142 



7 he Review of Reviews. 



February 90, 1906. 



Burlington,'] [Photo. 



Hon. T. Price, 



Premier South Australia. 



Australia was work- 

 ing, regarded from 

 an interested inside 

 official point of 

 view, Needless to 

 say, the general 

 opinion outside is 

 that it is working 

 exceedingly well, 

 and that Mr. Price 

 has not by any 

 means lost his 

 head. 



- We flatter our- 

 selves," said Mr. 

 Trice, "that we are 

 doing well, and we 

 feel that the policy 

 we have been 

 adopting ought to 

 prove acceptable to 

 the majority of the 

 ]><ople of South 

 Australia. We do 

 not forget that we 



are a 



tion ' Government, and as such 

 been fully prepared to yield on 

 our more important points, just as 



' Combina- 

 we have 

 some of 

 the other 

 half of the Government has yielded on some 

 important points in their programme. I have 

 no doubt that this has been adversely criticised j 

 from some quarters, but we have dealt fairly and 

 openly with the situation, and. in the special cir-j 

 cumstances, are quite prepared to work amicably, 

 with our colleagues. Of course that is looking at 

 the situation from a purely party point of view." 



" You have been revolutionising your methods of 

 Educational administration ?" 



" Yes ; under our old system we have become 

 atrophied. The promotion to inspectorships was far 

 too rigid, so I took a bold step and appointed from 

 the ranks of the teachers a comparatively young 

 man, and gave him a free hand as Director of Edu- 

 cation to work what he considers to be necessary 

 reforms. Some fifteen years ago we stood at the 

 head of the State as far as educational progressive- 

 ness was concerned ; but we have fallen into silent 

 ways, and it is time that a little stir was again made. 

 We have come into line now with some of the other 

 States, and appointed our Director." 



Of course the matter which concerns South Aus- 

 tralia and the other States most is the question of 

 the Murray Waters Conservation. South Australia 

 has such a vast deal to lose or gain by the action 

 of the other States. I congratulated Mr. Price, 

 however, on the extremely amiable way in which 

 he was dealing with the question. The " stand and 

 deliver " attitude adopted in the past has been con- 



ducive to anything but harmony ; but I venture to 

 predict that the quiet, business-like tone adopted 

 by the present South Australian Government will do 

 more to settle the question fairly, in a very little 

 time, than the pin-pricking of years. 



•' What is the use," said Mr. Price, " of provoking 

 unpleasantness? The question is there, it needs 

 to be settled, and we would rather spend time in 

 discussing the possible line of action than in fight- 

 ing. We have a great length of the Murray River, 

 but practically all the catchment is in Victoria, New 

 South Wales and Queensland. I recognise, of 

 course, that the States in which the catchment is in- 

 cluded have very strong claims upon the water; but 

 our claim is not an unreasonable one. Enough 

 water flows down the Murray and its branches to 

 supply the needs of us all, and it is simply a case 

 of conservation." 



•• I understand that you intend proceeding at once 

 with some of your own works, irrespective of what 

 may be done bv the other States." 



" Yes ; but that is not bellicose by any means. 

 What we are doing will be necessary if the larger 

 scheme recommended by the Interstate Commission 

 is carried out ; and in any case, even if nothing were 

 done, it would materially assist in South Australian 

 irrigation developments. What we are going to do 

 is this: We shall put six weirs in. each throwing the 

 water back for a considerable distance ; but one of 

 them, the Parcoola. will throw it back for ioo miles, 

 as far as Renmark. and it will also submerge a large 

 area on each side of the river, so that we shall prac- 

 tically have a lake over ioo miles long, and from 

 two to four miles wide, and yet the weir will only 

 be 42 feet high." 



Map Showing the Immense Area Covered by the Murray t 

 and Its Tributaries. 



" I understand that you would be in rather a 

 perilous position if the water above were ex- 

 hausted ?" 



"Yes; even now the salt water goes some miles 

 up the river, and if the river fell to any extent 

 it would mean that we would have a long arm of 

 the sea, which would, of course, be exceedingly in- 



