DROUGHT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10819, 9 December 1902, Page 2

DROUGHT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Two-thirds of the Sheep Dead. The Crop Shortage. Mr Carrutlicrs, le^iier of the' Opposition; stated last week that he has declined to" zrMilce political capi-tal ou£. of the serioua cftnaequeneea of the drouglit. " He is going io waifciunfcil the Government lias dislosed its intentions, and lie is prepared- to give assistance any reasonable, proposals. It is absolutely- impossill^- he' says,, tha^fc the present state of affai^caii ..continue without s6mc assistance -peingf rondered. The movement in Victorianfor. relief, funds by private subscriptions is.;not one that commends itself tg Ids- mjnd strongly. He thinks there are means Jwnereby the State can come to the rescue*^f great national interests "without violating the. safe rules of government. " He has had some information prepared, ' showing what New South Wales has t6 face. In the first place the drought has extended, over sum- ' mer, autumn, winter and spring, and it bids fair to run into next autumn. It has come on top of a "series of droughts, that is possibly the "climax of the drought period. Mr Carruthers has it from one of the* best authorities in New South .Wales that when the flocks are mustered at the , close' of this summer there will not- he 20,000,000 sheep left, practically one-third of what the State' had a few years ago. Reckoning the value of what is left, and allowing for the better prices now obtainable, this represents a loss of at "least ,£8,000,000 to In addition to .that, there will be a very serious loss in the larger stock. Coming to the second' aspect of the case v/hicli lias resulted from the failure of the winter and spring raine — the crofi yields — Mr Carruthers has obtained infofmatipu, dated 16th November, from the Government "Statistician. ' Mr Coghlaii says it is plain that the grain harvest will not ex-

ceed 3,500,000 bushels. "Now,'|* says Mr Carruilicrs, "our requirements' for food amount to 3,000,000, and for seed 2,000,000 bushels. ' So there will be a demand for 10,000,000, and a consequent shortage of 6,500,000 bushels: - In the other- States the estimated wheat yield is 12,500,000 bushels, arid their food and seed requirement^ amount to 20,000,000, showing a shortage of 7,500,000 bushels. This, ' added to the New South Wales shortage, j aggregates 14,000,000 , bushels.