TREE-PLANTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 159, 7 July 1926, Page 8

TREE-PLANTING.

(Published by Arrangement*

COMPANY ORGANISATION. PROTECTING THE PUBLIC. Mr. H. Landon Smith, Director of New Zealand Perpetual Forests, Limited, writes: As certain statements recently made in the House and subsequently repeated in the daily papers relating to I operations of forestry companies gener- | ally, are misleading and tend to operate against the best interests of the very I people whom the Government wishes to protect, it is desirable that the public ! should know the following facts which, ! so far as New Zealand Perpetual Forests, '< Limited, is concerned, furnish a comI plete answer to the questions asked .in ; the House by Mr. Jones (Ellesmere) and 1 echoed in the Press. i Mr. Jones was ostensibly seeking information on a matter with which he was not very well acquainted, but the reply of tha Minister in charge of the State Forest Service and certain remarks made in the course of a sub-editorial •which appeared in your paper on the 24th ult., reveal an unfortunate and rather surprising lack of knowledge on the part of those responsible for them. From the Press report of tiie remarks in the House it is made to appear that for the year ending March 31 last, the returns from eight companies show that the area actually planted by such comI panics amounted to 3244 acres and that the Forest Companies had acquired . 72.540 acres of land for their operations. I may here interpolate that all Forest Companies are required to furnish to the I Government Statistician information on ; these, as well as on numerous other sub- | jects, and although it is stated that only eight companies furnished returns, it 15 j regrettable that there is no indication in the reports that the figures quoted were in many cases from twelve to ! twenty months old. I It is obvious that in reviewing these, 1 or any other commercial operations, over a specific period or at a specific point of time, members of Parliament and other persons in a public or quasi-public capacity should take the utmost care before publishing any statement to see that the same is strictly in accordance with fact. i To anyone who does not understand the ! position, it would appear that the figures j quoted represent the total areas planted and acquired respectively by eight forestry companies up to March 31, of j this year. Such, however, is not the case, as New Zealand Perpetual Forests, I Limited, has, in accordance with the j requirements of the Census and Statistics Act, furnished a return for period ending March 31, 1925, but the return for year i ending March 31, 1926, has not yet been j compiled. ! In view of the statements made and I to remove any doubt which may have ! been created., it is necessary to emphasise I the correct position of this company's J operation at March 31 last. At that I date the total area acquired by New Zea- , land Perpetual Forests, Limited, for 1 planting operations was 154,245 acres. The actual area established in plantation up to the end of November, 1925, was j 10,155 acres. The certificate of the company's surveyors, Messrs. Harrison and (Jricrson, of Auckland, which contains the . above particulars, is available at the 1 head office, for inspection. I lay stress on the fact that New Zealand Perpetual Forests. Limited, not only does not object to, but welcomes the publication of figures relating to its operations. It does, however, object very strongly to misleading statements being pubHcly broadcasted, the effect of which could so easily be to prejudice the position of individual bond-holders and the public generally. The company is i well able to look after itself and carry I out its contract commitments, but alarni- , ist and misleading statements may, in j some cases, cause individuals who are purchasing bonds on the easy instalment system inaugurated by the company, to discontinue their payments and forfeit not only the money already paid, but what is a far more serious matter, the future benefits of participation in the .enterprise. The by no means improbable effect then of ill-considered statements in the House, or in the Press, will ■be to damage the very interests which it is the duty and desire of the Government and the Press to conserve. It is evident that the writer of the sub-leader, to which I have referred, had neither any knowledge of commercial afforestation nor any information regarding forestry activities in the Dominion, and especially in the Auck- . land Province. There are two points on which it may be well to comment. The first is the suggestion (no doubt ' prompted by statements made in the . House) that the Government experts are unable to discover how money subscribed j by the public is being expended. Admit- ; tedly ea-ch individual bond-holder canI not make periodical visits of inspection I of the plantations, but this does not prej vent them from satisfying themselves i that their money is bein# wisely i expended and that New Zealand PerI petual Forests, Ltd., is faithfully carry- ■ ing out its commitments. Large numbers of the bond-holders in the company, : including many distinguished visitors j from overseas, have carefully examined j the whole of the company's operations. j and in not a single instance has anything but complete satisfaction teen expressed. Among others who have visited and reported on the plantations and made extensive inquiries into the •ompany's financial position, I may mention Sir Herbert Matthews, Sir i'ouglas Mawson, Senator Sir Henry Barwell and satisfaction with the company's whole organisation was expressed in no . uncertain manner by those named. New , Zealand Perpetual Forests, Ltd , extends an open invitation to those who would like information regarding the complete ; operation of the company's organisation, i work T e *£, ex " amina tion of the whole 1 W f In , the .P Ast such invitations have I been freely g.ven and accepted More reports of their own trustees and the I real,™ that its first j ulT KS ff-e^ssxaif S heing done on the fid" TW* " the company, since the begJaaln" of tSI -HI have been increased wfthin'ho £S cc months to 44.000 acres. To achieve Hiis, there aro now approximately GOO , men actively engaged on the plantation

