LATE CITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 527, 3 December 1928, Page 13

LATE CITY

hklasTterm haßßO u r board chairman M r. MACKENZIE RETURNS Th , first thing Mr. H. R. Macmi. did on his return from a jj tour to-day was to anmu nee his [m"'Auekland‘ Harbour Board. Mr Mackenzie stated on the Nla- ‘ * that this will be his last term 2 f office as chairman of the board. He

will not stand for re-election, except perhaps as a member. The chat with Mr. Mackenzie was necessarily a short one. A launch loaded with members of the Harbour Board, the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, ,nd other personal friends, went out the Niagara and the popular Auck,nder was taken ashore. “Auckland has nothing to learn about her harbour or harbour management/' said Mr. Mackenzie. •*| do not say that in any boasting spirit. The Auckland Harbour is as up-to-date as any in the world.” During his travels, which have embraced Canada, the United States, England and Scotland and Europe, Mr. Mackenzie has seen the best harbours on which to base his statement. •The courtesy I have received from every harbour board I visited has been wonderful,” he continued. “They have shown me everything I wanted to see and given me their best.” While in Canada Mr. Mackenzie was able to watch the quick handling of large quantities of grain and to see the control of traffic on the St. Lawrence River. He also made a personal tour of inspection of the London docks. “Don't worry about England,” he said in answer to a question about affairs at Home. Lngland is as good to-day as slio has ever been. She lias plenty of money. Things are quiet there at present, but they will improve. England is now getting up-to-date methods in order to compete with the rest of the world —and she can do it. "Another thing,” he continued, British capital is invested in every country of the world, and I am satisfied that that is why England is not working with the colonies with regard to protection.” In giving an instance of this, Mr. Mackenzie said that he visited the shipbuilding yards of John Fairfield and John Brown. Each firm had 10.000 men working to capacity. Yet the steel required for the ships they were building came from Belgium. Mr. Mackenzies contention was that with protection that steel could have been made in England, thereby providing work for a large number of men. "There is one thing England must do,” he said, “and Lliut is to wake up and develop her trade within the Empire. If she does not do this she will discover that the colonies will find markets for their produce in other parts of the world.” New Zealand stands very high in the estimation of the rest of the world, said Mr. Mackenzie. Tier Government and her honesty are accepted and appreciated everywhere.