MINISTERS ON TOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 146, 19 June 1908, Page 6

MINISTERS ON TOUR.

HOURS AND ARDUOUS WORK. THE PREMIER IN THE KING ■COUNTRY. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.! KAWHIA, Thursday. Much has been said at different times on the subject of the overwork imposed upon Ministers of the Crown. Just how arduous the duties of a minister's life often are, and the long hours and ceaseless strain involved, may be gauged from the record put up by Sir Joseph Ward during his flying visit through the King Country this week. Seldom snatching more than four or five hours' sleep out of the twenty-four, and with an appointment for every moment of his time, the Premier can safely be said to have worked from 16 to IS hours per day. Every morning during his visit to the King Country he was at work long before sunrise, often covering miles in a railway journey from one town to another before the day could actually be said to have dawned. Endless appointments filled in the hours - during the day, while the evenings were devoted to the addressing of public meetings, receiving deputations, and attending the inevitable banquet, so that the Premiers day's work always carried him well past the hour of midnight.

On Monday evening Sir Joseph Ward commenced his tour of the King Country by arriving at Taihape. By Tuesday evening he had got as far as Taumarunui, and his engagements there could not be completed before midnight. . Un Wednesday morning the Premier and his party were astir shortly after five o'clock, and an hour later were under way for Te Kuiti. Wednesday was a particularly heavy day for the Ministerial party, and the Premier only returned from Wairere at 8 o'clock in the evening in time to straightaway address a large public meeting, which retained his attention until 10. A dozen deputations followed, and the Minister was then hurried off to a banquet in his honour, from which he was unable to break away until after the hour of twelve. This morning the Premier again set forth upon his travels loui/. before the sun had risen, and he arrived at Teawamutu in time for breakfast. A little after 10 o'clock the party set out upon the tedious trip overland to Kawhia. Until Pirongia was reached, the trip lacked interest. At this place the irrepressible deputatjpnist instantly besieged the head of the Government, with petitions of the us.* i varied nature. A request was made for the reservation of the top of Pirongia mountain for the purposes of a sanatorium. This deputation being disposed of. the party set out upon the long climb into the Kawhia ranges.

Hour after hour the five-horse team slowly toiled up into the mountain fastnesses. The journey was tediously slow, and by four o'clock in the afternoon the party aad only got as far as Terauamoa. The grandeur of the view had its compensations, embracing a panorama of wonderfully fertile valleys and forestclad ranges, with exquisite glimpses of the snow-capped mountains Tongariro and Ruapehu. The long climb continued over winding grades, which, from their slippery nature, made travelling slow and difficult. At four o'clock the party lunched at Terauamoa, the journey to t-nat point having occupied two hours and a-half longer than was anticipated. As darkness settled, the Premier and his party were still some hours behind timeA fresh relay of horses had been provided, but the mountainous tracks and sticky road debarred any possibility of fast travelling, and most of the up-hill journey was accomplished at walking pace. At a height of 1300 ft a solitary sign was seen painted upon an overhanging rock, bearing the word ""Eternity," and the vast stretch of rugged and serried country seemed to in all truth warrant the name. Darkness finally settled over the scene when the party had still seven miles to accomplish, and the remainder of the journey occupied two hours, during which time the coach slowly threaded its way down the winding curves of the ranges to the foreshore of the Kawhia Harbour, at Oparau. Here it was necessary to change to a ■launch, but, as the coach journey had •occupied some hours longer than was calculated, the tide was found to be dead out, and an hour and a-half s delay ensued.

At 5.30 the Ministerial party (which included Messrs. Jennings and Greenslade, M.P.'s), feeling very tired and very cold, embarked on the launch to complete the final seven miles of the journey. Despite the fa-ct that a delay had been encountered, it was hoped Sir Joseph would still arrive in time to address the meeting which had assembled at Kawhia; but the difficulties did not end with the embarkation of the party, at Oparau, and they were further chagrined before the trip was half completed to find that the launch had run aground on a sandbank. It was not till after 10 o'clock that the party at last reached Kawhia, the journey of 45 miles from Te Awamutu having occupied the best part of 12 hours. Sir Joseph was the guest of the residents at a hurried dinner, and then very briefly addressed a meeting in the public hall. At 11 p.m. several deputations were received, and the Premier did not complete his work until after midnight, having been continuously on the move since 5.30 that morning. The Premier, accompanied by his private secretaries, then boarded the Waitangi, and proceeded to New Plymouth, en route to Wellington.