The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 17, 1912. SOME KINDLY WORDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 301, 17 June 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 17, 1912. SOME KINDLY WORDS.

The average "distinguished visitor" to New Zealand is an irritating circumstance. He generally finds fault with the trains or tke trout, the manners of the inhabitants, the hotels, the weather, or anything else that strikes him. Another type of average visitor stays five minutes, tears off a half-column of ful{some praise, says that we are the greatest and most progressive bunch ol people on the earth, and rushes back to some place that is not half so great and only a third as progressive. When a man who by genius and training is not only eminently fitted to express opinions and well able by the weight of his travel and age to give advice, undertakes cheerfully to do so, we should be very grateful. The Right Hon. James Bryce, one of Great Britain's great mem, and Ambassador at Washington, is in New Zealand, not to teach but to be taught. He says so, and in doing 10 exhibits the humility of the truly great. One of the most cheering things let fall by the right hon. gentleman related to the removal of friction between the people of the United States and those of Britain. He did not say so, but it is to hk personal application to the many points of disagreement between the two countries that trouble has disappeared. Although we in our small corner may not always appreciate the tremendous importance of friendly understanding between two great Anglo-Saxon countries, we must appreciate what a brotherly alliance will mean to Australasia when in the future the fate of the Pacific is to be decided. With little effort of imagination it is possible to see in the Right Hon. James Bryce one of the moet potent forces for peace in the Pacific. He is therefore our very good friend. The statesman's kindly remarks on local body administration were tactful, as became a man who expressed an opinio*. on its excellence after having been sine days in the country. There has never been any doubt about the upright and honest administration by local authorities in New Zealand, the obvious fault being the excessive multiplication of these bodies and the fact that in those cases where men of advanced knowledge and position decline civic service a less useful kind of citizen must be installed. Municipalities are faced with financial problems that make schemes of beautification and improvement difficult to undertake, but Mr. Bryce's insistence j that there is nothing more worthy than the improvement of towns, municipalisation of open spaces and so on, is not based on any emotionalism. It is based on a statesman's estimate of the value of health and contentment among the people of urban areas. Some day public opinion will not permit the presence of slums where open parks might be. We are very glad that a man of Mr. Bryce's eminence and experience should have mentioned the urgent need of reaffores-

tation. His point is that "we are trustees for posterity." The matters touched on by the visitor have each been intelligently discussed many time& in New Zealand, but we are not so sure whether New Zealand values home-made opinion .is highly as the opinion of outsiders who are entitled to express it. Every "car the menace of the disappearing fori.st grows. The flagrant wickedness of continued destruction cannot be overemphasised, and it is only by repeated protest that a national feeling against wastefulness (and worse) can be engendered. As is natural in a man who is familiar with the racial differences' between Anglo-Saxons and Afro-Americans in the United States, Mr. Bryce noticed the assumed equality between Maoris and pakehas, observed the amity between the people, and otherwise took a note of the relations. The obvious difference between racial conditions in the United States and in New Zealand is that in America the transplanted Africans, even under circumstances of inequality, thrive mightily, and are increasingly vigorous, and that in New Zealand, where equality reigns, the Maori does not thrive. Reason? The negro has to toil\for sustenance and to fight opposition. The Maori does not toil to any appreciable extent, has nothing to fight, and dwindles. Practically, the negro of the United States has a better chance and a finer life than the Maori. Mr. Bryce drew comfort from the fact that New Zealand was filling very slowly but with Anglo-Saxons almost solely, saying that it would perhaps have been better for the United States to have filled at a slower rate. But the mixed nature of the United States' population is unquestionably the chief reason for its amazing energy, the constant battle of wits, the variety of ideas, and the wonderful executive ability that becomes a national characteristic by the gradual welding of ideas. The disfribution of ideas is a valuable stimulant to young nations. The earnest, thoughtful visitor to New Zealand, who neither wilfully flatters nor blames, serves a useful purpose. We are apt in our isolation to become stunted in ideas and intolerant of change. Exchange of men and of thought is much easier in these days of rapid and comfortable travelling. To our grandfathers, the idea of undertaking a trip to New Zealand at the age of seventy or over would have been considered madness, but to-day the ships bring us mature thoughts and advice of veterans who make British history.