THE PREMIER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 288, 3 December 1907, Page 5

THE PREMIER.

FLYING VadlT TO AUCKLAND.

TO RETURN IN JANUARY.

The Right Hon. the Premier, Sir Joseph v > ard, arrived in Auckland this morning on a flying visit, in his capacity as Post-master-Ueneral, in order to select a site from the five proposed for the new Post Cilice which is to be erected in Auckland. He was accompanied by Mr. Hislop, his private secretary; Mr. J. Campbell, Government architect, and Mr. T. Ronayne, general manager of railways;,,: Sir Joseph came up in the Rarawa from •ew Plymouth, having a pleasant run up the coast. He was met on arrival at Onehunga by his colleague, the Hon. Geo. i'owlds, Minister of Education, the Hons. W. Beehan, T. Thomson, and B. Harris, M.L.C.'s, Messrs. Alf. Kidd, F. Lawry, C. H. Poole, M.P.'s, Mr. J. Rowe (Mayor of Onehunga), Messrs. P. J. Nerheny and T. Harle Giles, President and Secretary of the Auckland Branch of the x-oeral and Labour Federation, and others. Sir Joseph finished the special business for which he came to Auckland to-day, and will return to Wellington to-morrow. Thence he will proceed to his home in lnvercp.rgi.ll for the Christmas season, and will return to Auckland about January 15, remaining in the province for about a month. The Premier, who has been constantly at work since mc session began, is in excellent health, and looks remarkably well after so long and arduous a session. After receiving a deputation at Onehunga, he came on to Auckland by train, being met on arrival at the station by the Mayor (Mr. A. M. Myers), who welcomed him to Auckland, and Mr. F. Baume, M.P. AN INTERVIEW. THE FINANCES OF THE COLONY. EFFECT OF THE TARIFF. Sir Joseph was interviewed shortly after his arrival by a " Star " representative. In reply to a question, the Premier said that he would first deal with the very important matter of the Post Office site, a matter which could only be settled by personal inspection. " Have cur finances been in any way affected by the American crisis?" the Premier was asked. '" Not in the least," was the reply. " All our finance for tne year is arranged, and we are in every respect all right, except that there is, and must be, a slight reflex action from a crisis such as is now going on in a great country like America. But iur people have comparatively small financial dealings with America, and the only real effect is that felt through the re-action of the New York money market upon that of London, this being the only direction in which we can be affected. We are not now in the London money market for loans of any kind, and the business houses carrying on the hulk of the business of this country are not affected by the fluctuation of stocks. Although the rate of interest has been raised by the Bank of England, with the object of keeping gold in the country, I feel pretty confident that the rftising of the rate will not affect the large discounting houses doing business with the big commercial organisations that trade between New Zealand and the Motherland." "The drop in wool has not affected our credit 1" "There has been a drop in wool, and that is the direction in which we are most concerned. The maintenance of the values of our staple products is of immense importance to all in this country, whether country or town dwellers, whether large trader or small; but I should imagine that as far as we can judge the crisis in America has passed its future, and it is to the true interests of by the shortage in gold and the tremendous speculation in railway stocks. It is a very disturbing element in finance in a great country like America when the railways are privately owned, for the great railway kings have the opportunity of rigging the market in their stocks, and the result is that, from time to time, they bring about those great dislocations in the true value of railway stocks, which often done to a criminal extent enables the financial magnates to make large sums of money out of the public, a panic being sometimes precipitated in the meeting of the obligations. There is now a tendency throughout America to legislate to bring about a cessation of this kind of thing, and President Roosevelt, who is at times blamed by the financial king 3 for his so-called interference, is, in my judgment, working strenuously in the direction of preventing such troubles in the future, and is to the true interests of America that such a policy should be pursued." "And we have enough money here for our needs?" "Yes; in New Zealand to-day, both publicly and privately, there is more than sufficient money for the needs of the country. In fact, one of the difficulties I have as Minister of Finance at the moment is to find investments for the large sums of money that are coming into the Treasury through various channels. Altogether the condition is most satisfactory, and there is no need to fear in New Zealand that there will be insufficient to carry on the private business and industries of the country. We have now financial freedom equal to that which has existed at any time in the past. If there were any difficulty with the public finances, the position would be quite different, hut fortunately that is not the case. Our million loan of last session for public works was all secured on satisfactory terms, and £800,000 for the purchase of gilt-edged securities in London was obtained without any difficulty, and without going in to the London money market at ali. This is satisfactory evidence that our credit stands very well at Home. In my opinion we were never stronger, both at Home and in the Dominion, than we are to-day, and even though wool has dropped it is still at a very high figure, and seeing the demand for wool all over the world there cannot be a very long or serious drop. He would be a very sanguine man who expected the high prices of the past year or two to remain without any alteration."

