CRITICISED TOUR

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 950, 17 April 1930, Page 11

CRITICISED TOUR

RAILWAY DEPARTMENT IN REPLY EMPIRE FARMERS GRATEFUL tniU'A.r L i Al A tin . U lrrs suggestion ;it nI A k '"" '' Pr “' U 't“ nl an<l I’-lf railw ,\ V& :°i Ia V on . !lT s mon,h Dint the Ii i.nV o T paio through New Zealand was simple a commercialised tour,” and the association’s request to the Government for consultation with A. and P. associations - and similar societies in he itineraries of future tours, have been answered by the Railway Dcpartnient. Mr. Carr said he believed the party pnul the department £6,000 for the tour; Wirth’s Circus, for a special believed to have paid onlv £ 0.000. The farmers had been hurried from town to town and the only show they had an opportunity t.* study was Methven—a show scarcely representative of New Zealand. In its statement, the department says the itinerary was arranged under the of the Dominion executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, and. to meet the wishes of farmers’ organisations, visits to the principal farming districts were necessarv. Originally, the itinerary had been submitted to the British National Union, which promoted the tour, and the union signified it-s acceptance. Th.e tour was intended to begin on February 20, but, on account of delay to the liner Remuera, carrying the British party, the party did not reach Auckland until February 25. Farmers’ organisations had already arranged entertainments, and it was not possible to alter the tour. Of the amount charged for the tour, the major portion was spent on hotels and other services from which the department derived no direct benefit. A letter from the secretary to the British National Union to the general manager of the department expressed the party’s appreciation of the “excellent travelling arrangements on your system and the help and the courtesy shown throughout the visit,” and the view that the party would “never cease to be grateful to you personally and your 6taff.”