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In this issue of the Magazine, Empire subjects have been specially featured. The occasion is particularly appropriate in view of the Empire importance of the present Ducal Tour, and the part which the Railways of this country are privileged to play in connection with the New Zealand portion of that itinerary.
Bearing in mind the advantage, from an educational aspect, of keeping before our own people the essential facts of British History, we have compacted within the space available brief biographical sketches, in classified and chronological order, of certain leading figures in the Empire's drama.
If this summary helps in some degree to refresh our readers' mental picture of Empire development and achievements, our purpose will have been attained.
Whilst our Royal visitors on their Imperial mission are helping by that most magnetic of all agencies — the personal touch—to strengthen the cohesion between the many parts of Britain's far-flung Empire; and “at a time when all the nations under the flag are breathing freely—for has not the Imperial Conference evolved a formula which meets the needs of each Imperial unit as well as of the whole conglomerate mass?—at such a time the railway users and railway workers of this Dominion may well lift their minds for a space from the tasks of every day, and calmly consider under what broad conditions of government their lives proceed.
Through a thousand years of turmoil, testing, and development, Britain slowly evolved those practical principles of freedom which in speech, in action, and in civil protection have made her great in the Homeland, and successful—as no other nation has been successful—in planting colonies overseas. Those colonies, grown to Dominion or Common-wealth stature, zealously foster that love of freedom, and stand together, a cluster of free nations, for its protection. Well they know that their Empire's highest aspiration—which approximates closely to Bacon's ideal of heaven upon earth for the individual mind—is to “move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.”
Railways, like most of the civilising influences which the blossoming of mechanical genius has brought to mankind, took their rise during the period known economically as the Industrial Revolution. The peace which supremacy at sea then gave Britain, enabled her to forge ahead during this great change period, the inventions of which produced the demands for transport facilities that railways alone could supply. But peace at home, and concentration in the fields of manufacture and commerce, did not rob the Briton of his adventurous spirit. Opportunity for expansion lay in the sun-filled lands where British enterprise and daring had planted the Union Jack. Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand became peopled with the same hardy stock which had for century upon century repelled every attack on their island home and every encroachment on their firmly established freedom-securing customs and institutions.
Thus has developed the greatest Empire in the world's history. But it is not for its size, great as that is; nor for its wealth, though that is well-nigh incalculable, that New Zealanders love their Empire. It is because the Empire stands—more than any other force upon the whole round globe—for right dealing, fair play, and the preservation of individual freedom with full opportunity for individual development. Britain brought freedom and taught freedom wherever her flag of Empire waved.
Emerson, great though his admiration for his native America, was constrained to say that Britain had yielded more able men in five hundred years than any other nation. The scroll of Empire history is studded with the names of sages, singers, patriots and heroes to whom the Homeland meant the dearest of ties—something more vital than life itself. “Our ancestors” said Burke, “have turned a savage wilderness into a glorious empire; and have made the most extensive, and the only honourable conquests, not by destroying, but by promoting the wealth, the number, the happiness, of the human race.” While those methods and sentiments continue to guide the peoples and rulers of the British Commonwealth of Nations, our Empire, proceeding towards its high destiny, will continue to find the signals set at “clear.”
Photograph of the Royal Grain which is carrying the Royal Party over the North Island portion of their tour in N.Z.
After inspection of the Royal Grain at Wellington.
Left Rt. Hon. CoatesCentre—Mr. G. S. Lynde, Chief Mechanical Engineer; Right—The Hon. F. J. Rolleston, Acting Minister of Railways.
The Royal Tour Includes Visits To:—
Auckland, Bay of Islands, Hamilton, Rotorua, Tokaanu (Camp), National Park, New Plymouth, Stratford, Hawera, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Dannevirke, Hastings, Napier, Woodville. Masterton, Welligton, Picton, Blenheim, Havelock, Nelson, Glenhope, Murchison, Westport, Inangahua, Reefton, Hokitika, Greymouth, Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Ranfurly, Cromwell, Pembroke, Queenstown, Kingston, Lumsden, Gore, Invercargill, Bluff.
The approaching visit to these shores of Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of York, gives to the Railway staff of the Dominion an exceptional opportunity to pay honour to the Royal Family—and through it, to the Empire the members of that Family so worthily so worthily represent.
The Board recognises (as each member of the Service will recognise) that our Empire is the glorious heritage of every British-born subject; an Empire made great and still growing greater because based on those vital principles of freedom and equity the maintenance of which, through all her borders, has been—and continues to be—the fixed determination and ruling passion of the British race.
The occasion is one of great historic importance, the Royal visit coming as a fitting climax to the Imperial Conference of 1926—the most important Empire event since peace was declared.
To the Railways has been entrusted the privilege and responsibility of conveying the Royal Tourists over the major portion of their journeys throughout New Zealand. It is with a confidence firmly based on past experience that the Board asks the co-operation of every member employed on any duty connected with the operation of the Royal trains, or engaged anywhere along the route by which the Royal party will travel, to do all in their power to ensure the safety and comfort, and add to the pleasure of these visitors from the heart of our Empire. Let us, throughout the period of their stay, endeavour to establish, by co-operative efficiency, a record for courtesy and service.
Orderliness being a first assistant to safety, the Board asks not only controlling officers, but every employee from porter, surfaceman, cleaner or cadet, up through all grades of the service, to enter into the spirit of the movenent by having everything under their immediate care spick and span in anticipation of the event.
Further, when the tour is in progress, let every care be taken to see that the special instructions circulated regarding train operations and working methods are intelligently carried out. This with particular reference to matters affecting the safety and comfort of our visitors. By every member giving of his best, he will do credit to his country and his Empire.
We already know that the opinion held regarding railways by his Royal Highness is a high one. Speaking at the 1925 Railway Centenary Celebrations he said (inter alia): “Railways, the facilities they afford and the vitally important services they daily render to the community have become so commonplace in these days that we barely give a passing thought to their influence on our lives. Their faithful services bring us the necessities of life; their speed, reliability and cheapness have combined to break down the barriers of distance, so that now we think mainly of the time railways have helped to save, and thus to lengthen life.”
Such appreciation cannot fail to strike a responsive chord in the hearts of all railwaymen. It must be remembered, however, that as our visitors are coming from the Homeland, where railways have reached their highest pitch of excellence, it will require our best efforts to provide a standard of service worthy of the occasion. Nevertheless, judging by the whole hearted way in which all concerned have entered into the preliminary preparations, the Board feels assured that in their further efforts in this direction the staff will amply uphold the traditions of the Railway Service in this country.
Finally, the Board on behalf of all the staff, desires to take this opportunity of extending a hearty welcome to Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of York, and all their entourage. We trust that their stay will be a happy one for themselves, as it will be a memorable one for the people of New Zealand.
H.M.S. “Renown” conyeying the Royal party; also brought the Prince of Wales to New Zealand in 1920.
H.R.H. The Duke of York addressing gathering at Railway Centenary Celebrations. The Duchess is seated on the right and Sir James Allen on the left of the group.
Royal Tour Of New Zealand.
1 Russell 2 Tokaanu (Near Site Of Royal Camp) 3 Pembroke Hotel (Southern Lakes District)
4 Buller River (West Coast, S.I.) 5 Scene In Tongariro National Park, N.I.
Royal Tour Of New Zealand.
1 Rotorua Plains 2 Huka Falls (Waikato River) 3 Ngauruhoe
4 Gardens, Rotorua 5 Maori Gathering, Rotorua
To scan the pages of history and therefrom briefly summarise the dominant influences at work in the development of an Empire is no easy task, and in the case of Britain it is an amazingly complicated one. But, once done, the outline so obtained may serve to make coherent the mass of detached ideas generally prevalent regarding the story of our people. Properly apprehended, such knowledge is the true justification for the strength of that deep-seated patriotic pride which enables the British-born to meet with calm assurance each turn of the wheel of international fortune.
