DROUGHT IN QUEENSLAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 108, 27 October 1911, Page 7

DROUGHT IN QUEENSLAND.

A SERIOUS POSITION. SOME SORRY NEW ZEALANDERS. (From Auckland Herald correspondent.) Sydney, October 18. Latterly many Xcw Zealanders, dis- - tisfied with the land laws of their - n country, have been seeking fresh 1' Ids in Australia. Every steamer that arrives from New Zealand brings more settlers for Australia. On the books of the Queensland Immigration Bureau in Sydney, particularly, one finds that practically half of the callers are New Zealanders, seeking information about the

conditions in the northern State of the Commonwealth. The majority of them go to Queensland, because land is cheaper there than it is in New South Wales. It would appear that within the last few years New Zealand has been sapped of some of its best settlers—the men it can least afford to lose. It will take a lot of immigrants to make up for this loss.

But the question arises whether the New Zealanders who have gone to Queensland in search of new pastures have not been a little too hasty. Australia as a whole has been passing through a time of unprecedented prosperity, but it would be too much to expect that this prosperity will continue for ever. The fat years are always, sooner or later, followed by lean years. Nature's laws are fixed and inexorable. Already parts of Australia are beginning to feel the pinch,' and •it is unfortunate for the New Zealanders who have settled ia Queensland that the pinch has come there first. For some tune past drought conditions have prevailed there, but it was hoped that the jam would come, as it has come, irualraiidant showers, in New South Wales and, elsewhere, and there would he a return to normal conditions. The hope, however, has not yet 'been fulfilled; instead,, the .conditions in Queensland are ,growing, steadily worse. A warning should ; be .to other New Zealanders who ; may .possibly be turning their eyes towards, Queensland. I Thousands .in Queensland are to-day in i a state of no little anxiety. Rain means | very much to tha,t,gre f %t,St/ite, and present conditions «r,e,„to. sajy the least, disquieting. It is-not, desired ,to paint an alarmist picture, ibut.iit,'.)£, only right that tho truth, should., be ' known. Austarlia may be, 4?'<Uv a wonderfully recuperative country f ,bui, ; same time it may be said.that s,.is a good country to be out of in tii)i,e,'.p|. 'drought. New Zealanders, it jias H ofteii "been said, do not know drought is. If rain does not fall .jLJljiee weeks the farmers put! oh a,perilous, fare and writo letters to 'the p!np'^r ( s { the. "drought conditions." t They.,,are,; in''plover when compared, with'.<the. r JVu.str.atian farmer when drought .^on,d^ifl'uflj.a/ppear. Some time .Wk. Jli'. r ,cte';)(cpt. Wragge predicted "a mild' .iji Central Queensland, and- hjs. prediction,is proving only too true* tt'js, I rnor,e..!,t'han a mild drought; it .is getting/to be a serious one, and, whaj; is ,mqre, it',is not confined to Central Queensland; but is embracing almost the whole of ts£ State. Since the first three month's' of tire year hardly any rain has fallen, Even the famed Darling Downs are the position is not so actite' J .ther£ '{fV'ihV'other less favored parts'. is said, have exhausted theif slock 6'f'fO'dder, and arc being hard put' : '*tp''it "to find feed for 'their cattle.-'Mtfliy' ' : th'e\li : , instead of I profiting by the lessons of the past, have overstocked their land a'tyf overlooked the conservatiori ojf fodder. "Garden of Queensland" —as ii; is crflled ,in the advertising puffs 6fHte''t?OTerphierit—is no garden when 'it' l: is':.ift,';th'e',' grip of a drought. One ,'pidis/itlb ; ''.tlj^ i Queensland papers and reads"'"Woi\gh't' l: Still Prevails," "Ruin Bhdly''Wa'jif : | e'a. ,I ' i et'c. Nothing less than a jjo'cid'fa'n' of'rain', measuring at least tl(re# oF'foiir" itiches, will suffice to drive In Western'. QtfeerKla'nd -the' conditions

arc particularly'isvpxe.,' a'Af ! there has been a heavy nvo¥talilfcy' ! ih'stock. The I lack of herbage,' : -oue' 1 t6 !l tlib"'absence of rain, and the lmsh fires, also largely due to the same for the loss of many' thousands''o,f sheep and cattle. Quite r'eceMlv^hv'o'stations reported the loss''- , 6'£;('2t)',bOO and ::0,000 sheeip, respectively, t'&roiig'ji immense bush fires. Ra blips' are to bark tlie trees for wantf itf to keep life in them. Tn . fcne ' 'coastal' districts. from Brisbane as ■faV liOrth'as Cairns, the position is very'^ri'o'iis. : 'Tn the sugar districts ]>raetiealiy"ho 'i'aiii' has fallen since April. The; ! 'the sugar cane means evorv'tliirig "fo Xorthern Queensland. In'b'ii'sine'ss circles in Mackay an uneasy feeling prevails, it being considered certain rain or no rain now, that next season's crop].jvill not be more than half the usual yield. So far, the effect, of the drought has not lr.'cn greatly felt in Brisbane, or the larger towns of Queensland, but it must make itself felt before long. Tliere is much building activity, and prosperity appears on the surface, but how long will it continue so?