WATER POWER.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 964, 3 November 1910, Page 4

WATER POWER.

— e GOVERNMENT BILL PASSES THE COUNCIL. DR. FINDLAY'S REPLY TO CRITIC- ■'• ISM. The adjourned debate on tho Aid to Water Power "Works--Bill was continued hi the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon, and before the Council roso tho Bill had been put through its final stages and passed. The debate was resumed by the Hon. R. A. Tjoughniin (Wellington), who welcomed tho Bill as an instalment of a great policy, It was quite on the cards that when the scheme was gono on with, and tho power was employed, the cry of the people would be for "more." , . Tho Hon. J. T. Paul (Otago) thought the policy taken by tho Government was a national one, and in tho interests of the people. It would benefit not only future generations, , but the present generation. Thero wero dangers to guard against, arid this would mean care, but this had been the case in big works in tho past. The Waipori scheme had been of immense benefit to Dunedin generally, and it had succeeded in the face of difficulties which tho Government would not have to face in, developing, its schemes. Today the Waipori scheme was one of the finest assets Dunedin had. A good, deal could be learned from the development of Waipori. Dr. Findlay In Reply. Tho Attorney-General, in reply, paid particular attention to tho criticism levelled at tho Bill by the Hon. Mr. Jcnkinson. That criticism, he said, had been thorough-going, earnest, and impartial. The criticism, however, was only effective and .destructive until it came to bo answered by that of an equally qualified critic, , Mr. Luke. Tho Council was fortunate in having two members so fully qualified to deal with such a question. At this, stage, Dr. Fmdlay referred to a leading article which appeared in The Dominion yesterday, commenting on Mr. , Luke's speech, which .remarks are dealt with in another column. Mr. Jenkinson was wrong in what ho said in regard to Addington. At present, for 440 horsepower, the cost, according to Mr. Jenkinson, was £12,000 per annum. From reliable estimates by a qualified engineer, it was clear that 600 horse-power could be supplied to Addington at between £4000. and £4500 per year. In other words, calculated on the highest figure, they would be able .to get nearly 50 per, cent, more , power for £75,000 per year less. Further, in carrying on a producer gas plant attendance had to be provided. In Wellington 3000., horse-power was being used at present at a cost of 2Jd. per unit, and if the Government could provide tho power at Id., would that not, he asked, lead to great industrial devolopment. It was stated that electric motors could bo installed from £3 to £8 per horse-power, gas at from £7 to £15 por horse-power, and stoam at from £10 to £20 per horse-power. People in Dunedin had been selling thoir old ges engines, and from the proceeds of salo of second-hand machines they had been able to instal electric motors. of equal power. This, ho thonght, was conclusive proof that the cost of plant was less in connection with electrical power than any other means. What had been, done' at Waihi was also a good illustration of what they thought there of electrical poweiv He recognised that Mr. Jenkinson's objection to the electrification of the railways.,was perhaps well based, and may ho unanswerable, but tho electrification of tho railways was not an essential, or oven a small part, of the present scheme. Even if everything Mr. Jcnkinson, had. said against the electrification of tho : railways was true, it would' not affect the present scheme. ' ' ■ ■ : i'..'.. The Lyttelton Tunnel. 1 As to tho remarks mado as to tlie Lyttelton tunnel, tho Government had estimates which showed that tho tunnel could bo worked by electricity at less- than half tho capital cost of tho figures given by Messrs. Boattio and Cooni. Tho proposal would bo a good ono commercially. Mr. Jcnkinson had mado a point in his speecli in .regard to the smelting of iron ore, but this was no essential part of tho scheme. At the samo time figures in the possession of tho Government showed that power for the above purposo could bo .supplied at £2 per annum per horse-power, or at one-twelfth pf a penny per unit. Such a price would enable tho ore to be worked commercially. The Load Factor. . The load factor at Wellington had been stated by Mr. Jenkinson at 15 per cent, whereas it was 46.2 per cent. It was 35 per cent at Auckland, 20 per cent at Christchurch, and 49 per cent at Dunedin. The point was, was the load factor to bo assessed at 15 per cent, as Mr. Jenkinson said, or at 30 per cent? If tho latter, Mr. Jenkinson's calculations wero falsified to the extent of about 100 per cent. Either he (Dr. Fiudlay) or Mr. Jenkinson must be making a blunder. Mr. Jenkinson: Hear, hear. It all hangs on whether the estimate of 15 per cent is correct or not. _ Dr; Findlay said that, on the most reliable estimates, the load factor at Lako Coleridge would bo between 28 and 34 per cent. It was 49 per cent, in Dunedin, and 35 in Wellington. If it was shown that an expenditure of £41,500 would produce not-7$ million units but 30 million unite, then Mr. Jcnkinson's figures were further falsified. Luckily, in this caso the Council could rely on more than the ipse dixit of ono or tho other. He endorsed tho Waipori scheme as a splendid commercial success, and declared that if tho Dunedin City Corporation had charged , as much for electrical energy as the Wellington City . Corporation did, its profits for last year would have beeu increased by £20,000. Ho described the Waipori scheme as ono of the most triumphant vindications of a schemo which Mr. Jonkinson had condemned. In tho fiituro, At the scheme developed as it had done in tho past three years, ho predicted that it would. bo in a position to create big reserves, and greatly increase tho profits at a very low cost to consumers. After quoting amass of details, he said that it was ossumod that if the Government exercised care in the development of tho schemo it would bo one of the greatest blessings that this country had ever known. . Many of the Government's critics (not critics like Mr. Jenkinson) seemed to think that tho Government of tho day.could not he.entrusted with the carrying out of any great schemo for the national benefit, and that they would bo preparod to soil themselves for, political advantages. Ho did noli believe that any reasonable- man seriously thought anything of the kind. In his opinion also, it was not a fair analogy to compare this scheme with that of political railways. Studonts of tho history of Now Zealand., comparing tho past with that of tho present day Administration, which they so roundly condomneil, would find that tho further back,they wont tho moro they' would find history adorned .by what wero called political railways. (Hear, hear.) Tho Bill was nut through all its stages at the sitting,