SISTER STATES IN WAR TIME

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2700, 21 February 1916, Page 3

SISTER STATES IN WAR TIME

, NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA SYDNEY BUSINESS MAN'S IMPRESSIONS A visitor to New Zealand who is at present in Wellington is Mr. Richard Teece, general manager of the A.M.P. Society. Iu conversation with a Dojiix»ox reporter, Mr. Teece gave some interesting impressions of the general state of things in New Zealand and in Australia during this period of war. Though he has spent the greater portion of his life in Australia, Mr. Teece is a Now iiealandcr, and' he has a warm corner in his heart for this country. "In Sydney, as in ■Wellington," said Mr. Teece, "business goes on just as usual. So far as the daily lives of the people show it, one would never guess there was a war in progress. They, spend as mush as ever and al! seem to he prosperous." Australia's Part in the War. The presence of thousands of men in khaki in the streets of Sydney was, of course, a constant reminder of the war, in whicli Australians wero playing a manly part. They realised that it was a fight to a finish, and everyone was determined 1 to carry it through. The evacuation of Anz.ic and other places on Gallipoli caused no downheartedness in Australia, although it was recognised that there had been an error of judgment. 'Still, it was part of the groat game, a phase iu which the Australians' had given the enemy a taste of their mettle. 1 So far, all the recruits required had been forthcoming without having to resort to compulsion. The splendid response to tho Australian war loan, to which tho A.M.P. 'Society subscribed £1,400,000, showed, too, that money as well as men was' available when the Government asked for it. The action of the Commonwealth military authorities in establishing a number of camps throughout r\OW South Wales instead of centralising about 14,000 men at Liverpool, near Svdney, was due, Mr. Teece said, to the unruly behaviour of certain small sections of the men. . The greater part of those in training were steady, quiet MVows. But the lawless spirits disturbed the whole forces. By dividing the Troops in training into smaller bodies and regulating the hotel trade in the vioinity of the camps, a distinct improvement in behaviour had been obtained, and the improvement would no doubt continue as the scheme was proseeded with. ' Prosperous New Zealand. "My impression of New Zealand," continued Mr. Teece, "is that it is_ on a wave of prosperity. There is just the tear that a period of quietness may follow. The splendid prices for raw products have had the enect_ of sending the price of land up to a high figure_ — much more than it is worth, in my opinion'. Certainly no farm lands in Australia attain to anywhere" near these prices, and Australia is prosperous; too. In town values, too, thero seems to be pause for , thought. For example, in Wanganui, prices of land are as high as in the eastern' suburbs of Sydney, and there is 110 comparison between tho two places so far as values are concerned." Mr. Teece added, however, that in many directions and in certain distrtcts the increases, within certain bounds, were justified. This was the case with the land near Auckland, much of which had been consideredwiilmost .worthless. Now it was successfully used/for dairying, fruit-growing, and grazing. As n result of this, Auckland had bounded nhead, arid the advance appeared to be permanent. ' "'Mr. Teece considered that for a man of energy and ability there is no country like New Zealand. There was always a living for a good man, while in good times there was much moro. Farmers' and others did not experience the same vicissitudes of fortune which occurred in Australia iu times of drought.

Droughts Less Frequent. The frequency of droughts in Australia was steadily diminishing, and the continent as a .whole was prosperous. But in sucli a vast area there was usually a drought in one part or another. Last year it was Queensland that suffered, the year before it was Victoria . and 4 Southern New South •Wales. The project 'of linking the Northern Territory with the south-east-ern States and its development by white labour was proceeding very slowly. In Mr. Teece's opinion- it could never be done profitably with 1 white labour,.,at least in the coastal districts, where the climate was enervating. It was cruelty to ask white women and children to live there. The visitor to coastal towns, such as those on the Burdekin River, could not help noticing the

f pale, anaemic, pimply complexions of the white children who had been born and brod thero. In tho districts on the tablelands of Queensland and the Territory, the climate was a. healthy one. But tnc sugarcane and other plantations were in tho humid coastal districts. To go into a sugar plantation in summer, with the cane growing to a- height above a man's head, so that it shut out tho breeze, and to cut cane all day was a sever© test of a white mini's strength. In the winter, of course, tho coastal climate was glorious. But the canecutting was summer work. Most of the white workers worked at it for a fortnight or so, and then went on a holiday, returning to work after their respite. This interrupted labour was not good for the industry. Black Labour Needed. "The development of these tropical .coastal districts can only be successfully accomplished by employing black labour under the supervision of whites," said Mr. Teece. He pointed out that since kanaka labourers were banned lrom Queensland sugar and coffee plantations the output had decreased greatly, in a district where, with kanaka labour, there had been 40 coffee plantations, producing coffee equal to any in the world, thore were now only two plantations. Many sugar plantations had! reverted to the original scrub. In the case of cotton, which grows well in the north, it would be absolutely impossible to employ white labour to pick cotton with any hope of profit. It was not only the heat which rendered the wiiite man less able to stand the work in the plantations. The leaves of the sugarcane were beset with innumerable prickles, which combined with insect pests to start oil sorts of skin irritations. Frome t'heso the kanaka was immune. Moreover, the South Sea Islanders W6re clean and orderly, bathing every evening and changing their clothes. They lived on the plantations; rarely visiting the townships. The work suited them; it did not suit the white Australian. North Qucenslanders were often held up as examples of how the white man can flourish physically in the tropics. But these men came from the tablelands, where the climate was bracing. Overseers, managers, and others living on the coast "could send their wives and families to the tablelands in summer, as many were doing to-day. But the working man could not possibly do so. "I mention this phase of Australia's development because after the war we will be faced with a big problem in regard to our almost empty lands. We have not hesitated to accept the assistance of the men and ships of war of people who are forbidden entry to Australia. In the march of progress something will have to be done with these lands. We cannot keep them always in their present undeveloped state."