The appended logical outline, from J. N. Larned's History, excellently serves the purpose in view:—
The Island of Britain, separated from the Continent of Europe by a narrow breadth of sea, which makes friendly commerce easy and hostile invasion difficult;—its soil in great part excellent; its northern climate tempered by the humid warmth of the Gulf Stream; its conditions good for breeding a robust population, strongly fed upon corn and meats; holding, moreover, in store, for later times, a rare deposit of iron and coal, of tin and potter's clay, and other minerals of like utility; was occupied and possessed by tribes from Northern Europe, of the strongest race in history; already schooled in courage and trained to enterprise by generations of sea-faring adventure; uncorrupted by any mercenary contact with the decaying civilisation of Rome, but ready for the knowledge it could give.
Fused after much warring with one another and with their Danish kin, into a nation of Englishmen, they lived, for five centuries, an isolated life, until their insular and independent character had become deeply ingrained, and the primitive system of their social and political organisation—their Townships, their Hundreds, their Shires, and the popular moots or courts, which determined and administered law in each—was rooted fast; though the King's power waxed and the nobles and the common people drew farther apart.
Then they were mastered (in the last successful invasion that their Island ever knew) by another people, sprung from their own stock, but whose blood had been warmed and whose wit had been quickened by Latin and Gallic influences in the country of the Franks.
A new social and political system now formed itself in England as the result:—Feudalism modified by the essential democracy inherent in old English institutions—producing a stout commonalty to daunt the lords, and a strong aristocracy to curb the king.
English royalty soon weakened itself yet more by ambitious strivings to maintain and extend a wide dominion over-seas, in Normandy and Aquitaine; and was helpless to resist when barons and commons came together to demand the signing and sealing of the great charter of Englishmen's rights.
Out of the conditions that gave birth to Magna Charta there followed, soon, the development of the English Parliament as a representative legislature, from the Curia Regis of the Normans and the Witenagemot of the older English time.
From the woful wars of a hundred years with France which another century brought upon it, the nation, as a whole, suffered detriment, no doubt, and its progress was hindered in many ways; but politically the people took some good from the troubled times, because their kings were more dependent upon them for money and men.
So, likewise, they were bettered in some ways by the dreadful civil wars of the Roses, which distracted England for thirty years. The nobles well nigh perished, as an order, in these wars, while the middle class people at large suffered relatively little, in numbers or estate.
But, previously, the Great Plague, by diminishing the ranks of the labouring class, had raised wages and the standard of living among them, and had helped with other causes, to multiply the small land-owners and tenant farmers of the country, increasing the independent common class.
Moreover, from the time of Edward Iii., who encouraged Flemish weavers to settle in England and to teach their art to his people, manufactures began to thrive; trade extended; towns grew in population and wealth, and the great burgher middle class rose rapidly to importance and weight in the land.
But the commons of England were not prepared to make use of the actual power which they held. The nobles had led them in the past; it needed time to raise leaders among themselves, and time to organise their ranks. Hence no new checks on royalty were ready to replace those constraints which had been broken by the ruin of great houses in the civil wars, and the crown made haste to improve its opportunity for grasping power. There followed, under the Tudors, a period of absolutism greater than England had known before.
But this endured only for the time of the education of the commons, who conned the lessons of the age with eagerness and with understanding. The new learning from Greece and Rome; the new world knowledge that had been found in the West; the new ideas which the new art of the printer had furnished with wings—all these had now gained their most fertile planting in the English mind. Their flower was the splendid literature of the Elizabethan age; they ripened fruits more substantial at a later day.
The intellectual development of the nation tended first towards a religious independence, which produced two successive revolts—from Roman Papacy and from the Anglican Episcopacy that succeeded it.
This religious new-departure of the English people gave direction to a vast expansion of their energies in the outside world. It led them into war with Spain, and sent forth Drake and Hawkins and the Buccaneers, to train the sailors and pilot the merchant adventurers who would soon make England mistress of all the wide seas.
Then, when these people, strong, prosperous and intelligent, had come to be ripely sufficient for self-government, there fell to them a foolish race of kings who challenged them to a struggle which stripped royalty of all but its fictions and established the sovereignty of England in its House of Commons for all time.
Unassailable in its Island,—taking part in the great wars of the 18th century by its fleets and its subsidies chiefly, busy with its undisturbed labours at home,—vigorous in its conquests, its settlements and its trade, which it pushed into the farthest parts of the earth,—creating wealth and protecting it from spoliation and from waste,—the English nation now became the industrial and economic school of the age. It produced the mechanical inventions which first opened a new era in the life of mankind on the material side; it attained to the splendid enlightenment of freedom in trade; it made England the workshop and mart of the world, and it spread her Empire to every Continent, through all the seas.
The first to bear the title of Earl in England, Alfred the Great, “the saint, the scholar, the hero, and the law-giver,” is the ancestor in a direct line, of the Duke of York whom, with his Duchess, it will be New Zealand's honour to entertain within a few days.
Historians have combined to glorify the name of Alfred, the first real English King. “No other man” said one, “ever combined in his own person so much excellence in war, legislation and learning.”
The story of the manner in which the young Alfred won a richly bound and illuminated volume of Saxon poems for being the first of his family able to recite them, and his later scholastic achievements are well known. He translated books, including Aesop's fables, into the Anglo-Saxon language and under his direction the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the earliest history which any European country possesses in its own language, was compiled. Furthermore, he encouraged education within his Kingdom, brought learned men from the Continent to teach in England and founded the University of Oxford—to which our own Rhodes Scholars now proceed.
The success with which Alfred repelled the attacks of the Danes, those fierce marauders who were over-running the land, convinces us of his military ability. For the more efficient defence of his Kingdom against the Danes he built a fleet and organised the fyrd, or militia, in such a manner that one half was always available for fighting and the remaining half for the maintenance of the agricultural crops which provided food for the nation.
At a time when the staple diet was “salt pork, fish, and floods of strong beer” and the general desire was merely to eat, drink and be merry, Alfred brought a passion for order, education, and right living to his task of kingship—assumed at the early age of twenty-one—which deserved the gratitude and admiration of all subsequent generations. His day was divided into three parts: (a) State business; (b) prayer and study; (c) sleep, meals and recreation; and these divisions, measured by candles, were strictly adhered to.
Alfred's political institutions, his code of laws, and his strict administration of justice give him a strong claim to the title of “Great.” On account of the stern impartiality with which his enactments were carried out, crime became rare. Judges were under the supervision of the King and any found guilty of corrupt practices were harshly punished. The terror of his name was so great that it was said “golden ornaments might be hung by the roadside and no robber would dare to touch them.”
The fact that Alfred suffered from an internal disease which spared him scarcely a painless hour for over twenty years makes his achievements even more remarkable.
Edward was absent in the Holy Land with the Seventh Crusade when his father Henry III. died. He was popular in England and despite his absence no attempt was made to usurp the throne. According to tradition, while in the Holy Land Edward was stabbed with a poisoned arrow, and his recovery from what appeared a mortal injury was due to his wife (Eleanor of Castile) sucking the poison from the wound.
Edward was ambitious. He aimed to become the overlord of the whole of the island of which England was a part. To achieve this he must subdue Wales and Scotland. The reigning chief in Wales had assisted in the rebellions of the reign of Henry III. and refused to swear allegiance to Edward. On account of the mountainous nature of their country the Welsh were, for a considerable period, able to withstand the English attacks. Eventually, however, Edward forced them to terms, and by the Statute of Wales, enacted at Rhuddlan in 1284, Wales was annexed to England. Edward presented his infant son and heir to the Welsh under the title of Prince of Wales. Another two hundred years elapsed before Wales sent representatives to the English Parliament.
But the annexation of Scotland was a task which Edward failed to complete. It had been arranged that Prince Edward of Wales should marry Margaret, the “Maid of Norway” who was heir to the Scottish Crown. Before this scheme was effected Margaret died, thus confusing the succession. Several claimants came forward making the situation difficult. It was agreed that Edward of England should be appealed to. Edward gave his decision in favour of John Balliol, who accepted the Kingdom as Edward's vassal and did homage to the English King.
