THE PANAMA EXPOSITION.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15047, 15 August 1914, Page 9

THE PANAMA EXPOSITION.

v NEW ZEALAND'S* BEPEE-

BENTATION.

!iIR CLIFTON AS HOST

our. own conJiEsrosDESr.)

SAN FRANCISCO, ■' July '21;

The New Zealand Commissioner" to the Panama-Pacific Exposition woe the host at a limchedn given last week to the president, directors, and officials of the big show,"at which several -prominent business men predicted .a wide expansion of the commercial relations be--tweeu this country and ■ New Zealand and Australia. Mr Clifton, is so delighted with the ready aid,.and constant courtesy shown by the. Exposi-; tioii authorities that lie felt eomo re- ; cognition was in order. "\Yhat was originally planned as a luncheon party of about a dozen bo expanded. that more. than.fifty sat down as Mr Clifton's guests in the rooms of the San Fraucisco .Commercial Club. In a short, speech,, full of cordiality toward tho nations of the Antipodes, Mr C. C. Moore, president of the Exposition, expressed special gratification , at the concurrence of Australasia in the project, saying that he felt that when Australia and New Zealand decided to participate on so generous a scale as they Had it completed the chain of the nations availing themselves,of tho opportunity to make known their products to tho people of America. Australasia, ho added, had in the past been but little known to America, and ho felt -well-as-sured that tho. Exposition would lead to greater appreciation of "these kiriSmen of the' Anglo-Saxon race," and that closer trade relations must evolve from bringing them closer together.

-An interesting speech was raado by Mr John Davis, a New Zealand farmer, on the feasibility of establishing tlio industry in California, the raw material to be supplied by "'the flecks of New Zealand and Australia. At present, but littlo of the Australasian wool reaching America crosses the Pacific, ocean. It is shipped to London and thenco' to New York. ' By . thb ' time it reaches California, it" any of it docs ,in the raw state, it has travelled twice the idistar»ca involved by the direct trip across tho Pacific. Mr-Da-vcis "said that T-ith tho enormous fuel oil resources tho electric power so freely generated by tho mountain streams of California, he was astonished that r/001-manufac-turiug had not been undertaken on an extensive scale here already. His suggestion."? were heard with appreciation by the audience of business men who listened to him, and it is said a movement is already on foot that may lead to carrying into execution the ffidvice bi" £ho New Zealand iarmer.

■Mr' Clifton, as tho host, was heartily cheered when lie rose to speak.". Tho burden of his speech" had to d<£ with tlie splendid opportunities that arc now developing for'binding' together .'the fardistant countries of;' New' Zealand and tho United States by more intimate trade relations. Refrigerated foods, such as meats, dairy products, could, lie pointed out, bo sent to California, with especial advantage from the fact that the one is as far south of: the Equator as the other, is to the north, whilo the seasons are actually opposite. He told his hearers that New Zealand intended to mako a big display of-tho manufacture of its wools, whic& rwas shown by tho fact that th© Dominion, although only about four-fifths of tho area of California, has flocks numbering between 24,000,000 and 35,000,000 sheep. ■ . ' ■ "•, "At the same time," went on Mr Clifton, "New Zealand does. not*'expect to go on increasing her exports to America without receiving i-ajin tho

United States «a correspondingly largebody k>f her products. The .expansion of trade between tho two .''countriesmust bo mutual; The exports from." this country to New- Zealand hare, indeed, increased in tho lost four years, from 400,000 dollars to more than 1,000,000 dollars. There is- every prospect, and in fact proof, that these oxpprtations from tho United States to New Zealand will increase very materially. Among the articles produced in, California especially apjwalinp to the people- of Now Zoaland are your mineral oil and your dried and canned fruits, tho latter of which aro being received in ever larger quantities.*' Mr Clifton's gueste were unstinted in their expressions to him of appreciation of tho entertaining way in which they had been treated, and on- thr whole the luncheon was tho best advertisement New Zealand has had in California for years. A conjoined celebration -will bo held at the- Panama-Pacific Exposition next Thursday, to mark the breaking of pound in connexion with tho building* of Australia and New Zoaland. Daring the past six months or nioro thora have been a number of such groundbreaking ceremonies by the representatives of European countries, such as Italy, Franco, Sweden, etc., and several of ttie South American Republics. Moefc of these peoples havo colonies of considerable sizo in San Francisco, and there have been wnno largo gatherings on the Exposition grounds. In the natrtro of the case, neither Australia nor New Zealand is sufficiently well represented in this city to emulate any of tho countries named, and the agents of the Commonwealth, and tho Dominion decided to mak& the ceremony r joint affair for that reason. Every Australian and New Zealander known to be in tho city has been* asked t« attend, ami a, genera! invitation • tended to all others interested. The affair is under tho joint management of Mr E. Clifton,.the Now Zealand Exposition Commissioner, and Mr Niel Nielsen, tho New South Wales Trade Commissioner, who is; representing the Commonwealth in Exposition • affairs, panding the arrival hero of Mr Deakin. A programme of speech-making has "been planned, in which Mr C. C. Moore/ president of the Exposition, the two commissioners, and others will participate. The flags of Australia and New Zealand will be rained separately. The erection of both the New Zealand and Australian buildincs is to begin almost immediately. They are in the same neighbourhood, tho original purpose of the Exposition managers to havo them a considerable distance apart having been changed; • '