SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 141, 16 June 1926, Page 8

SIR JOSEPH WARD.

RETURNS FROM SYDHEY. GROWTH OF THAT CITY. The one Liberal in the New Zealand Parliament, Sir Joseph Ward, returned yesterday afternoon by the Ulimaroa from a hurried visit to Sydney and Melbourne, in time to reach Wellington to-day for the opening of Parliament. When he was interviewed, Sir Joseph referred to his novel position in the House, and said that he proposed to be true to the party he was at present leading, and that there was no danger of a split in that party. Speaking of Sydney, Sir Joseph said that it had grown remarkably since his last visit, and that the amount of building that was being carried out was astonishing. It was impossible for a visitor not to notice the indications of progress in Sydney and also in Melbourne, although not to the same extent as the first mentioned city. It was apparent that there was plenty of money, and it was certainly being , spent on the most modern buildings. Of the largest undertakings he had seen, the Sydney Harbour bridge topped the list. He had been credibly informed that it was going to cost considerably more than £7,000.000, and that there had been an increase in the cost of over £1.000,000 without any extra work being entatiled. This was due to the reduction of the working week to 44 hours. Sir Joseph had also been informed that the extra cost was being borne by the Government, and not the contractors, in terms of the contract. "It ie a wonderful work." said Sir Joseph, "and if, when it is finished, it will carry out what is intended of it. it -will certainly be one of the greatest engineering feat* the world has ever known/ , ''The people of New South Wales have the greatest confidence in the future of i their State, a there can be no doubt that Sydney is destined to be one of the greatest cities in the world." continued Sir Joseph. "There certainly have been some acute political differences, bat with the people it is New South Wales first." One of the things that impressed him most was the general belief in the importance of the secondary industries. The doctrine of local manufacture was being preached everywhere. Interest was attached to this in view of the fact that in the last few months there had been a great reduction in the value of the exports, but at the same time there had been an almost equal falling off in the value of imports, and thus the two wer° balanced. If in the future the volume or exports decreased without the import* going down correspondingly, a seriou* financial problem would arise. This possibility required careful watching Referring to traffic problems, which had increased with the growth of Sydney. Sir Joseph eaid that the underground railways at present in construction were going to revolutionise Sydaev traffic The increase in the last ten yeaYe had 'been ITJr.T the under ?round was easily the best move yet made to relieve congestion. He expressed the opinion that hav P y W ° uld e -entuaUv nave io go underground. Sir Joseph, who visited hi s married daughter in Sydney, stated that he feU IhoVtTol!aa" ProVed iD healt * «*-