TOUR OF THE WORLD

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 78, 26 December 1907, Page 6

TOUR OF THE WORLD

MR.'JOHN DUTHIE INTERVIEWED '' THINGS SEEN IN MANY fcANDS. ■ MANUFACTURING DE\T3LOPMENTS'. ' -PBOBLEMS OF THE FAE EAST. Mr. John Duthie, who landed from tho Wimiuera on", Tuesday, has been in England and .Scotland, Franco and Germany, Canada, Japan',' China, 'an'd'lie Philippines, since lio left Wellington in February last. Some parts of his harvest of-iobservation and reflection woro transferred.to tho. notebook of,a Dominion reporter' oil 'tho evening after his arrival.. ■ '■'-"" f,'-'''-'?' ' . ■ "The primary object of my trip," said Mr. Duthie, "was,connected with the business of my"'comjp'ariy. I h'.avo always held that it is'adVisaHo buying'office of the -company ovbry-five-or six years. I spent three'months tlieroj'and then. I devoted a month tft visiting a number of .manufacliiflch, struck with tho development t.hut has takeij placo in the methods of the 'metal mamifacturers. For instance, in many of the works the charging of: the furnaces by 'hand, which has always seemed tp'-nfo a^tasbbf'great cruelty to the men , en'gaged,.'itl'it,-haSf.))e'en superseded by mechanical devices, so- that the furnaces are charged by a youth perched on top of the ■framework"which..carries'the machinery. The old way I 'of 'doing the''thing will soon be altogether abolished: , A groat many of the iron.woris have. ;;been entirely rebuilt , and re- ' modelled -'during" recent years, and mechanical appliances are. ; being used to qtiito-. a .wonderful.extent. ;--.•••■ ..■''■■ /'•;:.•'■' ' : -r; ;-....'■ ! ; .'- , ■ • ■ . A; Motor Trip/. , ; ""'"Having'cbmpleted'these business objects, I .procured,,a, motor car, and travelled, with 'frionds,': somo 3000' miles. No. one who has travelled only by rail has any adequato con■ception'.of the beauty of England. Thero are"places, s'uch as Lynmouth, witlrits beautiful, wooded gorges, equal to anything to.be.seen;in-Scotland. .We motored through the-"• manufacturing- districts of Wales and -also' ; I interior of tho principality,■ passing ■ through villages where the. people ■ do not" understand 'English.: I returned in 'time'tp'reach Benloy for tho regatta, and ■afterwards went' north and spe'nt sonic weeks in Scotland:" ThereV'by the courtesy of Mr. Dmilop, managing director of the film which built the Lusitania, I was allowed, with a friend,. to inspect "that noble ship. I also paid frequent;,visits' to London. Up the Rhine. | . ; . . ;." jfest ,1, crossed !.to the Continent, and went up the Rhine, as far. as Rudersheim,,to ■soo .the-country-and. visit tlio great monuliipnt .erected byithe Germans, in. commemo.riition of ..their -victory in IS7O over, tho French. This monument stands, on a .fino .commanding site,.and as a , work of art is the .admira'tion.' ofiEurope. -. It is worthy of tho great , : German''nation., Life-size figures .representing soldiers of the various regiments engaged-.in -the' , -war are scKJptured in bold 'relief on'tlie'sides,of the nionuuient." Canada and t its. Progress. ; ■ ', "■■B«t..;nierp i . sightseeing was not'enough for Mr-. Duthip... ■.■Ai'tor..a.short stay in.Paris, lib' crossed the ..Atlantic* in . tho -Oceanic,; and .pßssed'-ou from- New York..to Toronto.' He iwa'sjdesirous df ! judging for himself as.to the prospective; mariufacturiiig development .-of the' Dominion, of Canada. , Ho found, that some of the works 4vero very extensive, and their, included the latest invention's. .This was tho base with the. nail works arid wire mills, .which were driven by. electrical power derived from one of the adjacent .rivers. .The principal source of power at TS'roiito'is' ; .', the 'Niagara Falls, 'to which the city owes' also its' electric light. ,

■...."I ..was..,very-"much disappointed -indeed," said Mr. Duthio, '.'with the. country beyond Toronto,' to_ within; a short distance of' Winnipeg;.'.; Tho ..wheat'was in stook as we passed through, and the crops did not seem to me nearly as' : heavy as'we are accustomed to sec in Canterbury, But the great area 1 of available ' country 'must',' : as everyone knows, en•ablo" those parts' of the\Dominion of Canada tp-bo ihc .granary of the world for! many years'.to , ,; '. , i re,■■ •■■ • '■;„:' •■ ■ '.'-.•• ~■/ . Bca'utJf ill Japan..."... ,' i' "passing.,through and going on ,to Japiin, wo-went as far north as 53 degrees latitude and met with some cold and miserable' weather/ but we were fortunate to ar-■.rivp-in Japan, at-.tho, season when the maples. were at their b'qst.,.in some districts. The gorgeous-.beauty, of jtjiij hillsides, as \ye journeyed tO'Lake-.Chienzo, beyond Nikko, was a sight to be long remembered. Wo saw many temples which were very grand and richly ornamented; "--but. the ornamentation was so universal,-, and the temples were so numerous, thaU^we^ "grew, .rathor, tired- of thorn. . I took ratlier , oxtbhsivo notes o\ my Observations in Japan, and some time, when I havo leisure, , I inujj: put them into shape." r <al Anxiety. 1 , ~' r •' . ' yoned as to tho politics and commerce V9i, Mr. D.Uthieisaid ho had madecarci enquiries on ,thesje..,s.ubjects,-.and' he found r t there was everywhere considerable anx-

is to the financial future of'the country.

