THE HON. J. G. WARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2403, 22 March 1900, Page 9

THE HON. J. G. WARD.

AN INTERVIEW.

The Hon. J. G. Ward spent a very busy day in Dunedin on Saturday, and on Monday he was engaged all day at the Grand Hotel and elsewhere upon departmental matters, and in seeing people upon public business of one Jrind or another. On Saturday afternoon, accompanied by Mrs Ward and daughter, he managed to pay a fairly long visit of inspection to the camp, whore there was a great deal to be seen. Later on he managed to get a " look in " at the representative cricket match, and returned to the Grand Hotel shortly before 6 o'clock, to find half a dozen people •waiting to see him upon matters of urgency. On Sunday he visited the camp, and witnessed a full parade of the troops, which were •marched in single file past his carriage. The lipn. gentleman had promised an interview to a representative of this journal, and 3ust about time for the dinner gong to boom, suggested that it had better be got over, as it must occupy a very short space of time, after the manner in which the Hon. Mr Ward had been disposing of other business — viz"., by his dictating what he had to say, without pause, and with a customary rapidity, which must keep his expert shorthand secretaries in pretty ijood practice. As the* two or three questions ■put can be surmised .from the replies, it is unnecessary to print them. What was said by the Hon. J. G. Ward was as follows : — '

; As to the despatch of the contingents, the total number of men to be sent from the colony within the next few weeks will probably be from 900 to 1000, and about the same number of horses. The Otago and Southland Contingent, Avith an additional 100 men, will be despatched by the steamer Gyineric, which left Sydney direct for Wellington to-day. On arrival the steamer is to be fitted for both horses and men, and as the vessel is a very fine one and has previously carried 478 men and 650 horses, there will be no difficulty in making provision forjabout one-half, of the total number that it is contemplated to send from the colony. Another steamer has been arranged for to convey the remainder of the troops and horses to South Africa. The Minister of Defence is making an effort to get both contingents away about the.sdme date. As a portion of the men will require to be picked up at Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin, including those which have already arrived from Auckland, the West Coast, and elsewhere, at Wellington, the transport arrangements will practically be to enable the lifting of the men. and horses at different points. Of the number- that are going 500 are being sent in response to the invitation, recently published, of the Imperial Government, who asked, through his Excellency the Governor, whether this country could despatch another 500 men fully equipped. It is a matter for general satis-faction-that so far both men and horses have been got, and the equipment is in a forward condition for the full number, and it would be most gratifying to the whole colony if the arrangements, which are in active progress, will admit of the despatch of such a large number of troops from our colony on one day. That would not only go to show what resourcefulness there is so far as regards men and horses in a jompafatively sparsely populated country such as ours, but it would create a fine impression beyond our shores, and would be a splendid announcement of the .loyalty and intense sincerity of the people of this country. Yes, I had on Saturday the pleasure of inspecting the camp at Forbury, at the invitation of the War Committee here, and seeing the equipment which has been supplied to the men. I must say I was more than surprised to find the careful supervision .that has been exercised down to the very minutest detail. Without desiring to reflect upon the equipment of any of those who have previously left the colony, which has been very good indeed, I must say that the equinment of the men at Forbury is by far the best that has yet been got together. The committee have had the benefit of the previous experience, and wherever improvements have suggested themselves they have apparently spared neither time nor xnoney to adopt them. The men who form the Otago and Southland contingent will go away equipped as well, I shoiild say, as any body of men who have ever served in our armies. The chairman of the committee (Mr Kempthorne) kindly showed me over the camp, and there the arrangements are excellent. (From inquiries I made on the spot, I am pleased to find that there is such a fine feeling existing between the men themselves, and between the men and theL officers. The esprit de corps which is so essential to the carrying out of strict discipline is a most important factor, 'and' the contingent generally struck me as being a body of men who will fearlessly and resolutely display those high characteristics which have done so much to give fame to our brave men, who have done so well on the battlefields in Sotith Africa. The spirit of patriotism that exists from end to end of the colony is such -that everyone who (has watched its development knows that it is splendidly directed towards assisting our Imperial soldiers in fighting on behalf of our Empire; and it is particularly gratifying to find that in this portion of the colony it is as marked, in every respect 1 , as in the northern portions that I have recently visited. The members of the committee and those who have been associated with them, who have given so much of their valuable time voluntarily to create the contingent here, certainly well (deserve the thanks of the country, and the results of their efforts show that there are men amongst them who must have had considerable experience in the affairs of detail, both in the matter of equipment and the general, control of camp affairs. That is visible on all sides. So far as I can see, there is no reason •why the despatch of the contingent should not take place on the 24th inst. I shall expect to see a concourse of people assembled iipon that occasion surpassing anything that }ias yet been witnessed in the colony, although ■there have already been some great ones. I might take this opportunity to add that, so far as the conveyance of the people beyond Dunedin is concerned, the Railway department avill lay itself out to bring in and to take back all who desire to attend the send-off, and to do it with as little inconvenience, as great despatch, and at as low fares as possible. The people, and the people alone, can snake the send-off a piv .rligious. rl igious success, and that they will do so is, I think, beyond all question. 1 can only say that what has recently beoii done in her Majesty's self-go-iverning c olonies in connection with this movement clearly points to a closer adhesion of the component parts of the British Empire than could have been contemplated by the most <sanguine advocates of the question of Imperial federation. The South African war- has clone more- to unite the outlying portions of the Empire than all the other events of the last 20 years, and more than could have been supposed as possible to take place within bo short « period of time..

The bubonic plague? Well, there is nothing of material consequence to add to what has been made public, further than the fact that the Victorian Government hare advised us that they are making a very strict medical examination of all arrivals from Sydney, and that they have discovered no signs whatever of the bubonic plague. They are, however, indulging in a crusade against rats, and doing all in their power to keep their country free from infection. So far as 'we in New Zealand are concerned, we are impressing strongly upon the various centres, and particularly upon the shipping, ports, the necessity' for exercising the utmost care, and adopting the most effective, precautions. The Government is prepared to share with the local authorities the cost of preventing the landing of rats, which appear, to be such a potent faotor in conveying or transmitting this disease. There is, I may add, diversity of opinion between the medical men, even in our own country, as to the time required for incubation. One set of medical men declare, that from 10 to 14- days is the period of incubation of the disease, while other medical men state that the extreme- time is from five to six days. Meanwhile the Government has, in the interest of public health, -deemed it right to err on the side of caution, and the health officers have fixed 10 days as the time for quarantine of those vessels arriving direct from New South AVales, which, including the passage, will give fully

14 days.