THE HON. JAS. ALLEN

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1769, 6 June 1913, Page 5

THE HON. JAS. ALLEN

FACTS ABOUT HIS MISSION. PROSPECTIVE DEVELOPMENTS. EDUCATION. AVIATION, AND . FINANCE, The Il.on. .Tas. Allen, furnished a Dominion . reporter who interviewed hiin last evening with sonio intcrostiiig- facta and impressions gathered during the visit to Great Britain. and tho Contiwiit o£ Europe, from which ho lias just returned. Olio of the first matters touched upon was that of the exchange of visits between representatives of tho different countries ot tho Empire. This is a development of Imperial lifo which 111'. Alton expects to extend uselully in many directions, 110 mentioned that ho had strongly advised some _of the political leaders in Great Britain to visit the oversea Dominions. "I told them," said the Minister, "that they would learn something by coming out, and would teach us a great deal if they would oome. I think sonio of them will come. They aro becoming very, much more interested in Dominion and arc 'beginning to realiso that they ■ must tako a closer interest in these affairs than they liavo douo in tho past. Visits . to tho oversea Dominions by British 1 statesmen would .produce a mutual benefit. Our idoas would bo broadened, and they would learn at first hand' wiiat our aspirations were." Tho benefits to ba gamed by an exchango of visits, Mr. Allen went on to remark, do not apply only to politicians and statesmen. New. Zealand has already exchanged an officer with Australia, and Mr. Alleni hopes to arrange a similar exchango with Can» ada. In a small way, tho policy of temporarily exchanging school tcacheri has been, initiated within tho Dominion', Mr. Allen hopes that this, too, ns well as a policy of exchange in regard to military officers, may broaden. out into an Imperial system. Educational Methods, Regarding his inspection of tho Moa« tessori system of infant instruction at Eome, Mr. Allen remarked that in tliia matter New South Wales had established a good lead. A lady who travelled to Homo by the samo ship as Mr. Allen had been dispatched by tho New South Wales Government to inquire on the spot into tho working of the system. Under tho methods of child tuition which aro cm- . ployed by Dr. Maria Montcssori, all tho senses of the child, touch, taste, smell, and so forth, and its individuality ara called into pla.v. Tho idea is that the child shall instruct itself by handling and playing with tile material which is. supplied in great variety. The child is encouraged to develop in-, itiativc. The Minister was careful to add that ho did not wish to exaggerate I tho importance of tho Montcssori system, Its principal value was in giving infants a good start upon tlieir educational careers. Lately the. system has been, applied in the education of eomewliat older children, both in Homo and in New South Wales, but tho results have not m yet been made public. Tho Minister also gathered some useful information in his visits to primary and trado schools in Great Britain. "I think it would be wise," he remarked, "to introduce into our training colleges liero more experimental work oil scientific lines. Ecsnlta of great value might, be attained, and in. any caso tho very fact'that experimental work was being carried on would 6upply a. useful stimulus and impetus." Possibly, lib added, ho might bring tho mattor boforo his colleagues in Cabinet, with a view to submitting to proposals for tho introduction into training collegos of scientific experimental methods, which would moke tho work carried 011 in them wucn more | interesting.