This arrangement did not last, for while Edward was engaged with France, Balliol took the opportunity of attempting to win independence for Scotland. The English won the battle of Dunbar, Balliol was deprived of his throne, and Scotland was made a dependency of England. Sir William Wallace an outlawed Scottish Knight rebelled. The position was not satisfactorily settled during Edward's reign. While on his way to Scotland with an immense army Edward died, and Scotland regained her full independence when Bruce defeated Edward II. at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
First Complete Parliament.—Edward justly believed “that it was right that what concerned all should be approved by all.” This caused him to summon in 1295 his famous Parliament representing the three estates of the realm—Lords, Clergy and Commons. This is often referred to as “The Model Parliament” and is generally considered to be the true origin of our present Legislature.
The English Justinian.—Edward's summarising of English laws won for him the title of the “English Justinian.” Many constitutional changes were effected during his reign. Enactments regarding the titles and entailment of land were made, the law courts were re-organised and officers afterwards known as Justices of the Peace were appointed.
From the deeds of Edward we conclude that he was a brave and skilled soldier, and a sagacious and successful statesman.
On the death of King Henry IV., the head of the House of Lancaster who had usurped the throne, his frivolous and riotous son, Prince Henry, was transformed into the brave King Henry V.
The Hundred Years' War with France, which was commenced by Edward III. nearly eighty years before, was resumed. The Church, desirous of diverting the attention of Parliament from the confiscation of the church property, and the barons, restless through the continued peace, welcomed the resumption of the war.
Henry invaded France with an army of thirty thousand and after five weeks' siege Harfleur surrendered. Through privation and sickness the English army dwindled to half its original number. On the march to Calais Henry encountered the French army at Agincourt. The English were very much outnumbered, but owing to the skill of their bowmen and the superior organisation of their army they were able to obtain a most decisive victory over the French. This battle clearly demonstrated that well trained infantry men were much superior to undisciplined cavalry forces.
Henry's triumphs in France won for him the hearts of his people and he was received with unbounded joy in England.
By the Treaty of Troyes it was agreed that Henry should marry the daughter of the French King, and that until the death of the French King Henry should be Regent of France and thereafter King of France.
Unfortunately he did not live long to enjoy the glory that his military genius had won for him.
Although the greater part of France had submitted to Henry V., at the close of the next reign Calais was the only English possession in France.
The pages recording the events of the Tudor Period are among the brightest in our history. The reign of Henry VII., the first of the Tudors, marks the birth of modern policy and the foundation of our still enduring system. It was an age of discovery and of intellectual development. Columbus and Cabot crossed the Atlantic to North America. Americus Vespuccius explored the coast of South America and gave his name to the new continent. Vasco de Gama sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, thus finding a sea route to India. Commerce greatly extended. True English literature was in its dawn. Modern scientific development dates from this time and old theories never previously queried were disproved. During the period the Reformation—one of the greatest events in modern
Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor Monarchs. Probably the most important event in her reign was the defeat of the so-called “Invincible Armada,” a great fleet sent by Philip II. of Spain to conquer England.
William Shakespeare, the Prince of Dramatists; Francis Bacon, the founder of modern philosophy; and others, wrote works of such breadth and eloquence as had never before been known. Nor have they since been excelled.
Among the sovereigns of England, Elizabeth, resolute, watchful and self-controlled, has had few equals. She encouraged her admirals in voyages of discovery, she inspired the dramatic art for which her reign is particularly noted, and aided all schemes designed for the consolidation of her Kingdom.
James II., the last of the Stuart Kings, in his attempts to rule as an absolute monarch and to restore the Roman Catholic religion, lost the support of his subjects. William, Prince of Orange, was entreated by the English people to come with an army to assist them in defending their freedom and their faith. William consented and James fled.
In 1689 a Convention, differing from a Parliament in that the writs summoning members were issued by one not yet a king, was called by William. It was decided that William and Mary should rule conjointly, but that William should hold all executive power. Louis of France, the most powerful Roman Catholic sovereign in Europe, had long wished to destroy the power of William of Orange, who was regarded as the champion of protestantism. The dethronement of James gave the French King an excuse for war, and a mighty invasion of England was prepared. The combined fleets of England and Holland decisively defeated the French fleet off La Hogue in 1692, thus shattering the ambitions of Louis.
During the reign many important bills were passed. The Triennial Bill provided that no Parliament should sit for longer than three years. The plan of a National Bank suggested by Paterson, a Scotchman, was adopted, and in 1694 the Bank of England was established.
In politics William was deeply learned, in military discipline he was skilled, and in battle he was calm and courageous. As a soldier he was among the most distinguished of his day and his successes in checking the forces of the French King were of the utmost importance to all Europe.
Queen Anne, the second daughter of James II., married Prince George of Denmark, who apart from sitting in the House of Lords as Duke of Cumberland, took no active part in the government.
Britain, allied with Holland and Germany, opposed the attempt of the French King to place his grandson on the Spanish Throne, and Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, was appointed commander of the combined armies. In four great battles, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet, Marlborough humbled the power of France. In 1710 Admiral Rooke and Sir Cloudesley Shovel captured Gibraltar. By the Treaty of Utrecht, drawn up at the close of the war, Gibraltar, Minorea, Hudson's Bay, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland became English possessions. Furthermore it provided that France should acknowledge the protestant succession in England and discontinue attempting to replace Roman Catholics on the throne.
On account of the dissatisfaction caused in Scotland by the failure of the scheme to form a colony on the Isthmus of Darien and the heavy duties imposed on goods passing between England and Scotland a Treaty of Union was framed. It enacted (1) That the two Kingdoms should be united under the name of “Great Britain,” (2) that the succession to the throne of Great Britain should be the same as that for England, (3) that the United Kingdom should be governed by one Parliament, (4) that sixteen peers and forty-five commoners should represent Scotland in Parliament, (5) that the laws relating to trade, customs and excise should be the same in both countries, (6) that the church and law courts of Scotland as already established should be maintained. The Treaty of Union was passed by the Scottish Parliament with a big majority and the Union, the beneficial results of which are incalculable, was effected.
Throughout her reign Anne showed a keen interest in affairs of state and appointed her ministers with discretion. Her private life was one of great sorrow, for, although she had a large family, all her children died young. On her death the Elector of Hanover, of whom our present sovereign is a direct descendant, became King as George I.
Royal Tour Of New Zealand
1 Oamaru 2 Hamilion (Wairaio) 3 Square, Palmersion North
4 Auckland 5 Christchurch (River Avon)
Royal Tour Of New Zealand
1 Napier 2 New Plymouth 3 Hawera 4 Napier 5 Wanganui
The England around us becomes our own England, an England whose chief forces are industry and science, the love of popular freedom and of law, an England which presses steadily forward to a larger social justice and equality, and which tends more and more to bring every custom and tradition, religious, intellectual, and political, to the test of pure reason.— John Richard Green.
From the words of this great historian our thoughts inevitably drift to the famous statesmen who have steered the British ship of state through the troubled waters of the past few centuries and whose work has helped to mould the Empire to its present state of elastic unity. The following sketches contain some glimpses of the leading figures in this gallery of the illustrious.
Sir Robert Walpole was the first statesman in Britain's history to whom the title Prime Minister could properly be applied. He was born at Haughton in Norfolk on 26th August, 1676 and was educated at Eton and Cambridge (King's College). In 1701, at the age of twenty-five, he was elected to the House of Commons as representative for King's Lynn. He soon became a powerful and prominent figure in Parliament and assumed, in 1721, the leadership of the Administration as first Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. For the next twenty years Walpole retained the leadership (the longest period for which the office has been held in the history of England) and guided the fortunes of his country with such fine statesmanship that he kept it prosperous and at peace for almost the whole of that time. “The most pernicious circumstances in which this country can be are those of war,” is one of his famous declarations. In domestic politics he was ever on the side of freedom. It is interesting to note that he is credited with having originated the Saturday half-holiday. A great financier, Walpole rendered conspicuous services to his country after the disastrous financial panic known as the South Sea Bubble. So great was Walpole's fame that the King was wont to say that he could turn stones into gold. Throughout his life Walpole worked to promote the peace of Europe. In Thackeray's words he “gave Englishmen no conquests, but he gave them peace and ease and freedom.” He died on 18th March, 1745.