areas. That is to say, the company ho. completely fulfilled all it 3 obligations ft> bondholders to date; its planted area a now over 20,185 acres, which by Sen tember 30 next will have been increased to approximately 64,185 acres; that will provide the requisite area of planted land with proper reserves and lirebreaks to cover all contracts and cnnimitmente in full up to date. And so it is hoped the work will go on from year to Tear, the additional area laid down in each plant ing season (May to September) covering all bonds subscribed for up to the begin" ning of the preceding November. Th" fullest information substantiating these figures and statements is open to th" member for Ellesmere, the Minister in charge of the State Forest Service, representatives of the Press, and everyone else genuinely interested. All that this company asks is that people make an honest and impartial investigation before giving vent to public utterances, instead of talking first and possibly (or possibly not) investigating afterwards.

The second point is suggested by the concluding paragraph of the sub-leader previously referred to, which reads, "It is hoped that he (the Minister) will i n . trodtice a bill upon the lines indicated without delay." Six months ago the directors of New Zealand Perpetual Forests, Limited, through a deputation to the Prime Minister, expressed their will, ingness to fall in with any proposal for legislation designed to impose upon every forestry company conditions for the protection of the public. This is still the company's policy. It agrees with the desirability of legislation to protect the public from association with unsound or ill-considered schemes, and it thinks that this protection can be best provided by proper conditions and regulations.

So far as the organisation and administration of New Zealand Perpetual Forests, Limited, are concerned, the directors feel they are justified in saying they have left no stone unturned to secure the best possible results. The field operations, which have attained unprecedented proportions in forestry establishment, are under the direct administration of Mr. Owen Jones, B.A Diploma of Forestry (Oxford), late'of the Ceylon Forestry Service, and more recently chairman of the Forestry Commission of Victoria. With the qualifications and ability of this gentleman, the Government itself has expressed complete satisfaction. The general management of the company is in the hands of Mr. Frederick T. Smythe, F.1.C.A., public accountant, late of" Sydney, who. it may be mentioned, successfully finalised the Australian wheat pools, which meant a net realisation of 159.000,000 bushels. A monthly report on the progress and efficiency of the planting operations is furnished by Professor H. Hugh Corbin, Professor of Forestry of tho Auckland University Collepe, to the Trustee Company, which acts on behalf of the bondholders. This assures bondholders that all work is efficiently done. I may conclude by saying that members of the staff of New Zealand Perpetual Forests, Limited, have spent a great deal of time contradicting misleading reports. This may have been more or less inseparable from the early stages of the company's progress, but in view of the information and assistance available to any properly .accredited investigator, there would seem to be no justification for a continuance of it. The company has a tremendous amount of work to do, and this fully taxes the time and energy of every man in the organisation. Fair criticism, however, will always be welcome.