCH EXPEDITION. AMERICAN CO-OPERATION’S INTERESTING PROJECTS. (Special to the Times.) WELLINGTON, January 27. The cable announcing that the Scientific Expeditionary Research Association was appealing for £9,000 for the St. George Expedition into the Pacific, recalls the preparations that have been going on for the past eighteen months in England for the expedition. The comment of the London Daily Telegraph that £9,000 is little enough to ask Britain and the Southern Dominions for the exploration oi such interest and importance, is apt, however, to create a misunderstanding as to the attitude of New Zealand towards the expedition. The facts make the position clear. The High Commissioner brought the matter of the expedition under the notice of the Government as far back as July 1923. Sir .Jas Allen said that considerable interest was being shown in the voyage of the St. George by official bodies, apart from those in England. The National Research Council of America expressed a desire for co-operation, and the United States Navy Department was impressed with the importance of the expedition. It was proposed to pay a visit to the Cook Islands, and offered its services in the direction of scientific research for New Zealand in those islands, asking at the same time if the Dominion Government would be willing to extend any financial assistance. The view held in official circles in New Zealand was that the benefits accruing to the Dominion were somewhat nebulous, especially as it was understood from the circular regarding the expedition, that the specimens collected were to be deposited in the British museum and Kew herbarium. The Government sought further information in regard to the method of financing, disposal of specimens and nature of publications to be issued. As a result nothing definite appears to have come to hand since then.

In the meantime, an American Expedition to the Pacific was planned under the auspices of the Bishop Museum, Honolulu. This expedition was the gift of a wealthy American, and it is proposed that it should cover about three years, divided into cruises of about five or six months each. The yacht Kaimiloa left Honolulu in October last, and was in the Cook Islands sector in the first week of this month. According to a despatch received last week from the Resident Commissioner at Raratonga, the present is purely a pleasure cruise, and it Is understood that the official expedition will follow after refitting etc., at Honolulu. Arrangements have been made for scientists to accompany the expedition and negotiations with Nev/ Zealand have resulted in the Dominion being represented by Dr P. H. Buck, director of Maori Hygienic, a noted authority on Pacific ethnology. It is understood that Dr. Buck may take his departure during the next three months, and that he will be absent not more than about eight months.