INTERVIEW WITH MR J. MILLS, M.H.R.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8482, 13 May 1893, Page 8

INTERVIEW WITH MR J. MILLS, M.H.R.

AFFAIRS IN AUSTRALIA THE UNION COMPANY'S NEW ARRANGEMENTS. Air James Mills, M.H.R, who has recently returned from a visit to Australia, having been interviewed by a representative of the Otago Daily Times, expressed himself upon several matters of public interest. We make the foilowiug extracts : — CONDITION OF AUSTRALIA. I was iv Sydney and Melbourne just previously to aud at the commencement of the Bank troubles. For some time before the first failures, I gathered from leading banking .and commercial men that there was a feeling of anxiety abroad owing to tbe evident uneasiness ou the part of depositors, which was, even at that early stage, shown by withdrawals and removals from oue Bank to another. It was felt that this might develop into what is known as a "run" upon any or all of tire Banks, and, as is well known, this happened. The fact that such lirge withdrawals have taken place, and from Banks that should be above suspicion, does not, however, to my miud, tne—n that depositors necessarily have not confidence in the stability aud solvency of the Institutions, but rather that, in view of the possibility of temporary embarrassments, each individual was anxious that his money at all events should not be locked up. All this monetary panic had a marked effect in accentuating the general business depressiou; aud the Governments of both Victoria aud New South Wales were much exercised to meet even the reasonable demands of the large deputation* of unemployed who frequently waited upon them. There is undoubtedly a great deal of distress anioitg the better class of workers as weil as amongst tiie mass of unskilled labourers, as public and private works and buildings have come pretty well to a standstill. . . . . . The surplus labour which left our shores for Australia five years ago must now drift elsewhere. Many have already found their Way to New Zealand ; while mauy more will come yet, as there is an impression on the other side that emp.oyniout here is abundant. A great mauy, however are going farther afield, as I noticed that all the large steamers leaving tor Eugland, the Cape, and America were lull in the steerage. Still there is every reason for confidence in the future of the neighbouring colonies. It must be borne in miud that their chief industries —pastoral, agricultural, gold, aud coal mining—are at present at their very lowest ebb, and an improvement iv any one of these will immediately have a good effect. If the recent slight improvement in the price of wool is confirmed, it must bring large sums of money to the colonies. KECLPROCITV. I agree with the Hon. Mr Ward that the feeling in favour of a reciprocal tariff between the colonies is growing ou the other side, but I am inclined to think it will be some time yet before intercolonial reciprocity is realised as far as New Zealand is concerned. Any proposal in this direction will be vigorously opposed by the •agricultural classes iv Victoria and New South Wales, who would be directly affected by the increased imports of New Zealand produce ; but the most important factor is that of revenue. The colonial exchequers are in such a state that they caunot afford to sacrifice revenue from any source, and until this difficulty is removed I do not expect to see any great strides made hi the direction of intercolonial reciprocity. OUR COLONY. I may say that " Now Zealand " is in everyone's mouth on the other side as being the only prosperous colony at the present moment. We are " the curlyheaded boy " among the colonies, and New Zealand is pointed to as evidencing what cau be done in the face of difficulties in the way of retrenching public expenditure and restoring public credit. Great interest is being taaen in the recent changes in taxation in this colony, and also in the various schemes which are being tried by the present Government to give an impetus to the settlement of people on the land. What is recognised on the other side as well as here is that a return to prosperity on a sound basis cau only be secured by getting the land profitably oocupied. STEAM SERVICES. The proposed service from Sydney to Vancouver, which is being inaugurated, will not in its present shape interest New Zealand. The steamers are announced to leave Sydney for Vancouver, calling only at Brisbane, and at an average speed of fourteen knots the voyage will occupy fully twenty-one days out of the twenty-eight, so that time will not permit of their calling at any New Zealand port. Our mails will therefore continue to be carried via San Francisco, and there is no reason why by this service a quicker mail delivery should not be secured than by Vancouver or any other line, as the distance by sea from Auckland to San Fraucisco is some 300 mile: less than to Vancouver. With regard to the position of the Union Company, as you know, we have been subjected to very severe competition during the last summer on the part of Messrs Huddart, Parker and Co., who built two large and fine steamers, the Warrimoo and the Miowera, for the trade between and New Zealand. As was foreseen by those who understood the trade, these steamers were of too expensive a class to be run profitably. They have now been withdrawn, and it is announced that they are to initiate the service between Sydney and Vaucouver in connection with the Canadian-Pacific railway. During the competition the fares between the colonies and on the coast were necessarily reduced Ho a low rate, which led to a considerable augmentation of the traffic. We have now adopted a revised scale of fares on intercolonial lines, the rates being somewhat above those ruling during the time of competition, but very much below those in existence before the advent of the new line — thus belying those who asserted that on the discontinuance of the opposition a very large, advance would be made on the rates previously ruling. We intend to ascertain by experiment whether the public can be induced to travel more | largely by moderate rates, and if so, it will pay us to continue them. Ou our coastal lines we propose to maintain for some months the reduced rates which have prevailed during the summer, and if we find them still largely taken advantage of, the lower rates will be made permanent. Our object is to make our lines popular and to give the public every inducement to travel consistent with some moderate return on j the capital invested. It has always been our aim to give the public as good value as I possible, as is shown by the class of steamers I provided and by our endeavour in every way to keep ahead of the requirements of traffic !We have now a fleet of some fifty-three steamers, and have recently added to it a large cargo steamer, the Maori, which has ! already visited the port under the Shawi Savill flag. The Maori left London last week for Madras and Calcutta, aud should arrive in this colony early in August. She is intended for the Calcutta trade. We have also been able to show that the majority of our steamers are quite up to the | most exacting modern requirements both ! with regard to speed and accommodation. The Mararoa has carried off the laurels of the season, as she completed the voyage from Sydney to Auckland, a distance of 1281 miles, in 81 £ hours; being an average speed of over 15| miles per hour; while between Melbourne and Sydney, a distance of 529 miles, she has averaged over 16 miles an hour. The Rotomahana has repeatedly averaged over 15 miles an hour on the voyage from New Zealand to Australia ; while the Manapouri has averaged over fourteen,, and other of our steamers have done as well. These facts speak volumes for our ships ; and the condition in which they are maintained by the Company's responsible officers has given the travelling poblici - feeling of confidence that in reality safety is combined with speed. We have felt much gratified at the amount of support w«[' have received from the public during the competition, in spite of the very fine class of ships opposed to us, and we regard it as evidence that the public feel assured that whether w,e have opposition or not we shall study their inte- ; rest as well as our own.