ADDED LUSTRE TO SHOW

Taranaki Daily News, 11 June 1930, Page 14

ADDED LUSTRE TO SHOW

VICE-REGAL VISIT PLANNED • 1 LORD BLEDISLOE’iS INTEREST. NOTED AGRICULTURAL EXPERT. I The visit of their Excellencies Lord and Lady Bledisloe to New Plymouth during the week of the twenty-first winter show of the Taranaki Agricultural Society is one of those events highly important in themselves which gain an added value through the aptitude .of their occurrence. If his health permits, Lord Bledisloe will visit the show on Friday.

In a country whose past, present and future is almost entirely wrapt up in agricultural and pastoral life, the appointment as Governor-General of so noted an agriculturist as Lord Bledisloe was welcomed from one end of the Dominion to the other. He was one of the most respected agricultural economists of Great Britain, his immense knowledge of all branches of farming having been acquired through years of practical experience gained on the family estate of Lydney Park in Gloucestershire.

The first Baron Bledisloe of Lydney was widely known before and during the war as the Right Hon. Sir Charles Bathurst, P.C. The barony was created in 1918 as a reward for his services to the country in connection with the Ministry of Food and as chairman of the Royal Committee on the Sugar Supply, which dealt with the rationing of sugar during the lean years from 1917 to 1919. His energetic interests cover practically every branch of farming from dairying to cattle-breeding. From the public platform and his place in Parliament Lord Bledisloe for years had spoken with the voice of authority on a wide variety of subjects —agricultural, pastoral and industrial.

As the people of the Dominion had hoped, Lord Bledisloe already since his arrival in New Zealand last March has applied his wide agricultural knowledge to conditions in our own Dominion. Unobtrusively, in quiet, considered words, he has given guidance and practical help to our ’ great primary industries.

A son of the late Charles Bathurst, Lord Bledis'loe was educated first at Sherbourne School, then at Eton and subsequently at the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, of which he is chairman of governors, and University College, Oxford. He studied for law and was admitted a barrister at Inner Temple, London, in 1890. His extensive Parliamentary career commenced in -1910, when he was elected Conservative member for the South Wiltshire (Wilton) Division, and ..he retained’the seat until his elevation to the peerage in 1917. VALUED HELP DURING WAR. When the war broke out his expert knowledge of agricultural conditions and foodstuffs was availed of by the Government. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the speciallycreated Ministry of Food in 1916, and in the following year became chairman of the Royal Committee on the Sugar Supply and Director of Sugar Distribution, a post that was retained until peace conditions no longer necessitated its existence. After the war he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Deputy-Minister of Fisheries in the Baldwin Government, November, 1924, to February, 1928. At the same time, with all his expert knowledge of agriculture, it must be remembered that Lord Bledisloe is not a man with one narrow interest. Speaking in England, shortly after his appointment, Lord Bledisloe himself uttered a cautionary word. Willing to place at the disposal of New Zealand’s farming community whatever service he might render in that domain, he made clear his wish that this possible avenue of activity and influence should not be regarded as of chief moment to him. Rather did he desire that in all the ways open to him in his official capacity and personal readiness to serve the whole Dominion he might fulfil the commission entrusted to him. Lady Bledisloe, through her charm, even in the short time she has been in the Dominion has made her gracious influence widely felt. Taranaki will cordially welcome their Excellencies. Their presence gives an added lustre to the 21st New Plymouth Winter Show.