THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY

Grey River Argus, Volume LVII, Issue 10520, 28 January 1903, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY

WEDNESDAY \ JANUARY 28. 1903.

In one of the many London correspondent's letters received by the last mail one writer says that the Hon A J Cadman is working quietly with his iron-sand project, but so far has no information tha' i. worth communicaungto the public of the colony. Thi. does not look very hopeful for tbe outcome of his effi.ns, though, if we may rely upon some of the utterances of Mr E M Smith, the Government have placed the promoters in the position of being able to offer special advantages to capitalists willing to take ritk. in the undertaking. When we reflect that attention was drawn to these deposits of titaniferous sands in the very practical way of forming a company over 35 years ago, and thafc since then the sand has been tried in various ways .nd at different times without any successful result, we entertain serious doubts that the Taranaki iron-sand deposits will be made an economic success iv the present generation. We would not throw cold water unnecessarily on any undertaking to convert the .and into a commercial commodity, but it is not easy to repress the dread that some serious bar exists to tue formatio i of a company prepared to risk sufficient capital to decide whether the sand can be manufactured into steel ingots so as to be a commercial success. A short time ago, while in the Wairarapa, the Premier spoke on the subject of developing the iron ores of fche colony, and referred to the possibility of Government taking the matt, r in hand after the manner of tlie state coal mines if priv.ite enterprise failed to undertake the development of native iron and steel, whether in the form of permanent deposits of iron ore or in the shape cf tho titaniferous sand beaches on the Taranaki shore. The Wellins;ton Evening Posfc, which is nofc over-likely to accord praise to Mr Seddon, gives him credit for sincerity in his suggestion thafc "if private enterprise failed to rise tothe occasion, then the Stare, which has already fcaken over a coal mine, would go in for manufacturing its own iron and steel." Our contemporary also .yeapathi*es with "these high aims, and provided he is ready to project a prudent policy of initial development feels sure he will receive the ungrudging support of a greafc majority of the people of the colony." But our Wellington contemporary is very practical on the matter, and makes one suggestion amongst others that we have previously pointed out as in accord with ordinary prudence, and this p. dii t is that a matter of 500 tony of the sand should be sent to England or elsewhere in order to obtain from a respectable firm a satisfactory te_o of the material so as to ascertain whether the resulting metal could be produced so economically as to justify the necessary expenditure of capital to make fche metal produced a comuiercial success. As Mr Smith says that the necessary flux for the production of Steele .n be obtained in the district in abundance, it might also be necessary to send a sufficiency of thafc material wifch the 500 tons of sand. One serious drawback is the absence of the coal near the sand, and this must be regarded as a serious want wherever tlie pro . duction of iron or steel is undertaken. Generally, wh-ro iron is produced iv quantities for exportation the ore, the fuel, and the fluxes are found in close proximity, as if Nature herself dumbly indicated the close relationship of those different bodi .s. As iron in Greafc Britain, America, and elsewhere is being produced in enormous quantities afc the cheapest rates per ton conceivable, we are afraid that New Zealand's opportunity for cutting into a business of that kind is really very Kinall. It will be far better for the Government, or arjy combination patriotic enough, to lose a f_w thousands in sending Home an experimental cargo of the sand for a legitimate and satisfactory trial, so as to settle once for all whether the titaniferous sand of Taranaki is reaily worth consideration. We are afraid that ib ifc is not, and for the reasons that we have given. But opinions, even, of so-called experts, amount to very little compared with a practical test in an ol 1 established iron manu r factory. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" is an adage specially applicable to this iron-sand excitement. Jt is a mere alqsurclity tq wqrry our

brains and waste time and nioney ove whab musfc be regarded as a mer c chimera until a practical te *• has demonstrated otherwise. 1^ what can be considered a sufficient and satisfactory text is made and it demonstrates the feasibility of making the. smelting of the sand a success, no fin ther Governmenb assistance will be required. Private enterprise will be only too eager to do the rest. But if private enterprise shou'd not be forthcoming, and Government are assured by their experienced advisers that the road is clear and success assured in embarkiu? in the daring venture, because surrounded wibh many and serious difficulties, then ib would be only left to us to wi-h the Government every pa. sible success. It is one thing to manufacture our own railway trucks, but to undertake the manufacture of the material. of which they^ are made is a far . more ambitious and risky affair altojje her, and should be approached only after the most careful consideration. But if the Government are ab all likely to seriously turn their attention to the manufacuire of iron in the colony they should ab least do somo.. thing to ascertain the value ofthe iron ore existing in such quantiiy on one of the western spurs of the Paparoa Range, where coal and the necessary fluxes exist in close proximity in much the same way as all these materials are found in Eugland and Scotland where iron is manufactured.