"FLYWHEEL OF AFRICA"

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 91, 14 October 1931, Page 11

"FLYWHEEL OF AFRICA"

THE GOLD INDUSTRY

"If it was not for the goldmining industry the Union of South Africa to-day would be in much worse position than she is," said Mr. J. K. Thurlow, M.1.M.M., metallurgical engineer to the Central Mining Investment Corporation of Johannesburg, a company which is operating on the Witwatersrand goldfields, in Transvaal, who was interviewed for "The Post when he arrived at Wellington this morning by the Tamaroa from Southampton. Mr. Thurlow said that Transvaal produced over 50 per cent, of the gold output of the world, and of that amount the Witwatcrarand fields produced, more than half. The goldmining industry was the financial flywheel of Africa, he said. Nothing else was flourishing at the present time, and this was due to the price of gold being stable. The prico did not vary like that of agricultural products. "The question of tariff reform," said Mr. Thurlow, "is looming, partly owing to an- agreement which the Union Government has made with Japan. This is resulting in the closing down of local boot- factories and clothing factciies, and those that are not already shut down are threatened with closure. Owing to the-universal depression the diamond industry is also languishing. This is due to the restriction placed on tlio market. A number of the mines are either closing down or marking time." Mr. Thurlow, who worked on. tlic-Haiiraki, Thames, and Waihi goldfields for several years, is on a holiday visit to the Dominion. He is accompanied by his wife.