INTERVIEW WITH THE HON. MR WATERHOUSE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2080, 4 January 1894, Page 11

INTERVIEW WITH THE HON. MR WATERHOUSE.

Amongst the passengers by bhe Talune on Saturday waß the Hon. Mr Waterhouee, who at one time was Premier of this colony, aud whosa ability and stauding as a member of the Legislative Council will not be forgotten by anyone at all acquainted with the exceedingly vigilaut and active part he took for many years in connection with that branch of the Legislature. It is now some five years since the Hon. Mr Waterhouse left the colony. During theperiod that has elapsed since then he has resided iv the mother land, and he is now, accompanied by Mrs Waterhouse, paying a visit to familiar places and old friends in the colonies. For some time before he ceased to be a member of our Legislative Council Mr Waterhouse was far from well, and though this rarely interfered with his attendance as a member of the Council or his devotion to public business, it told severely upon him, and in the end the need of change and teat became imperative. It will, however, be gratifying to his numerous friends to learn that he has certainly improved in health, and that to all appearance he is now much the samo as he was some years before he left this colony, which no did after playing no Ismail part in its public counsels.' " A representative of this journal waited upon the Hon.' Mr Waterhouee on Saturday afternoon, and obtained a brief and informal interview. Our visitor did not desire to be interviewed, but because of bis past public services, and for other reasons, ib was deemed proper to solicit an expression ef opinion from him upon several matters of public importance, and the replies which he wad courteous enough to make were as follows : — THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE. • • Ab to the frozen meat industry, that of course has been a great boon to the labouring classes iv England, but, in spite of all that is said, frozen meat is not equal 'to fresh meat. A good deal of that may be due to the fact that sufficient attention is not paid to the thawing. Unless in thawing the meat is frequently wiped dry it is apt to get a mildew flavour. It is also slightly discoloured. 1 was told that that was due to the calico wrappings. Frozen meat cannot be mistaken for fresh meat. You can buy it for a little more than half tho price, and it is equally nutritious. The consequence is that the poorer classes in England are gettiog meat much more frequently than they were in the habit of doiug. r When I was staying in London on my way out I walked along the streets in tho city, aud my attention was directed to shops dtvoted entirely to the sale of what they call New Zealand frozen meat. I saw there good legs of mutton marked up at 5d and s£d per Ib, and shoulders at 4£d. Well, these are low prices in England, and it is a great boon to the poor and to the middle clasees to be able to get meat at those rates. The prices are now very low, for the simple reason that there has been such a complete failure of the hay crop in England thib farmers have been forced to send stock into the market, as they would ba unable to feed it during the winter. That has kept down the price for meat considerably. I think that in England New Zealand frozen meat is being injured by the large quantity of meat, partly from the other colonies and partly from South America, which is sold as New Zealand frozen meat, so that the quality is not so good as it would ba were it exclusively New Zealand frozen meat, and it is impossible for the ordinary buyer to tell what is South American produce and what is New Zealand produce. South America has become a very serious competitor, both as regards frozen meat and wheat. I saw it stated in England that tbe surplus crop of wheat in South America this year available for export will be between a million and a million and a-quarter tons. But we may at any time see a failure of crops in America. They have had several good seasons, and in the ordinary couree of events may expect two or three bad seasons. Ido not think it can take much to send up the price of wheat in England, which is disastrously low just now. THE AGENT-GENERAL. •• I saw Mr Perceval, the Agent-general, several times. He is a popular man in tho City, and I believe a very excellent Agent-general. He pushes the colony vigorously, and I found he was very much respected by all those with whom he was brought in contact. He stands well amongst moneyed men, and is looked upon as a man whose judgment is quite to be relied upon, and that is a great thing with au Agent-general. I do not think there, is a better Agent- general in London. The appointment of so young a man was, of course, an experiment, but it has turned out very satisfactorily. In the consolidation of loans Mr Perceval has shown great ability, and has consolidated them upon most favourable terms for the colony. THE PREMIER. " With respect to your present Premier, Mr Seddon has Eucceeded, whether rightly or • wrorjgly I do not profess to say, but he has succeeded in getting the confidence of the English financial public ; and there is no doubt whatever in my mind that had the result of the elections been to put Mr Seddon otitiof office, it would, at any rate for a time, have had au unfavourable influence upon the colonial money market at Home. I find this is noti^ bnly my own opinion, but the opinion of nearly all with whom I have been brought in contact. Tho real reason of his bciug popular as Premier, I believe, is that without borrowing the finances hav&Ahown a surplus. Of course, that is due to other circumstances, but he has the whole credit of it : it is something marvellous. I GENERAL. - *

•• Tho financial depression isincreasing in England, and there is a great deal of uneasiness as regards the near future of the money market. The losses made by foreign investments during tte last three or four yesr.B have been enormous. There has been in England a period, of excessive speculation, and they are now experiencing the reaction. I have no 'doubt we have not seen the worst ; but the effects are very sad : you hear of so many cases of persons being reduced to poverty. Things are almost as bad in England as in Australia. Persons of small means have been risking their money in second-class undertakings ; these have collapsed, and the result is widespread ruin. In tbe highe&tfiriaricial circles, as may be seen from articles on the Bank of England lately, there is a great deal of distrust as regards the near future. It is well-known that numbers of trust companies in which immense sums have been invested are at the poiut of collapsing, and must collapse owing to the great fall of securities ; and there is nothing like the same amount of money available for lending that there was three or four years back. The losses in England during the last two years have been enormous. In South American securities, England has £250,000,000, and-the depreciation of these securities during the last two years has been at least 50 par cent. Until those countries gtt a specie currency things cannot be sound, and of 'that there seems to be no prospect. The paper currency of South America is now reduced to such an extent that £1 in paper is only worth 8s in coin. In the Argentine Confederation they are trying to remedy this state of things by burning a quantity of paper money every year to reduce the amount in circulation. The object lesEODS thus afforded should be of some value. The paper currency keeps hack tb.9 South

American countries, for those that have a silver currency have not suffered anything like proportionately. "