ii MUNITIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 147, 23 June 1915, Page 8

ii MUNITIONS.

QUESTION OF MANUFACTURE SOME NEW ZEALAND PROBLEMS .TfSAT AN AUTHORITY THINKS. iJThe.., Post in Saturday's issue gave tfie opinion of an expert upon the possibility of manufactoring munitions in New* Zealand. The gentleman in question ' held out little prospect of New Zealand being able to do anything, and his views in thi3 respect were endorsed by another authority of high standing when questioned on the subject by a P^ost -.representative yesterday, uThe authority in question stated that the project was governed by three main essentials — the _ supply of materials, pjlant, and skilled workers. Regarding the first, he pointed out that sheila were made from specially-prepared steel, and '.that as we had no steel manufacturing works in the country such material in its proper state would have to! be imported. > Whether such , supplies could be obtained remained to be seen. Australia 1 , it was true, had steel works, birt he doubted whether she would be able to send any of her production over to New Zealand for ibis purpose • the Commonwealth was about to engage on; the same task herself, and her workshops, very probably, would be able to deal 'with the whole of her steel output. Ther,e, of course, remained Great Britain and foreign countries, but as these ( appeared to be manufacturing n>unitions up to their fullest extent he did 'not see that New Zealand could hope- for supplies of material from them. Exactly what could be obtained! in this respect, however, could be ascertained by enquiry. Then, again, there was a scarcity of lead, which was required for slcrapnel bullets. ' ;;■ THE MATTER OF PLANT. "&n the subject of plant, the authority mi question _ stated that there was no machinery in the country capable of turning out shells. Certain machinery in many of the workshops mighfc be brought' into requisition', but other necessary plant would have to be'imported, presumably from England, and it was not at all likely that hands could be, found to work it on the way out, with the result that the output of such plant for the time being would be lost. Another difficulty that would have to be overcome was in the supply of tools, which could hardly be manufactured in New Zealand, and would therefore have to be imported.* A DELICATE BUSINESS. * After overcoming these obstacles, the task of manufacturing munitions in New Zealand would be by no means ended. Such manufacture was a delicate business; each shell had to be turned out with mathematical exactness, and the whole operation required the supervision of skilled experts. As New Zealand also had none of these, they also would have to be imported, and the qaeeiaxm was whether skilled workers could" bo procured from elsewhere when such heavy, demands were being made for them. He doubted . very much whether they could he got, and, even if they.^oooM, whether it would be worth whiter seeing that New Zealand had to &®tr overcome so many other difficulties, ■with little prospect of success. In any ■'case, it would be a long time before we 'ooold^tnrn- out the first few shells. 11 As;ca. ito-the* illustration of the diffijottlties before us, he pointed to the fact 4hat Australia, -with her iron and steel ;*ork resources, only proposed up to ;|he present^ to produce empty shells, »He did not hold' out much hope that JNew Zealand, except after the lapse Mjf a definite period, could "even do this, ;and still less did he believe that we i^ipuld produce shrapnel, which, with its a wonderful piece of ■^mechanism far beyond the comprehension 6f the average New Zealander, vrho *knew so.little about it. * .! "Don't you think, then, that Kwno l^png niighfc be achieved by a conference ironmasters and mainng enquiries |ibroad?" -asked the reporter. || "Well, to tell you the truth, 'I am |Bot at all hopeful," ■ c*me the reply. JJ'Stillj no harm, would be_done by the jeourso"ydlr -suggest. It would at least jshow that we tried."