FROM THE PHILIPPINES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 313, 29 May 1911, Page 2

FROM THE PHILIPPINES.

IMPRESSIONS OF A VISITOR. Mr. R. C. Baldwin treasurer of the city I of Manila (Philippine Islands), who was' captured by an interviewer while spend- I ing one day in Christchuvch, had noth-1 ing but praise for New Zealand and all that belongs to it. He recently made a Hying tour"of Australia, and was warned there that lie would find the Dominion a cold and cheerless country, suffering from the effects of a dry season. Had it not been for the glowing prospects opened up for him by Mr. 11. J. Manson, the agent of the New Zealand Tourist Department in Melbourne Mr. Baldwin declares it is very unlikely that he would have visited this country at all. Mr. Manson, however, was quite a ''champion booster," and overcame any objections Mr. "Baldwin felt inclined to raise without any difficulty. The evidences of] a dry season, as prophesied by his Australian friends, were conspicuous by t.'ieir absence. Wherever Mr. Baldwin trav-1-led in the Dominion he was pleasurably siir]ui>ed to find the country looking so well and prosperous. The cold weather he had been warned of had not put in an appearance, the climate approximating that of the "fall" in the United States. Mr. Baldwin said he was particularly interested in State or municipal ownership of such public utilities as the telegraph and telephone services and tramway and railroad systems. Ilis experience of such services under direction of private corporations had led him to expect nothing but overbearing insolence from the employees in such service, but in New Zealand lie was agreeably sur-. prised by the courtesy and politeness shown him on every hand. "If I had been the President of the United States," he said, "I could not have been treated with greater consideration." In regard to his own city of Manila Mr. Baldwin said it had a population of 00/000 and was governed by a board of five aldermen, three of whom, including the president, were appointed by the United States Government. The question of street-paving was apparently as important in Manila just at present as it was in Christchureh. The intense heat and the frequent heavy rains rendered the use of wood block paving out of the question in Manila, and at present the city authorities were experimenting with macadam and asphalt on the lines suggested here. It was proposed to lay a thick foundation of macadam, covered with a layer of gravel, and top dressed with tar and sand.

Questioned in regard to the rumors extant as the .Japanese designs on the Philippines, Mr. Baldwin said this was a matter on which he could not speak with authority. He had no informations regarding Japanese intentions, and lie considered the newspapers had invented a great many startling theories and put them forward as facts. The United States Government was spendino very large sums of money in fortifying the harbor of Manila, but there was no secret about that. Anybody could go and have a look at the forts who cared to do so.