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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1241, 9 April 1880, Page 2

.Mb. Smyttie, the " travelled" agent of shows varied and numerous, displayed his accustomed "cuteness •when he, an for the Cook tourists, asked the Government to reduce the fares on the railways for the visitors who were about to favor New Zealand by including it in the line of tour. What benefit New Zealand is likely to derive from this thoughtful patronage we fail to see. " Oh," says the clever little agent, " You forget that these travellers who will travel tinder our auspices will include a number of capitalists in search of land." Just so. We sujv I pose that the minister for Public ! Works, who had the pleasure of witnessing the generous countenance and listening to the 'cuteness of this king amongst agents liad anticipated some such argument. But we don't want any capitalists to buy land. The fact is we liave no land to selL There is not

enougli to satisfy the capacious maws of some of our own colonists. Again, even if tourists were desirous of purchasing land, and there was land for them to piircha.se, judging from what we have heard of these Cook tours on the Continent of Europe, we think that they "will be whizzed through the Colony' as fast as our railways can carry them, and will have little inclination or opportunity for thinking about anything else than their own personal discomfiture. They are allowed jusfc sufficient time to tarry in the various places they visit to imbibe erroneous impressions. VVe recollect that the London Charivari some years ago published an excellent skit on these Cook tours and their effects. That publication represented a hero just returned from "doing the Continent" at the extravagant cost of L 5, with features all aglow and in graphic language telling the story of his startling adventures. " Did you see the Dardanelles 1" pertinently cut in one of his muchinterested audience. " Aw, yes," was the reply, " Jolly fine fellows ; dined with them at Vienna." Exeunt omnes.