CANDID CRITICISM

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 85, 9 April 1936, Page 8

CANDID CRITICISM

TOUR OF DOMINION VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS j INADEQUATE ACCOMMODATION. I P«r Pies* Awcxiation. j WELLINGTON, April 8. t’andid 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 report which he is presenting to several members of the cabinet. Major Ashley-IDodd, who has been in New Zealand for five months with Mrs. Ashley-Dodd, will leave for England in the iiangitata on Thursday. “The New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau.’’ states Major AshleyDodd, ‘"is on the whole excellently run and is superior to any similar body with which 1 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 rhe railwavs,” 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 thev will have to gird up the.r loins considerably. The small gauge of the railway is greatly against them. They are. as far as I know, the slowest train* in the modern world, t*nd the lack of comfort is quite remai kablt. They have no dining cars, but have frequent stops for passengers to rush uut ind have scrambles for tea at irequont 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 ihe trans. The cars are dirty and the whole travelling is so utterly uncomfortable that I cannot understand a civilised country putting up with it. “Fishing is undoubtedly rhe greatest financial asset of New Zealand, just as it i* in Scotland, and its development should be very carefully watched. New Zealanders must be educated to realise that it i* not only his own sport that must be considered, but that he must look at the subject as a national asset to bring money into the country from abroad. 1: the visitor is jostled in his spurt, as frequently happens in certain places in the North Island 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 obviousy wanted to ensure a fa r deal for visiting fishermen and for true sportsmen. In my own case 1 was cautioned by former visitors from Great Britain ro avoid these places, and thanks to my New Zealand friends I have avoided any of these unpleasantnesses which, if I may be allowed to say so. are a scandal to New Zealand and to sportsmen generally. “(>ne more word on this subject. The acclimatisation societies are r**sponsible for their districts and in their • •wo area* have plenary powers. This is excellent in theorv. but in practice it is not so good. They ha’e no united policy and their boards of control, so far as I have ascertained, have not been elected necessarily for their know ledge of the subject. They seem to be elected more bv pull than bv piscatorial knowledge. Only people of practical knowledge should serve on these bodies and the societies should meet together at intervals to get a common agreement for the general benefit nf not only their own districts, but also of the Dominion