William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham, was born on 15th November, 1708. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he entered Parliament at the age of twenty-seven. Pitt soon distinguished himself through his great powers of oratory which he employed in the cause of numerous reforms. In 1746 he became joint vice-Treasurer of Ireland, Paymaster-General of the Forces, and Privy Councillor. Ten years later he was nominated a Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons. By 1760 Pitt, the “Great Commoner,” was the most powerful man in England. He was a thorough patriot, putting his trust in the people who placed their fullest confidence in him. Under his wise leadership Canada was added to the Empire and the power of Britain increased throughout the world. He was a man of great integrity, and, in a corrupt age, had the honourable distinction that he never accepted a bribe. Had Pitt's advice been taken we would not have lost the American colonies, for he opposed the American War with all the eloquence for which he was so famed. Indeed his death was brought about by his insisting on delivering a last oration against this war. England has had no greater Prime Minister than the elder Pitt. He died on 11th May, 1778.
William Pitt the Younger, was the second son of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and was born at Hoyes on 28th May, 1759. He was a delicate child and his early education was directed at home by his father whose ambition it was that his son should become a great political orator. When thirteen years of age he composed a tragedy, and at fourteen was sent to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. There he graduated and studied law, being called to the Bar in 1780. After a few months practice of law he sought Parliamentary honours and was elected for the borough of Appleby in January, 1781. When Burke heard his first speech he said “It is not a chip of the old block, it is the old block itself.” He was made Chancellor of the Exchequer at the early age of twenty-three and Prime Minister at twenty-four—the youngest Prime Minister the House of Commons has ever known. It was the Younger Pitt's task to govern England during the dangerous period of the French Revolution, a task he carried out with consummate ability. He worked to secure foreign alliances for England so that she should not stand alone in times of peril. He carried a Bill to improve the Government of India, and in 1800 succeeded in bringing about the union of the English and the Irish Parliaments. He also powerfully supported the abolition of slavery. He died on 23rd January, 1806.
Sir Robert Peel was born at Chamber Hall, on 5th February, 1788. He was educated at Harrow, the poet Byron being one of his schoolfellows. He later went on to Oxford where he took a double first in classics and mathematics. Peel early turned his attention to politics, and at the age of twenty-one was elected to the House of Commons as member for Cashel. At twenty-three he was appointed Under Secretary of State for the Colonies which appointment was followed soon afterwards by that of Chief Secretary for Ireland. He was made Home Secretary in 1822, and after many vicissitudes became Prime Minister in 1841. He was a brilliant speaker and exercised immense influence in the House of Commons and throughout Europe. The repeal of the Corn Laws and the establishment of Free Trade as the commercial policy of England were his greatest achievements. Sir Robert Peel also established the metropolitan police, and was responsible for the passing of a measure which improved the criminal laws of his country. Lord Rosebery described him as “one of the princes of mankind.” Sir Robert Peel died as a result of an accident on 2nd July, 1850.
Viscount Palmerston was born at Broad-lands, on 20th October, 1784, and was educated at Harrow, Edinburgh and Cambridge. He was elected to Parliament as member for Newport in the Isle of Wight at the age of twenty-three being at once appointed a Lord of the Admiralty. Two years later he was offered the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer which he did not accept. He accepted, however, the Secretaryship at War, and served in this capacity with great ability and efficiency for nearly twenty years. In 1830 he became Foreign Secretary, and immediately confirmed the independence of Belgium, an action which was to mean so much to future history. For the next eleven years, and again from 1846 to 1851, he was recognised as one of the greatest Foreign Ministers in Europe. “His policy raised the prestige of England to a height which she had not occupied since Waterloo.” He preserved peace, rendered notable services to oppressed peoples, worked for the suppression of the slave-trade and for the reduction of the working hours of women and children. He was Home Secretary in 1852–3, and from 1855 to 1858 and 1859 to 1865 he was Prime Minister. Viscount Palmerston held political power for forty-seven years and died on 18th October, 1865, full of years, of dignities and honours.
Benjamin Disraeli was born in London on 21st December, 1804, and was educated at private schools at Islington, Black-heath and Epping. His first speech in the House of Commons was received with considerable hostility which drew from Disraeli the memorable words “I sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me.” He became Prime Minister in 1868, and again in 1874. One of Disraeli's wise strokes of policy was to secure for the Empire the chief influence in the Suez Canal by the purchase of the Khedive's shares at a cost of £4,000,000. Another characteristic stroke was to bestow on the Queen the title of Empress of India. Through his great knowledge of the world and of men he scored many a diplomatic triumph for England. The phrase “Peace with Honour” was coined by him as expressive of his victory at the Congress of Berlin where, besides other concessions, he secured Cyprus for the Empire.
His bewildering genius was freely acknowledged. In moving an address to the Crown for a monument to Beaconsfield in Westminster Abbey, Gladstone referred to his “extraordinary intellectual powers, his strength of will, his long-sighted persistency of purpose” and said that “his career was in many respects the most remarkable in Parliamentary history.” He died on 19th April, 1881.
William Ewart Gladstone was born on 29th December, 1809, and was educated at Eton and Oxford where he gained high scholastic honours. At the age of twenty-three he entered Parliament as Conservative member for Newark. In 1843 he became a member of the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. With the coming into power of the Liberal Party in 1868 he became Prime Minister and put through the fampus Education Act of 1870 and other measures of reform. In 1874, for reasons of age—he was then sixty-four—Gladstone retired from politics and devoted himself to literature. Moved, however, by aspects of the Eastern question, he renewed his interest in politics and in 1879 commenced his famous Midlothian campaign, which culminated in 1880 in his becoming Prime Minister for the second time. In 1885 he was defeated in the Commons over the issue of Home Rule, yielding place to Lord Salisbury. However, he became Prime Minister again in 1886, and for the fourth time in 1892, at the age of eighty-two. Gladstone administered the affairs of state and devoted himself to the advancement of social reform with a courage and a genius seldom surpassed. He was a profound classical scholar, a writer and linguist, and one of the greatest orators of his day. After his death on 19th May, 1898, a grateful country laid him to rest in its Valhalla, Westminster Abbey.
Earl Balfour was born on 25th July, 1848, at Whittinghame, in Haddingtonshire. He was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1874 he was returned to Parliament unopposed, as Conservative member for Hertford. He was Prime Minister from 1892 to 1905. In 1916 he became Foreign Secretary under Mr. Lloyd George. As Foreign Secretary his consummate tact and skill were of immense value to the allied cause not only in his mission to the United States in connection with that country's entry into the European War, but later at the Paris Peace Conference and at the Washington Conference where he was one of Britain's delegates. His latest notable work for the Empire was at the Imperial Conference of 1926 when the famous declaration of Dominion Status was made, placing each one of Britain's Dominions on an equality with the Mother Country—one of the most impressive developments of modern British history. Earl Balfour is one of the most accomplished speakers and thinkers in the Empire. He is seventy-eight years of age.
Herbert H. Asquith was born at Croft House, Morley, in Yorkshire on 12th September, 1852. He was educated at home and at the City of London School, and later at Balliol College, Oxford. He had a distinguished University career and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1876. He entered Parliament in 1886 as member for East Fife and very soon his able speeches brought him into prominence. He became Home Secretary in 1892, a position he filled with great distinction. In 1905 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer and put through the Old Age Pensions Act. On the death of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1907 Mr. Asquith became Prime Minister which position he occupied for the next nine years—some of the most momentous years through which the Empire has passed. When he relinquished the office of Prime Minister in 1916 in favour of Mr. Lloyd George, he delivered a speech in the Commons which was described by Mr. Redmond, the Irish leader, as a masterpiece of “magnanimity, reticence, and patriotism.” Mr. Asquith (now Lord Oxford and Asquith) is recognised as one of the greatest parliamentarians of our time. His conduct of the country's affairs in her days of crisis, his patriotism and impassioned eloquence in her cause, have secured him an enduring place in the gallery of great British Statesmen. He is seventy-four years of age.
