OTHER FIXTURES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16415, 8 January 1919, Page 8

OTHER FIXTURES.

In tho afternoon Dr. Andre Siegfried oard a visit to Canterbury College, and was entertained by the members of the Professorial Board. In the course of a brief speech to the professors at the College, Dr. Siegfried said that the aims and objects of the Mission wero not only commercial, but social and in- j tellectual. Ho knew that the French Government desired in the future for I tho Allies of Franco to come into closer j touch with the French people, and for students from Canada, America, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand ; to come to France to finish their educa- ' ticn at the French Universities and seats of learning, French students reciprocating. He was armed with no definite scheme or definite proposition from the French Government, but he particularly wished to ascertain the ideas of tho professors at the different j universities he visited on this question. I Ho also wanted to know the extent ! and the manner in which French was 1 taught here, and what the chances of it being taught more in the future wero. : The French Govornment had a scheme now for bringing Tans and France to the highest plane in the educational world, so that adequate facilities would . be available fog all students who visited |

the educational institutes. A good deal of inftomation was given to Dr. Siegfried by th© members of th© Professorial Board on the points h© had mentioned, for which he expressed gratification. Last night Dr. Andre Siegfried, at the invitation of the Trades and Labour Council, paid a visit to the Trades Hall, and gave an address on social and economical matters to a fairly large audience in the rooms _ of- the Workers' Educational Association. The meeting was not open to the Press, as Dr. Siegfried wished to speak privately to : the meeting. At th© conclusion of the address the Doctor answored questions, and was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks. COMMERCIAL MATTERS. The President of the Canterbury Chamber of Cemmerce (Mr P. Davidand Mr F. E. Jonas (a member of the' Council of the Chamber) met Dr. Siegfried. M. Louis LeHerq-Motte, M. Henri Corbiere, M. Marcel Mathieu, and M. Georges Bardor, and had an interesting and lengthy conversation on commercial and trade matters, with the view of obtaining information regarding future business relations between the Dominion and Franco. To-day members of the Mtesion interested in these matters will meet- other members of the Chamber similarly interested. RETURNED SOT JITTERS' APPRECIATION. Following is the text of the letter from ! the Returned Soldiers' Association, . which was handed to General Pau by the Mayor of Christchurch at the civic reception in the Theatre Royal:— "General Pau and Members of the French Mission. "Honoured Sirs, — "On behalf of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association it gives us the greatest pleasure to welcome you to our city. It has been the privilege of our members to fight side by side with the brave heroic men of your country, on Gallipoli, in France, in Belgium, and in other theatres of the war. We have the highest admiration for the snlendid fighting _ of your soldiers, and rejoice in the spirit of camaraderie which bound us together against a common foe. I "Whilst we have witnessed much of the devastation of your beautiful land and the unspeakable suffering of your people, we have been inspired with the magnificent spirit manifested by all sections of your community. We rejoice with you that a decisive victory has crowned the efforts of the Allies, and we trust that Germany will no longer carrv weight in the council of nations. "We wish you every succoss in the ohiect of your mission, and trust you will carry back to France many happy memories of your visit to New Zealand. "Wo have the hononr to be, "Yours faithfully, o "N. B. McCALLTTM, (President), "W. E. LEADLFY. (Secretary)." NOTES AND INCIDENTS. When coming out of the Tfceatrp Royal after the middnv meeting. General Pau was stonned by an elderly Frenchman, Jean Kere, now resident in Sydenham. who was in the French Navy at t-h« time of the Franco-Germ an war of 1870. Mr Kere was . Landed with the of the marine l ? for tFe defence of Paris under General Trochu, and helped to work the batteries of defence. General Pan shook hands with the ex-saijor, and expressed his pleasure on meeting an old comrade in that war. In hononr of the arrival of French Mission, the TW«> r ' : <-+rato'fi fWr+ closed yo=terd«v from 10.30 a.m. till 2 ".m. The Supreme Court was also closed. » FURTHER FIXTURES. The members of the French Mission and the Acting-Prime Minister, in response to an invitation from Mr John Grigg, will to-day visit his' farm, <r Longbeaeh," >which has_ a reputation almost world-wide of being a model farm. The visitors will return to town in the evening. To-morrow morning the Mission will leave for Akaroa, where General Pau intends to visit as many French families as possible. The party will return to town on Friday, and will be the Ernests of his Excellency the GovernorGeneral. at luncheon, at "Elmwood." Later they will visit the Tai Tapu Flower Show. The Mission will leave for Dunedin by the first express on Saturday. MISSION'S INTENTIONS. j Some idea of the intentions of the Mission were given to a "Press" re- , porter by Dr. Andre Siegfried, the gen- '■ eral secretary. The Mission, he said, .would try to get into contact with as ; many people as possible. They had ■' met in Wellington and Christchurch the ' chairmen of Chambers of Commerce, University representatives, and Trades ' Hall people. They wished to study , our social legislation, our land legisla- ( tion, our agricultural and mining re- j sources, the development of our secondary industries, ana generally the conditions of foreign trade in New Zealand, with a special view of trying to , develop the trade relations between France and New Zealand. SOUTHLAND'S CLAIMS TO A 1 VISIT. (PRESS ASSOCIATION" TELEGRAM.) * INVERCARGILL, January 7. , The Mayor of lnvercargill telegraph- j ed to Sir James AJlen and General Pau, • inviting the Mission to visit Invercar- i gill from Dunedin. Sir James Allen ( replied, stating thatjthe Mission could . not visit Southland. The Mayor replied to-day, urging Southland's claims, j and suggesting that the Mission could j be motored from Dunedin. The Mayor of Gore also telegraphed urging South- ] land's claims. There will be great in- j dignation here if the southern province ] is cut out. The Southland League, j the County Council, and the Hon. J. A. j Hanan are also urging the visit. £

" LIKE AN ENGLISH CITY." VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS OF CHRISTCHURCH. Again has a visitor from tKe Old World given his unsolicited testimony that Christchurch is "the most English of j colonial cities. The latest testimonial comes from IXr. Andre Siegfried, general secretary of the French Mission, who, in conversation with a "Press" representative yesterday, stated that he had seen more of the Dominion from a sight-seeing point of view upon this | occasion than upon his previous visit in i 1914. Referring first of all to his impressions of the North Island, he said Taupo was much like the centre of the French volcanic country, - whilst he could not adequately express his delight with the heautiful Wanganui river, the flora of which was absolutely tropical in appearance, highly reminiscent of the South Sea Islands. Proceeding to Wellington he was much struck by the good appearance of the land, and the care taken of everything. This country was the most English, the most Euro-?ean-like in this part of the world, n Australia there was not one part to remind one of the Old World, but this land did. Especially did his remarks refer to Christchureli. because this city was more like an English town than any other.