"CARS ARE DIRTY."

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 102, 8 April 1936, Page 3

"CARS ARE DIRTY."

English Visiter On New Zea-

land Railways.

CRQWpiNG OF FISHERMEN

Press Association— C^DyrigM. •"' Wellington,' April 7

Candid observations on features which impressed him during a long tour of New Zealand have been embodied by Major G. L. Ashley-Dodd, a prominent English visitor, in' a N report which he is presenting to several members of the Cabinet*.. Major Ashley-Dodd, who has been in New Zealand- for five months with Mrs. Ashley-Dodd, will leave for England aft the Rangitata on Thursday. • "The New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau," states Major Ashley-Dodd, "is on the whole excellently run- and is superior to any similar body with which'l have had experience in other Countries." The hotels were mostly none too good or up-to-date, especially at Auckland, he said, and were expensive for accommodation and the feeding offered, the former consisting of very small rooms and lack of bathrooms and the latter giving no variety. He praised the fishing camps, considering them on ,the whole infinitely superior to the hotels and their proprietors assets to New Zealand. -; ; --.-■

"In attracting tourists the railways," continued Major Ashley-Dodd, "from what I saw of them are not worthy of the country, and if they are going to hold their own against motor traffic they will haVe to gird up their loins considerably. The small gauge of the railways is greatly against them. They are, as far as I know, the slowest trains in the modern world, and the lack of comfort is quite remarkable. They have no dining cars, but have frequent stops for passengers to rush out and have scrambles for tea at frequent intervals, which tend to make the trains ridiculously slow and which is simply archaic. If tea is wanted every hour or' two it should be served on the trains. The cars are dirty and the< whole travelling is so utterly uncomfortable that I 'cannot understand a civilised country putting up with it.

Fishing.

"Fishing is undoubtedly the greatest financial asset of New Zealand, just as it is in Scotland, and its development should be very carefully watched. New Zealanders must be educated to. realise that it is not only his own.spbrj that must be considered but that he .ivost look at. the subject as a-national asset to bring money into the country from abroad.. If the visitor is jostled in his sport, as frequently happens in certain places, in'the North.lsland especially, he goes away with, a nasty taste in his mouth and damns New Zealand fishing morals with no uncertain voice. More control here is obviously wanted to ensure a fair deal for visiting fishermen and for me sportsmen. In my own case I was cautioned by former visitors from Great Britain to avoid these places, l; and thanks .to my New Zealand friends 11 <have avoided any of these unpleasantnesses which, if I may be allowed to say 50; are a scandal to New Zealand and ! to* sportsmen; ; * generally. ; fittOite more"word subject. The r ac"climatisation societies are responsible for their idistricts'and in their own areas ,\have>plenary--powers. This is excellent, jin theory, but in practice it is not so ;good. 'They have no united policy and itheir -boards''Of control, so far as I 'have ascertained, have not been elected inecessarily -for their knowledge of the [subject * They seem to be elected more ,by pull"*'than by piscatorial knowledge. ;©»ly people: of practical knowledge I -Should i serve-on these bodies, and the i societies -should meet together at intervals to -iget a common agreement for the general benefit of not only their Own .districts; but also of (the Dominion as a Jjwhole.!' ;:, » : ..,:,, : .,, ~.,,,