Evening Post. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, Iwd. WHAT EVIDENCE OF VALUE?

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 65, 14 September 1911, Page 6

Evening Post. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1911. WHAT EVIDENCE OF VALUE?

In his Budget mixture-— when ta.ken to be well shaken— Sir Joseph Ward, as we have indicated in several articles, hopee to supply a tonic for everybody. We referred briefly yesterday to the iron element in the medicine, and We ba.v« good excuse for returning to the subject to-day. In a note on Taranaki ironoree in the annual report of the Geological Survey, Mr E. de C. Clarke- remarks : -—"From an economic standpoint, the only iron-oree which require notice are the deposits of blackeand. In some localities— e.g., ins the neighbourhood of Paritutu— very large accumulations of almost pure magnetic ironsand occur. At many places, however, the pure ironsand has been 6orted by the action of the waves and th« wind, *<> that it forms only, a thin covering to a more heterogeneous sand. It would therefore be advisable, before any erection of smelting-works is undertaken, to carry out a thorough a-nd exhaustive sampling of the ironsand deposits. In sftch examination mere surface saftiplpe should not bo allowed to predominate unduly, but the character of the sand from various depths should be fully taken into account. !l Hie description "very large" applied to the stores concentrated by the waves and wind at Paritutu is too vague, to be valuable. What is the depth and extent of the area of the concentrates at Paritutu? What is the estimated quantity? Possibly the full text of Mr. Clarke's report will give more satisfactory information than is contained in the meagre summary preeented to Parliament yesterday. Certainly the country requires something more definite than "very large." We have sound reaeon to believe that the people of Taranaki and other parts of Xew Zealand have wrong impressions about the ironsand beaches and the bhie-black dunes by tho eca between Wanganui »hd Mokau. A widespread belief is that there is an '■ unlimited supply of easily accessible concentrated ironeand. Examinations of the foreshore have shown that the supply does not rise to the point reached by the flight of popular imagination. The deposits vary remarkably in quality over a long stretch of country. We ha%-e no knowledge of any reliable estimate of the ore at points nearest to actual or possible harbours. Mr. Clarke has done a public service in stressing the need of "a thorough and exhaustive sampling of the iron-sand deposits." The late Mr. E. 3F. Smith, for all his enthusiasm shout the smelting of iroraand, had no Convincing information about the quality and quantity of the ironeaml?, north and (south of Mount Egmonl. In tegal'd to the rock ore of Parapara more reliable information ia available, but even here we believe there is room for a searching survey to support the deductions of Dr. Bell. We heartily hope to see a real iron industry established in New Zealand, but our desire for such an enterprise, iffihifife k I9jtaldy^l£&&fl to fL&tig&al,

security and progress, does not blind us to the need of caution aJbout tho preliminaries. Wo distinctly object to such misleading generalities as Sir Joseph Ward jumbied up in the Budget. Hifi peculiar language hinted at a possible nationalisation of the h-on industry, and wae therefore likely to please the Labour Party, but an analysis of the phraseology givee any shrewd reader the impression that Sir Joseph's knowledge of the factors involved is pitiably flisagrfc. We feel sure that the Governwent is neither mdy not willing to grapple with this problem along sound lines, and our impression is that the Budget paragraph was more designed for electioneering than for straight' forward business. There is a notion among some New Zcalanders that this country will be able to profitably export pig-ifon. Who will be the customers? Australia ie developing her iron measures, and north of Australia thefe ie Chins, with immense stores of iron-ore and coal. China's chief threat to the white world is that she has that iron and coal and limitless cheap labour. It is possible that' New Zealand may find markets abroad fot a limited quantity of special steele, but we see no prospect of any large overseas trade in iron products. The function of the local ores will be to supply metal for local needs, and this is not an easy task, because the local Consumption is very diversified. We believe that it will be to New Zealand's national advantage to work up a sound iron industry, but this is' to be done by work, not by words of doubtful meaning.