PLAIN TALK FROM AN EDITOR

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 379, 27 September 1946, Page 12

PLAIN TALK FROM AN EDITOR

¢ ANY British newspaper editor worth his salt should see as much of the British Empire as possible and that’s why I’m here; that, and because of a long-standing desire to see the world, with special emphasis on New Zealand, for I met many of your men during the war in England." Stuart Campbell, Editor of the London Sunday Pictorial, thus explained his 2,200-mile tour

of the South Island, and his present trip through the North Island, when The Listener interviewed him midway in Wellington. He agreed that New Zealand had had its visitors who glanced at Mount Cook and Rotorua and returned home persuaded that they had seen the country. But Mr. Campbell takes his visiting seriously, making a point of talking to farmers, mayors and industrialists on the way. He started by saying that New Zealand was, to him, an amazing place. "Here you have all Europe crammed into two islands," he said. "In a hundred miles there are Devon, Surrey (my own county), Scotland, and Switzerland. But the country is treated better by Nature than by man. Why on earth do you allow these ugly advertisements to be placarded all over your scenic spots, in the bush and along highways? I have travelled a fair bit in the last few days and made the resolve that, as long as I live, I shall never use the products advertised on hoardings mangling the New Zealand countryside. "But haven’t you got them in England too?" "Not nowadays. There are no hoardings on the main highways in our beauty spots; they’re absolutely prohibited. Even petrol pumps in some rural counties have to be painted green to tone with the landscape. By knocking down a few men with selfish desires we give pleasure to 45 millions." Problems for Planners Mr. Campbell said that as far as he could see we had little in the way of town planning except, perhaps in Christchurch, where there seemed to be a conscious effort to present a pleasing appearance. England had the same problem and it would cost several millions to clean up the industrial mess. Individual desires must be subordinated to the desires of the community. "Man," he said, "is not the owner of land; he is the custodian. He has no right to disfigure it with ugly buildings. Pure ownership, without improvement, is antisocial and must be curbed. We don’t wan't aggravating restrictions of liberty, but I think education in the right use

of Nature’s gifts would go a long way towards solving these difficulties." "How does that square with modern concepts of democracy?" "Perfectly well; it’s a matter of the greatest good for the greatest number, People who build excrescences or mar Nature in any way, or who leave land unimproved must be told about it smartly. But I suppose people here will think this rank Communism. That would be rubbish. It’s not

Communism, nor is it . Socialism; it’s common sense. In England, farmers are directed what to grow for the country’s good. Nonsense in Farming "I gather that in some parts of New Zealand it has been a practice for generations to put a bit of superphosphate oh the land and lie back, thinking it will improve. That is scientific nonsense. People are apt to think that we in Britain are subject to all sorts of restrictions and controls, and that we accept them docilely like sheep. But some of them are very necessary. We accept restrictions -- which are called controls-because they are for the good of the people as a whole." Prices for meat and butter which New Zealand charged Britain would be too high if England struck an industrial slump. "I don’t say it will happen, but it could," he went on, "and then we would not be able to buy from you. Instead of taking your butter, costing us about 2/- a pound now, we would buy margarine at 10d. Your prices are all right now, but you must strain every nerve to get them down in the future by more intensive farming, in case a slump does come to Britain, That is the only way New Zealand will be able to keep her British market. Britain’s Eye to the Future "We are exporting as hard as we can because we are at war right now for our bread and butter..There are all sorts of things you can’t buy in England to-day, but this amounts to good planning for the future. It all ‘boils down to the fact that if a man has any sort of conscience, he will work for the community, taking his share of limitations’ and restrictions in the meantime. To talk like this in New Zealand may be regarded as utter blasphemy; still, it’s the truth and it’s true democracy." Journalists in Parliament "What is the effect on the British Parliament of the inclusion of so many journglists? Aren’t there more now than there have ever been?" : (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) "The effect is good-very good. There are such men as Noel Baker, Vernon Bartlett and Tom Driberg, to name just a few. All have made great marks as speakers and prying questioners. All men in the newspaper profession have a training which makes them alive to public feeling and demands. It’s a jolly good thing to have them in Parliament." "Would you care to comment, as an editor, on Britain’s attitude towards Russia?" "Why not put it the other way — Russia’s attitude towards Britain? I can tell you that the Russians’ attitude has stiffened our people against them. It’s a tragedy, of course. On VE Day no country in the world mattered as much as Russia. The average man in England was carried away with the triumphs of the Red Army. But the Russian is a difficult chap for us to understand and he finds it hard to understand us. There is, for instance, the language barrier. He thinks that a friendly nation must necessarily hold views the same as his own. Any nation with other views is unfriendly. "The Russians watch everything very carefully. Zhukov has translations of the news placed on his table every morning and, if something does not please him, he immediately declares that the Government should clamp down on _ the paper concerned. The Russians don’t understand the meaning of a free press; they don’t believe that the British press is free and that there is liberty to express opinion. They think that statements and opinions are ordered by the Government. I think Ernest Bevin must continue to be tough with Russia, at the same time showing the greatest desire to come to good terms. We must make a gesture and show that, in spite of all Russia’s transitions and tantrums, we will go to the extreme limit of friendship for the common good of both countries. And, by the way, I don’t see why we should continue to regard the Mediterranean purely as ours and America’s; Russia should have her share." Some Radio Suggestions Mr. Campbell had something to say about broadcasting in New Zealand. "As_ far as I can see, sponsored programmes have a far greater listening-public than | the National stations. ‘That is bad. National stations should aim at forming a really first-class repertory company to dramatise the many very wonderful stories of New Zealand pioneering. r suggest something on the lines of the BBC’s anniversary programme of Scott's dash to the Pole. In 100 years astonishing things have happened. For a really expert script writer there is vast material in love, death, romance and sacrifice, all bound up in those pioneering days of New Zealand. "How much better «than all this American canned stuff! And what about presenting your classical programmes with a little more verve? Instead of telling listeners bleakly that a work is by Mendelssohn, give them something about his life and how he came to write that composition. I notice that, according to the financial statement of broadcasting, just one-tenth of the programme expenditure goes to talent. That is far too low. It is about the same as the

amount spent on record royalties. Surely talent should earn more than royalties." Mr. Campbell complained: that New Zealand radio seemed to have no native humour. "There are no Handleys, Askeys and so on here, but in all the cities and towns there must be good comedians. Seek them out, experiment with them and you'll improve listening." When he returns to England Mr. Campbell hopes to get his newspaper up to the three-million circulation mark. Newspapers in New Zealand and Great Britain, he added, should get closer tégether in service for the Empire. While in Wellington Mr. Campbell gave a Sunday evening talk over the National network.