ROUND THE WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 340, 29 October 1908, Page 7

ROUND THE WORLD.

RETURN OF MR. R. B. WILLIAMS. INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. . THE FINANCIAL DEPRESSION. Mr. R. B. -Williams, of this city, who will contest the Suburbs seat in the Opposition interest, returned yesterday from a seven / months' tour of America ( and England. Mr. Williams went first of all to Vancouver, whence he crosscd tho continent to Toronto, and from there wont to Niagara and Boston, afterwards spending a good deal of time travelling in the United States. Cultured Boston is, in his opinion, the finest city in America; it: is like old London in its charm', and it has a system of parks which probably : is not excelled in any city in tho world. In New York Mr. Williams spent a : fortnight, somewhat against his will. He ■doos not like New York, but ho grants it pre-eminence for sky-scrapers, in'rogard to which it easily- beats Chicago. Tho visitor went, over the 1 Singer Company's building, of 87 stories, and saw another building of 41 stories. Plans have been prepared by tho Equitable Insurance Company for a building of 66 stories, and .Mr. Williams was told that this will cost for plans and architects' fees alone no less than £250,000. Nominating a President. ' From New York the visitor went to Washington en route to Chicago to witness the nomination, in the last-named city, of William H. Taft, as Republican Presidential candidate, 'l'he gathering of 15,000 people, which assembled for this purpose in tho im- ■ mense Auditorium Hall, Chicago, at the end of June, was the greatest he had ever seen, and probably the greatest, Mr. Williams thinks, that ho will ever see, unless he should attend the samo' place again oil a_ similar occasion. In his speech, nominating Mr. Taft,- the Hon. W. H. Burton, member of Congress, said that Mr. Taft came before thenS with tho imprimatur and recommendation of "that most abused, yet best-beloved American, Theodore Roosevelt." "At the mention of Mr. Roosevelt's name," said Mr. Williams, "thore was pandemonium. For a period of at least 25 minutes,; during which it was impossible for Mr. Burton to proceed, or for the, chairman to get order, such cheering continued, wave on wave, now lulling for a : moment, now breaking forth again, as I amjunable to describe, but it had a tremendious effect on me. The effect was simply ■thrilling." Mr. Roosevelt is commonly referred, to; in America -as the third greatest of-the nation's presidents, coming after Washington and Lincoln.

Conversation with Mr. Roosevelt. In Washington Mr. . Williams had a ten minutes' interview with President Roosevelt, to whom he was introduced'by the Minister Plenipotentiary for Great-Britain, the Hon. James Bryce. Mr. Roosevelt said that he took great interest in New Zealand for two reasons. In the first place, he had studied some of the' advanced legislation of this country,' and it< was interesting ,to him .to see what tho ultimate working out of that legis- = lation would be. Secondly, he was interested i in learning more about the way in which the ■ people of this country had dealt with tho . Maori i race. Mr. Williams • suggested that since Mr. Roosevelt had'definitely-decided not ;to-offer himself'for re-election to the Presidenoy, perhaps, when he . had finished his' big-game shooting in South Africa, he would be able to visit this Dominion. .The President replied that. he would like very much to visit New Zealand and Australia, but it would not bo so soon as that. ; Commercial Depression. In Chicago Mr. AVilliams was able to visit such places at Marshall' Field's, probably the greatest drapery establishment in the World,- and tho meat -worksA;'-There was a" great : diminution' of ! trade' t ''wherever ho went in the States, due i; 6 two'causes, the financial trouble of 18 months 'ago and the imminence of the presidential election, whioh always causes a general slackness in industry. It was stated on good authority that 25 per' cont. of the manufacturing industries in the - States were shut down, and Mr. Williams's observations- made the statement credible. , In the great wool and silk manufacturing centres in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and/in' the cotton districts of the south; many of. the mills were closed down, arid others were working only half-time. This stato of things must-continue at any rato till after the presidential • election. England Visited., ' Mr. Williams went to England in the Lusitahia, of 27 knots speed. The wind was blowing half a gale, but the giant steamer did not seem to know how. to roll; only a tremendous vibration was felt; In England he'visited the Exhibition. The New Zealand exhibit was good, he judged, and might have been better had there,- been more room. While he was in i London an unemployed agitation was going on at Glasgow, and the local authoritie's'had to promise to make prompt provision to relieve the distress All up and down the United Kingdom thero seemed to be great unrest among the labouring class, caused by the scarcity of employment. The cotton spinners' . strike, which has since ended, was affecting 150,000 people. Mr. Williams had a delightful trip as far &s Freriiantle in tho P. and O. Company's steamer China, but met with very bad leather between there and Adelaide.'