" Has the new tariff been in operation sufficiently long for its effects to be ju.lged ? "

" There can be no doubt but that it is having a rery good effect on the country. We already, know of three large and important industries which are to be established -within the Dominion as the result of its operation. Anyone who examines the tariff carefully must admit that there ie nothing in the new tariff which can injure any existing indnstries, while the reductions on many articles have not been of a grudging character, but have been given wholesale, and the benefit of these ia obtained by the consumer."

" Will the Arbitration Act Amendment Bill when re-introduced, be similar in character to that dropped last session ? " " It is impossible to say yet; the matter has to be considered by Cabinet in the light of evidence obtained, anu what our final proposals will be cannot yet be determined." .

"A Wellington telegram received yesterday stated that there were, in the opinion of a high legal authority, serious flaws in the new Gaming Act, and that the Government had drawn the attention of the law officers of the Crown to the matter."

" I don't know anything of that; I referred a clause of the bill to the law officers myself, but it was not for the reason indicated in the telegram to which you refer. The effects of the bill—well, it is early yet to talk of that. Time and the course of events will determine its value."

HUNGRY ONEHUNGA.

WHARF, LOAN AND HARBOUR WANTED. When the Premier arrived In Onehunga this morning, he was waited on by a -deputation from the Onebxmga Borough Council, concerning the wants of the borough. These were voiced by the Mayor, Mr. Ro-we, who asked the Premier's assistance in securing for tfte borough a loan of £30,000 in instalments of £.10,000 a year for drainage works. Mr. Rowc pointed out thai it was necessary to drain the borough in order to secure the purity of the water supply, not only of Onehunga, but of the surrounding districts, which were supplied from the same source. In answer to the. Premier he stated that a special rate would be raised as security for the loan, the amount of the rates at present levied being £ 1200 a year, while the indebtedness was nil. The Premier replied that he did not think so large a loan could be given out of the Loans to Local Bodies fund, since three or four such applications would swamp all the available money. There was insufficient in the fund now to provide for the wants of road boards and county councils, and the Government preferred to provide for those before the municipalities, with whom the negotiation of private loans was an easier matter. He had never heard of a larger loaa than £6000 being granted from the loans to local bodies account, and considered that the loan, if granted, would have to

be straight out. He asked the deputation to put the matter in writing, so that he might go fully into it on hia return to Wellington.

Mr. Rowe next brought up the question of dredging the bertha on the inside of the wharf, in order to increase the available accommodation. The Premier said that that was a matter for the Minister of Marine, to whom he would represent the views of the deputation. A sum had been put on H»« estimates for the extension of the wharf, and as to the suggested rebuilding of the structure he pointed out that, none could foretell the effect which tbe completion of the North Trunk line wtrnld have on the traffic in and out of Onehunga.

The deputation then introduced the question of the control of the harbour and wharves being vested in a local harbour board instead of in the Government, as at present. It -was pointed put that settlers on the extensive shores of the harbour suffered from the lack of ■wharfage accomnTodaKon which would be provided under local government. The Auckland Harbour Board had previously refused to take over the Manakau, but were now -willing to do so, but in the opinion of the depebatioa, th« Mroiakau Harbour Board should first be formed, and later the two bodies coukl amalgamate.

In reply, the Premier said that the maiter required careful consideration, which, however, he would give to it, while he would also consult with the Minister of Marine. The Railway Department were anxious to be rid of the control of wharves whenever required. He supposed the Onehunga people would ■want endowments.

The deputation replied that they were prepared, with permission.; to reclaim, part of the harbour by digging the sJlt from the channels.

Sir Joseph remarked that only Auckland and Wellington had reclamations which were paying, and unless they were pretty sure that they were going to be in a better position under local authority, it ' would be better to leave the matter alone. He favoured local authority wherever possible* but it might be advantageous to see first where they stood.