THE DROUGHT IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12564, 19 January 1903, Page 8

THE DROUGHT IN AUSTRALIA.

- Mr Richard Tcece, general manager of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, who arrived in Auckland per tho s.s. Mokoia, from Sydney, in the conrso of a brief interview with a representative of tile Auckland Herald, dealt interestingly with the present condition of the 'and from which he had just come. Mr Tcece explained at the outset that affairs in Australia still hear it serious aspect. The trail of the drought is markedly over everything. Contrary to the accepted idea over here, ho declares that the drought cannot really be spoken of as having " broken lip," 'notwithstanding the (act that copious downpours of rain- wero recently registered over the greater part of the country. In years gone by these rains at tho end of a long dry spell would have meant a return to limes of something akin to plenty,' as (hoy would have served to revivify the parched-up cotton-bush, ealt: 'bush, and othc. stock-sustaining scrubs and herbs peculiar to Australia. But the present drought has been of such duration that the' starving stork has eaten down these growths to such an extreme—in many cases completely uprooting them—a l ; to kill them off entirely, the consequcnco being that the recent minis have been followed by the upspringing of practically nothing but useless weed. Of course, Mr Tecce explains, thijy have filled the dams and set rivers running that'have exhibited dry beds for years pastbut. to this narrow scope is their benefit limited. Tlio hope of drought-stricken Australia, lie eaya, now lies in'a copious general rainfall in February. Such a downpour would ensure a supply of winter grass, without which tlio.outlook for the stock-raiser will become dismal indeed. It is because of thiii that it. is not safo to say the great drought has "broken up" until it is seen what rtoxt month'brings forth. Should this hope indicated by Mr Tcece fail of realisation the effect 011 Australia may be disastrous'iin the- extreme. Already | the consequences attendant upon the drought have been terrible enough. Thousands of cattle and millions of sheep have perished, in ono or two instances whole towns in the hack blocks liavo been reduced to the verge of bankruptcy, find numbers of men who have, stuck bravely to their land holdings through bad season after had season, have been forced to finally " throw up the sponge." Prior to tlio recent rains there were many cases to b» cited in which the, men on the land were faced with the heartbreaking alternative of having 10 nack up raid move to watered places, or to literally perish. Mr Tccee illustrates the unrelenting dryness of -the seasons by declaring that there i 3 a large number of children, foui, five, and six years of age, in Australia today, who never saw rain in their lives before tlio faH this summor! The bad business and distress ot the country districts hag,,naturally, been reflected im the cities, and'there are but few of the commercial concerns in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide that are not feeling tho effects of it.' In these large centres, too, a very tangible evidence of the trouble is to ho .observed in tho great number of •mm who, driven from tho'land, by a prospect little short of starvation, have flocked cilywards in the hope,of securing work, but who simply serve to swell tho ranks of the metropolitan unemployed, and render more ;cute a difficulty that before was bad enough in all conscience. In several of the cities the Government have either started, or have in- contemplation, tho starting of, relief works, and in Svdney, at the present time, 'he Minister of Works is putting into operation a scheme by which men can earn 7s a day shifting sand. But in not'} lew inthe Governments themselves aro responsible for a number of unemployed- in consequence of the retrenchment* it has been found necessary to effort, especially ;m the Railway Departments, whose balance sheets have been sadly affected by the great shrinkage in the quantity of produce to bo carrim] over the lines. West Australia is, in Mr Teece's opinion, nerhaps the most favourably situated at the present time. It is a vast country, with a. comparatively .small population, turning out, according to the latest returns, about two and a-quarter million ounces ol gold per year, with nbthin? to indicate that that output is going to decrease ;o any great i-xtent for years to come. This must augur happy financial circnmslfliices provided the mines, businesses, and Government are run on sound line?. Then, as far as hov agricultural and pastoral districts are concerned, droughts aro an unknown-quantity in that State, and. although he considers she will never be able to export any great quanta}' of produce, she may lie depended upon 'in the future to raise an amplitude of foot}; stuffs for her own consumption. But notwithstanding the troublous period through which .the eastern portion is now passing, Mr Tecce has great faith in Atis-. tralia. Her eastern lands are so fertile and her stock-raising capabilities so great, 'that it only means a W good seasons, and thero must be a happy re-adjustment <tnd restoration of her financial and living conditions. Though ft Now Zealander himself, he declares that, given a fairly good rainfall; there aro fat greater chances of > wealth coming tlio .way 6f the man an the land in Australia than here. Where the New Zealander has the advantage, however, is that season in, soason out, he can with certainty count on some return for bis labour—small, maybe, sometimes, yet always enough to " keep him going," as it were. His Australian brother, on the other hand, has, side by side with the prospect of a biff return, to face the possibility of the results of his labour being absolutely nil. Jl~ ■ I