IF IT WERE TRUE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 355, 17 October 1932, Page 2

IF IT WERE TRUE

N.Z PICTURE ENGLISlf PAPERS I13LLYIC - VISION OF THE DOMINION. CHEQUE BOOK FOR ALL. Under the heading "An Up-to-date Country," appears an artiele on New Zealand in the "Herne Bay Press," a leading Kentish newspaper. Either England's balmy summer air had in- ; duced an idyllic state of mind in the ; writer, or he had not the f aintest id'ea of the subject he had in h'and, hut the fact remains that even the most pa'triotic New Zealander could scarCely agree with the Utopian picture that the winter has conjured up. "In New Zealand, says the artiele, "even the poorest honses are on the telephone, for which privilege they pay only a ""small yearly sum, while there are no calls for which extra fees have to be paid. The people are more up-to-date than we are, and would tell us" that we are 50 years hehind the times." The writer goes on to speak of the rates in the Dominion, which, h"e says, are very low, being "only about £2 per annum on the small houses." This was aecounted for by the fact that the Government ran all the public services at a profit. "The post-office also do banking business and issue cheque books. Everybody possesses one, as it is the usual thing for all payment to b6 made by cheque. A New Zealander would tell you that there are no poor people in his country. "The people all Work hard and are proud of this fact. Their aim in life is to own their own house and to build it. They all call the Old Country "Home," and one of their aims is to savs up enough money to take a trip to England. The gas companies, too, are public benefactors. If one pays the gas. bill Within a month, more than half the amount is returned as a reward for prompt payment." According to the artiele, there are beautiful rivers running through most of the towns, and many people spent their leisure hours fishing for the "salmon, trout ,and dog-fish with which the rivers ahound!" "The natives use the hot springs for cooking their dinners," the writer continues, "plunging a billy-can into the water, taking it out when the contents are ready to eat. Their favourite sport seemed to he to catch eels, which they did by digging their toes into the sand and pulling the eel up with them. They were hung around their huts to dry and when needed, a chunk ' of dried eel is cut off and dinner prepared." Our chief exports, apparently, are corn, meat, wool, flax and wood for furniture, while they also tapped the trees for gum, or dug it from the roots in large lnmps and as clear as amber." Greenstone, too, is worn a good deal, as it "looks like a precious stone." "The people are. very hospitable," the artiele says at the finish, "and delight in showing their houses, works and possessions to newcomers from Home to demontrate how far advanced they are."