Mr. Lloyd George was born on 17th January, 1863, in Manchester, and was educated at the National School at Carnarvon. He entered Parliament in 1890 where his powers of lucid and earnest speech created an immediate impression. In 1905 he became President of the Board of Trade with a seat in the Cabinet. He was made Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1908, and besides other great reforms he passed, before relinquishing this office, his famous National Insurance Bill. When the Great War broke out in 1914 he was recognised in Britain as the “man of the hour.” By his magnetic powers of speech, by his vigour and resourcefulness he stirred the nation to a consciousness of its peril, speeded up its war activities and welded it into a coherent organisation for the defeat of the Central Powers. He became Prime Minister of the Coalition Government in 1916, and, continued with unabated courage and persistency to prosecute the war to final victory, which largely through his splendid services was achieved for the allied cause in November, 1918. At the termination of the Paris Peace Conference (at which he was the chief British delegate) he was the idol of the whole Empire. He received the Order of Merit in 1920. Mr. Lloyd George is sixty-four years of age and is Leader of the Liberal Party in the present House of Commons.
James Ramsay Macdonald was born in dire poverty, at Lossiemouth in October, 1866. His schooling was of the scantiest, but he early developed a taste for good literature, through the assiduous study of which he was enabled to lay the foundations for a good general culture. Going up to London at nineteen years of age, friendless and without means, the next few years of his career were years of struggle. By sheer strength of will he continued to read and ultimately was led into fields of journalism. With the foundation of the Independent Labour Party in 1893 (of which he was Chairman from 1907 to 1910) commenced his definite association with the politics of labour. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1906 and the “keen eye of Joseph Chamberlain at once detected a coming man.” He subsequently became Leader of the Independent Labour Party in the House of Commons and in August 1914 was offered a seat in the Cabinet. This, however, he did not accept. He continued to lead his party in the Commons and in January, 1924 was invited by His Majesty the King to form a Cabinet. As Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary he concentrated on European affairs, and during his term of office did much to bring order out of the political chaos of Europe. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald is a writer and speaker of rare eloquence and at the present moment is Leader of the Labour Opposition in the House of Commons.
The Rt. Hon. Stanley Baldwin was born on 3rd August, 1867, and was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He entered Parliament in 1908 as member for Bewdley and became, in 1916, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Mr. Bonar Law. Twelve months later he was appointed Junior Lord of the Treasury. In 1921 he became President of the Board of Trade, in 1922 Chancellor of the Exchequer and in 1923 Prime Minister and Leader of the Unionist Party. The General Election in December, 1923, which was fought on the great issue of protection versus free trade resulted in his defeat at the polls, but in 1924 he again became Prime Minister, which high office he still holds. Among his distinguished services to Britain may be mentioned his mission in 1922 to the United States, having for its specific object the settlement of our War Debt to that country. “We want to pay and mean to pay,” he said, but he reminded America that the fate of humanity depended upon Anglo-American co-operation—that heavy and rapid debt liquidation would depress the British market for American products which would be a disadvantage to both countries. Mr. Baldwin impressed America with his candid statement of the case, with the result that the period for payment of the debt was extended from twenty-five years to fifty years, and the interest rates were reduced considerably. Mr. Baldwin does not possess any of the arts of oratory which have made some of his predecessors famous, but he does possess the qualities which mark him out as a great leader. “All his actions and words,” says his latest biographer, Mr. Adam Gowans Whyte, “are the outcome of an intense appreciation of the human factor, and a conviction that leadership is, in its ultimate form, simply an appeal to the best elements in our common humanity.”
And when I ask myself what I mean by England, when I think of England when I am abroad, England comes to me through my various senses; through the ear, through the eye and through certain imperishable scents. I will tell you what they are, and there may be more among you who feel as I do. The sounds of England—the tinkle of the hammer on the anvil in the country smithy, the corncrake on a dewy morning, the sound of the scythe against the whetstone, and the sight of a plough team coming over the brow of a hill—the sight that has been seen in England since England was a land. The wild anemones in the woods in April, the last load at night of hay being drawn down a lane as the twilight comes on, when you can scarcely distinguish the figures of the horses as they take it home to the farm, and, above all, most subtle, most penetrating and most moving, the smell of wood smoke coming up in an autumn evening, or the smell of the scutch fires: that wood smoke that our ancestors, tens of thousands of years ago, must have caught on the air when they were coming home with the result of the day's forage, when they were still nomads and when they were still roaming the forests and the plains of the Continent of Europe. These things strike down into the very depths of our nature and touch chords that go back to the beginning of time and the human race, but they are chords that with every year of our life sound a deeper note in our innermost being.
—Stanley Baldwin.
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Can we not get out of our minds in industry, as we are trying in connection with national affairs, that absurd old-fashioned idea that fighting alone is the key to the problem of British industry?—Stanley Baldwin.
I send you the following contribution, feeling confident that you will be able to find room for it in the columns of your interesting magazine, and that your readers will appreciate the humorous method of recounting his experience in having a “ride on a piano” as told by Jem Nelson, one of America's oldest engine drivers, at an annual “meet.”
John B. Robertson, Public Works Dept., Wellington.
“Listen,
I was loafing around town last night and as I had nothing better to do I dropped into a concert and heard a slick looking Frenchman play a piano that made me feel all over in spots. As soon as he sat down at the piano I knew by the way he handled his work that he understood the machine he was running. He tapped the keys 'way down on one end, just as if they were gauges and he wanted to see if he had water enough. Then he looked up as if he wanted to know how much steam he was carrying, and the next moment he pulled open the throttle and sailed out on the main line as if he was half an hour late. You could hear her thunder over culverts and bridges and getting faster and faster, until the fellow rocked about on his seat like a cradle,—somehow I thought it was old ‘36’ pulling a passenger train and getting out of the way of a special. The fellow worked the keys on the middle division like lightning and then he flew along the northern end of the line until the drivers went around like a buzz-saw, and I got excited. About the time I was trying to tell him to cut her off a little, he kicked the dampers under the machine wide open, pulled the throttle valve 'way back into the tender and—Jerusalem—how he did run. I couldn't stand it any longer and yelled to him that he was pounding on the left and if he wasn't careful he'd drop his ash pan. No one heard me. Everything was flying and whizzing. Telegraph poles on the side of the track looked like cornstalks, the trees appeared to be mud banks, and all the time the exhaust of the old machine sounded like the hum of a humble bee. I tried to yell out, but my tongue would not move. He went round corners like a bullet, slipped an eccentric, blew out a soft plug, went down grades 50 feet to the mile, and not a confounded brake set. She went by the meeting point at a mile and a half a minute, and calling for more steam. My hair stood up like a cat's tail, because I knew the game was up. Sure enough, dead ahead of us was the tail light of a special. In a daze I heard the crash as she struck, and I saw cars shivered into atoms, people mashed and mangled, and bleeding and gasping for water. I heard another crash as the French professor struck the deep keys 'way down on the lower end of the southern division, and then I came to my senses. There he was at a dead stand-still with the door of the fire-box wide open, wiping the perspiration off his face and bowing to the people before him. If I live to be a thousand years old I'll never forget the ride that Frenchman gave me on the piano.”
A committee consisting of Messrs. H. Valentine (Chief Accountant), W. Bishop (Supervising Accountant), R. P. Gillies (Statistical Officer), and F. W. Aickin (District Office) was recently set up to consider what alterations to present returns were advisable to secure, in the most useful form, statistics bearing on operating costs, with particular reference to the gross-ton mileage unit. With the assistance of Messrs. S. E. Fay (Operating and Equipment Assistant) and P. G. Roussell (Acting General Superintendent of Transportation), conclusions have been reached likely to result in increased operating efficiency.