The Gift Aeroplane. About tho military aeroplane which ha« been presented to tlio Now Zealand Government, Mr. Allen supplied somo interesting information. It is a Bleriot monoplane, with an eighty • horse-power "Gnome" engine. This, the Minister stated is a French engino of'tho best _ typo. Mr. Allen visited the military aviation park at Farnborough, near London, and accumulated a good deal of information about the presentation monoplane. Ihi» information he will place at the disposal of General Godley. A monoplane of tins type costs from .451200 to £1400. That tho machine presented to New Zealand ha» been thoroughly tried and tested way 1m gathered from tho fact that tho noted aviator Ham*l (lew to Franco in it. 11k flight took plnca just after Mr. Allen left London. Exactly when the aeroplanowill bo dispatched to Now Zealand. Mr. Allen does not know, but ho thinks that it may bo sent off soon. Aviation Prospcds, Mr. Allen was not in a position to say what the future policy of lira Government in regard to tho development of aviation in New Zealand would lie, but some ot tho facts he supplied about the new noroplanfl are in themselves illuminating. J-hp machine, as it is termed in popular parlance, is a delicate piece of mechanism, wluclx could not possibly be entrusted te.amateur# ambitious of experimenting in tlio art of flving. On tk> other hand,. such on up-to-date piece of military equipment as tho aeroplane cannot woll bo stowed away as a whito elephant. Possibly the Government may find it necessary to import olio,or, more export aviators. This was a question ul>on which Mr. Allen declined to speak definitely. He mentioned that at Farnborough experimental work m auation is being carricd out by the i ra jl» l , ar .y authorities upon an extensive scale.. UdcU in tho art of flying are never permitted to practise on a first-class aeroplane. rhey are first of all sent aloft in n loose balloon to study air-currents. In the next stage\ ( the, less valuable aeroplanes lire used m training work, and it is only when the apprentice aviator has acquired a expert knowledge of air-currents and of the uoiking of tho engino which supplies an aeroplane with motive power, that he is permitted to go up in a first-class air-crmser. In talking generally on the s ">3 f aviation, Mr. Allen mentioned the possibility that hydra-planes midit Ik; found valuable ill a country like /jcaianu. After considering the the Minister has brought out, bcnei..! Godlev will report to the Government on tin subiect Mr. Allan mentioned, in passing, that he had lieen in t]io Old Country by two officers who vi eie desirous of undertaking aviation s.-nico m No visitine the military park Mr. Allen paid a visit to the aviation park at TT<*ndoii which is conducted I>y Mr. home White. Here all lmugli the> won Hot conditions were unfavourable, the Minister witnessed several (lights b> innate aeronlanes. Thero is a marked diftovonco, he-stated, between the recklessness of the unofficial aviators niul the cautious and painstaking methods of the military experimenters. Immigration. Questioned on the subject of immigra' tion, Mr. Allen said that wliilo at Home lie conducted numerous inquiries and brought back an immense mass of material which would bo handed over to tho Hon. 11. D. Bell, the Minister in Charge of Immigration. The High Conftnissioner was also collecting information. Tlio existing organisation for obtaining immigrants in England was not good, and Mr, Bull would probably find it necessary to carry out somo reorganisation. "I can't F>ay what ho will do," continued Mr, 4lien, "but I think it very likely that o! lecturer, or perhaps two, may be employed to visit likely district.?. Possibly a member of tho High' Commissioner's staff may bo employed in this capacity, and a lady may be -appointed to act as tlio second lecturer. These, of course, ar« merely possibilities. Another matter calling for attention is that, to a small extent, families, including children who arc feeble-minded, have boon accepted an immigrant*. This was reported to mo by-tho Education Department, after I got to London. The existing law does not sewn to cover this possibility, and Mr. Bell may introduce an amendment, I think ho will." Dcfcncc Training. Before Mr. Allen loft for England ri> ports came from that country which indicated that efforts wore being made by porno people to discredit tlio Now Zealand Defence system. The Minister stated that ho mndo inquiries on the subject while at Homo, and had found that apparently .oalv.pMTO itt JlustouiLJiiul beeu active

. In misrepresenting tho the Dominion. As has alreadyjbeen noted Mr. Allen 'had' a very frucccssnil meeting at Bradford, whoro ho addressed a gwherinc of mill-tends on the subject oF Vetramms. "My experieuico was, tn« Minister remarked, '"tint even tlio factory bands . wanted ■ to know tlio truth about our Defence system, and were pre- ■ pared to hear the story if it were told to them fairly. That is why ttoy listened to me." Tho Bradford meeting was o tvnical esamplo of numerous irioehngs Whiob Mr. Allen addressed dn diilorent parts of England; ,: "

Financial Prospects, , The facts concCTntag the, loantfMdi. Mr. Allen raised m London ,ha*o for the most part already been published, but he supplied some additional, parh"' The ratal amount of the loan fa but of this amount a flum of ap?r° atcIvJVOO.OOO is for repayment oi exist ing loonSj eo that the sum whioli the present dovernmeni ihaa «< National Debt is about Allen remarked - that m a / dlt i,° A n viding for the renewfJ. of some .#OO.OOO, \vorth of stock which tho holders had declined to renew, tho Government, ot™ - ine into office, had been lul , ties aggregating .CG75.000. : This, burden, Le ad® was left by the previous Administration with hardlyahaifpoMyproVided' to meot tho liability. tho source of supply from which the previous Government had expeoted to meottlielia"bility had failed to provido the funds Teauircd, with tho result that the presont Government' was compelled to borrow part of tho money in London. Now, continued,the Minister, I nnd cot -enough to wear this liability ofi and Start afresh with the loanstoJoabodics but wo will have-to go pretty slowly with dt unless the same' source of supply comes hack to 113 again." A recent' Press : Association message from Auckland attributed to Mr. Allen a statement that an annual payment ot ss. 6d. per cont "would wipe out the decent loan in fifty yews. This tfas an obvious error. The Minister stated, when the matter was mentioned to him that the payment of ss. 6(1. per cent would cover interest charges, etc.; m fact, the "whole cost of tho loan apart from repayInent of the capital. Tha same applied to the short-dated loans, raised last year and the jear before. The four and a half million loan raised hy the Mackenzie Government, cost tho country JES 2s. 9d. per cent per annum, exclusive of sinking fund and the five million loan raised by the Ward Government cost itf 12s. 81d. per cent, apart from sinking fund. A .portion of tho latter loan has been coti'verted ■ into a long-dated loan, but this involved additional charges.

