THE PREMIER IN THE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 97, 17 January 1908, Page 8

THE PREMIER IN THE

SOUTH. v 6 INTERVIEWED AT. CHRISTCHURHC. ' s • • • ... • C oversea mail communication. [ •' REPLY . TO A FINANCIAL, CRITIC; I ■ : ■ : ' ... THE. ME AT EXPORT TRADE, ,(Br IBI.EOEAPn—6MCIAI, COBEESrONUENT.I !, 1 Christchurch, January 16.' .1 • Sir Joseph Warrl arrived from ''Wellington' ( by tho Maori this morning. . Ho;,received ( soTcral small .deputations:(mostly of » private < character), and,, aecohrpaiiied. > b';r^-Messrs. ? U. G. Ell arid-T. a Davy, visit of inspection : to" tlio Cliristcliureh rail...way yards..and-cleanjng- she'4s.Hoileft'j-for I Dunedin by tlio secopd. express, :,and r expccts ,j . to -'return' either . : bn':-Saturclay fnight■' or Tues- -, day night.. ' . : ; ;''V ' ;j ; OVERSEA . ' : • * In a ./\Trnth' ".''Tet>orter, ! Sir Joseph Ward oxpressed hinjself strongly ; upon -'tho disadvantages suffered ,i by the Dominion in" respect to oversea > mail com- • munica'tion. ! !■' ' "At present," lie safd, "our man niaiier has to filter through Australia, and the .whole arrangement, is one that. has given rise, to rnuoh inconvenienco and vexation. Sir'-Wil-. , frid" Lauricr. characterised the' .present service as ' a .Canadian,-, New Zealand, and Australian contract.' ' It is not a Now Zea- ■ land contract in- any.sense of.tho. term. We •are not parties, to, it, and it is of little use . ,to us. This is borno out.by-tho fact,that tho-mail steamers make-Sydney their final '.port of call, coming out from Vancouver-via I .Victoria, 8.C., Honolulu,' Fiji, and Brisbarto, , ;to Sydney. So long as. that route, is c'on- : .tiuued, tho steamer's : cannot, como-to. Now Zealand,- and we cannot get any benefit from -.the'service. . Any'mail' '.matter : specially marked ' .via'' Vanboiiv'er' .is.'sent at' ordinary .postal -union 'rates, '.and ' this ;is-"'entitled'.to-ll.!,dono hy. any line yithbut a contract. /In -1895, when I 'visitdd'OttaWa, I entered into ;an agreement .with- tlic.-then -.owners of the . Canadian-Pacific Railvyay. for,a ' contract' for \tho. conyjpyanco of. bun mails; from-Now.,Zea r 'I'lthii, practically direct jkO vCanftda,;. but. .tip proposal was n9t. : .rati&.^ ; ■was; caused !. ty . thp ' regreitably - mistaken, opposition of the' comrierciaT world. '.As/the 'result 'of largo .Queensland' in jerests 'becom-' ■ ;ing concerned in < the steamers,' Brisbane ; was, made tho port" of "caTT, and -New ZealantJ ..was .'cut 'Out : of tho • itinerary.. ; Wo. havo! iibvoV, been' able'..to gbt'V.it',. replaced/,;, There -is iauthority : ;t6. expend £20,000 upoji: a >mail •subsidy still; standing,: but !wo carinpt get. a ..service - by the present'-' means." .Queensland now part \tpwards, tho .sorvico ..directly. .For' the of-.the ■.steamers calling ■ at.. Brisbane,'-vths,.Federal. GpVprnment:. pays ,£2.0,000 v arid,,the cost.: is spread - all 'over ;tlie Commonwealth'. \Y.bpn Queensland paid tho whole /Amount' sho iwas' apreeablo to-, havo Brjsbano .'dropped'; out' as :a port of call, but would not consent to it now,- and I see no chancp of'getting.'New Zealand reinstated. This, unsatisfactory vice, of course, is quite! apart from tho All Red route. If wo succeed in gotting that, one of tlio first conditions mil bo that Now Zealand shall be the'; first port of call, either at Auckland or Wellington. . My idea is that oiia port should bo touched at inwards and tlie-other outwards. Tho schemo is as yet only developing,' but as it is strongly advpcatod by