VALUE IN WAR EFFORT

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 4, 29 September 1944, Page 6

VALUE IN WAR EFFORT

Research Department’s Work The value of. the work of the Department of scientific and Industrial Research in connexion with'the war. would be between £400.000 and £500,0.00, said the Minister in charge of the department, Mr. Sullivan, when expressing appreciation in the House yesterday of tributes from members. Now that the Greymouth district suivey had been completed, the survey ot coal in the Southland district could be expedited, said the Minister in reply to Mr. Macdonald (Opposition, Mataura), who made particular reference to the large lignite deposits in the Mataura A alley. It had been estimated that there were 85,000,000 tons of bituminous coal in the Dominion, but a later survey bad reduced this figure considerably, said-Mr, Sullivan. There were ;| 0,00(U)00 tons of sub-bituminous coal and IoO,OOV,VtW tons of lignite. The position was such that it would be necessary to conserve shortly stocks of high-grade bituminous coal and develop, equipment for winning other classes of coal. “We are associated with .the leather research organization in the United Kingdom, exchanging information and keeping each other posted as to what each is doing,” said the Minister in reply to criticism by Mr. Bolson (Opposition, Stratford) that the division set up by the department was occupying itself in elementary things. New problems had arisen in recent years, making it very necessary to continue this research as well as going back over old fields. Actually much greater sums were spent in wool research than was disclosed in the estimates, said Mr. Sullivan in reply to Mr. Gordon (Opposition, Itangitikel). who considered that the amount of £250 was totally inadequate for one of New Zealand’s main items of export, and in view of the increasing threat of synthetics. Considerable sums were contributed by the Wool Council, said the Minister. For example, the council contributed approximately £3OOO to the Torridon Wool Research Institute.

"When the question of an all-weather port for the West Coast of the .South Island is being considered, will the Prime Minister investigate the possibilities of completing the Glenhope-Inangahua Railway so that the port of Nelson would become available for shipping coal and qther produce from the West Coast?” asked -Mr. Broadfoot (Opposition, Waitomo) in notice of a question in the House yesterday.