The Railway Department has, with the growth of business, found it necessary to possess statistics covering most of the phases of its business, a constant analysis of operations being essential for the improvement of services and for securing economic working. The Railways have a commodity to sell—transport. They may also be said to be the manufacturers of transport. As with all sellers it is necessary to know the extent of the sales and the selling cost, and for this purpose standard units of measurement are required. A carrying concern cannot—like the trader—have a stocktaking, and, therefore, must resort to methods peculiar to its calling. Methods of working are constantly changing, and, without information showing the results obtained, it is impossible to know whether the changed methods have proved beneficial.
Statistics do not of themselves cure defects on the system—nor for that matter does the doctor's thermometer cure the patient. It has been said that a reliable set of statistics is to the administrative officer what the thermometer is to the doctor. Both point to weaknesses where such exist and make it possible to localise the faults either generally or specifically. If the former, attention can be focussed on certain aspects—perhaps a customary method of loading, while if the latter, the appropriate remedy may be applied. It is the intention of the Department to make systematic overhaul of all returns to ensure that only those that are of real value and fully justify their compilation are rendered. However interesting figures or returns may be, they should not be called for unless they are to be put to practical use. At this stage efforts are in the direction of securing information regarding the matters outlined above, namely, the sale of transport, and the cost of selling it.
There is a certain amount of antagonism exhibited by some railwaymen towards statistics. Some carp at the cost. It is therefore interesting to remember that the statistics taken out by several noted railway companies cost on the average one-thirteenth of one per cent. of the gross earnings. They have in every case improved efficiency in varying degrees. They only required to improve it by one half or one quarter per cent. to show a profit on the outlay. The prejudice is there, however, and must be overcome. The average practical railwayman of this country is not used to statistics—the science of figures—but he knows that economies have to be effected, efficiency increased, and the revenue swelled. He may then say that personal supervision and inspection can accomplish more than figures. To say that, is to speak without knowledge of the complexities and problems that face the administrative officer. A set of figures (obtained, moreover, at low cost) can say more in an hour to the man running the job than an inspector could write in a week. Apart from that, inspection is necessarily spasmodic and fragmentary however well it be done, and for that reason as an information medium it cannot
The statistic-shy person cannot be altogether blamed for his attitude as statistics of the kind now taken have only recently become essential in this country. The methods of a few years back sufficed for their day, but owing to the changed order of things, are now inadequate. To date, a number of economies and improvements have been effected as the result of taking out modern statistics, and their compilation has been justified. On the other hand it is occasionally found that the method of compiling the statistics themselves can be improved. For instance, at the present time the vehicle mile statistics are extracted from the guards' reports, but with the present form of report the operation is too costly and there is liability to error. These figures can be obtained by making a simple alteration to the guards' report sheet whereby guards will show the composition of their trains on departure from stations where the load of the train is changed. By an improved method of indicating the train tonnage, it is possible to compile that most valuable transportation costing unit—the gross ton mile. From this a further important statistic for gauging operating efficiency, viz., “the gross ton mile per hour,” is readily obtainable.
Compilation of the additional statistics will entail no extra cost.
The position then is that the familiar Mis-7 (guards' report form) is to be remodelled. At the left hand side of the report there will be a perforated docket which, when in use, will be folded over the main portion of the report, covering it to the extent of about four inches. By means of carbon paper, all entries made on the
The statistical information compiled from the dockets will be summarised under appropriate headings of trains and districts and supplied to controlling officers weekly. Four-weekly summaries will also be prepared, and after full analysis of the gross ton-mile figures shown thereon a statement will be appended for the information of District officers, showing complete results of the period's operations. Local operating officers will, therefore, be able to check the results of their work promptly and take such steps as may be necessary to effect improvements.
Apart from the statistical portion there will be other minor alterations in the Mis.-7 report. Those mentioned above necessitated a complete change in the setting, and the opportunity has been taken to make one or two improvements. Greater space has been given for the report on the reverse side, more lines have been allowed for entering the numbers of wagons at starting stations, and a place has been provided for the insertion of counts of passengers (when required).
The altered system will come into operation with the next financial year, but the new guards' sheet will be brought into use somewhat earlier to enable all concerned to become familiar with it.
As a further step in the direction of increasing opportunities for promotion in the service, it has now been decided that any member of Division II. who passes the Senior Examination, will be considered as having qualified for promotion to Division I. in so far as the subjects taken by him are concerned. It will, of course, be necessary for him to pass a test in telegraph operating, balancing station accounts and pricing out stores, etc., to comply with the requirements of the Regulation. The Officer-in-Charge of the Railway Correspondence School expects to commence the course of tuition for the Senior Examination at an early date.
Among the various duties of production officers at the workshops is that of checking the progress of the work on schedule in the various departments. The production officer makes a daily visit to each department, and from the leading hand or foreman he ascertains whether or not each item on the schedule is done. He asks for reasons if the job is not done, traces any material required and, where necessary, advises the general foreman or workshop manager of factors retarding the progress of the work so that the latter officers may give the question of remedy their personal attention.
The daily visits of inspection of the various jobs, in most cases the only part of the business which comes under the notice of the man on the shop floor, has caused many to be of the opinion that the production officer's task is a very simple one. But this impression is erroneous.
The question has been asked by workmen in the shops, “How can a clerical man check the progress of my work?” The idea being, of course, that it takes a tradesman to check up a tradesman's work. If the production officer's job was to check up individual men's work, that conclusion might be justified. It is the foreman's job, however, to check up the work done by everyone under his charge, he being the man from whom the production officer gets his information. In the first place the foreman of each shop is consulted in the drawing up of the schedules.
It is the schedule clerk's duty (in collaboration with the foreman), to prepare and issue schedules to suit each new job as it comes along. He does not have to be a clerk to do this, but he has to have analytical ability, in order that each job may be dissected into the component jobs that make up the whole. He has to ascertain from the foremen how long each job will take, and must chart out the plan so that each job will be done at the proper time. When any schedule contains features that have not before been encountered, the workshop manager is called in for consultation with the foremen and definite plans are devised to meet the situation.
Then, when the plan is made, the schedule clerk advises all foremen of their part and daily approaches them to see if it is done or not done with the one idea of avoiding delays to the plan.
Anyone acquainted with workshops knows, that owing to the complexity of the problem, the elimination of delays in the progress of work through the shops is a task of considerable magnitude, demanding the constant vigilance of the schedule clerk.
The production officer, on account of his knowledge of making plans and checking results, comes to know that certain things ought to be done, and could be done “on time.” He knows the number of days that are lost because of little delays (such as the non-arrival of some detail part) which results in the failure of the men to meet the conditions of the schedule.
His position commands him to take action in connection with every delay. The workshop manager (to whom he is a specialist assistant) and the foremen look to him to take action and obviate delays. Can he do it? He can do a great deal if accurate information is given him. Incorrect information invariably causes delay.
In the foregoing I have dealt with one phase only of a production officer's job. I have not dealt at all with the stores, shipping, costs, output and recording side of his work. The position calls for qualifications of a high order and covers such a range of subjects that, were not the officer full of initiative, enthusiastic, and able to withstand disappointments, he would not make a success of his work.
I want all to understand and appreciate these production jobs because every man in the workshops has an interest in assisting to get the work out “on time.” Let us all pull together and do our best work.
1. The delusion that individual advancement is made by crushing others down.
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
From Colonel Pow, Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand:-
I would like to bring under the notice of your Board the splendid work performed by Mr. W. Thomson, Traffic Inspector, Auckland. The recent Royal Show was the third for which railway arrangements had to be made by me and I have no hesitation in stating that it would be difficult to surpass the above officer in efficiency and courteousness.
