THE FEDERAL PREMIER IN HIS ELEMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8101, 3 October 1904, Page 4

THE FEDERAL PREMIER IN HIS ELEMENT.

Mr Heid and Mr Deakin were the principal speakers on water conservation at a recent meeting in Melbourne under the auspices of the A.N.A. The Federal Premier, in the course of his speech, said : Closer settlement ia beginning to be one of the great necessities in Australian today. Closer settlement can never exist unless the problem of water conservation is dealt with. You may extend settlement over the more fertile and favored regions of Australia, but in the more arid districts of the interior millions of money havo been wasted by the strongest capitalists known to Australia; and what will break the millionaire is more than the poor man can stand. So this problem is one of those troubles which lie nearest to the heart of the great wants of Australia today. Everyone,, whatever his politics, must desire to make these arid lands the scenes of prosperous homes in years to come. If this is to be accomplished, we ■ must pay some regard to the climatic conditions which exist in this continent. That great heat engine above us which pumps up water from the ocean for man is doing its duty all right during its work- i ing hours, but there is something in the heavenly currents which seems to take our fair share of the Pacific away from us, to rob us of the moisture which is required to cause the earth to yield its increase. Our first duty, I take it, is to prevent"* the copious rams which we do get in the more fortunate localities from running to scandalous waste. I know onough about this great question to realise that without going below the earth to secure a larger supply there is staring us in the face the iact that at the present moment there are enormous quantities of priceless water, which might help thousands of settlers .running away to waste to the Pacific Ocean. We know this is one of the most troublesome of the problems in every country. But it seems to me that our first effort should be directed to preventing this waste. Then we tan divert from the ocean enormous volumes of fresh water to serve the purposes of human industry. lam delighted we* havo on this platform to-night a gentleman (Mr Deakin) who has studied the question for many years past. | A Voice : Ho made a mess of it at Mil- ', dura. Mr Reid : In this world we have a lot of men who make a mess of some things. There aro others who make a mess of Vyery thing. NTho Voice (angrily) : I will make a mess ofVou directly.— (Cries of "Shame.") at Reid : What I wish to say as the temporary occupant of a position of greatyesponsfbihty A VWe: Very temporary. Mr Rtul: You know, you must agree with meVhat, seeing the last occupant lived in of twenty or thirty for four months, and that I nave a majority of twoYl shall have a year at least. Whether my \inie ia long or short , A Voice : VW short. Mr Reid : Wftther, I say, it is long or short \ The Voice: Ver\ short. Mr Reid : My friew here with the Yarra bank voice was gpodVnough to say The Voice; It is no\ a yes-no voice, at any rate. \ Mr Reid: No, thtt iktrue. You are like a mechanical doll. %v say the same - thing every time.— -(Loud Imghter.) \