The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 76
Wellington, 13th December, 1898
13th December, 1898.
Dear Sir,—
As one who did not advocate your appointment as New Zealand Commissioner empowered by the Government to visit various countries and report upon the possibilities that exist in respect to trade in hemp (Phormium tenax) manufactured in this colony—believing no tangible good would accrue from such a mission—I nevertheless cheerfully bear testimony to the extraordinary zeal and energy you displayed in the performance of your duties in England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, and Canada, in all of which countries I happened to be travelling concurrently with you.
In the numerous and lengthy speeches you delivered (all very fully reported in the newspapers) you did not confine your remarks to hemp, but dealt with the whole of the colony's products, its resources, its field as an investment for capital, and the opportunities that present themselves for an interchange of commodities. In fact, I do not hesitate to say that no one could have been more active or intelligent in advertising New Zealand than yourself.
Harold Beauchamp.
John Holmes
, Esq., City. I have, &c.,John Holmes.
Hon.John McKenzie
, Minister of Lands, Wellington.