A DISTINGUISHED SCOT

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1932, Page 4

A DISTINGUISHED SCOT

VISIT OF LORD SALVESEN BELIEF IN COUNTRY’S FUTURE. “WILL BE FIRST TO EMERGE.” IMPRESSED WITH SIZE OF FLOWERS. ... ■—» ■■ Visiting New Plymouth at preseqt is the Rt. Hon. Lord f LL.D., who was a judge of the Court of Session, Scotland, from 1905 until and SoUcitor-Gendral for Scotland m 1905. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1922 and is onp of the Judicial Committee of the Privy CotmciL Other offices which he> Rector’s Assessor on the Courts of Earnburgh University, President of the Zoological Society of Scotland, of the Royal Scots Association, Fellow of,, the Royal Society of Edinburgriand president of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. , “Having done 27 years of judicial work, in Scotland, I felt entitled to sjx months holiday,” said Lord Salvesen, with a smile, when interviewed by a Daily News reporter at the Criterion Hotel yesterday. Together with Lady Salvesen h P arrived at New Plymouth yesterday morning, and in the afternoon they visited North Mount Egmont. Owing to a misty’ haze Lord Salvesen was afraid his . photographs of the mountain would not be good ones. FOLLOWED GOVERNOR’S ADVICE. Although Lord Salvesen .is a great traveller. this is his first visit to tpe Antipodes. “Upon arrival at Wellington towards the .end of November we spent a week-end at Government House as the guests of Lord and Lady Bledisloe, said Lord Salvesen. “It was Lofd Bledisloe who told us that we could ndt possibly leave New Zealand without first having seen Mount Egmont.” He explained that he had done considerable travelling; in the past, haying been through the whole of Europe, to Africa, America and Canada. After, leaving: Government House at Wellington they had proceeded to Christchurch, and , fjfom there toured the whole of the South Island—Dunedin, Queenstown, the Hermitage at Mount Cook, and back again to Christchurch. They then drove from Arthur’s Pass to the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier, on to Greymouth and Westport, and back through the Buller Gorge to Nelson and Picton. “New Plymouth is the first town on our tour of the North Island,” said Lord Salvesen. “With its seafront and Mount Egmont it is really a most attractive town.’’ From New Plymouth it is:their Intention to proceed to the Waitomo Caves, Auckland, Rotorua, Wairakei, Napier, and back to Wellington, whence they will sail for Scotland on January 10 via Australia, Java and Singapore. . BEAUTY SPOTS AND GARDENS. With regard to .that portion of New Zealand already seen Lord Salvesen Was emphatic that Queenstown and the Franz Josef Glacier were two beauty spots that should be known throughout the world,, while the Buller Gorge was one of the qiost picturesque drives he had .ever seen, , New Plymouth could be very proud of its unique Pukekura Park, which was so . largely devoted <to native, trees and fems and which was sb beautifully l?ept. “New Zealanders must have a passion for gardening,” Lord Salvesen continued after indicating that he was a keen gardener. “There are magnificent gardens in every populous centre. Moreover,' the garden flowers attain greater size than they do in the Old Country, although'in most cases the seeds come from there. I believe this to be due to the warmer New Zealand climate and the greater sunshine. .Never have I seen roses so big in the Old Country as I have seen them in New Zealand, and many of th? same types are 30 per cent, larger than' at Home.” Questioned regarding the conditions in the Dominion as compared with those in Great Britain Lord. Salvesen remarked on the fact that while there.were just as many unemployed in New Zealand in proportion to., the population, the distress .evident in many towns in Britain was not as apparent to travellers in New Zealand. The people of the, Dominion appeared to "have money for amusements, and every theatre he had'.visjted in New Zealand' had been well filled. FOOD MUCH CHEAPER. Residents in the’Dominion had a great advantage over of Britain in that food seemed to be much cheaper here. As far as he could judge, the retail 11 prices of meat and fish, were not half as much as in England, while fruit was also very .reasonable. However, he had been told that rents were very high in New Zealand, and said that that was no doubt largely due to the wages being so much higher in the building line here than in the same trade in Britain. The boom in land prices of some, years ago must also have been responsible in part for the position - regarding rents. . “My impression is that New Zealand will' be one of- the first countries to emerge from the Slough of despond/’- said Lord Salvesen. “Whatever the cash price of it might be, the land remains the same and is just ?s ’ productive, and when prices rise there will be,an immediate living for. the farmer. It seems that the farmer was a trifle spoilt by excessive popularity during and after the war.”