AN AUSTRALIAN VISITOR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 129, 28 November 1906, Page 2

AN AUSTRALIAN VISITOR.

.INTERVIEW WITH THE PREMIER OF TASMANIA. STATE AND FEDERAL QUESTIONS. iBT TBIiEORAPH— OWN COKRESPONDENT.ji DUNEDIN, This Day. The Tasmanian Premier (Hon W. J. Evans) is a pasjenger by the Maheno for Ohristchurch. He told a Star representative that he had come over to rest and recuperate. With that end in view ho will, after he has seen the Exhibition, and does hia duty by the main centres, take himself to -some quiet epot (probably Rotorua) and there shake off for a space the cobwebs of politics and officialdom. On his arrival at Bluff he received a telegram of welcome from Sir Joseph Ward, and some good advice, ac to the best places to visit. Mr. Evan/j hopes while he is in New Zealand "to learn a few wrinkles," for, he cays, Tasmania ie very anxious to follow in our footsteps in th& matter of pro. grcssive legislation, to the end that they may increase their population, and better their conditions generally. "Of course," said Mr. Evans, ''we have not the scope nor the possibilities that you have. Still wo have an island with many great advantages. Wo have beautiful scenery, a fine mineral production, and very fair agricultural and pastoral land, but we want double our present population, and we are endeavouring now to do something in the way of closer settlement by the purchase and cutting up of largo estates, because we feel certain that the only way to life ourselves out of tho mire is, aa I said just now, to increase our population." Questioned regarding federation, he replied : "Tasmania has suffered to a considerable extent by it, and mo far we are surrounded by financial difficulties through having lost our Customs revenue. The Commonwealth surplus re. turn has been such a vastly decreased amount that we have had to place extra burdens on the taxpayers in the way of direct taxation to make up for the loss of the indirect taxation through the Customs. Now, for example, in the year before we joined the federation our Customs collected £420,000. On tho same tarid' this year (supposing we had adhered to it) we should have collected £600,000, but we receive only £240,000 by way of the Commonwealth surplus returns. A good many of us are still federalists, and we hope the financial troubles we have had to contend with will in the near future be overcome, although we doubt the possibilities. But the feeling in all the States of the Commonwealth is so strong that I believe if a vote were taken to-morrow there would be an overwhelming majority in every State against federation. In a sense that was anticipated, more especially as there has been so much strife es to who should be in power. The consequence of #hat has been hasty legislation, and the expenditure has been far too heavy for any Commonwealth at its inception. Consequently the smaller fjtataj have suffered severely. The one great fear that a State like Tasmania has is that owing to the desire for protection or even prohibition on the part of mainland manufacturers, the consumer will be called upon to pay higher prices for goods, and the revenue wiJI be a decreasing amount. , 'Then it follows inevitably that there must bo heavier direct taxation to make up the 1035." Asked concerning the possibilities of the federal elections, Mr. Evans replied,: ''lhat is very hard to say. You see there are so many side issues, what with the Liberals and the Socialists, and the antiSocialists, but I believe that Tasmania's representation -will be the soms. J And that (yenfc on the Premier, smiling) mean* that we "will continue to be practically disfranchised, because our representation is about equally divided into two parties, and one counteracts tho other. • Mr. Evans went on to sp.ak modestly, but very confidently, of the future of Tasmania. He realises thsf his State can never hope to develop into a large exporting country co far as butter, meat, etc v aro concerned. "But," ha says, "there is groat scope for us to produce enough to supply our own wants. This has been almost a*record year for imports with us, but it has also been a record year for the export of minerals/ at good prices, and these have pulled as out of what might have beon a great financial difficulty." "What about fruit?" "Well, though last season was a bad one for quantity, it wus a good one for prices, and that just about equalised matters (more than tliat in many cases) though iv few growers who were saddled with big coutrqets that they could not complete had a. bad time. This season the prospects are grand. It is estimated that the crops will total about 2,000,000 bushels, and that 860,000 bushels will be exported to Great Britain. By the way, you might mention that we are beginning to realise, as you have done, the value of the tourist traffic as an asset, and are doing wlmt we can to push it along. We have tourist associations north and south, and during this season tho Government has sont out lecturers to tour the Commonwealth, and show lantern slides of some of our beauty spots."