THE PRIME MINISTER'S TOUR.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 38, Issue 9638, 16 April 1908, Page 2

THE PRIME MINISTER'S TOUR.

ST. BATHANS. On arrival at St BathanstUe Prime Minister was received with_4igjmxed enthusiasm. He was welcoiined-by jlr Kicolson (county councillor), and presented with tliß following address; To th e nißht Hon Sir J G Ward, Prims Minister.of New Zealand. ~ P lr »—We, your humble constituents in this remote though ancient and progress* township, hereby tender to yon our sincere thanks for your Tisit to our com munity, a visit which we feel sure has , afc conßid erable inconreni. W f^T ol i • Most of us stiUrememberths last occasion on which a Prima Minister of this Dominion—our respected statesman the Right Hon. R J Seddon—honoured us with a visit, and we still fer Jnnn7«f 6 /if r i na - me in our midst on ■« count of the humanity and wisdom of the .swb which he. m conjunction with yonr - self and other members of the Ministry and the members of the p..rty, were isetra mental m placing on oar Statuts Book. We hope that you will long be spared to continue to introduce the same humane and useful legislation, which has made this Dominion a centre of observation through out the civilised world. We moit heartily congratulate you on the successful, cap able, and energetic manner in which v#a have administered everything "in connec tion with the various portfolios under you? charge in your several departments. We sincerely wish yourself, Lady Ward, and family much success, good health, ana prosperity as we, your humble eltctors. honestly desire you may attain. Signed on behalf of the electors— M 'S art hy> ® Morgan, L Morgan, Reil . Isicolson, DK Grant, James Gal ■ lagher, D Weir, and 31. others.

The Prime Minister expressed biij warmest thanks to the gathering for the honour it hatFdone him in meeting him and presenting him with an ad dress. It was very gratifying to him to come to the gold mining centre. He was anxious to visit many districts in Central Otago, but owingto hia numcr ous engagements he could not possiblj . go to all the places he would, like to - see. However, upon the rspresea tations of Mr Ms cpherson and some of the leading residents of the district he had been pleased to make tins special trip to St Bathans, and be hoped to be able visit some of the ether places later on. He could only say that ha was ani mated by an earnest desira to help on every industry in New Zealand, and his object in visiting Central Otago was to go fully into the question of irrigation in order to assist those who were living on the land ta_ make their lands reproductive to the fullest degreifl —(Applause.) He also referred tor the British flag floating over them under such happy circumstances aa they, were met that day, and again expressed his appreciation of what the . people of St Bathans had done to welcome him in their midst,—-(Ap- - plause).

The townspeople! then adjourned to the Town Hall, where Sir Joseph Ward received deputations concerning matters of local interest.

.Gum-boots formed the first subject. Last session Parliament removed the v duty, but the present price was larger than it was before the duty was removed. The retails did not benefit to any extent, and as the price wag excessive to the workers, costing tbera about £S a year for gum-boots they urged, the Goyernmeht to import the boots and sell them to the retailers alt a reasonable profit. Prospecting was then touched on. This question, I it was stated, was of vital importance ! to the mining community, but though it had been brought under the notice of Parliament nothing had been done in the direction of a prospecting vote to. districts holding auriferous areas, which, if practically prospected, wouldprobably be an exceedingly valuable asset to the country. Over 25 years ago there was a limited vote passed for the. purpose by the Maniototo Council, and the result of two months' prospecting was a discovery of gold amounting to 4000oz in. about four years. The expense to the County Council was only about JJIOO, Whafc might be the result of prospecting that immense belt of country known to be auriferous which stretched from Bathans to Clyde ? The conservation of water was also brought up. There were model spots for storage of the spare waters of the Dunstan Creek qnd Manuherikia River. Jt was xjidsii important to mining in Central Otago that water should be conserved by the Government. It would produce one of the°most important assets in mining in Otago. The deputation next referred to the condition of the local poab offipe, which, it was averted, was of date and did not qow meet . requirements of the district.

