THE PIONEERING SPIRIT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22512, 21 September 1938, Page 8

THE PIONEERING SPIRIT

OPPORTUNITY SEEN IN DOMINION AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN'S VIEWS "If I were a. youngster I would come to New Zealand or if I were one of the unemployed in America I would come here—though of course*you do not want our unemployed now,' said Mr A. H. Bruner. an American businessman of Des Moines, lowa, who with Mrs Bruner and their four daughters, is visiting Christchurch during a world tour. He said that there must be something wrong with the mentality of the world at large that the pioneering spirit could not get a grip : in New Zealand again and empirebuilding be begun on the same scale j as it had gone on in America. He ] sav great possibilities in New Zealand for opening up new country as it had been opened up in the United States, j where it was now practically all occupied. Mr Bmner declined to give any ; opinion on New Zealand legislation, ] but said that the idea in the Dominion ] seemed to be that when there was a 40-hour week no service should be r given after the men had worked their j 40 hours. Hours had been reduced to < practically 40 under the -National Recovery Administration in America, but services had been so arranged that , they were carried on as before. He ] said, too, that the 40-hour week had j not lasted in America. When a man i refused to work more than his 40 hours to learn more about his job the em- , ployer decided to impose the minimum wage on him or to get rid of him and take on a man at the mini- ' mum wage. , Mr Bruner added, however, that his visit was for educational purposes and \ not to study business or politics. He was : interested in the people of the country ; and their views, and had spent much of his time with his family in the country hearing what farmers, miners, and other workers had to say. He was interested, too, in the natural scenery, the birds, and the flora, and considered that it mattered little in the long run what political conditions were. Both he and Mrs Bruner had regretted see- j ing trees being felled along the road- I sides on the West Coast. They won- i dcred if it were being done merely ' to provide work. "If the natural beauty of the coun- 1 try were preserved and central heat- i ing were provided in the hotels New ] Zealand would be flooded with Ameri- ' can tourists," said Mrs Bruner. Mr Bruner added that after a quick ( journey from inland America, with its ] heat, dry winds, dust, and spft coal, so quick that the traveller might have ■ had the winged heels of Mercury or ridden on Pegasus it was a shock to come to the cooler climate of New Zealand and find that there was no i central heating. . i Both Mr and Mrs Bruner said that they were struck by the graciousness and hospitality of New Zealand people.