PREMIER'S TOUR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 950, 18 October 1910, Page 6

PREMIER'S TOUR.

;:: OPiN-QN;..■•qN^PAstp.RAL'V.RU.NS.' '■':"'■, i ':; ; ;.,/' ; ;;:;iAN^^TBEIJB"TEN^ ■ -.;: / (By.TelcEranh-T-Presß;Association.)'; ;• ;;-.:;' ; :Qctpber .17: ", •/'• When Sir.Joseph.-'Ward..reaches: Wcl-; lington; to-morrow, morning" he ;will,have .cPmph3ted:nearly-. miles ;bfj:travel:': by 'steariie'r,: trairi,, aiid: motor-car;: His/visit , to;; J3entral'; Ota'go'- occupied /Friday.; arid; ;Saturday, .during which, time ho was-kept busy travelling,; ■receiving ■ inum'e'rable deputations, principally:. about• ;■' railways); ,and performing public -functions/ 'Arriving: at /-Tiriiaru' ;'bn'''Sunday ■morning ■by special, traiii, .lie,y.leftr/'at 9.35:. a.m. /by. motor-car,' for'.: ;,tho-.-'" Hermitage, '.Mount ;Cookj with the "object of seeing; for hirii-.: .self'i(far the/first : tiine)' the Mackenzie ' Country,' 'arid'-its 'pastoral runs, arid also to-visit. New. 'Zealand's'famous. alpirio,.re-. sort..; Sir.. Joseph was /naturally delighted lyith ;.the, change .from.'Parliament to', the invigorating i atmosphere: of Hie alpine • re-. fioris.'.and .derived' considerable'. benefit y':thev'frip.'' ; ;";.■'.'','/.:■; /i:;;':.;::;. .;.-'■; :; ,: The Mackenzie Country/is at/present : as:much ; in : ..'rieed : ''of ;a few showers of ;rairi. as .'is; the/seaboard: The condition of/the'sheop.(especially ,halfbreds):.:.which .are to .be' seen:.by...ithe •'■ tpadsidp ;sho'ws ':that..;they ;have; cpme".through';:;a,'•-..'good winter, ;brit the. grass/appears'..to be, verybackward, 1 ;.aripV the ground is very-,dry on -the surface.; .With,.the :exception.;bf ..one ■;area'.of/good/de'eri".soil, to' be.riiet'.with .between ;.Lake, Mekapo . and 'Lake' Pu•;kaM,":''it does/nbt-appear' as if. tho.,Macfcenzie 'Country, offered•;a field for"irrigatibi - of, /ari ; extensive. practical charaoter. In; several .places'cbuld./be noted consid.brable areas'where.the-.tussbck .has'prac- - tically. disappeared, arid"; where, the shelter bf ..'the: tussock/has,: gone; there.. is .;- not much' 1 else left iri;';the way; of .feed;'. . On '.the..other;hand, some of the stations appear; to,have been.more judiciously■'.nian.aged, ,br "ar'e'.-more 1 favourably situated,' and,:they are'-well: olothed;withVnatiyo grasses. '-. - ~r:j"/'iy .'//;'" • : ':;.'': , .'-:' : '.''.:':"'

' .- On being:asked,if ho would.care to say ; anything ■ regarding/, his,' visit .'of. inspect ition, the Preriiier expressed his willing-, 'riess. -. He explained • that the reports, of official and unoffioiar..cbmniissioners-Were before the.'. bf the House, which had also itaken'e'yidence, .and,, when' the ..cpmniitteb;,subriiitted,;;their ;report, 'the : whole' "question.' would '.be 'dealt., with by the.: Government;;. There ..were "several, ■aspects .of the .matter, that would: have to be considered (including tenure, airiong other", things), iand; /be, as; Minister .'• for Lands, had .promised that he; would, visit the ; locality./- with tho; object.'of,: seeing sombthing of the.land, a;rid of the;'relationships; of' high and low country,/'and;. in company -withyMr.'.Brodribk,''Commissioner of Lands,: he had seen .something of the ; following runs mentioned in tho reports of tlie commissioners':—Birch Hill, Mount Cook, ■ ■': '.Glentanuer, ;Ehbborough Down, : this .was not; Simon's /Pass,': .The,-. Wolds, Irishman's Greek, Balmoral; ■ Glenmore, Tekapb,. and Siundon.- Ho "had also been able to .obtain "a fairly;- cbmpreherisiv© 'view/of the follbwirig " ruris:T-Lilybarik,. Eiehmoid ; Mistake, • Whatesback, Grampians,' Gray's Hillj, and .■jffidddril'."' Policy,-- with".' regard to the detailp of. the respective runs, must be" largely .guided by the-expert:: advice obtained.".-' : !:> :' ';-■. ■<■[ ';■'.-,'•■-.'

•': He acknowledged the necessity of hay-, iag a; proper proportion of whiter country to enable runs to be profitably worked by those who possessed,.or'.took them' up,; arid from his personal .observations ho would now'be in a better position to consider, the -evidence that' had been put before the Lands Committee. ■ He could not, at the present moment, say, what'the position would' ,be, but, he was, satisfied on one point,.'' and that was thai reasonable.continuity,.of -tenure must b6 given to those who are owners, or .who take-up such land as that comprised in the-. Mackenzie : Country pastoral runs.; Be hoped .to see them. placed on, a ■ different basis than 'has hitherto been the case. . The whole.of the land was poor, and, for all time, it', would be low-carrying sheep country to the acre. One. recognised that; though ;ho considered that the size of-the runs could be reduced,, he : thought, it a mistake ,to reduce them to'too small an' area, bat sufficient to enable holders to make more than.a living from them, as, in such a locality, they made a good deal of sacrifioe in living there, and devoting -themselves to. the proper working of the runs. He hoped that, during the next fortnight, he . would bo. able to inform Parliament that the whole question had been' considered .by Cabinet, and .what courso the Government proposed to adopt in dealing with "these pastoral runs;