The Daily News. MONDAY, JANUARY 30. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 226, 30 January 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JANUARY 30. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

The present is the "off" season as far as , politics are concerned, but, notwithstand-1 ing, there was a large and representative audience to hear the Premier at New i Plymouth on Friday evening. Sir Joseph, as was fitting, received a capital hearing, and delivered a speech full of interest and "meat," and one which created a distinctly favorable impression. He commenced by firing off a couple of surprise packets that within three months a wireless telegraph station would be established in New Plymouth, and that ironworks would be started in the Dominion within the present year. Both were important announcements, which his auditors were quick to realise and appreciate. New Zealand has been slow in taking up the marvellous wireless, but with the present scheme in operation the country should be as up-to-date as other countries are in this respect. The station to be erected in New Plymouth will, it appears, have a radius of §OO miles. A glance at the map will show how suitably situated New Plymouth is for a station of the kind. It is not surprising that the town should have been selected; the surprise to us is that it has not been chosen as a site for one of the high-power stations. In regard to the ironworks, Sir Joseph was not very definite. He simply stated that ironworks would probably be established in the Dominion within a year, that Taranaki would benefit immensely from their establishment, and that the Government was prepared to do everything it could to encourage the industry. The assumption is that the efforts of the syndicate that holds rights over the Parapara ore deposits and Taranaki ironsand to obtain the necessary capital have been successful. Syndicates have experienced many disappointments in the past. More than once they have all but secured the financial support required from English capitalists. It is to be hoped they have at last succeeded in attaining their object. There is nothing more certain than that both the Parapara mineral deposits and Taranaki ironsand will be successfully worked some day. Sir Joseph Ward's declaration will serve to renew hope and interest in this district in the exploitation of the valuable and illimitable ironsand deposits on our sea front. The Premier had visited the oil wells in the afternoon, and for the

first time saw what had been and was being done. He did not conceal his astonishment and gratification at the headway made, and it was not surprising, therefore, to hear him speak so optimistically of the future of this promising industry. He did not promise to help it further than the terms of the Government bonus permit, it is true, —though such a promise would not) have been either unmerited or unjustified, considering what benefits the industry would confer on the whole of the Dominion were it successfully established —but there can be little doubt that the first-hand knowledge he has gained will be of considerable service to him—and, we hope, to the industry—in the future. The Premier spoke hopefully of the harbor, stating that in providing accommodation for ocean-going ships we were going on right j lines. New Plymouth may be accused, with more or less justification, of being behind the times in many things, but if there is one matter in connection with which it is alive it is the harbor, the improvement of which has been, diligently and persistently fought and worked for. As a result we will shortly have a harbor that will accommodate the largest of ocean liners, permitting direct importation and exportation. This year there will be two, if not three, direct boats, though not of large tonnage, coming to New Plymouth, and next year, if all goes well, we may confidently look forward to regular visits from oceangoing steamers. As the Premier said: •'There is no reason why a district whose exports and whose population are increasing so rapidly should not press to have that invaluable connection with the Old World, and not have to rely on the cost'.y system of transport that is now necessary." The Premier is essentially a commercial man, and a highly successful one at that, and he can see at a glance the good that must follow the completion of the improvements to our harbor. Sir Joseph spoke of the progress of the district, mentioning that even during the five years he has held office there had been an increase of over a quarter of a million in our exports of butter and cheese, which he characterised as wonderful. Big as the increase is, we have no hesitation in predicting a far greater increase in both our exports and imports during the next

five years. Closer cultivation, the adoption of scientific methods, and the improvement of the quality of the dairy herds must result in a substantial increase in our produce exports, whilst our export of wool, frozen mutton and lamb and beef must continue to grow with the opening "!> an(l developing of the rich lands of the hinterland of the province. The Government can materially help us, and the country at the same time, in this direction by infusing more energy into the roading of the backblocks. Open up the land, by road and railway—that is the crying need of the hour. Everything else is of minor importance beside it. The Government has done a lot in this connection, the Premier was able to prove, a srveat deal, indeed, more than any past Government, but still the plain fact remains: we are not doing enoush. The erection of new post offices at WelliiiL'ton and Auckland, and new Parliamentary buildings, necessary as they may be, cannot be as good an investment, so far as the comifry is eo'iecnied. as the opening up of the lands of the bnckblocks. The Premier spoke with pride of the increase in our population j during the past five years, greater, hj« | showed it was, than the inore.ase of any; other Australasian State, but, compared j with countries like Canada and the South Ameriean States, we have nothing

to be jubilant over. We attract a handful of people; tliey attract hundreds of thousands. We have no comprehensive immigration policy, and might with considerable advantage copy the methods Canada so successfully uses in securing immigrants of the right stamp. Sir Joseph dealt at length with the financial affairs of the country, paying particular j attention to the recently raised loan, over which a section of the Opposition ■ has recently taken him severely to task. The Premier's defence was as vigorous as it was convincing. He showed that the Dominion got exactly what it bar- ! gained for, and that the country's credit stands as high now in the London financial world as ever it did. The alternative to borrowing, he said, was extra taxation. Otherwise, it meant stagnation. "Land would be unroaded, rivers unbridged, and settlers vainly yearning for homes." It is quite obvious that we must go on developing the country for many years to come, but we still hold the opinion that it would be a better policy to provide more of the money ourselves, even at the cost of extra .taxation, and to go on the London market for no more money than we can help. The Premier reviewed the work of the past session, showing what important measures the Government had placed on the Statute book for the people's betterment, and, naturally enough, taking pride in what the Government had accomplished. The speech was a great success in every respect, and must have afforded his hearers an insight iiito many political questions and the attitude of the present administration in respect to them than they could have possessed before.