'■ CIVIC WELCOME. 'AT THE THOBNDON STATION. A civic welcome was extended to the Jlon. Jaa. Allen on his arrival at Thornjlon station last evening.. Those who attended .included the Mayor (Mr. J. P. I/uke), Mrs. L'uke and Miss Luke, the Hon. P. M. B. Fisher, the Hon. C. H. Mills, Mr. 6. Hogben, Inspector-General of Schools, Mr. It. W. Gilbert, Councillors E. A. Wright, J. Godber, G. Frost, M. F. Luckie, W, H. P. Barber, A. B. Atkinson, and W. J. Thompson, and Mr. J. E. Palmer, Town Clerk. The special faafti conveying tho Ministerial party arrived, at 4.36 p.m. Aboard, besides the Hon. Jas. Allen, wero the Prime Minister and the Hon. W. H. Herries. . The Mayor, on behoJf of the cnizens and councillors of Wellington, extended a right liearty welcome to llr. Allen. # There were! two activities, he said, in which the interests of the Dominiijn, ever since its establishment, had been ;olosely interwoven with those of tlie Old Country. jSrst and foremost ' came finance, and secondly affairs of naval defence. Mr. Allen hadgono Home in a dual capacity. Mid had justified th'a great trust reposed In him % tho people of New; Zealand. In connection with finance, he had established the Dominion In a strong.position. There was no doubt that Mr. Alien, at a critical time in tho history of the Dominion, had built lip for it a strong financial-position-/ He had come tack equally charged "with, responsibility on behalf oi the Dominion in- the matter of naval defence. They would not expect Mr. Allen to say, anything on this subject now, but hoped that no had built up a strong position, for the Dominion in the matter of narnl defence, commensurate with the interest taken ty its people in 1 Imperial questions. The fruits, ot Mr. > Allen's visit! to Great Britain, the Mayor remarked, would operate as a considerable factor in. establishing Mr. Ma-ssey's Government - iia tho Dominion ot JNew Zealand. In conclusion tho Mayor extended a welcome to Mrs. Allen and Mies Allen; and called for three cheers for toe Minister. . ... , These, were heartily given, with, added cheers for Mrs. Allen and Miss Allen. A bouquet of flowers, wfoioh fiad been iirtonded for Mrs. Allen,' waa handed. In heT absence, to her husband. The Minister, in replying, said that it was - very gratifying to him to receive sucli a welcome. Ho thanked the Jlayor, congratulated him upon the high honour conferred upon him by this city, and wished him) a successful term oE ofhee. Mr. Allen apologised for the absenceof Ms wife and daughter, and explained that thery had been so anxious to get home that they had left him at Auckland and gone on at onoe to Diuiedfn. Ho would have on opportunity of speaking to the citizens of Wellington in the course of a .tew, days, ha added. The Prime Minister would also speak on that occasion, and it would bo oi very great pleasure to both of them to tell the oihzens all they opnld it that meeting.. .Ho Jiad riven Mr. Massey his roport of what he had done in London, and tho Prime Minister knew now, or ■would know by the following day, what suggestions lie had to make in'rt-gard to r.aval defeinoo aind finance. He hoped that this country would <toom tho suggestions to be'satisfactory-

A public meeting, at which a formal welcome is to be extended to tho hon. Jas. 'Allon, will be held in the Town Had on En eveming towards the end of (ho.next week, probably on Thursday or I "day. The mooting is' beiu<? organised by the local branch of the Reform Party, which has sot up a sub-committee consisting of Messrs. C. B.' Morison, E. T. Hadfield, and R. W. Gilbert to arrange details. The speakers will includo the Prime Jliaister and Mr. Allen..