The Prime Minister, In reply, promised to nuke full enquiry intp th# matter of the gum-boots, and if hj& i found that unfair advantage was being taken of the purchaser, he would en deavour to have a stop put to "if.— (Ap plause.) Regarding the vote for mining, he was'very anxious to help in that direction. There waa a vote of £IO,OOO in last year's Estimates to assist mining. yhis would .requirp probably to be expended' lender 1 tljjj direction of the Miuing Association under certain regulations. There was nothing more important to them than their mining.—(Applause.) Regard ing water, he discussed the matter ab considerable length, and said that hs had come to Otago chiefly to inveati |ate i: fclie question of irrigation .and to see the' bdudtfy itliait

water was likely to serve. Thero wore responsible officers with him, and the Goverupient was determined, in the prosecuting of a groat work such as this was it should be carried out in the besft ffbssible way and under the advice of an' eyperienced irrigation engineer. —(Applause,) Water was an absolute necessity in Otago Central, both to those who were now upon the land and to others who desired to take up portions of the vast areas, awaiting the one thing to make them productive. He expressed no opinion as to the best method, That was a matter for engineering advice. Ho felt as one possessing considerable knowledge of the position of Otago Central, that the enormous areas of laud that could be brought info cultivation there were really not undci stood by people generally, and, indeed, by comparatively few in its immediate vicinity. He was in deadly earnest in his desire to see this important work carried out to a sue ce's&ful completion.—(Applause.) In respect to.the post ollice, ho wou'd be glaci to- give the representations his careful consideration. Befere leaving Sir Joseph paid a visit to the Post Office. The member for the district (Mr Macpherson) ac cdrnpanied the Prime Minister to St.

visit; to; hough ridge, • Sir Joseph left, St IMlians about £ o'clock, and reached ltough Jtlidgc an hour later. He was given a very cordial welcome. A deputation, was introduced by Mr Maopheraon, Mr said the matter they desired td'b'rltig beforo'the l'rituo Minister was that of a wat.cr . supply in their district. The VaUey was a very good odo, and should be watercjl from the rungc or mountain at the back of the district. Nature intended that. -There bad, howover, been a race formed, which carried away all the water from the mountain rango, leaving the land in a very dry Btate. Even in sinking wells it was found that that the stream through which water goncrally flowed had completely dried np. Sevoral residents also spoke. The l'rime Minister stated that the matter was an important ono. The Government was anxious to help the pcoplo there, as elsewhere, in regard to irrigation,—Daily Times,

AT NASEBY. ,• To welcome the Premier lnab Friday the town was decorated with bunting. Across the road by which the Ministerial party was to arrive stretched a Irow of flags, a largo one in the centre being inscribed with an appropriate expression of welcome. Unfortu •nfttoly it was after dark when Sir Joseph, accompanied by Mr Macpher , son, arrived per motor car from Rough •llidge, and tho Hon, Mr M'Nab did not arrive for some little time after wards. On arriving nt tho Royal Hotel, where the Ministerial party were to stay for the night, the mayor (Mr Kirk) formally gave Sir Joseph a welcome on behalf of the citizens, and < he suitably responded.

v The party were entertained at dinner, at the Royal Hotel, by the Mayor and Borough Councillors. The table tvag laid out in Mr Ryan's well-known ' superior style, His Worship presided * and Mr Kinney (county chairman) occupied tho vice-chair. The guests ;wci:o —Sir Joseph Ward, the Hon, Mr M>Nab, Messrs T. Y. Duncan, A. K. Barclay, Laurcnson, M.P.V, JDr Chap pie, W.Barclay (chairman of the Otago Harbour Board), the Ministerial staff , audthe members of the County Council, 'As the visitors wero so late in arriving and it was time to commence the {public social, the toast-list was confined to The King and (lie Health of tho Right Hon. the Prime Minister (by Mr Kirk): Sir Joseph briefly replied, and in returning thanks assured those .present that his party would carry lsck pleasati'. memories of the great hospitality they had enjoyed in Central v Otngo. He then proposed the Health of the Mayor.

