LESSONS FROM NEW ZEALAND

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 238, 9 May 1933, Page 2

LESSONS FROM NEW ZEALAND

As Others See Us QUEENSLAND PROFESSOR'S IMPRESSIONS Professor H. C. Richards, of the geological school at the University of Queensland, has returned from New Zealand to Brisbane with many lessons for the people of his Stale. He came to the Dominion al Hie request of Mr. S. F. Markbam, ivitli whom lie coik:»orated in Australia in the preparation of a report on the museums and art galleries of the Commonwealth for the Carnegie Corporation in New York. Following Mr. Markham's New Zealand investigations he expressed an urgent desire to confer again with Professor Richards before leaving for New York and London. "In Auckland three years ago there was built a most magnificent museum and hall of memories at a cost of £250,000," said Professor Richards. "With the exception of £37,500 provided by the Dominion Government, the whole of that .sum was subscribed by the public of Auckland, a city with a population appreciably less than that of Brisbane. In Wellington the construction is about to begin on a museum and art gallery which will cost £200,000, half of which has been subscribed by the people of the city, numbering about 145,000. Museums and Libraries

"Auckland, with its museum, public libraries and art gallery, has set a standard which Brisbane would do well to emulate. The public library is financed by a municipal tax of Id in the pound. Apart from the main general library, which is very good, there are branch libraries for every 10,000 members of the population. Each branch is staffed with a trained librarian and an assistant, and besides the reading rooms there is a children's room and, generally, a hall where public meetings may be held. The expenditure per capita of the population of Auckland on museum, art galleries and libraries is of the order of lOd a year. I am afraid that our figures in Brisbane would make a very poor showing indeed in comparison. "It. was my pleasure to extend, on behalf of the University of Queensland, felicitations to the University College of Auckland on :h forthcoming jubilee,'' continued Profe; '<>>• Richards. "Each of the four constituent colleges of the university are having very difficult times financially, for not only havp the grants by the Government been reduced, but the returns fiom the land endowments associated with these institutions have depreciated very materially. "It was pleasing to note the attitude of New Zealand toward Australia. Admiration was freely expressed at the manner in which Australia had faced a very difficult financial crisis and New Zealand, which is about to enter on a similar experience, trusts that it will survive as well as Australia' apparently has done. Gold and Dairying "In my capacity as chairman of the mining committee of Industry the prospecting activity recently initiated in New Zealand was of Interest. Geophysical methods are being used with advantage at Cromwell, in the Central Otago goldfield. I had the opportunity of Investigating, too, the soil survey work in the Waikato. Here one finds the centre of the greatest dairying activity in the Dominion. Rotational grazing, improvement of pastures and fertilising are matters of the greatest importance and so high is the capital value of the land that intense culture becomes essential. "The Geological Survey of New Zealand recently entered on a systematic soil survey of the area, and results of the utmost significance to the dairying industry have already been obtained. Qucenland with much advantage could adopt in a modified way a similar investigation into certain regions with a view to increased production at lower cost.''