jo elfect-was..to |b'o t . seen hi the curtailment ot (joverrim , en6 ,: 'ex'peßditure and the reduc-

' ,oa of the Estimates-for the ensuing year. M!in : a.cquiitry-.whero there is no,virgin land to'-.be opened-:up," ,said .Mr. Duthie, "and where 7 the''.coolies are earning only 7£d., a ; is appalling. * Taxa-■tionmeetjs-you at'every turn, and one must •aspect' jjhat.'.wiih' the cessation of loan ex'.pßiit!ittircJ)';]iiFq..'iiVill]..be very difficult indeed .for., thejabourjng glasses, The cost (if living , i.s.'.lp\v-,,\sinc'o. rice 'fish; and vegetables arp the ordinary..ioodj..but.,on this faro the peoplo 'are"undoubtedly an'active and sturdy race. .The,;endurance'of the rickshaw men is almost incredible, and' tho wholo people seem to lie, ihj'aiveft';vigorous: state of mind and .bbUyl,'.' . .Eyerjbqd'y. is apparently impressed j.with,the,idea ;that.,lie. hns a duty in life, ■which< he is-cagerly pursuing. There are no loafers, ancl no..beggars. Men work as if for the common ■ good .jmd to • assist their employersl ,tb/ : develop -the manufactures of the country;". ■'■ '','•'■•' ■ Ousting the; British; Flag. ; '■•• ; " ; There--afosix' of'seven large shipbuilding and engineering yards, one of which I visited, and was ,, , .courteously shown over. It was They wero building largely for China, and two gunboats had just been launched., at Kobe when wo arrived there. ' ' ' : ' ' ,' " ! " The "..Japanese aro engrossing all the coastal "trade of- China, Manchuria, aiul. Korea, and they aro also running a fleet of 6000-t6n steamers fortnightly to London and Europe,.,and,another lino to Now York. They are riot only carrying imports toWapan, but' they••■'aro i also absorbing a.great deal of the transhipment business which has hitherto been ""done , ,.'at' Shanghai, mainly by English companies. The' Japaiieso work so much moro cheaply than is possjblo for British shipowners that they will undoubtedly to a .yory great extent remove the carrying trado of tho_.East.from under tho British flag."

Dull Peklri. •-■'... Passing .on to- China, Mr.' Duthio visited Pekhij which he found somewhat unattractive. He concluded that it was owing to an unfavourable season that tho wido alluvial flats surrounding tho city looked so bare and inhospitable. Ho was, howovcr, fortunato in witnessing 1 the celebrations of the Dowager Empress's , birthday. This, with visits to th'o Teniplo of Hoavon and the Foreign Legations, comprised tho most interesting features of his short sojourn in tho Chinese capital. Qα passed onto Tientsin, Shanghai, Hongkong, and Canton. The question of the development of China by the Chinese was being vigorously discussed. China May Sleep Again. ■■""The movement in favour of providing Chinese capital to construct tho railways which nro now recognised as essential to .tho well-being of tho Empire, was much in ovi' donee," -said' 'Mi. .Duthio. "Whether they, will ' really find tho capital is very doubtful, as indeed is everything connected with China. , At the same time, the couiji-T; enormous mineral wealth,

and if tho desire for progress really took hold of it, as has been tho enso in Japan, tho supplies that it could nut upon tho markets would ho foil; throughout-Christendom. Moreovor, China is carefully training her army. At present there- aro about 200,000 men receiving military instruction from European ojficers. Hut spurts of progress have- occurred before Tho old inertia may re-assert itself, and China may go to sloop again. Japan is different. In a very few years all tho foreign residents will, thero can bo very little doulit, be. starved out of that country, hut China -will, for many years, offer a legitimate field for enterprise. Meanwhile,-' Japan will be making a bid for tho trade of India, and in Japan itself every calling in life is being filled by Japanese But China is very much slower. ThQ Pleasant Philippines. On the way back to New-Zealand, Mr. Duthie looked in at tho Philippine Islands, which struck him as a very desirable placo of •residence Ho saw tb'o largo cooling chambers erected by the United Stiitea Government, and available for tho use of tho public. He. found that these chambers wore .largely used for tho food supply of tho troops, both American and native, and that Australia had secured a largo share- of tho produce trade