THE PREMIERS TOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 40, 15 February 1908, Page 9

THE PREMIERS TOUR.

■ —- SPEECH ATSjhAMCES. ' •; ' FIAKO S|rAMPITS IMMENSE POSSIBILITIES. (By Telegraph. Reporter.) ■EJi&MES, this day. Speaking f rom tie . band rotunda iv Victoria Park, thjs.; Premier addressed a gathering of septal thousand people. The Mayor, Mr. 4«Burns, presided, the grounds were iliußjaated for the occasion, and excellenflinusic was discoursed by the Battalion Jfiind. In sending an ajblogy for his absence, the Hon. James |ji:Go.wan predicted for Sir Joseph • Wardjji "real goldfields welcome." || In the courseSf his speech, the Premier referred terms to Messrs. Price Jloe. , foundry, where a' number of locojjjptives for use on New Zealand railwaj||have been constructed, and stated thajlihe work could not be surpassed in apjjt part of this Dominion or elsewhere.' JThe same remarks were applied by theSPremier to the products of the Govenajfent railway workshops. Referring to tipi' afternoon excursion, Sir Joseph said h|lad seen portions of what he thought \j»s wrongly known as the Piako swamj!;* It should be called the Hauraki Flails, if only for the purpose of distinguisjHhg it from a portion of the Piako ftfamp which had brought a great deatfof trouble to people who had tried tfc bring it into cultivation. He went onSp recall a prediction of the late Sir George Grey with regard to this locality, rejßarking that laughter and criticism hiij been levelled against the late Statefean's words that "smiling homesteadspand fields of waving corn" would be men there. Such a result was not believe! to have been possible, but the positip to-day was a verification of his wordss(Apjplause.) The actual area of land v'jjwned by the Government in the Piakjj" was about 96,000 acres, but the which would be beneficially affectedjby the drainage operations would ifa'ch from 150,000 to 200,000 acres. Jthe work already carried out showedjeonclusively that portions of that ana which were once beligyed to be inedible of production were entitled to be [jlassed amongst the best land in the The operations had already|bst from £3000 to £4000. Two dredgif had been ordered from the Old Country, and would be shipped in March nexijjio that by June the whole of the planifwould be in working order. It was ; |fe:xpected that in about a year sevefil thousands of acres would ■be reajjs for selection. Ujier the land laws of this country, the/fremier continued, continuous endeavours had been made by Parliament to asset in the settling of the people on the|jand, as nothing was more important the to extend the population on the prihicing side of the country, so as to injease the volume of our exports, which already ran into £21,000,000 or £22,000----'OOiil It was to the outcome Of the expels, to the teeming masses of older lalds that we looked for the return of nifneys which would enable our peopletef find employment in their respective Wflks of life. to the position of minings at ike Thames, .the Premier urged, that at Bast they should* noi give-up-Bope-as -far ■m the- future was concerned. (A voice: jv"e don't intend to.) He also mentioned She fine work accomplished by the Shames School of Mines —the first institution of the kind in the Dominion. Up ! till now the Government had readily assisted where there had been any question b as to ensure that mere should be a reasonable opportunity of testing what was to be found beneath the ground; this policy would go on, and he hoped would give not only hope, but success. (Applause.) THANKS AND CONFIDENCE. The Premier repeated his emphatic utterances- with regard to the "yellow peril," and the danger of racial contamination. A vote of thanks and confidence in the Government was carried amidst loud applause. Sir Joseph was afterwards entertained by the Borough Council at a social. Today he proceeded to Cambridge for tne purpose of opening the Post Office.