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From the Mine Manager of the Paparoa Coal Company Ltd., Roa (Blackball) to the District Traffic Manager, Christchurch:—
May we take this opportunity of thanking your Department for the help and consideration to both ourselves and our clients at a time when it was important to our business that the coal should be handled quickly. We wish to thank you personally for your trouble in marshalling and sending forward the wagons and we wish particularly to thank the local Traffic Clerk, Mr. Gembitsky, for his attention and readiness to help us, not only during the day, but on several occasions by the use of his private house telephone during the evening. It has brought home to us the fact that the Railway Board are out to help business and we cannot speak too highly of your recent effort, and of your efficiency.
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From the W. J. Lane Electrical Co., Ltd., Blenheim, to the Stationmaster in Charge, Picton:—
We beg to thank you for the consideration shown to us…… by the Blenheim stationmaster. We had a truck of our electrical goods to go forward to Seddon, but we were unfortunately a few minutes late in getting the stuff to the station. The stationmaster (Mr. D. E. Wilton), however, proved himself most courteous and obliging in the matter and gave us every assistance in getting the stuff away—a fact which we very much appreciate, as our work would otherwise have been held up. We congratulate the New Zealand Railways on having such an obliging and courteous official.
From the Secretary, Wairarapa and East Coast Pastoral and Agricultural Society, Carterton, to the Railway Board:—
We wish to place on record our appreciation of the train arrangements (both stock and passenger trains) made by the Traffic Department in connection with our recent Show, and particularly the manner in which the emergency caused by the slips in the Manawatu Gorge was met, thus enabling stock to be brought through Wellington arriving here in good time for the Show.
We also wish to place on record our appreciation of the services rendered by Mr. Barrett, Stationmaster at Carterton and his staff on this occasion…. The Show entailed a considerable amount of extra work on the stationmaster, not only before and during the Show, but also for several days afterwards….We wish also to state that but for Mr. Barrett's services in getting the special stock train for the Palmerston Show to pick up stock at Carterton, the stock would not have made the journey at all, and the revenue would have been lost to the Department. If the other officers of the service take the same personal interest in the affairs of the Railways and get as closely into touch with the users of the Railway as Mr. Barrett the risk of loss of business through road competition will not be serious.
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From Mr. D. Campbell, Manager “Cook Rock Estate,” Glenledi, Milton:—
Some four weeks ago we had occasion to use the Railway to a fairly large extent. We had to move all the live stock (sheep, cattle and horses) and implements of a large farm at St. Andrews to this estate at Milton. I think it is only right that we should voice our appreciation of Mr. Bell, Stationmaster, at St. Andrews. He is a live man. Not one hitch occurred whilst at St. Andrews in the receiving and despatching of the trucks. His willingness, cheeriness, and organising right through were thoroughly appreciated by Mr. Bowron and myself. On occasions like this the courtesies shown by Mr. Bell stand out and make one feel that the Railway Department is doing its best.
After dinner (which was served at 6 p.m.) we took our seats in the car which went to Karapeeti (the safety valve of the North Island) and the “Huka” falls, a little higher up the Waikato.
Karapeeti blow hole is an escaping volume of superheated steam with a pressure of 180 lbs. to the square inch coming through an aperture two feet by one foot. The guide lit a sack sprinkled with kerosene so that the visitors could see the escaping steam in the darkness and after the sack had partly burnt away he picked it up on a stick and shook the burning pieces down into the blow hole. These were immediately carried up in the jet of steam and presented a very weird fireworks effect, the sparks remaining alight, proving that it was super-heated or dry steam. This blow hole, according to Maori tradition, has been constant for the last 200 years and the Maoris of the early days of New Zealand used this column of steam as a beacon to guide them with their canoes across Lake Taupo which is six miles distant.
It is very comforting to know that through this energy being dissipated, disastrous results that might follow if it were pent up for any time, are prevented.
We were then taken to the “Huka” falls, on which a searchlight was played, but, as there was a heavy fog, the effect was very disappointing. However, it enabled us to form an idea of the sight of this mass of water, which passes through a narrow opening in the rocks, pouring noisily over the edge into the space below. The lighting to supply the Geyser Hotel and surroundings is generated by the aid of these falls, for transmission at 4,000 volts.
This concluded quite a wonderful day's entertainment and the sights, if they had not been actually seen, would be really beyond the human imagination.
After a good night's rest, we were again bowling along the road to Lake Taupo, and took advantage of a beautifully clear morning to obtain a better view of “Huka Falls.” We also took a few snap-shots.
After a five-mile drive the famous Lake Taupo, 238 square miles in area (greatest depth 534ft.), came into view. This is the world's best fishing lake, and is situated right in the middle of the North Island. Taupo is a favourite resort of trout fishermen, some really excellent catches being secured right throughout the season. On the shores of the lake is the finest geyser in the North Island, but as our time was limited, we had to “take it as read,” and after having a good look at the outlet of the lake, where it empties into the Waikato river, we turned our car for the trip back to Rotorua.
The return journey was much the same as the cutward journey, with the exception that we had lunch at the “Waiotapu” (Sacred Water) Geyser Hotel, and, afterwards, saw the Lady Knox geyser playing, it having been soaped. (It plays for 20 minutes after being soaped.) We also saw the boiling mud lake and mud volcano and a few steaming pools.
We proceeded to Rotorua and, on arriving, took the bus to the Maori village of Whakarewarewa. This is by far the most popular of the sights of the Thermal regions as it is within a mile of Rotorua, the cost being within the means of all—the bus fare 1/6 return, and the round of the village 1/6- including the guide's fee. We were taken round Whakarewarewa by a Maori lady guide called “Bella Papakura,” the sister of the famous guide, “Maggie Papakura.” “Maggie” married an Englishman who became infatuated with her while acting as his guide and the couple are now living in Kensington, London. We were first shown the steam cooking holes. Here the food is lowered in flax baskets and a sack placed over the top. This imprisons the steam and cooks the food. Various concoctions undergoing the cooking process gave forth a savoury odour.
A little further on we saw a Maori woman and child having a bath in a pool with their clothes on; also a maiden doing some washing. The boiling of the copper on washing day, the lighting of fires and the calling of the coalman, are dispensed with here where nature provides the necessary. [It is at this particular spot that today's newspaper reports a subsidence in the front of the meetinghouse leaving a hole of boiling water, 15 feet deep and 10 feet wide. We walked quite close to this spot.] Here we were shown where a tourist took a short cut and the thin silica crust breaking, he slipped down to the armpits scalding his legs so severely that he died shortly afterwards. Close by there was a boiling mineral water pool. This is calculated to be 250 feet deep. The guide's uncle was lost in this pool and never seen again, so they
Close by is the geyser “Pohutu” which plays every 24 hours normally, but can be made to play by blocking the cold water from running in. This geyser plays to a height of about 25 feet. Next this is the “Cat's Eye Pool,” so named owing to the presence of black oil in the boiling mud. Every bubble coming up brings a spot of oil which centres in the middle of the bubble resembling the pupil of an eye.
We then visited the model Pa which stands on some high ground and represents the different buildings and whares (houses) of a Pa. There was the “Patuka” (Store House) and the “Whakarongatai” (Meeting or Listening House). These had carved figures on their front entrances representing some episode in Maori history. “Tutanekai,” a chief, is represented playing his flute. “Hinemoa,” a Maori maiden of a rival tribe holding the gourds she swam with to the island of Mokoia to see her lover, “Tutanekai.” “Maui” (The God of Fish) who, the legend tells us, brought up the South Island of New Zealand on his fishing line. The “God of Carving” is also represented. He is said to have had only three fingers on each hand, hence all Maori carved images have only three fingers.
