SIR GEORGE FENWICK.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4798, 12 January 1925, Page 3

SIR GEORGE FENWICK.

RETURNED FROM ABROAD. 1 - IMPRESSIONS OF TOUR. Sir George Fenwick arrived in Wellington by the Main Trunk train on Wednesday last. He arrived in the Dominion shortly before Christmas, after his American and Home tour of! nearly twelve months, and almost immediately joined a camping party hear Te Whaiti, in the Ur ewer a Country, in fulfilment of a promise made before leaving New Zealand. Speaking to a representative of the “Dominion Sir George said the camping at Te Whaiti proved an altogether delightful experience, for the surroundings of the camp were of a i charming character—fine forests of matai, kahikatea, rimu, totara, tawa, and other New Zealand trees, a beautiful stream running over a pebbly bottom close to the camp, native birds in profusion, and good sport for - the anglers of the party in the stream bu the margin of which the camp stood. “Nothing in all my travels,” said Sir George, “appealed to me with quite the same force as this experiencein one of the last places in New Zealand to be made available for . tourists; although very few of them ■ have yet penetrated to the forests and streams and plains of the Urewer.i Country. But it is of my experiences in England and elsewhere you wish me to speak, and not of what I have . seen in New Zealand since I returned. ‘ The subject as a very big one, and I - can only in this short interview 1 pick i out one or two subjects of interest. “Perhaps the most touching and impressive experience of my whole tour was the unveiling, of the New Zealand war memorials at Messines and Passchendaele, the former, by His ’ Majesty the King of the Belgians and the latter by the High Commissioner for New; Zealand, Sir James Allen. There were many military notabilities present on each occasion, every- • one of whom had been active partici•pants in the Great War, and I considered I was highly privileged, in company with a few other New Zealanders, to be present at these-affect-ing ceremonies. It had been my good fortune to be one of a party of Empire journalists who visited the battlefields of .Northern France and Belgium during the course of the war, and the contrast between the. ruined towns and villages and the devastated farming areas of 1918 and their appearance in 1924 was very (striking, for. everywhere there were to be seen the rebuilt towns and the luxuriant crops, everywhere there were evidences -of • prosperity and a population - ■ actively employed in industries and in building operations. Of the ceremonies to, which I have referred I need not speak in detail, for I know that all the New Zealand newspapers had full accounts of them at the time. I need only say they were ceremonies .■-■■y ■ -that will for ever live in my recollection. “As to England and Scotland, and especially as to London, I shall not be accused of exaggeration when 1 'say that never have overseas visitors been treated with such hospitality. With Lady Fenwick I saw a good deal ' of both England and Scotland, and both in the homes of private friends with .whom we stayed at various times and m the’ scores of invitations we received in London the attention we ‘ received will always be remembered with intense pleasure. London was quite wonderful during the whole course of .the great exhibition at Wembley. ‘ People poured into the city literally in millions, and at times it was with the utmost difficulty that accommodation wa<s found for them. “Of the exhibition you have no doubt published full descriptions from time to time, but no accounts of its lastness and wonderful interest could - give -a really adequate idea of it to r those who had not explored its immensity. The Indian, Canadian, and Australian Governments probably carried off the palm as displays, but the New Zealand court, although'smaller, was something of which the Dominion had reason to be proud. There wtus a splendid display of our prim--J ary products—meat, wool , butter, cheese—and many side-lines which helped to show what a prosperous and productive land it is-in which t / New Zealanders are privileged to live. The vast numbers of visitors who thronged’the New Zealand court day by day were evidently deeply interested, and their comments were of a most complimentary character. ’ “I had the opportunity of meeting a good- many distinguished peoplepoliticians, newspaper men, and many other-s, and wap naturally much interested in the political atmosphere of England at the time of my visit. I was in the House of Commons when the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the MacDonald- minority (Mr Snowden) effectively laid any hopes of the advocates of preferential trade within the Empire in a cold-blooded speech, in which there was not one word of regret expressed that he must carry out his adherence to free trade principles to the letter and refuse to al--z low the McKenna duties to continue a A day longer than he could help. To residents of the Dominion, and to the many friends in England of Imperial -preference as affirmed by the Economic Conference, hip speech was listened to with feelings of deep disappointment. The end of the Ramsay MacDonald Government, which came with the triumph of the Conservative- Party at the general election, was received with profound gratification by the financial, commercial, and manufacturing interests of Great Britain. Political feeling ran very high many weeks before the election, and the result was received with sincere relief and gratitude. uj met many old New Zealanders, and many visitors from the Dominion. during the time I was in England. » It was a great pleasure to renew old acquaintanceships, and my wife and I had a thoroughly happy time dur- ■ ing our stay. But we are glad to »e back in New Zealand, and I honestly express the opinion that there is no .part of the world I have visited in which I would sooner spend the rest of my days.”