A CRITICAL OBSERVER

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21416, 7 March 1935, Page 6

A CRITICAL OBSERVER

SOUTH AFRICAN LOOKS AT NEW ZEALAND COMI'UMENT AND SARCASM A highly entertaining mixture of compliment and sarcasm about New Zealand and New Zealanders is contained in an article on "The Land of the Fern Leaf," appearing in an article in a South African periodical, "The Outspan," which has been forwarded to "The Press" by Mr J. A. Hyndman, a New Zealander now living in the Transvaal. The writer of the article, Mr M. Addison Bright, says he has spent nine years in New Zealand, and with this experience he proceeds to make several remarks which may hurt the delicate pride of New Zealanders. and particularly Christchurch people. "In four months' touring by car from Cape Town to Salisbury and the falls, meeting many people of all shapes and sizes, creeds and colours, the writer has only once been asked how he liked Africa," Mr Bright says. "In New Zealand the question would have popped cut within the first halfhour.

"As a great admirer of Vie land that was his home for nine years the writer must in fairness state that one of the country's besetting sins is an innate love of being patted 011 the back, a weakness frequently remarked upon by overseas visitors. Environment is probably in large measure responsible for this, as it is for national and individual character and outlook. For jur:l as small men arc prone to self-importance, so small countries are similarly liable to err. It is a psychological question of inferiority complex. Which probably accounts fur the apparent broadminded outlook of South Africans on national questions, compared with the more insular and 'local' demeanour of New Zealanders. "But South Africans should tread warily and avoid classing Australians find New Zealanders together. The latter do not sufficiently appreciate the compliment! After all, what Scotsman cares to be taken for an Englishman? The idea that New Zealand is a suburb of Sydney appears to be widespread. "Christchurch Feet" "All four cities have beautiful settings in their different ways. Wellington is the most hilly, Christchurch the flattest. Auckland the prettiest, Dunedin the most Scotch and therelore the soundest financially. So flat is Christchurch that people sometimes develop what the doctors term 'Christchurch feet.' a kind of fallen instep caused through never walking on anything but the level. But were it not for the gently-winding river Avon with its weeping willows, j Christchurch would lose its chief and i only charm. Originally built upon a j flax swamp, water is to be found anyi where within a few feet of the surface. with a consequently appallingly I aamo and foggy climate in winter, j albeit interspersed with abundant ! sunshine and frost up to 13 degrees.

J "Duncdin, further south, though wetter and with Jess sunshine and frost, is healtnier and prettier, ft is the oniv city in New Zealand that can produce that typically Knglisn 'school-girl complexion'; Jer here are | the bracing winds (hat bring the blood to the cheeks, the antithesis ol' the sallow-complexioned Aucklanders. "Wellingon. 'Windy Wellington,' as it is called, where n man must hold his hat on with both hands on rounding a street corner, is on the earthquake 'fault line' that runs up through ■both islands. Those wanting to know -really first-class '.shocks' are well catered for in Wellington. i "Auckland, built like ancient Rome upon seven hills, is the centre of some of the loveliest and safest yachting waterways in the world, coupled with jI he most exquisite scenery, notably in the Hauraki Gulf that washes the frirtge of Auckland city. Architecture Criticised "But what must impress the visitor from New Zealand to South Africa is the charm of the home architecture. How immeasurably improved New Zealand would be by the subI stitution of the Dutch colonial house with its artistic gable and a red-tiled or thatched roof. Even the humble African rondavel with its efficient roofing of thatch and its circular white-washed walls is an unquestionably cheaper and more artistic edifice than the ordinary country farm building of New Zealand. "But the New Zealand stereotyped wooden bungalow with its pretentiously ornate filigree iron decorations along the rounded verandah roof, the whole capped with the übiquitous galvanised iron roof painted red, a colcur now mercifully giving place to green, is no aesthetic spectacle.

"For her child-weLfare work the palm must deservedly be awarded to New Zealand. Not only is it the home of the famous Plunket system of raising babies, originated by Sir Truby King, but it is also the hatching ground, so far as New Zealand is concerned, of the now almost universal, 'open-air schools.' The whole sides of the buildings are constructed to open out, thus allowing full light and air for the little inmates.Labour Troubles "In comparing living conditions between the two countries, one of the main differences is that in Africa the white man is the overseer, natives supplying the manual labour, whereas in New Zealand there is no black labour, every man having to do his own 'chores.'

"In the country—and New Zealand must be considered as purely an agricultural and pastoral and in »io sense an industrial land—labour and domestic help generally, expect to be treated more or less on a par with the master, and on small farms to feed at the communal table. It would be thought highly snobbish to attempt to relegate one's labour to the kitchen, and were a picnic contemplated the country maid would feel deeply hurt if not included."

"Wages are probably higher in New Zealand than anywhere else. A farmhand received, when the writer left last May, about 13s a day. and his 'keep' was reckoned at between 15s and 20s a week. Compare that with the black labour o( Africa. True, one New Zealander would probably do the work of three natives, but even so 'labour' works out very expensively | in New Zealand. Workers' Standard ;f Livuiff "No, it is doubtful whether the workers' standard of - living is anywhere higher in the world, and for that the employer has. in good measure, to pay. It is not unusual even on large stations to find the mistress of the house doing a great part ol' the housework herself. "New Zealand boasts not a single millionaire, nor any who are starving. Wealth is far more evenly distributed I than in Africa with her gold and diamond magnates. "Again, in New Zealand one does not give orders, at least not ostensibly. It is more politic to proffer suggestions: the pill is more palatable coated with sugar. "As a Welsh co-il millionaire, visiting New Zealand in his palatial, private yacht some years ago, pithily remarked: 'Order a New Zealander to do a thing and he does nothing; ask him, and he does far more than you asked him.' "

After discussing the geographical disability of New Zealand and taxation, Mr Bright finds room for two paragraphs about New Zealand's scenery.

"To the sojourner in Africa, tired of droughts or weary of floods whose eyes yearn for a change from the