Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-10-12
Sees Great Tide of Commerce
Flowing Across the
Pacific

! 1t will probably be of interest to
! Lot only a few people Of the Hawaiian
| Islands to know the opinion Of one OF
! Australia'S foremost statesman on JUS
! how the Panama Canal will beneti,
that country. High Commit, sioner of
Australia Sir George H. Reid, who is
! now on a visit to the United States,
irGulged in comment on things in gen.
eral and on matters Australian and
| American during an interview in New
| York. This interview brought out
| thirty years of political life in his
country, five of them spent as Premier
of New South Wales, and one of them
| as Premier of the Australian Fedora
| ton. During the course of the inter
view he said:
1T has been very interesting to ME
! TO come to this side of the Atlantic
and to give myself the pleasure of
comparisons. l had heard much of the
progress and energy of this continent
and | was anxious to see it for myself.
have the standards of my own coun-
try on the one hand, and on the other
/ have lived for the last two years and
| a half in England. | am very much i'm
pressed by what l have seen on this
sire, both here and in Canada.
u S. characteristics.
$50 far my experience of the United
States has been limited to few eX-
cellent hotels and what l could see
from the window of a rapidly moving
railway train, but l have been very
much impressed with the health,
strength and comfort which are so
manifest All this makes me want to
see more, and am glad that am go
ing to have the opportunity of doing
So"
why do you say the hotels here are
excellent?" the High Commil sioner
was asked.
We'll. the first thing that struck me
about them was the regardless to
cost element. | see it in the buildings
in the fittings and in all the things
which are done for ones convenience.
The elevator service is splendid, the
food is first rate and the butiness
management is first rate. There is an
ar of smartness about every thing.
Regarding the persons l see about
in the hotels find them of Vigor-
Gus, virtuous, prosperous type, quite
free from any of those modern ex-
travagances which one associates with
decadence.
THE crowds in the streets are fine
and virile and one can judge OF
good deal from the crowds in the
streets. One phase Of life here have
not seen and one which want to see
is that of the school. want to see
real big school, where there are
hundreds of young Americans in the
making. That's where I shall see
America l can look forward for
twenty or thirty years and know what
America is going to be. / haven't
seen it yet, but am sure shall see
something good.
America Is Sound"
"One thing / am satisfied about is
the 'soundness' Of America. OF course
at distance one has to Judge coun-
try by what one reads OF it, and, nat
urally, the sensational things are the
things one reads about. Consequent
~, one is apt to get a false impress
sion. But | have got my proportions
right now.
For example, l came to America
with too much of an idea of the I'M
soundness of things here. What had
read had given me the idea that there
was too big margin of insecurity.
l thought too much of the craze to
manufacture wealth by watering
stocks l have already in my few
days in New York and Chicago seen
that was wrong, that underlying all
there is a fundamental soundness.
There is a wildcat element every
where, but it is only small part OF
the cargo of the ship.
Il don't suppose any child ever ma
tured without an attack of mumps or
the measles or perhaps even boil
on the neck, but these things are
small things where the constitution
is sound, and l am quite satisfied
that the constitution of America is
sound. The efforts you are making to
put things right where they are
wrong are an earnest Of the future.
1t was suggested to the High Com
missioner that at the time of the visit
of the American fleet to Australia
IHSv Hdu UScu very we'll ISSSlHCN anu
that it had been said that Australia
was really more American than Brit
iSh.
Visit of Fleet.
The visit OF the American fleet,
said Sir George in comment, drought
out one of the finest expressions of
good will the world has seen. We
had public holidays when the fleet
was in port, and every man in the
fleet could have been housed and en-
tertained in some good Australian
home. Everybody was anxious to
have them and there weren't enough
to go round. We have always had a
very high regard for America. We look
on America as one of the family, per-
haps more than Americans know.
There is, however. the difference
between a 'cousnly regard and the
deep love for the mother and if the
cousin were unpleasant to the moth
err why, the 'COuSinlV regard would