EDITOR FROM HAWAII.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1874, 7 October 1913, Page 8

EDITOR FROM HAWAII.

TALK WITH MR. HUME FORD. HANDS ROUND THE PACIFIC. ! GROWING MOVEMENT. c Mr. Alexander Hums Ford, wlio t speaks before tlio Now Zealand Club ] this afternoon, is editor of tho "Mid- f Pacific Magazine," an illust-ratea monthly published at Honolulu, in the interests of all tho Pacific countries. Ho bears official letters from tho Governor of Hawaii and from the Honolulu Chamber of Commence, besides being— with Governor Walter P. \Frear, of f Hawaii, and Mr. Percy Hunter, of ' Sydney—a delegate of tho "Haads [ round the Pacific movement" to secure the co-operation of all tho Pacific Gov- j ernments and commercial bodies look- , ing towards tho establishment in New York City of a Pan-Pacific Tourist ] Bureau and Commercial Museum. In appearance, speech, and manner, Mr. Ford is a typical American. Our Tourist Bureaux. j Speaking to a Dominion reporter on ] Saturday morning, Mr. Ford said: "Our ] movement began live years ago, when I - was commissioned by Governor Frear ] to study and report on the methods of , the Government Tourist Bureau of New j Zealand. _ I then visited your country, | and carried- back to Hawaii tho plans ] for outdoor work, and they have sinco , been adopted. You have taught us a 1 great deal, and after five years I havo j returned to noto which of your projects i has proved the most successful. Frank- ] ly the tiling that struck mo most was i that,somehow you are not exactly pull- i ang together as we have learned to do. ] Private Excursion Cars. In Honolulu, if we wish to arrange for an excursion for tourists or ourselves, wo can at any- time charter an ongine_ with one or a dozen cars from the railway and charge our own rates. Every week-end, however, our railway ■ runs a n cheap excursion fare, about a penny a mile, tho round trip over tho entire line. You can leave Honolulu on Friday and return 011 Monday morning if you wish. Tho railways work in perfect accord with the people. Our Provincial Rivalry. _ "I was more than astonished," continued Mr. Ford, "at the growth of 'Auckland. In five years the city seemed to have doubled in sizo. The tourist bureau, however, maintained but one-man in its offico. I expected to find several.' There seems to bo a rivalry between Auckland and Wellington. _ I cannot understand it. Ei America evray New Yorker advises tho. visitor to see Washington. Wo are proud of our capital and wish people to soe it. In Washington, on the other hand, everyone advises you to Roe Now York, and' that should bo tho spirit here. Napier's 30,000 Club. "At Napier I discovered a very lively 30,000 Chilli It is odd .how this idea travelled from Honolulu to Napier. In Honolulu wo organised a, Hundred Thousand Club, and Mr. Percy Hunter came through, seized tho idea,, and 1 organised a Million. Club in Sydney. Then Napier, hearing of this, organised a 30,000 Club to advertise Napier. Now, if that club could only charter a train when it wished to and invite you Wellington people to visit them, wouldn't it bo splendid? Soon the independent booming club of Now Plymouth would be doing tho same and then thero would bo excursions to and from Wellington in every direction. And why not ? Tho Get-together Movement. "In Wellington I mado a discovery and that was that there is a desiro on tho part of the railways, the tourist peojjlo, the 6tcam ship companies, and the independent boomers to get together and all work for New Zealand, but no one dares to cut the red tape that exists somewhere. AVo began snipping our red tape in Hawaii long ago. The most effective way is to got your officials and directors out at lunches with the people and talk things over. Wo soon como to an understanding. Tho independent boosting organisations, springing up in New Zealand, clearly indicate that the people wish their tourist bureau to have more power. Now South \Vales studied New Zealand's methods and went you one better. Thero they passed the steam roller over tho man who stood between the Tourist Department and the railways working together, with tho result that the tourist bureau has runnors in every direction in Sydney arranging railway excursions. You have a now man in power now and lie can make his n.imo beloved bv ovef-y tourist and by you New Zealanders. Let your railways and your tourist bureaux pull together and don't forget tho steam ship companies. The Coffin and the Sledge-hammer. In Hawaii each island organised its own Board of Trado or Chamber of Commerce, and each island accused Honolulu of "knocking," that is, advising tourists not to visit the other islands. Honolulu was spending tho money to advertise' Hawaii. One bright day Hilo, tho metropolis of tho big island of Hawaii, woke up to tho fact that it might pay her to put out a littlo money advertising her charms instead of merely accusing Honolulu of "knocking." Now, in Honolulu, thero is an advertisement club. Its members meet every Wednesday at a 110011 lunch to discuss ways of advertising Hawaii. AYhen Hilo" placed her first advertisement in tho Honolulu papers the Advertisement Club unanimously decided to charter a steamer and go up to Hilo and givo hor tho glad hand of fellowship. . The railways and steamship company reduced their fares one-half each —they worked together—and tho thing was. a success. At tho banquet given tho Advertisement Club by the Hilo Board of Trade, a coffin was brought in bearing the remains of a largo sledgehammer, and with appropriate ceremonies it was ■ ljuried in tho public square, while the people of Honolulu and the people of Hawaii pledged themselves never again to "knock" each other. A month later the Hilo Board of Trade visited tho Honolulu Advertisement Club, and carried back with it a beautiful tombstone appropriately inscribed, which has been placed over the grave of the hammer. Then tho islands of Maui and Kauai began to wake up to tho get-togother movement, and a convention was held in Honolulu, while the great exclusivo Chamber of Commerce thero and the larger Merchants' Association made overtures to each other, and tho adjoining island bodies to get tonother in one big or--1 ganisation to pull together, with tho ono motto, "Everything for Hawaii. Hands Round the Pacific. Now Hawaii is merely a littlo human ; oxp'enmont station whero wo try out these things, but the fellowship feol--1 ing is spreading around the Pacific and . beyond. Tliero is a Hands Across the i Pacific Club in London, one in Sydi nev, another in Chicago, with nearly 1 000 members, and the 0110 in Honolulu with a membership composed of the > native sons of every country about tho . Pacific, arid wo work in perfect har- . mony Tor tho interests of the Pacific. 1 The "Mid-Pacific Magazine" was starti ed three years ago to tell the world by article and picture somelhingof intcr- > est concerning each of the Pacific lands, ■ Ti'utl in three fears Now Zealand has .novor boon omitted from auy aumbor,