the British, Canadian,''and .'Now. Zealand Governments.,-I am sanguine of, com-, plcto success. What Australia is likely, to di« in'connection with the new -contract with the Orient line is difficult to say.": FINANCE. "Tlio.criticisms of the Investors'. Review- of our' finance," Sir Josoph pursued, " aro:iiot| regarded as very, .serious; by'th'oso"with.'a' knowledgo of tho circumstances, and to ;thp question where wo expect'to get'thb moneys authorised this'year a very cbnlplcto, answer .is furnished by the fact that havo -got them all with "tho exception of the current quarter's proportion .of, tho £800,000 to- be piid to the Public, Works Fund! .Wo are in a posit,ioivtp pay. the. requisite £200,000 now, but it is-'not'■immediately: required.'-: That • is tho answer to thoso'strictures. .As. a/matter' of fact,' the ' Dominion's finance has /never been stronger -in my time:than- it is 'to-day. fiven at,the height 'of-the'Ampncan'fina'n'cial panic .within tlio ■last 'fow-.weoks -I 'declined to renew one.largo transaction' running into ' a largo 'sum', localise ;the. liplder. 'askcd' fbr improved terms.-'; 'l'hey bad taken up:-a~large ' portion of tho',past'y]oHns'.'at 'a' : Prom]um":;of .'2 per ceiit'., ahd wanted to renew :at. par... As •: stated, I ; declined, and -.rtado/fresh - -arrangements on eqiially good'tormK,:.with-tliosb exist- . ing-previously!-, . - • 'v;--THE ANTARCTIC; PQST OFFICE. : ■ ;"No :Inlperial ■ or- foreign" cbnjplicatiohs 1 ■ havo ,arisen' as the result'.pf'Our^'permitting ■ Libutenant Shnckletbn - to establish' : a' post-, officei at' King Kdwartl L'3ii'd,!';:tho',Pre- ■ in'.icr- rot-orteo, laugliinijty,.". nbr : do'T tliiijlc. thoro will bp : iwy "Woiible.; Tt'-is r ridiculoiis' to; siipposp 'that-there« should be;' Why' shpuldthere ? . ■ Thorp is ;biie governing ' t'lvoso cbol latittidcs,' and New Zealand lias:as niucli right' aS' any, country to 1 grant' temporary postal facilities. If l Franco or Germany sent expeditions down there, no one could reasonably .object to' tlieir "establisliiiig 'post offices durinjptho stay of .their people. It was' a compliment that none, could take oxceptioh t«:pur. paying, and lionc can say it was not doservea." " ' ' FROZEN MEAT TRADE. : . • '. :"I have no- official', information : from' the I High Commissioner, in regard to the dealings of the American, ifeat .Trust, jvitb our.-froreh mutton and lamb at Home," -Sir" .'Jos.eph • Ward stated,''."neither has the matter beeil brought directly:under my'notice : as head of. the Government. Further-than that I do not know anything more than the man in the street." , . ' 1 ■' ■ • .' In reference to the proposed combination: of the New Zealnrid meat' export 'companies,'' suggested, by. reprpsonta.tiyesv'-of the North Island freezing organisations. Sir . Joseph i said, "If you wore to ask 'my personal.opir nion as to the. advisableness.of srich'.a step, 1 I.'should' enrtainly sav'that on broad principles . at this -end -is essential in the general interests of our sheep-farmers. If we had one centralised' organisation as the . result of intense combination there would be I a danger (whitih in practice niight 'ilot arise, > but which on the face of'it is still apparent), ' that a great cpniliuiation of interests.,at "one 1 end would entail the creation of such - a powerfully controlling factor - that it 'would be hard to predict what, it might load to in the course of a few years. While I, hold . this .view, <1 ani also of opinion' that riunicrovrely scattered freezing works, -overlapping