VISIT OF MR. JAS. CRAIGIE. M.P.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13899, 24 January 1916, Page 4

VISIT OF MR. JAS. CRAIGIE. M.P.

QUESTIONS OF THE HOUR. "As a citizen' of -New Zealand I Am proud of Avhat Aye ha\ r e done," declared Alii- Jas. Craigie, M.P; for .Timaru, Avhen discussing Avith a Herald representative to-day tne Dominion's share m the great Avar. "There has Been a great deal of criticism, of the GoA'ernment and of Mr Allan, but personally 1 think it is ivonderful Avhat New Zealand has dorie — considering how unprepared we were aiid the suddenness of the war — The large number of men who havo been sent away, their efficient training, and the Avay the boys have come forward. * No country could send a finer body of men. tlian have left New Zealand. Their actions at Gallipoli and their behaviour "V Egypt and m England have stamped tlierii as heroes and gentlemen, every One of them. THE COUNTRY'S CALL. "The Governihsntr ,of New Zealand," the A'isitor Avent on to say, "has made a promise to -the Motherland to send forAA r apd 2000 . reinforcements every month. That promise has to be fulfilled, and Aye hope to see the war ended tins year. Tlie national census shows tliat there are plenty of men yet available to fujtil that promise. I regret tliat tliere are many aa*lio have prospered, A\-jio have eerri r joyed the advantages and privileges of living under the British flag, but Avho ha\-e failed to realise their duty to share m the responsibility of sacrifice. I hope the matter -will be put so pointedly under the new. recruiting scheme,- whereby every local body -will be constituted a recruiting committee, that when the lists are supplied every man will be waited v upon and.^ked the reason why he has not enlisted. "1 have said it. again and again that I 'want, tb see equality of sacrifice., We lia,A*e had in^t-^n^es with one, two, or three sons, and iv soriie cases as many as liA'e or six sons, iuid all those boys had gone to the Avar, where they have fought and laid down their lives ; not only for their own dear ones, but for others. Meanwhile thoro were other men, despite their fitness and wealth, who had not seen their duty to respond to the country's call. Again I ask for eqnality of sacrifice, and if the Arhole thing had to be gone through again 1 venture to say the oouritry Avould insist upon form of compulsion, so that the response to the call should' be more equal. |Nlany boys liave gone, lads of 17 -and 18 years of age, and it was hard that ihey should liave been allowed to go,- because they cannot stand .the hard . ships endured by men., p.. more mature age. Then, again, a great many married men have gone .^lso, leaving m spjne cases large families,- and yet avo have mcii .."vtf ho should have gonel .who .are standing back, arid men who liave gone, afld, gone, readily, Avho "shouldYnot have b§eii called upon, just yet. I hope that .this, .unit. of tlie Empire will get its full iquota, arid if it does not I.Arouldhave no hesitation iri bringing m legislation to make those enlist \v*ho should enlist ancl thus' aid m bringing this terrible war to ;•, successful conclusion. "I know the impression pi~eA~a.il*"", especially m the Nortji, that the South island has not done enojugh m tlie Avay or recruiting, but I Avould like to pouit out that the Soutli i_. more advanced m settlement and m. this respect is i_o years ahead of t-he North Island. We have had a great many young men avlio haVe been brought up on small farms who, looking round for more land and greater scope, .liaA*e come North. And so tliere has been a constant stream of 'our young men northwards, -depletirig largely the number of Our young men m Canterbury and Otago, and I have no doubt that many of the young men who enlisted here m tbe North, at Auckland and Wellington ? and perhaps some at Gisbotne originally came from the South Island. I Avbn't allow North Islanders to think they have a monopoly of patriotism. We are just as patriotic m the South." . • „ WORK FOR THE NATIONAL CABINET. "I a-rii not a party man, and I havo condemned the party system," reriiarked Mr Craigie when asked hife- views on the National Cabinet. "I heartily support the constitution: of a National' Cabinet representing all sides of the House and of the • country, and 'with their Government Mr Massey arid Sir Joseph Ward, ha****, ihe -whole-' of New Zealand at their back. The only fault I find with them is tliat they have not shown enough backbone on many thiinga as I think it Avqp their 'duty to doA "There are several questions I have put before Mr Mhssey, Boih m and out rifrparliament. For instance, he had a- great opportun-