*' THE SOCIAL. ■ Tlio party then adjourned to tlie , Town Hall, where the social %vas to bo <lioltl. The Brass Band headed the pro>oession up the street, The hull was gaily and tastefully ■ decorated with flags of various colours. . The attendance was very large (larger than the seating accommodation), the speakers in hojpy vein, the guests and sudienco in yopd humour, the refreshments appptfsjng and jibpndg.pt, sp that *ll the circumstances tended to promote a most pleasant evening. The visitors -were accommodated with seats on the stage. Apologies tor non-attendanco wero • Fcppived froqa the Hon. J, M'Govyap v. (Minister qf Mines), lion. J. 11. Sinclair, Hon. J. T. Paul, lion. J. B. M.L.O.'s, Messrs T, Mackehzip, v T. K, Sidey, fti.P.'s, J. London (Mayor | '• <gt Dijncdin), W, Gow (chairman of the Chamber oji Commerce), £i. . (Mayor of AlejfaftdraJ, Fenwick, SI. Cohen, S, Saunders ; (Christchurch), J, Horn (chairman of the Vincent County Council), and : Jlnjor Logan. : In opening the proceedings Mr Kirk ■ said the gathering was unique in that it was 1 the first time in the history of . Kaseby Jihat they had had the plca.suro • • > 0?" v/plcortfTng » the

Dominion of New Zealand. He had come to find out the wants of the people, and was prepared to do as much for them ns he could. Having introduced the guests to the audience, Mr Kirk referred to the courtesy with which Mr Macpherson had attended to all the requests he had made on behalf of the town, and in conclusion assured , the Prime Minister that the burgesses | recognised and appreciated the efforts ho was making on behalf of the Do i minion and gave him a most heurty J welcome to Naseby. Sir Joseph Ward, in reply, ex-! plained his reasons for moving in the! matter of changing New Zealand from ■ a colony to a dominion. He found 1 out when at Home at tho conference j recently that New Zealand as a colony j did not occupy the same status in 1113 1 minds of the people as did the C m j monwealth of Australia or the Do- ' minion of Canada. Tho elevation of \ the country would raise the status of ; tho man who represented it) at any future conference. In referring to ■ irrigation he said that the object of the : Government was to remove for all time the complaint that some could • not get a sufficient supply of water. They were anxious to receive the no j cessary advice from responsible men j so that they could establish a system | of irrigation that would be suitable i and practically sufficient for all time, •< They wanted to avoid any mistake at 1 the initiation of the scheme. The' irrigation of Otago Central: was a dis- ! trict matter in the first instance, but j at the present moment it was a New j Zealand matter.Tlie country could not afford to have thousands of acres of land doing very little good for the' want of water. It was undesirable i that they should allow any portion to j remain in a primitive condition. They ! intended to do all in their power to j provide an adequato supply of water j for Otago Central. From the Govern- j ment's point of view it was only a ? matter of business to try and make the railway more productive. It was not giving the returns it ought. When the runs fell in in 1910 it would be a good thing to have more people put upon the land. The prosperity of the country now was better than ever before. The accumulations in the savings bank was going up by two or three millions a year, Their own money wa3 now sufficient for the ordi nary commerce of the country. They were more self contained in the matter of finance than ever before and they were not materially affected by a crisis in other countries. The financial cy clone in America would have produced one in New Zealand a few years ago. Their prosperity was shown by the fact that they would have nearly nine millions of ordinary revenue for the year. These figures they never even nearly approached in any financial year. Some people said it was due to increased taxation. If they would look back over the past nine or ten years they would find only one instance of increased taxation—the graduated tax on land. On the other side of the ledger reductions to the extent of £1,500,000 had been given. There was no dark spot on the horizon of the

future to indicate that their progress was likely to be checked. A tempor ary drop in the products of the cQun

try WQB DOthing to Ipse pourage over, The wealth per head in New Zealand was the highest of any country in the world. Songs were then given by Mr W. Barclay (Miss Dey accompanist) and Miss Thomson (Miss A. Smith).