each other to a considerable extent, do more harm than good, in fictiously raising price; to the -grower and thus paying tho' way to an inevitable reaction. But that is'quite a different matter to an amalgamation of interosts on the. producing side. Three or four powerful freezing organisations operating in- • dependently at this end seem to .be more 5 suit-cd to the goneral interests of the Dominion. At the other end there is no doubt if j combination for selling purposes could be se--3 cured by one or two powerful organisations 5 acting in the capacity of sellers, but not of » buyers, it would assist matters very materially. The more sellers there arc, tho more drastic becomes the competition, and as too • frequently time is essential in disposing of huge shipments of frown meat, baste can be achieved only by the various sellers cutting prices to make, sales. But I know enough of its quality to afiirtn that iN'ew Zealand mutton is so goad, and sucli care it exercised i#

selecting what is sent out of the country, that..- so ;]oh£ .as 'theso desirable conditions, ore maintained,. .we . . have nothing to. fear from outside competition. What is suggested of the American Beef Trust, that, it. undersells our mutton .and lamb in order to secure orders for beef, possibly is.practised at Home; but. so. long as our mutton and lamb is not ; purchased by members of the trust lit less'thaii-its stan--dard. value,, . then the thing is hot 'an unrmixed evil from our point ol view.'■ We cannot certainly blame, tfi'e dealers for. taking . advantage of.elieap priee.v iMbey are ayail•able. However, the whole thing lis a" .very ;l)ig question, and as the industry-, is one of our, best and . most profitable.,' all - interests would best be served by...maintaining fair At. the same tinni-,'it" may he 'productive;of much pood, if thoso. eonncctod 'with .the export trade .were .to, confer ..with a-.yifw to pushing the trade to the . best state of . ' !.It '..is ■doubtful-whether a, eombiiiatift'n'on the : lines fronr the' 1 , North, ' Islnnd','. '..eonld i 'seetire'-.maiiy. advantages in" regard; to.- ship--j'pirig If!tho'bresent.fr(iights'.are - .f?iir. and not •;exMj»itfci"-'"l(i'''utawfe '• to : re4s6n'..that i if :'all the-.sheep- farmers combined J Vriof 7 .y»e'object-, 'of .-b'ritfging-freights "below; a' pa,ying'_amount, could:'otUy tb^i'shippirig comIpliniex'booming interested in themeat;ui •Order -to recoup l the; loss, oh 'freights.'>'■ So. vfar as direct stoahVers : from New Zealand are .'concerned, ;for. spine.;time' past, no eountry i in"'j the world', Ijas enjoyed 'greater' advantages. '. -*' 7-.am -sorry I- cannot say -tlic<,!\ameof"onr mail service," : Sir Joseph mused.." -sadly.- '" But: that is another,story \ UONEL TERRY, • V ; . - , (nr XELEGEArn-r-PHESS ASSOCIATION.) . ' Chrlstehurch. January 16. Sir Joseph said that ho had read Dr. Truby King's statements in regard to Lionel Terry, •but ho did-not know-if they;had'bcen submitted to tho Minister in charge'of as.vlums. Sir- Joseph added; however, .that-on his return to Wellington he would have tho whole .case specially looked nito/; . As to the proposal tliat the Grovernmont ; ~ should establish an , asylum;, for insane, persops of. ;c-riimiial .'tendencies,\that was a;subject,upbn; whieli'he -was not jpr.epared' to make'any definite. 1 state,me"nt'." llt 'was t-ruo that Terry's ease jras quite exceptional; but there Vfras no doubt there; we>q' many,'.others, in' the'Domin-•ioii's'-asylums-wlio should'.be specially ,eonsidered. /- . ':■ •- : :