ity to buy the whole of the wool clip tliis season, and I know farmers both m tho North and South would hay© been quite content to have got about the same prices as last year, aixi this would havo put over a million pounds of war profits into the coffers oi'.thß State instead of into the pockets of private individuale.. '1 .would also have liked to haye seen a .little; more backbone iii some form of conscription, and thus secure .more equality of service. And another •tiling I' would, like them -to have done was something ou the lines of that which .liad been adopted at Home, m 1. Vance .and Russia-, and tliat was dealing .with the drink question. Had 1 been dictator of New Zealand I should have closed up the hotel bars at 7 or 8 O'clock m the ; evening. I _ have, seen young men, m Wellington, m a. sad state, ; and I. much regret to say it is continuing. That is one question on :>vhich, had tho National Government dealt with it, they, would hay© had the best thinking people of the Dominion at their back. It would have shown that wo. realised the war was on. Who is making the sacrifice apart from the young men who have gone to the front — and their relatives? With increased prosperity, with some of the highest prices, for our produce ever obtained m the history of the country, people are going on with their spending and their pleasures." DROUGHT IN THE. SOUTH. "New Zealand, I might say, is a country of many climates," remarked the member for Timaru -when questioned regarding the drought m. the South. "It is admirable that it should be, so that when we 'haye a' drought m one district and plenty of rain m another, the general average of the productivity of the country is well maintained. Unfortunately, the East Coast of "the South Island, and ihe most fertile, the granary of ,New .Zealand,' .is suffering severely from a drought, which,*. to niy mind; we have not had anything like since 1897---98; m fact, to realise it one must see .it. • foiv. themselves. . I had the privilege of taking Mr Massey. round a. portion of South. Canterbury l^st week. Tlie country was typical .of ;the drought area. Wo saw shee/p; and lambs dying, : stock on the ground scratching at the roots trying to.' ; get something to eat, and one paddock iooked as'.if^t'.had been ploughed up, t as at had been turned' up to get the roots. So intense is it that even the trees and gorse are dying for want of moisture. As to the wheat yield, we have a record area — an increase on last year— and had we had' rain we should have had a magnificent crop. In spite of everything, it is fairly well headed, and should yield art average of 20 bushels to the acre. But unless rain comes for the root crops, it will be absolutely disastrous. Taking the above average and the grain m store, amounting to about a million bushels, I think it will provide the 6,000,000 bushels which are required to last us through' the twelve months till the season of 1917. I think, on tho whole, we will be ablo 'to get along all right, aud I think Mr Massey would do well to leave the buying of wheat alone." GISBORiNE'S FUTURE. Tn conclusion, Mr Craigie said four years liad elapsed since, his last yisit to Gisborne. He had watched the groAving exports, aaid he had no doubt that as the country was only being opened lip, Gisborne would becoiile thei centra of a great district m the near future. Ho remarked upon thfe excellent and substantial nature of the new buildings to be seen, which showed the great faith m wliich the district's future was regarded, whilst the erection by shipping, banking, aud (insurance firms of buildings that would, grace -any centre of the Dominion, waa also a, good indication of stability aiid progress. "Ldo not wish to be critical," he' con : eluded, "but had I. been fortunate enough to have had my lot centred m Poverty Bay, I wouild .have taken, up as tlu* most urgent necessity the providing of better steamer servioes to Gisborne. I would have gone 'bald-headed 1 ' for a good harbor, branch railway lines to make Gisborne a good receiving and distributing centre^ and a comfortable and convenient ferry service."