The Hon, Mr M'Nab (Minister for Lands) made a few short remarks. He sajd that the information gained during their tour would be of immense \alue when dealing with Otago Pentral matters in Parliament, Would not Central Dtago have been in a much better position ;a regard to railway matters an 1 irrigation works if the other members of Parliament bfid been as familiar with the cqnditipnij of Central Qtag> as tbejr own representative, The'great difficulty members experienced was not the unwilling ncssof otheia to holp but the inability to understand the wants of other districts. The Ministers were notall powerful in the matter of expenditure. He hoped the day would come when privato members would be sble to make themselves familiar with the wants of electorates outside their own.

Mrs Kirk gave a song, accompanied by Miss F. Smith, 11 y npn c^arptpr.'Hp v:uitbrß of the sinoerity of their welcome, and referred to the kindness, patience and courtesty with which Sir Joseph Ward and the Hon Mr M'Nab had treated all his requests,

The Hon. T. Y. Duncan and Meesrs A. B, Barclay and Laurenson wsre the Qtber Sjic»kera. The latter is an orator of more than ji'sual ability arid 1 qo'iUi 'ald'efitafids' 'the '&H. Of managing an audience'. " " ' . The Piime Minister moved a vote of thanks to MrKiik for presiding, and expressed his appreciation of the action of Conductor Malcolm and the Band in ploying them to fcfy»b ft !l. - , . G refreshments those interested in deputations ad'joufned fo the poutjty"i}a}l.'

DEPUTATIONS On Fridy night, after the social, a deputation from tho Naseby Borough Council (Mr J, R. Kirk, Mayor), the Maniototo County Council (Mr P. Kinney, Chairman), and the Mt Ida Miners' (Mr J. W. Bpedj y/aitpd' 'on " iVliojstpr 4sJ?p(J thftt 9 YQtp cif #jooo be placed upon th§ Estimates for the purpose or testing the deep levels in Central Otago. M r Kirk said it was believed that from Mt, Criffel to bhag Point there was a ]f j ad of gold, As f#v ft? was concpnjecj, ifc ran along tW base'ftf the JJt" Ida range, up towalrds Stßathans, round by Alatak-

anui, and so on further up-country. The manager of the Scandinavian Company—a company which was working at the greatest depth in Central Otago—found that the deeper he went the better quality of gold did he obtain, and Mr Moses Brown, a gentleman whose articles on the subject had appeared in the Mines Record, and who had given great consideration to the matter, was strongly convinced that deep leads did exist. He also pointed out that if assistance were given in the manner desired not only would Central Otago gain but a distinct gain would go to Dunedin primarily, to Otago, and to the whole Dominion, The £2OOO asked for need not necessarily be voted in cash. A boring plant would exhaust a considerable portion of it, and if this were supplied by the Government the actual cash advanced need not be great. In che j past the miners sunk a shaft orcr 350ffc i at Naseby at a cost of £llOO, but] without striking any main bottom, s This showed their faith in the existence of deep leads.- But times had chanced and also believing that this was not a parochial matter, they asked that the Government should make a distinct vote and another industry would start, with considerable gain to the Dominion. Mr Reed endorsed the remarks of tho previous speaker, and gave particulars of the shaft sank in Main Gully at Naseby. The amount asked for would be wisely j