With reference to “Tutanekai,” “Hinemoa” and “Mokoia” the story is told that Tutanekai, a very handsome young chieftain living on the Island of Mokoia, which is in the middle of Lake “Rotorua” (Twin Lakes), used to play his flute (an instrument made from a reed) which so charmed Hinemoa, a maiden of a rival tribe living on the shores of Lake Rotorua, that she fell in love with him, but her father would never consent to her being taken across the lake to Mokoia in the canoes. She eventually decided to swim across one night and, with the aid of gourds and directed by the sound of the flute of Tutanekai, she reached the island where she was found by Tutanekai hiding in the rushes. He at once took her to be his wife, much against the wishes of the elder chiefs of the Pa, but it is from this union that the present day population of the district sprang. The name “Hinemoa” is much honoured here, and the people living on the shores of Rotorua will quote:—
One more sight and we finished Whakare-warewa. There are some silica terraces forming, and have been for years, by the water running away from some boiling pools on a slight rise in the ground. These are assuming all kinds of
It is from these latter pools of boiling water that the famous “Duchess” Bath at Rotorua is supplied. This bath has a temperature of blood heat and is much appreciated by bathers. One of its characteristics is to leave the skin beautifully soft. Two of our party indulged on several occasions and after each immersion stated that their skin was getting softer.
On the evening prior to our departure, two of our party, who had terpsichorean tendencies wandered into a dance hall, whilst the other two, still under the grip of the skin softening process, went to the Duchess Bath and, judging by the enthusiasm of these two when met later, the effects of this bath must outdo the Kruschen feeling. Referring again to the dance, our reception resembled cold storage, no doubt due to our being complete strangers, and also to a pronounced shyness on the part of the gentle sex. A thaw, however, set in and as soon as our proficiency in the art became known, we were much in demand. After a few enjoyable dances, we managed to steal out of the room unobserved, which must have proved a severe disappointment to quite a number.
Photo N.Z. Publicity Dept.)
Maori Washing Day. Hot pool at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua
Thus finished our most wonderful two days' journeyings. They will remain a page of three-line type in the history book of our lives. For myself I have never appreciated a trip so much as this one.
Kia Ora. Kanui taku aroha atu ki a koe.
(Good luck. Great is my love for you.)
Tuhi Kareepi.
We are obliged to estimate probabilities, and we are obliged to shape our course according to a fair and reasonable estimate of these probabilities.
The manner in which premium work is recorded and paid, is what I now wish to make clear. In the first place a premium foreman or supervisor is assigned to record the work of each department. He carries with him the premium record form as shown below, and his duties are to check the starting and finishing times of all jobs in his section. He has to assign the allowed times, which have been duly authorised, and to make new rates when they are required. The latter have to be checked and approved by the foreman in charge.
The top portion of the premium record form is laid out so as to accurately describe the work done and its identification in the authorised schedule of allowed times. Each successive job is entered in the next line down, and additional sheets are added as required. At the end of each fortnightly period all of the allowances are totalled. This gives the “period total” of “times allowed.”
The bottom portion of the form is a record of the “time taken.” If only one man is working on a certain job his name alone appears on the form, but if there are two or more engaged on any job, all the names are so placed. The amount of time spent by each man is entered daily in the space provided for the purpose.
New Zealand Government Railways.—Premium Record
At the end of each period, the forms are “closed” and where necessary, all finished work is paid for. If there are several names on the form, the total hours saved are proportionately divided on the basis of the number of hours each has put in on the job and each gets that number of hours' premium at his own premium rate. If the total time taken is less than the total time allowed, the difference in time is paid for as a premium. The premium rate is fifty per cent. of the regular wages rate of the worker. Should no premium be earned, there is no penalty such as carrying forward losses which require to be made up, before premiums are again paid. Each period's forms stand alone. As previously stated, regular wages are paid whether or not any premium bonus has been earned.
The following notice for the guidance of employees is now conspicuously exhibited in our Workshops:—
Do your thinking in the shop, not in the hospital.
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Think of what you're doing in every move you make.
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Think of what may happen with every chance you take.
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Every accident teaches a man something, if only he will learn.
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Save your eyes, a blind man has very little earning power.
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More care means fewer cares.
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Safety is sanity in action.
When the King and Queen arrived at Euston Station, back from Scotland recently, nine grey-haired men, retired engine-drivers of Royal trains, were presented to their Majesties by Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the L.M.S. Railway Company. The average age of the nine old engine-drivers was 73, and between them they have driven Royal trains 20,000 miles. In charge of other trains of the ordinary services they have travelled 20,460,000 miles without an accident of any kind.
The figures recently published of motoring fatalities in the United States during 1926, when in seventy-eight of the larger cities no less than 6,128 persons lost their lives, will no doubt rouse the authorities to definite action in the direction of ensuring safety on the public highways. In New York alone there were nearly a thousand fatalities, whilst in Chicago and Detroit there were 622 and 325 fatalities respectively.
From the returns of railway accidents just issued, it appears that only one passenger was killed in a train accident in Great Britain in 1925, Since the opening of the present century there have been two years—1901 and 1908—without a single fatality to passengers in accidents to trains, and in 1909, as in 1925, only one fatal accident occurred; whilst in each of the years 1916, 1919, and 1923 there were only three. When it is considered that over 1,700,000,000 passenger journeys by train are made every year on the railways of Great Britain, involving the running of 262,000,000 passenger train miles, it will be seen that a passenger's risk of death on the railway is so infinitesimal as to be negligible—a one in seventeen hundred millionth chance. Compared with the ever-present peril of the London streets, in which 840 persons were killed in 1925, or the heavy death-roll of 3,631 for a year on the roads of Great Britain, a journey by train to hundreds of millions of people is practically without risk. To the elaborate precautions taken to ensure the safety of the traveller by rail, may be attributed the fortunate position occupied by Great Britain. It is stated in the annual report of their Chief Inspecting Officer, that as the chances of passengers falling out of trains in motion were so small (about one in every twenty-eight million journeys) there was no justification to warrant pressure on Railway Companies to adopt a device for controlling the unlocking of carriage doors.
The predictions made at the opening of the Otira tunnel in August, 1923, that there would be an ever increasing volume of goods traffic conveyed by rail between Westland and Canterbury have been fully justified by results. Despite interruptions caused by floods and washouts each year, the volume of traffic continues to increase.
The gross tonnage of traffic through the tunnel from west to east in 1926 was 409,200 tons, an increase of 57,077 tons compared with 1925. Since the tunnel was opened for traffic on 4th August, 1923, the electric locomotives have hauled a total of 1,151,577 tons weight of east-bound goods trains through the tunnel.
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly has passed the first reading of the Transport Bill, which is framed on the lines of the English and New Zealand Acts, and provides for the appointment of a Transport Board (consisting of Railway Commissioners), which will be empowered to operate motor-buses in competition with privately owned services, and to order the insurance of passengers in public vehicles by the owners.
Just as the history of a nation is printed in books of parchment and paper, so we have a history of ages immensely remote and of forms of life that have long since disappeared, written on tablets of stone. Some of its pages are illegible, but the page with which this article deals is, to the instructed reader, fairly decipherable. It is the rocky slab of the carboniferous age. There is reason to believe that it was an age of shallow, inland seas, and marshy lagoons, and that the plants were of rapid growth, loose and succulent of texture. Of the five hundred odd species of plants that flourished, one half were ferns (acrogens). So familiar in this country are their present day representatives that description is unnecessary. Growing as a dense thicket at the waters edge or in bog-land, a reed-like plant (calamite) with jointed and finely ribbed stems, and whorls of leaves springing from each point (Fig. 1) raised itself fifty or more feet high.
A multitude of trunks darkened above by thick foliage and with each branch heavily fruited with spores mark the presence of the lycopods (Fig. 2). Their modern representatives (club mosses) are spread throughout the world as a low-growing plant, but in that age of luxuriance, like the calamites, they attained the height and bulk of an ordinary tree.
Another plant of a peculiar character had a prominent place in the carboniferous jungle. Such was its abundance that whole seams of coal appear to be entirely composed of its remains. It is the sigillaria. Its foliage probably resembled the ferns, but the trunks and roots alone have been preserved to us. (Fig. 3.) This strange tree flourished in swamps or in low ground and was remarkable for its elaborately carved and fluted stems. Each