NEW ZEALAND PRAISED

Evening Star, Issue 22447, 18 September 1936, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND PRAISED

CANADIAN STATESMAN'S TOUR EQUIPMENT FOR REAL NATIONHOOD STATE SERVICES ALSO LAUDED Possessing the polished diplomacy of the statesman, the geniality of the great, and the power to observe the small and the big in everything about him, the Right Hon. R. B. Bennett, a former Prime Minister of Canada and now Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons, is finding much about New Zealand and her people to interest him during his tour of the Dominion. He is at present in Dunedin, where, as in other centres he has visited, he has created a deep impression with those with whom he has come in contact in his quest for knowledge. • Now 66 years of age, Mr Bennett is reputed to be a very wealthy man, having made very successful investments in the West, where he settled' after a period of school teaching, and his bonhomie and tolerance suggest that Horace was correct when he said there was nothing p’referable to a bachelor’s life. As a visitor, Mr Bennett diplomatically declined in an interview with the ‘ Evening Star ’ this morning, to be drawn on any subject savouring of the contentious—and most political questions are in that category—but he was frankly generous in his praise of New Zealand and its State services. As his wide interests in New Zealand had given him first-hand knowledge of the Dominion’s primary and secondary industries, Mr Bennett was asked to comment on them in their relation to trade with his country. The greatest difficulty to be faced, he said, in the drawing up of a trade agreement between Canada and New Zealand lies in the fact that both countries produce to a considerable extent the same commodities. There was an earnest desire on the part of Canadians to trade within the Empire, and the only obstacle with New Zealand was the establishment of a working basis. In none of the overseas_ dominions was there a warmer feeling towards New Zealand than in Canada, where New Zealanders held a high place in esteem and regard.

An ardent believer in the British Empire, Mr Bennett once said at . Quebec; “ There are those who speak with bated breath of Imperialism. But just ask yourselves: What would the world be to-day without the British Empire? And then ask yourselves whether the destinies of this Dominion can best 'be worked out as part of the Empire or separate from it. Foreign relations are bound up with Imperial relations. Are we to claim separate independent nationhood and yet look to another nation to defend us? Every time you send a cargo of merchandise abroad you have to face that question.” “ 1 am greatly impressed by the progress of New Zealand, and I have been gratified,” said the Imperialist to-day,' ‘‘ to observe such devotion to the Crown on the one hand, and such an acceptance of the responsibilities of nationhood on the other as exist in this country. I do think you present remarkable evidence of the future in store for you by the type of boys and girls in attendance at your schools. They constitute the new generation and the ideal equipment for real nationhood.” CONTROL OF PUBLIC UTILITIES. Paying a tribute to the administrations which had been responsible for the development of the reading system in New Zealand, Mr Bennett said the roads were remarkable. He also expressed amazement and delight with the power development in New Zealand. At Araronni there was an excellent illustration of the extent.to which the forces of Nature could be utilised to serve the necessities of men. In Canada there were larger schemes, but few, if any, m which _ the community requirements for electric current, light, heat, and power were made accessible so readily to the whole countryside. He bad been struck, said Mr Bennett, by the use of electric power in milking plants. For all purposes, from what he could learn, it was being supplied, too, at a most reasonable cost. This led the interviewer to question Mr Bennett on the ownership of public utilities in Canada. In Toronto, he replied, the transportation system was owned by the city and was carried on under a commission. In Montreal, the tramways were conducted by private enterprise. In Ontario, the hydro-electric commission supplied current to many municipalities and to a large section of the country, but private companies were alsO' engaged in the production of electrical energy'. In Quebec, private enterprise practically controlled electricity. In some parts of Canada, public utilities were still owned and controlled by private interests; in other parts, they were controlled through municipalities or through commissions set up by provincial governments. “ The Government, as you know, is a Federal unit of nine members,” said Mr Bennett. When the Federation was accomplished in 1867, the then great political leaders desired to form a legislative union, _ but, for reasons tbat had to do with treaty obligations and other questions_ arising out of the protection of the rights of the minorities, it was impossible to effect a federation of the provinces except through a Federal Union. At the moment there is a general feeling that we have too much Government m school districts, in cities, in municipalities, county and township councils, and Provincial and Federal Governments. But the method of effecting a remedy is‘not at the moment apparent.” SINGLE LEGISLATIVE UNIT. New Zealand, he had been told, had taken early steps, for which it should be grateful, under present circumstances, for the abolition of the provincial governments and the establishment of a single legislative body to deal with the problems of the country. Whether or not the government would be so simple when New Zealand had a population of 10,000,000 would bo a question to be dealt with by the citizens of the future, and not by the visitor of the present, be remarked with a smile. . When chatting appreciatively ot the amenities provided in New Zealand, Mr Bennett looked out of the window of his sitting room at the Grand Hotel and, pointing to the new Post Office, commented; ‘ ‘ There is a State building which would be highly creditable in a city with a million and a-half people.” “ The citizens agitated for that building for years and have been very patient,” Mr Bennett was informed “ Which is an application in another form of Carlyle’s aphorism that constant vigilance is the price of liberty,” commented Mr Bennett.