spent, and he was convinced would prove a j capital investment for the GtYernment. Mr Kinney allowed from a practical side the difficulties that the early miners had to . contend with in the way of working deeply, ; and mentioned that nothing had been done., tor some years past as. lands having been ' thrown open in the vicinity, many miners = instead of following their usual calling had settled on these lands, and interested them selv. s in farming to the neglect of their '; first occupation. Mr Jas Brown and Mr J A Micpharson j also made a few remarks. [ The Prime Minister stated that if by the j expenditure of the amount asked a new nod j prosperous industry could be started the j money would certainly be well spent. Ho ; would lay the matter favourably before the j Minister of Mines, and see if, when the Esti ; mates were being prepared, a vote for the • purpose named could be made. A deputation from the Mount Ida Miners' Association, with Mr R.- F. Inder as spokesman, asked that, in view of the serious drought in Central Otago duriug the last two years and the consequent loss to miners, the Government should grant them two months' free water. He pointed out that last year the miners had only 67£ days' supply of water, or less than a fifth of the total, number of working days in the year, and at the same time they paid 7s (jd per acre per annum for mining purposes while the lands for pastoral were not worth more than 3d per acre per annum, and this rent went on during the whole season. The Prime Minister Baid that he would put the matter favourab'y before his col league, the Minister of Mines. His.sympa thies were with the miners in this period of distress, and; he would see what could be done. He asked that the deputation pre pare a statement showing the actual loss sustained by each individual. Sir Joseph made a few remarks re irrigation on similar lines to those he made earlier in the evening. In reply to Mr C. Jnder, who asked in what way the Govern merit intended to charge fop the water, said that nothing had yet been decided upon. They would have to first decide on their system and find out tho cost.

AT WAIPIATA. At Waipiata Mr J. J. Ramsay said he hud been asked by the people to welcome Sir Joseph to that centre, He flitl nob know wiiy they had selected him, unless it was because he had been associated with the district since boyhood. Ttjis wqs the fjrst occasion on wh'i&h the Prime Minister had been to Central Otago in his official capacity and it waa well that be should visit Waipiata, the key to the vast Maniototo Plain. On behalf of the people he had to heartily welcome Sir Joseph in their midst. Mr Ramsay then called for three cheers, which were heartily given. Sjr Joseph expressed hi's pleasure at being witlj then) au4 visiting >Vaipiat»l #e \yftS always glad 'to meet the people, see their requirements, and hear their needs. A number of deputations were received, In reply to a request for a stationmaster tfye Prijne Minister' said that, wljeijevgr tftf trajliis warranted it § sicjtionjnastgr T\as placed in charge. He would lay 6f tlie people op "the" mattef before "th§ Minister for'ftaihy&yß> l*4p p Q S{,gw^v c i 0{ PateafQa, said the peppje tjiefe mining purposes. The wate could after wards be usod for farming. It could be brought on to Patearoa at a cost of probably £IO,OOO, and as it Would traverse about, seven miles of country it would be a great advantage to the district. Messrs AO Crefar, 4 prprar, and ,1 |[ M 'Alpine supported reguestV' 'The Prime govern; mfillt-'s pqsitifin iftregarit supply, his remarks being on the lines of replies in other places. Mr M'Atamncy said a telephone line from Waipiata to Styx had been authorised, and the settlers would like it to be erected without delay. The Ijrhpe llinister \»e &iy:e insUWctSion'i 1 to'ti&W t'he M vf , prk expedited; '''M-'M'&imTmng suggested that _ thero should be a telephone line from Waipiata to Humiltons, and the Pi ine Minister said he would consider the request, . The cf * Mix ma|l w lpsteadof * bi-weekly, as at pr.esppt, was also riierititfned, snd the Prime 1 Ministel- he! Would'camnibnicite Witfi My £o sep it it coulcfbe a r^ftSPWUII Fftte. toceived £SB a year for the present contract, and he was prepared to undeitake a daily service for £BO a year The Prime Minister said he would look into the matttr'and see if the bu3ines3 warranted the extra cost.