LORD RANFURLY IN AUSTRALIA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9144, 21 April 1898, Page 3

LORD RANFURLY IN AUSTRALIA.

AN [INTERVIEW

His Excellenoy the Governor, Lord Banfurly, on reaohing Sydney, had to submit to the inevitable intezview. Talking to a representative of the Daily Telegraph,, he said: —"Progress ie observable oa all sides. The depression has gone, and contentment prevails, The population ie increasing, not bo muoh from the excess o! immigration over emigration ac from the excess of births over deaths. Whioh in a sense ia a good sign, 'the marriage rate is a satisfactory one in jfc'ew Zealand, aad statisticians agree that a good marriage rate is an evidence of prosperity. There are not many unemployed in the colony. There may be a few. Lord JSanfurly is very oarsful and aoourate. '1 hete may be a Jew, he says, but there cannot be many, 'those engaged in the building trade are over-worked, and the engineering trade is quite fuli: Both of which facts are excellent signs of prosperity. "Houses," remarked his .Excellency, enthusiastically, " are going up everywhere. There eeems to me to be general progress all over the colony. A steady progress, mind you, not a rapid advanoe; a permanent solid progress, about which there is nothing exotic or forced. It ia genuine throughout."

.Lord Banfurly is olearly very methodical in hie aotione. His is not of the globetrotter's temperament. He (foes not skim, he wishes to know from personal observation, and close observation at that. For this reason, if you ask him about certain parts of the colony—and Ssfew Zealand is a very much divided colony in aome reepsote—he tella you candidly that he knows very little about it Ask hie iixoellenoy about other parts of the oolony, and he knows a good deal. For example, be has been making a tour of the Middle Island. During the past three months it has been his bußines3 to find out for himself of what the Middle lelacd consists. " I have done pretty well the railway from Invetcargill in Southland to Kaiapoi in Canterbury, with the braiiohes, and I have done tha whole of Central Otago My objeot ie to visit every district and borough in both islands. Wherever I have gone the people have received me in the most cordial manner.

By this means Lord iitsnfurly is getting a very cleat idea of the people aud the plaoee for whom he ia responsible to tha Queen. The example is worthy of imitation. It ie gathered thot the Governor of jSew Zealand does not spend much time in summer retreats, nor does he try to kill time in other ways. He goes to the people, and they appreoiate it. He does not stay in the big cities. He wants to find out the conditions of life in the new lands over whioh ho has accepted a oharga from the Throne, and it may safely be reckoned that, when he leavea Now Zealand, he will depart with an acquaintance of the people and the land which will be thorough and permanent. They are, he says, a loyal people, and he is confident that they would be quite ready to take their share ia any crisis that might arise in the Empire. The mining and agricultural industries are flourishing in thi colony. Keoontly there wa-J an exhibition in Dunedin, when noarly ell the exhibits were manufactured in the colony. Ihe agricultural progress is very great. Bush olearing and plough' ing and planting are proceeding in all parts. The lack of rain in Canterbury and Gantral Oiago has been extremely felt. The searoh for gold ia being prosecuted with much avidity and suoooss. The process of dredging in connection with alluvial deposits ia found to be profitable. Ten ounoea of gold a week will enable a dredge to ba worked with profit. Many of the old workings are being gone over in this way On the native question, whioh not many yearo ago was a source of great dieonmfoit in Hew Zealand, hie requires t cay only a few words Within the la-t week or so he states that he attended two large iSaori meetings, one being at Bastings and the other at Qreytown, both in the North Island, whe? o the MCaoris predominate. The expreeeions of loyalty to the Queen by the Maori orators were in no uenee lees in degree than thoee uttered by the white residents. There ia now no fear of a native trouble. About Federation Lord Eanfurly Bays he must be discreetly silent. In any case he could only bo expected to utter platitudes, and platitndes hie eoul abhors. His Excellency visits Milduru. Be is the owner of what is known as Old Mildura, and wishes to make eomo personal investigations regarding his extensive property there He returns to Sydney, and Bails for "Wellington oa May 10.