The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1908. THE STATESMAN AT LARGE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 123, 17 February 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1908. THE STATESMAN AT LARGE.

During the past week, the Premier has -been seriously, rivalling the late Mr. Seddon in: his/prolonged? tour of the north. As Ministers have lately been defending their- everlasting tours as portion, of the.:hard; Minister-killing labour necessary to a proper " keeping in touch -with public requirements'," it may be profitable to examine the character of- the business wliicli the Premier considers worthy of his personal attention, and ' important enough -to warrant a prolonged absence from the seat of. government. ,/He left Auckland for Hamilton on Monday, and was subjected en route to the.strain upon Ins statesmanship, involved .im, receiving informal deputations ,oii yarious local matters, ; including, requests for post-offices at Huntly and' l'ukekohe." It is deducible from the telegrams published in the. newspapers that his statesmanship was equal to the strain, since he promised to." look into the matter' of a'site for the'Puke-' kohe office," and to see that the Huntly project is 1 " gone 6n, with without "delay."' ; ~; i /

On the following day he travelled to Te Aroha, breaking his journey at Morrmsville to meet the inevitable deputation. upon ISative land affairs; and the public value of his happy , decision td< visit ; the township is quite evident from the character of his reply to the deputation that " he : could see no ob-' jection to holding the court at Morrinsville." He , grasped -the 'opportu-> nity also to make a.-statement :of such wisdom that .it alone would have warranted the visit. : . "He spoke," says the Press Association's report," of . the detriment to all concerned of Native lands being:idle or in indifferent use." Other; local requirements "{ were very properly brought under his notice/ and it will' be highly gratifying to those who regard' the Premier as a power for national, good to know that these requirements ."'included a 'tele- 1 1 phone exchange and post-office, the ap-1 pointment of a registrar of births, a Magistrate's Court, rifle range, enlarged school site, financial aid to the Town Board;' and-roads for settlers in the Piako County." In. the afternoon lie made a speech-, loaded with ' the usual mass of statistics, and of comonly through its disclosure of! the fact that provision will be made for a iiew railway station in Te Aroha. We next hear of him delivering- a" speech, at Paeroa on Wednesday, but it' may. safely be assumed that he transacted a great deal of business en route. The a,nxiety of i'aeroa upon the~<suestion of national /defence having been allayed,: the Premier was free to/continue' his epoch-making progress' to Waihi. • At Waikino, however, there was work to do, and the Premier scorned to 'leave undone any of the duties imposed upon him by his great position. He visited a Battery, and, as the Press Association rather unnecessarily reports, " received several deputations, who gave utterance to a number of local wants." An address to the Battery hands, and he was off to Waihi, where a formal welcome by the " prominent citizens," who happily exist everywhere for the furtherance of statesmanship's activities, ." two or three hours devoted to the reception of deputations," a publicaddress, and a social gathering made up a stirring; 'day. Friday morning was occupied by a journey to Thames, made memorable, not only by the enthusiasm en route, but by the fact ■that '" he had to listen to' many local wants.'' His many-sided character received a notable illustration in! the af - ternoon, which was spent in a trip up the Piako River,. in order that, as a recognised : expert upon' swamp-drain-age, he might, to the lasting glory of the .country, " gain some idea of the nature of the lands, and inspect a portion of-the drainage works." On Saturday he opened a'new post-office in Cambridge. ;

It is true that in tliis arduous week lie made many speeches, but no announcement of policy. But that is a small detail when it is remembered that the Departments _ concerned with the subjects which he investigated will have the inestimable benefit of the expert knowledge garnered as he flashed through the country in a motor-car, or extracted from the eloquence of seekers after public favour. If further proof wore needed of the unparalleled importance of the Premier s/personal attention to the afiaira of the localities in the noctU, it is to be foiind iu the.

very significant public rejoicings and enthusiasm that marked his progress. Such enthusiasm and rejoicings can only mean the joy of the people at having obtained from the highest power in the land a recognition of the justice of demands which may, in the past, have been in vain • addressed to subordinate ears. For we do not read that he refused any request. If to have made a whole countryside happy is. to have done well, and if to bestow favours is the main obligation of statesmanship, the Premier, lias shown himself a statesman indeed.