THE PRIME MINISTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2152, 30 March 1908, Page 2

THE PRIME MINISTER.

VISIT TO GISBORNE.

The; Prime _ Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, with his private secretaries, Messrs. Hislop and Matthews, were passengers on board the Monowai from Auckland yesterday. Oii tho arrival of the vessel in Die bay, tho Alayor (Air. John. Townley), Captain Tucker, ALL.C., Air. J. F. Sheridan, and a 'number of other gentlemen went out to meet him awl welcome him to Gisborne. Sir Joseph then came ashore, and stayed at the Abasonic Hotel, leaving vtfeain in the evening bv the same boat for Napier. During t.lio afternoon the party, at tlie invitation of the Mayor, were driven .around the district, and' Sir Joseph expressed himself as delighted with’ what ho saw. . In conversation with a “Times” reporter, tho Prime Minister mid his visit was but a call in, and lie would probably bo back again in two or thi-eo avoelcs’ time, when he would ; visit tho back country, and, if possible, go oyer the surveyed Gisborne-* Rotorua railway route. Ho was at present going South to visit the AVest Coast and Conti'il Otago districts. His trip around tho North Island had been very pleasant, and he saw that; tho Auckland province, especially, the north, was capable of carrying a vast population. Tho land .'there. was of good quality, and it was the desiro'of tlie Government to see it settled. His trip through the Bay of Pleintv district had also shown him that a great doil of- settlement was going on, and that the settlors needed outlets to enable them to reach the (markets, Tim County Councils could not bo expected, from their small revenue, to make largo expenditures for ' road-making, and lie recognised it was the duty oh the Government to give reasonable access to these people.

GISBORNE-ROTORUA RAILWAY. Asked if .there was any possibility'’ of any large sums of money being al--"located'' lor tho' completion j of ; . film Gisborne-Rotorua railway, Sir Joseph/ said that unices unforeseen difficwl-i ties occurred, tho Alain Trunk line would be completed «t the end of tlie present year, and after that work was out of hand, there would be a more even appropriation of money for new railways all over the Dominion. Tho Government was not trying: to carry out what was known as a political railway in any portion of the country. AVhat ithey were aiming at was to secure necessary transport fa-; ciiities for those who were developing the country at the cheapest possible rate, and (to servo the greatest possible number. In the future it weald be found more serviceable and economical to have the trunk Sines served b- feeders. The Government were desirous of serving the greatest number in the most effective way. As lav as the possibilities of future railways were concerned, ho was satisfied that where there was settlement, and in' many cases, scattered settlement , the best results would not be attained un-' til the main dines of railway were put through. He was satisfied! that it would pay the country' to push these' lines on through the East Coast lands, and l the North of-Auckland. However, ho was not going to allow it to be supposed that the Governmeiiit could spend an enormous amount of money on any .particular line'of railway, though tlie Government was willing and .-anxious to piuh these lines’ on to the fullest amount which could be fairly and reasonably allocated fqr the purpose.

THE ARBITRATION COURT Asked if tub Government intended to tako any action in reference to the strike at the Blackball coal mine. Sir Joseph said it. was not prjoosuj tb it there .should be. any iiit Heroine, with the work of the Arb'trato f. Court-, but the Government wa* ciose-t 1y watching all developments. life* sympathies were with unfortunate' men with wives and -families nyhoj were out of work through something, which, rightly or wrongly, they be- f lieved to be an injustice, and .through, which they were damaging the inter-f ests of tho owners as well as ia va-lu-i able industry. Ho regretted to hear* l that the miners had taken- the ex-, fcreme step of disobeying the decision'., of the Court, which had the author-* ity of law for i-ts constitution and j acts. He was no iwell-wisher of the) miners who had advised them to take) tho course they -wero following. It; would have been very much better to: have conformed to the law and made? representations in tho proper way, so that the Government might con-, sider the necessity for an amendment . to the law. He understood that the decision of the Court was unanimous,,, and the Government as well .as employers and employees must uphold the law. Some .-people in the country urged that this Act should be repealed. There were thousands of men in this country with their wives and families who/ by reason of this legislation, had 1 been able to steer clear, of strikes with all .their attendant miseries. Personally he was strongly opposed to imprisonment, which was now the law under the conciliation and arbitration system, and an amendment in this respect was necessary. ,Ho was no friend of the worker or of tho employer who urged that the law should be repealed, and that tlie Dominion, should revert to the old system of men versus money, or money versus men. LANDS, FOR SETTLEMENT.

Questioned on the lands available for settlement, Sir Josepli sa-kl that it had not been determined to acquire any large estates in tilie North Island at .present. "The Native Lands Commission was hard at work, and as the renorts as to tho quantity of lan . available were received, -the land would be opened up both under tsio freehold -and) leasehold tenure. All the surveyors available were now engaged, upon tiio work, but the 'Government recognised that when it gave people land it must also provide them with access to their holdings, and a vigorous policy of railway construction, reading, and bridging would have to be carried 1 on.

RECENT NORTHERN TOUR

Referring-to his Northern tour, Sir Joseph said: —-Yes, iifc has been remarked that it had been fairly strenuous. He had delivered no less than 200 addresses in that period, and had certainly not wasted any time. Ho considered such a tour was of immense value to him in the conduct of the Dominion's business, for it gave him an insight info the local conditions of the different districts that was essential to a thorough .gr-asTi of the various matters that came before him. Not only that, ■.hut lio.had grievances,. brought to his notice, showing, in some.in&tances, a -state of affairs which lie could not otherwise have believed it possible to bo in existence. ' MAIL SERVICE.,

The attention of Sir Joseph was cahed to the inconvenience of flio present mail service. It was pointra out .to him that the Monowa: tnougnt the Northern mails, which lay in the post office dulling the .vin e of Sunday afternoon, and even private boxholders could not get them nul l Monday morning. Tho reply was not encouraging. The Premier said that in tins matter Gisborneites were treated just the slime as those in other parts of the Dominion. To arrange lpr porting mails on Sundays would ouen up a very big' question, invert.dbg, -probably, a very substantial increase in the postal staff. When it was •mentioned that Gisborne appeared to have special claims in -this respect, as its ordinary mail service was ■so poor, Sir Joseph said his attention had not been particularly directed to this aspect of-the case. In conclusion/Sir Joseph said 'that Gisborne had made great progress since lie was last- here. Tho town had a very fine appearance, and prosperity was showing everywhere. He was not nrepared to say if the Government would open up a Waikarenioana stock route, as the Cabinet had not yet discussed the matter, but tile Minister for Roads, Mr. McGowan, and tile Minister for Lands and Agriou* ture, Mr. McNab, had the proposal under consideration, and a vote for the purpose would probably be pa /-.ed next session. But, personally, he fpijld not-make any n remise,

The Prime 'Minister, together ,vitl Mr. E. Ga'lliclcan, gonerutl secretary to tins Liberal Party organisation, and Mr. W. D. Lyanar, drove across later in the 'afternoon to Mr. Lyshnr’s house, and spent sonic timo there.

. Sir Joseph left- at 7 in the evening hv the •Monowai for Napier, on route to Wellington, where he will reinatn for some days, leaving for the West Const at the end of the week.