COMPLAINT BY TOURIST

Southland Times, Issue 23330, 14 October 1937, Page 4

COMPLAINT BY TOURIST

Reply To Comment Of Minister DENIAL OF REQUEST FOR CONCESSIONS ATTITUDE OF OFFICER IN GOVERNMENT BUREAU (United Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, October 13. No qualification of her complaint against the Government Tourist Department was offered by Mrs Mildred Seydell, an American journalist, when she was asked by The Press tonight to comment on the reply of the Minister in charge of the department (the Hon. F. Langstone) to her allegations. Mrs Seydell in an interview published in The Press on Monday claimed that an officer of the department in Wellington had attempted to influence her against visiting the South Island and in a reply published today the Minister denied that there had been any such influence.

Mrs Seydell expressed indignation, too, at the description by the Minister of herself and her husband as freelance journalists who requested special concessions from the department on the ground that they would write in outside publications accounts of their travels through the country. “I don’t know how Mr Langstone gained such an understanding,” she said. “My husband is a manufacturer of textile chemicals and naturally he is indignant at being described in such a fashion by Mr Langstone. It is certainly not quite fair to say the least. As for myself it is only fair that I should point out that I have been on the payroll of the Georgian-American for the last 13 years and a special edition of the paper was published to mark the end of my tenth year of service with it. CONCESSIONS OFFERED “It is not accurate either for the Minister to say that we requested special concessions from the department. Concessions were offered to us and naturally the offer of this hospitality was accepted, but I would like to tell you just what that hospitality consisted of. Mr Langstone has said that he granted my husband and myself free accommodation at Government hostels at the Chateau Tongariro and at Waitomo. We arrived at Waitomo at 5 o’clock one evening, had dinner as guests of the management, and left again at 10 o’clock the same evening. At the Chateau Tongariro we arrived at four o’clock in the afternoon and left the next morning at nine o’clock. Referring again to the attitude of an officer of the department in Wellington Mrs Seydell said she had never inquired whether any concession would be granted to her in the South Island. She had asked for information about dairying and fishing in the North Island to assist her in writing articles, but she had been told by this officer that she could get all the information she needed out of the Year Book and this she could buy at any book stall. It was because of the attitude of this offleer in placing difficulties in the way of obtaining a private car to tour in through the South Island that she had decided to go to Thomas Cook and bon, who had made arrangements without any hesitation. WEST COAST VISIT ENJOYED Mrs Seydell remarked that although she found the controversy distasteful she had immensely enjoyed her visit to the West Coast of the South Island. The scenery was as fine as anything she had ever seen. There could be no question of any comparison, however, between the attractions of the North and South Islands. The appeal of each was entirely different and each in its own way was worthy of the high praise of the people she had met. >~>he had made a point of stopping at various farms and homes to make as many contacts as possible and the people had been hospitable and very approachable. She had not wished to cause any unpleasantness in her comment about the attitude of the department, she added, and she would certainly not allow it to prejudice her opinions about the country. It was indeed remarkable to find such beauty in so small a compass. . , . Mrs Seydell’s standing is indicated in Who’s Who in America, which describes her as a writer and lecturer educated at the Washington Seminary, Atlanta, the Lucy Cobb Institute, Athens, Georgia, and the Sorbonne University, Paris. She began her career as a columnist on The Charleston Gazette in 1921. She was a representative of the Hearst Crime Commission in Europe in 1926, collecting information for a series of articles and interviews. From then until 1931 she travelled in Belgium, Ireland, the Balkan States, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, Sweden, Germany and France In Sweden she made a special study ot the liquor regulation. Public positions she has held include the presidency of the Georgia branch of the Natlo ” a ] Women’s Party, a directorship of the Women’s Division of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the chairwomanship of the Georgia Service Star Legion for the Blind, and a member ship of the Georgia Crime Commission and of the Atlanta group of the Alliance Francaise.